Base Ball - A match came off yesterday afternoon between the Active and the Honorary members of the Empire Base Ball Club, with the following result: We learn that our lymphatic friend Henry Clay Sexton, Counsellor W.V.N. Bay, Justice Wohlein, Deputy Sheriff George Stevens and others of the honorary department, "shed" their clothing only to come out of the contest losers - the "runs" being against them, 53 to 38.
-Missouri Republican, October 9, 1861
Steamboat Burnt. - The steamboat E.M. Ryland was destroyed by fire shortly after 5 o'clock, yesterday afternoon. The boat had been lying a short distance below Lesperance street for some time past, and it is probable was fired by incendiary. The flames, after getting under headway, spread with great rapidity and rendered useless all attempts to extinguish them. The boat was burned to the water's edge. Another boat, lying near by, was at one time in great danger of being destroyed.
-Missouri Republican, October 9, 1861
My favorite baseball quote comes from the above mentioned Henry Clay Sexton. "The game of baseball," Sexton once said, "is now wonderfully perfect and I never tire of looking at it..." That's just fantastic and I think it sums up how a lot of us feel about the game.
Sexton is one of the more interesting figures of St. Louis baseball history. He was the longtime president of the Empire Club and was also the first chief of the St. Louis Fire Department. Sexton was also arrested during the war and charged with having pro-Confederate sympathies, spending some time in Gratiot Street Prison. I always found it interesting that after the war, Sexton regained both the presidency of the Empire Club and his post as Chief of the StLFD. I think that says something about both the Empires and the city. The man was also a decent ballplayer, as the above box score will attest.
The other squib that I posted from the Republican is of some historical importance. The burning of the E.M. Ryland was the first boat-burning in St. Louis that the Union authorities attributed to sabotage. The boat-burnings are a little-known, but fascinating, part of the war in the West and Civil War St. Louis has a ton of information about it. I would particularly recommend G.E. Rule's piece on Jospeh Tucker.
Essentially, what you had here was an underground Confederate force that was destroying steamboats in an attempt to disrupt Union supply lines in the Western theater. I'm not sure how organized the effort was in 1861 but by 1863 the boat-burners had received official Confederate sanction and in the fall of that year, there were two separate attacks that destroyed seven steamboats. The burning of the E.M. Ryland was most likely the first attack by the boat-burners in St. Louis and it took place on the same day as the match between the playing and non-playing members of the Empire Club.
Sexton is one of the more interesting figures of St. Louis baseball history. He was the longtime president of the Empire Club and was also the first chief of the St. Louis Fire Department. Sexton was also arrested during the war and charged with having pro-Confederate sympathies, spending some time in Gratiot Street Prison. I always found it interesting that after the war, Sexton regained both the presidency of the Empire Club and his post as Chief of the StLFD. I think that says something about both the Empires and the city. The man was also a decent ballplayer, as the above box score will attest.
The other squib that I posted from the Republican is of some historical importance. The burning of the E.M. Ryland was the first boat-burning in St. Louis that the Union authorities attributed to sabotage. The boat-burnings are a little-known, but fascinating, part of the war in the West and Civil War St. Louis has a ton of information about it. I would particularly recommend G.E. Rule's piece on Jospeh Tucker.
Essentially, what you had here was an underground Confederate force that was destroying steamboats in an attempt to disrupt Union supply lines in the Western theater. I'm not sure how organized the effort was in 1861 but by 1863 the boat-burners had received official Confederate sanction and in the fall of that year, there were two separate attacks that destroyed seven steamboats. The burning of the E.M. Ryland was most likely the first attack by the boat-burners in St. Louis and it took place on the same day as the match between the playing and non-playing members of the Empire Club.
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