Hamilton Rowan Gamble (November 29, 1798 – January 31, 1864) was an American jurist and politician who served as the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court at the time of the Dred Scott case in 1852.

Although a slaveholder, he at times was appointed to represent enslaved persons in court, especially in what were called freedom suits, which they filed to challenge their captivity.

[2] While some supporters suggested this was an effort to return such individuals to their homeland, by this time, most African Americans in the US were native born, some with generations of history in the nation.

[1] In addition to representing some slaves in freedom suits, Bates later served as a judge and as US Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln.

As the secession crisis deepened, Missouri attempted to follow a policy of armed neutrality, in which the state would not support either side in the war but remain in the Union.

Governor Claiborne Jackson called up the state militia for drill in St. Louis and to receive some arms clandestinely obtained from the Confederacy.

This resulted in a confrontation with the aggressive Union commander Nathaniel Lyon, who forced the surrender of the militia, in what was called the Camp Jackson Affair.

General William Harney reached an agreement with the new Missouri State Guard commander Sterling Price, known as the Price-Harney Truce.

Jackson called a session of the General Assembly in Neosho, Missouri, and, in late October with a dubious quorum, passed an ordinance of secession.

For instance, he protested to President Lincoln about the Fremont Emancipation, which unilaterally freed the state's slaves in 1861 and imposed martial law.