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Fremont, John C.
Following a stint teaching mathematics in the Navy he joined the Army Topographical Engineers Corps in 1838. He earned a reputation as " The Pathfinder" for journeys across the Rocky Mountains. He became embroiled in controversy for his actions in California. Elected Governor by the Americans who revolted against the Mexican authorities Fremont refused to obey the U. S. military authorities who claimed control of the region during the Mexican …... Read more >
Pope, John
Heir to a politically powerful family from Kaskaskia, Illinois, just south of St. Louis, John Pope graduated from the USMA in 1842 and served in the Mexican War. When the Civil War broke out, Pope was appointed the first union military commander in Northeast Missouri, an area of critical strategic importance in the Summer of 1861.
Pope headed the union force which captured Island No. 10 near New Madrid, Missouri, on April 8, 1862, and this …... Read more >
Emerson, John W.
John Wesley Emerson briefly served as Major and Colonel of the 47th Missouri Volunteer Regiment organized in his home town of Ironton, Missouri. His story and legacy reaches far beyond Ironton, however.
A graduate of the law school of the University of Michigan, Emerson settled in Ironton in 1857 and soon became the town’s leading attorney. His first brush with history occurred in August, 1861, when newly commissioned Brigadier U.S. Grant …... Read more >
Baker, Conrad
Born in Pennsylvania in 1817, and graduated from Gettysburg College, Conrad Baker moved west to Evansville, Indiana in 1841. He was appointed colonel of the 1st Indiana Cavalry upon the call to arms in 1861.
The 1st Indiana was mustered in late August, 1861, and moved immediately to St. Louis. The unit was then posted to Ironton, and in October fought in the battle of Fredericktown, Missouri. It was the charge of the 1st Indiana which br…... Read more >
