Between 1855 and 1884, a two-story brick courthouse stood on the square at Cassville and became known as Missouri's "second Confederate capitol." There, from Oct. 29 to Nov. 7, 1861, members of the Missouri legislature completed work begun the previous week at Neosho, where the General Assembly had passed an ordinance dissolving Missouri's tie to the United States and another bill ratifying the provisional constitution of the Confederate States of America. At Cassville, the assembly reorganized the State Guard, selected representatives to the Confederate Congress, confirmed brigadier generals previously appointed by Gov. Claiborne Jackson, created ten military districts, and appropriated 10 million dollars for the defense of the state through defense bonds. In Union eyes, the legislators gathered there, perhaps too few for a quorum, were part of a fugitive and illegal legislature driven from Jefferson City by Federal troops on June 15, 1861, after which a state convention declared the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and all members of the General Assembly vacant and appointed Hamilton Gamble provisional governor of Union-held Missouri. Following their expulsion, Jackson and his supporters were at war with the United States but not yet part of the Confederacy, even as about 10,000 State Guard troops under Jackson and Major General Sterling Price fought under the Missouri state flag. Jackson sought Confederate support and met in Richmond with Jefferson Davis, who, after initially hesitating to aid Missouri before formal secession, promised money for the State Guard once appropriated by the Confederate Congress. Confederate troops from Arkansas and Louisiana also helped the Missouri State Guard win at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, followed by another State Guard victory at Lexington on September 18-20, 1861. Hoping to secure full alliance and Confederate military help, Jackson called the General Assembly into special session at Neosho on October 21. After waiting a week for a quorum, the assembly proceeded on October 28 with or without one, passed the secession ordinance and ratified the Confederate Constitution, then adjourned to meet at Cassville as Union General John C. Fremont advanced on Springfield and Price moved his forces to Cassville for safety. Cassville, county seat of Barry County since 1845, lay on the Wire Road between Springfield, Missouri, and Fayetteville, Arkansas, a route made especially important during the Civil War. On November 3, 1861, Jackson signed the Ordinance of Secession and the ratification bill and sent them to Richmond. The assembly adjourned on November 7, resolving to meet next in New Madrid in March 1862, but no later session was ever held. On November 28, 1861, the Confederate Congress admitted Missouri as the twelfth Confederate state, but the act had little practical effect on Union control. Jackson's hope for a Confederate invasion of Missouri collapsed after the Confederate defeat at Pea Ridge on March 7-8, 1862, and the Confederate state government remained in exile thereafter. Jackson died of cancer before the end of that year, and Lieutenant Governor Thomas C. Reynolds continued the executive functions from various places before establishing a capital-in-exile at Marshall, Texas, in the waning months of 1863.
