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Title: Civil War Muster Rolls
Description: These muster rolls from 1861 and 1864 list the names of soldiers enlisted in Captain James R. Murphy’s Company of Home Guards from Caldwell County, Missouri. Attached is a January 22, 1946 letter from Bertha E. Booth of Caldwell County to Mr. Shoemaker. Booth notes that the muster roll from 1864 is likely to be “a list of the militiamen who were in pursuit of the Thrailkill (Confed.) raiders.”
Date: 1861 and 1864

Title: From Morse to Joseph H. Trego
Description: This letter, dated October 28, 1862, is from a soldier named Morse to Lieut. Joseph Trego of the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment. Morse says that he was elected to Trego’s position after Trego left the company. He updates Trego on daily life at Camp Vandiver, informing him that Col. Clayton is planning to build barracks and that Lieut. Cox, who had gone AWOL, returned to camp drunk. He also mentions that rebels recently attacked an Illinois regiment and took 70 prisoners.
Date: October 28, 1862

Title: From Mary Savage to Jane Simpson
Description: This is an excerpt from a November 29, 1863 letter that Mary Savage wrote to Jane Simpson about Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence. She describes watching two bushwhackers murder her neighbor: “I can never efface from my memory the look and cry of anguish that he gave as he fell, the blood running in streams from his wounds.” Mary says the bushwhackers also threatened to kill her husband, but she saved his life by convincing them that he was sick and was not a member of the Kansas Militia. She writes that nearly every house in town burned down, but some “heroic” women put out a few of the fires. After the raid, she says, downtown Lawrence was reduced to “a heap of ashes.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: November 29, 1863

Title: From John M. Schofield to Thomas Carney
Description: This letter, written on the letterhead of Headquarters, Department of the Missouri and dated September 3, 1863, was sent by John M. Schofield in Kansas City, Missouri, to Kansas Governor Thomas Carney. Major General Schofield expresses his agreement with Gov. Carney on the necessity of preempting a potentially violent meeting in Paola, Kansas. Schofield states that he will issue an order preventing armed men not in the U.S. service from entering Missouri. He also accepts Carney’s offer of the services of the militia to help avert “any irregular action.”
Date: September 3, 1863

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell of Calhoun, Missouri writes to Eugenia Bronaugh in Hickory Grove, Missouri, reacting to news that her family has fallen victim to “outrages” perpetrated by “evil minded persons.” In the letter, dated July 12, 1864, he informs Eugenia that a Mr. Taylor and a Mr. Robinson have taken possession of two of his houses. He also makes reference to an attack on a black woman’s home, but he omits details because he does not want his words to be “wrongly construed.”
Date: July 12, 1864

Title: From John M. Schofield to Thomas Carney
Description: This letter, dated September 3, 1863, is from Major General John M. Schofield to Kansas Governor Thomas Carney. Schofield thanks Carney for offering the assistance of the Kansas Militia in protecting Lawrence and other border towns from Missouri rebels. Many of Schofield’s troops, he says, have left to fight with the regiments of Generals Grant, Steele, and Blunt. Schofield expresses a desire to avenge Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, and he hopes that the extra troops will be able to “destroy the guerrilla bands which have so long savaged the border.”
Date: September 3, 1863

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell writes a letter to Eugenia Bronaugh in Hickory Grove, Missouri on February 21, 22, and 23, 1864. He describes how local business in Calhoun, Missouri has suffered during wartime, stating that “some of our best citizens” have been forced to stop working or to leave town. He complains that his daily life used to be enjoyable, but now he cannot escape from “the eyes of the curious or idle.” He tells Eugenia that he wants to visit her, but is afraid of potential violence.
Date: February 21, 1864-February 23, 1864

Title: From Elizabeth S.C. Earl to Dear Brother
Description: This letter, dated September 22, 1863, is from Elizabeth S.C. Earl to her brother. Writing from Lawrence, Kansas, Earl describes Quantrill's Raid. She writes that Quantrill and 300 of his men invaded Lawrence at dawn and travelled from house to house knocking on doors: "when the men opened the door, they would shoot them down, and then rush in, and set fire to the house, threatening death to the women." Earl tells her brother, "You know nothing of the Horrors of this war."
Date: September 22, 1863

Title: From Z.M. Hadly to Edmund G. Ross
Description: This 1864 telegram was sent by Capt. Z.M. Hadly in Kansas City, Missouri, to Capt. Edmund G. Ross in Lawrence, Kansas. Hadly states that between 150 and 200 guerrillas crossed into Kansas the previous night, heading in the direction of Olathe, Kansas. Hadly reports that 350 cavalry were immediately dispatched from Kansas City to Olathe.
Object Type: Telegram
Date: 1864

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell writes a letter from his home in Calhoun, Missouri to Eugenia Bronaugh. In the letter, dated August 17, 1864, Bushnell expresses his contempt for disloyal citizens, declaring them evil. He tells Eugenia of his plans to visit her, but emphasizes his need for caution due to the danger of bushwhackers and radicals. He speaks of his hope for peace in Missouri and predicts an impending “crisis” in the northern states.
Date: August 17, 1864

