Students rushing to class may be unaware that the ground they walk on played a significant role in the beginnings of the Civil War.

In fact, Saint Louis University’s campus was the site of the Camp Jackson Affair, a Civil War event involving the first fighting west of the Mississippi River, civilian bloodshed and-reputedly-transvestism.

“SLU is an important part of the history of St. Louis, and a historic but tragic event took place on SLU’s grounds. SLU has important historic land,” said Silvana Siddali, Ph.D., a history professor at SLU.

The story began in the spring of 1861. Despite the beauty of the season, there was unrest in the country.

The Confederacy had already been formed, and southern states had begun to secede.

Missouri sat on the border of the Union and the Confederacy and was governed by Claiborne Jackson, who claimed neutrality but harbored pro-Confederate feelings.

Jackson decided to set up a militia to train to fight for the Confederacy. Under the leadership of Gen. Daniel Morgan Frost (for whom the Frost Campus is named), this militia was created and encamped at Lindell Groves, an open area across from the campus of SLU.

Today, the area that was once Lindell Groves is the part of St. Louis Grand Center, bordered by Garrison Avenue, Olive Street, Grand Avenue and Laclede Avenue.

The Union Army, under the leadership of Capt. Nathaniel Lyon, was called in to disband the militia and prevent them from taking the nearby arsenal.

The common story as to how this was done involves a combination of espionage and, at least according to popular legend, cross-dressing.

Supposedly, Lyon dressed in women’s clothing in order to gain access into the camp and determine the set-up of the camp. However, the accuracy of this story is debatable.

“[Lyon] had bright red hair and a red beard, and I always wondered how that would have worked. I think something like that did happen, but it’s hard to say how much is embellishment and how much is truth,” Siddali said.

What is true about the story is that the Union Army was able to successfully take control of Camp Jackson.

Lyon, with a few thousand men, was able to take the camp without meeting any struggle or resistance.

The story took a tragic turn when, while moving the militia away from the camp, what Siddali describes as “a terrible mistake” occurred.

In the process of marching the militia downtown, someone opened fire which was retaliated and resulted in the death of 30 civilians.

This incident would become known as the St. Louis Massacre or the Camp Jackson Affair and eventually drew Missouri into the Civil War.

Although SLU closed its doors during the spring of 1861 to allow students to return to their homes before fighting started, the Civil War still affected the school.

Faculty and staff were as divided in their sympathies as the states were, and many SLU students and alumni fought on both sides.

Siddali said that the Camp Jackson Affair was a significant event in the Civil War for numerous reasons.

“It had terrible consequences. It angered so many people who might have otherwise stayed on the sidelines,” she said.

In addition, the massacre was the first violence of the Civil War that occurred west of the Mississippi, and showed more clearly how Missouri was a divided state.

“The incident got people fighting a lot sooner,” Siddali said. “It polarized the city and occurred so early, even before fighting began in Virginia.”