Military
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On this spot stood the two-story brick Methodist church converted by Federal authorities into the city arsenal. Pressed for manpower to defend Springfield against approaching Confederate raiders, Union Brig. Gen. Egbert B. Brown authorized Brigade Surgeon Samuel H. Melcher and Capt. Charles B. McAfee to recruit volunteers from the town's military hospitals. Local civilians and unattached soldiers joined the convalescents to form a "Quinine Brigade," which in the predawn hours of Jan. 8, 1863, received weapons and ammunition here. Brown split this brigade into detachments that manned the town's defenses and formed a reserve. Brown's ability to improvise was important to the ultimate Union victory.
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Springfield, Missouri · United States
