September 3, 1861
- In response to a federal build-up in the West, Leonidas Polk orders Gideon Pillow to lead a force into Kentucky to take Columbus, Kentucky, on September 3, 1861, violating Kentucky’s declared “neutrality” and provoking the State and the majority of its citizens to adhere to the Union.
- Bushwhackers from northwestern Missouri undermine the structure of a bridge on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. The train derails and falls into the Platte River east of St. Joseph, Missouri, killing as many as 20 passengers, including civilians, and results in the loss of Union-controlled freight and mail. The event temporarily shuts down the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, which is the only east-west rail connection in the state.
A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1
- Massacre on Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad; the rebels having burned the Platte Bridge, the train fell into the river—17 lives lost.
- A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863