Price–Harney Truce

The Price–Harney Truce was a document signed on May 21, 1861, between United States Army General William S. Harney (Commander of the U.S. Army's Western Department) and Missouri State Guard commander Sterling Price at the beginning of the American Civil War.

The truce sought to forestall the outbreak of violence in the state of Missouri following the Camp Jackson Affair, in which Union army troops under the command of Captain Nathaniel Lyon had captured Missouri State Militia mustered on the outskirts of St. Louis. While Lyon marched the captured militia to the St. Louis Arsenal through a crowd, a civilian riot ensued. The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed several people. In the aftermath of the riot, the Missouri State Legislature enacted the governor's "Military Bill" replacing the Missouri State Militia with a new Missouri State Guard. The governor appointed Sterling Price major general and commander of the State Guard.

General Harney had been away from St. Louis during the Camp Jackson affair. Upon his return, he met with Price to sign a joint statement "for the purpose of removing misapprehensions and allaying public excitement," its object being "that of restoring peace and good order to the people of the State in subordination to the laws of the General and State Governments."[1]

The Price–Harney Truce made federal forces responsible for order in the St. Louis area, and state forces responsible for order in the rest of the state. Under the terms of the truce, as understood by Harney, the agreement obligated the Missouri State Guard to protect Unionist Missourians from harassment and to hold the state for the Union. Harney also informed Price that several clauses in Missouri's recently enacted "Military Bill" would have to be modified to remove potential conflicts with the federal government's legal authority.

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