General John M. Schofield was appointed as commander of the Department of the Missouri to replace General Samuel R. Curtis. Curtis was a prominent Republican and a former member of congress who had clashed with the Missouri governor Hamilton Rowan Gamble over abolition to the extent that President Lincoln was forced to reassign him. Pro-Unionists in the state, in turn, considered Schofield as too soft on rebels and the raiders plaguing Missouri. Schoefield moved to the Department of the Ohio in February 1864. (By John Osborne)