St Louis Arch

When we left Springfield we had two options; take I-70 home by passing through St Louis or go north to I-80 to get home.  We picked the St Louis route and added a tour of the arch because touring the arch seems so obvious when in St Louis.

 

Tickets for the arch are picked up at the Old Courthouse.  I don't know why I didn't put it together while we were inside getting tickets but the Old Courthouse is where the Dred Scott case was heard.  Exiting the court house on the river side puts one next to this Dred Scott statue.  There are many incidents in the years leading up to the Civil War that can be called catalysts, the Dred Scott case is one of those moments.  So it was a pretty cool thing to happen upon and if we had more time I would have loved to take a full tour of the Old Courthouse which I'm sure would have had more information about the Dred Scott case.

I'm not a fan of heights but for some reason being up in the arch didn't bother me.  Maybe its because the viewing windows are pretty small and the huge crowd doesn't allow you much time to stare out the window and realize how high you are.  But here is the view of the courthouse from atop the arch.  Its hard to see but to the left of the main stairs is a black dot, which is the Dred Scott monument.

A bit fuzzy from zooming in but here is the monument.  I love playing with the amazing zoom on my camera and this may be one of the best examples of its zooming power.

14th Missouri - 66th Illinois

On back of monument:
14th Missouri,
Afterwards designated 66th Illinois Infantry,
Commanded by Col. B. S. Compton.
This regiment, known as Birge's Sharpshooters, armed with Deer rifles, was detached from its brigade at 9.30 a.m., April 6, 1862, and ordered to guard Snake Creek bridge. It was soon ordered back to this place and was engaged here and in field beyond the creek. On Monday a part of the command was engaged in front of the 3d Division. Its loss in the battle was 2 men killed and 6 men wounded; total, 8.

13th Missouri - 22nd Ohio

This is the second Missouri regiment in McArthur's Brigade that was later redisignated. The other one was the 14th Missouri, which became the 66th Illinois. Now we have the 13th Missouri, which later became the 22nd Ohio. In the battle it was commanded by Col. Crafts J. Wright.

On back of monument:
This regiment was detached from its brigade and ordered to report to Gen. Sherman. It became engaged here about 11 a.m., April 6, 1862. It was driven back to Jones field, rallied and returned to this place, where it was engaged until 2 p.m. It had present for duty, officers and men, 538. Its loss was 10 men killed; 3 officers and 67 men wounded; 1 man missing; total, 81.