Title: From R.G. Elliott to Dear Sister
Description: This letter, dated August 24, 1863, is from R.G. Elliott in Lawrence, Kansas to his sister. He informs her that he was taken prisoner during Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, but managed to escape. He states that troops from Kansas City are in pursuit of Quantrill's Raiders, but he does not believe they will catch them. Following the Raid, he writes, "We have been engaged ever since in burying the dead."
Object Type: Letter
Date: August 24, 1863

Title: From W.W. Thayer to James Montgomery
Description: On April 16, 1861, W.W. Thayer of Boston writes a letter to James Montgomery, encouraging him to mount an insurrection in the South and help liberate the slaves. Thayer argues that an organized slave rebellion could bring a swift end to the war: “a bloody war full of horrors concentrated into a few days or months would be far preferable to one consuming time, money, lives.” He warns Montgomery that the people of the South are brave and that they “will fight to the bitter End.” A note from R.J. Hinton at the bottom of the letter states that James Lane was recently put in command of 1,000 troops in Washington.
Date: April 16, 1861

Title: From Alex M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: On August 2, 1864, Alex M. Bedford writes from Fort Delaware, Delaware, to his wife Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. Alex says that although he is eager to return home on parole, he will not do so now because of troubles with the bushwhackers: “I am done on bushwhackers…it is a dishonorable warfare.” Alex asks Mary to tell Samuel Lewis that Capt. Charles D.S. Jones sends his respects, and adds that “Bohart joins me in love to you & father.”
Date: August 2, 1864

Title: From Hamilton Gamble to Hamilton R. Gamble
Description: On August 26, 1863, Hamilton Gamble writes from Headquarters, State of Missouri, in St. Louis to his father, Missouri Gov. Hamilton R. Gamble. Gamble reports, "The Democrat abuses you as usual, and charges the horrible massacre at Lawrence to the sympathy of the Hamilton Dynasty with the bushwhackers." He adds that Gen. Schofield issued "a bombastic order in reference to the Lawrence outrage, and…is preparing to cut loose from the 'Gamble Dynasty.'"
Date: August 26, 1863

Title: From J.C. Iserman to Brother William
Description: J.C. Iserman writes a letter from Independence, Missouri to his brother William on September 21, 1861. He tells William that he is surrounded by danger. He mentions the Battle of Liberty and the First Battle of Lexington, and says he can hear "cannons booming on all sides." He also writes about his desire to leave Missouri, complaining that "the Secessionist are stealing all the horses and cattle from the Unions and the Jayhawkers from Kansas are retaliating. Times are very hard."
Date: September 21, 1861

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Mrs. Brown
Description: This letter, dated September 5, 1863 is from Leigh R. Webber in Natchez, Mississippi to Mrs. Brown. Webber claims that in Natchez, "Nearly everybody has protection papers though they are avowed rebels of the deepest dye…It is an unendurable wrong and insult to the Union soldiers and foolish and wicked leniency to traitors for the Government and its generals thus to manage the war." Webber also expresses sadness about Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence: "It exceeds in atrocity our worst fears."
Date: September 5, 1863

Title: From Lucie Davis to John Pigg
Description: This letter, dated September 15, 1864, is from Lucie Davis in Clay County, Missouri to John Pigg. Davis tells Pigg that her mother died after a long illness. She also tells him that Louis Vandiver was moved from a prison in St. Joseph, Missouri to one in St. Louis. Davis predicts that “The bushwhackers are about to take this country,” and adds that they robbed the mail in Clay County and had a fight near Fredericksburg.
Date: September 15, 1864

Title: From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description: On September 24, 1863, Abishai Stowell writes from camp in Springfield, Missouri to his sister. Stowell says he has been at home on furlough and that the family is "tolerably well." He reports that there is great excitement in Kansas about William Quantrill: "he burned Lawrence a week ago last Friday & killed about two hundred (200) citizens[.] The people blame Gens. Schofield & Ewing for letting them into Kansas."
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 24, 1863

Title: Sentinel Extra: Mass Meeting at Platte City
Description: This September 12, 1863 article from the Platte County Sentinel describes a “mass meeting” held at Platte City, Missouri, on September 7, 1863. According to the article, attendees at the meeting passed several resolutions condemning the recent attacks on Lawrence. Attendees also passed a resolution calling for the immediate emanicpation of all the slaves in Missouri.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: September 12, 1863

Title: From Alex M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: On October 31, 1863, Alex M. Bedford writes from Johnson’s Island, near Sandusky City, Ohio, to his wife Mary E. Bedford. Alex advises Mary not to return home until she is sure it’s safe. Alex describes an agreement made with M. Jeff Thompson about paying to send longer letters, which “suits us first rate.” He recalls his experience the previous year as a wounded prisoner of war in Alabama, where he recovered at the home of a kind family who "seem like my relations."
Date: October 31, 1863

Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865

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