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Title: Soldier, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This sepia carte de visite, ca. 1861-1865, depicts an unidentified soldier who served in the Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The carte de visite was produced by Brown's Photographic & Ambrotype Gallery in Paola, Miami County, Kansas. Carte de visites were small photographs that were often used as calling cards and became very popular during the Civil War.
Object Type: Image

Title: Tender of Service of Martin White
Description: In this document, created October 5, 1856, a volunteer company of mounted riflemen in Lykins County, Kansas, tenders its service to the Governor of Kansas Territory. The document includes a list of the company’s officers, including Captain Martin White.
Date: October 5, 1856

Title: From Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown
Description: This letter, dated April 22, 1862, is from Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown. Chandler reports that his regiment recently marched from Wyandotte, Kansas to Paola, Kansas and merged with the "3d Regt." He adds that the staff officers, including colonels and surgeons, have been mustered out of his regiment, and that he may lose his position as hospital steward.
Object Type: Image
Date: April 22, 1862

Title: Petition of Sundry Citizens of Pottawatomie Creek
Description: This petition, dated September 19, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 32 Kansas citizens living near the Pottawatomie, Sugar, and Middle Creeks and the Osage River. The petitioners describe several recent guerrilla attacks in their region, including the Battle of Osawatomie, and ask for Geary to take action. They complain that the attacks, launched by Missourians and “guided by a few desperate men in our midst,” have succeeded in “sacking and burning houses and in robbing and plundering and menacing the lives of our citizens.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 19, 1856

Title: From Martin White to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 5, 1856, was sent by Martin White in Miami County, Kansas, to Kansas Governor John Geary. White is frustrated by Geary’s lack of response to his previous requests for troops to protect local citizens against John Brown’s raids. White states that has raised a company of 80 men who wish to be mustered into the U.S. service to help with local defense.
Date: October 5, 1856

Title: From Samuel Worthington to Dear Father
Description: This letter, dated October 27, 1864, was written by Samuel Worthington at Headquarters, District of South Kansas, Paola, Kansas, to his father. Worthington states that he recently returned from the front, where he took part in five cavalry charges in one day during the Battle of Mine Creek. He describes participating in a charge with the 7th Kansas Cavalry in which they took 5 pieces of artillery and captured 300 prisoners including Confederate Gen. Marmaduke. “The Rebs are whipped completely,” Worthington declares.
Date: October 27, 1864

Title: From George W. Deane to the Commander of Lawrence Forces
Description: This dispatch, dated August 26, 1861, is from George W. Deane at Camp Briggs in New Lancaster, Miami County, Kansas to the “Commander of Lawrence forces.” Deane asks the officer to join forces “for the purpose of Clearing the Border of Rebel forces.” He states that his goal is to concentrate as many forces in New Lancaster as he possibly can. He tells the officer to meet him in New Lancaster.
Date: August 26, 1861

Title: From J. Heath to John Stillman Brown
Description: In a letter dated September 30, 1862, J. Heath writes from Paola, Kansas to John Stillman Brown. Heath implies that it is too late for Brown to be appointed Chaplain of his regiment, but reassures him that "I should prefer you for Chaplain...to any one I know of." Heath also discusses life in camp, and reports that his regiment drills "four and one half hours per day now beside dress parade at halft past five PM. Our time hangs heavily on our hands and I think upon the whole I should rather be on the move."
Date: September 30, 1862

Title: Muster Rolls of Kansas Volunteer Regiments
Description: These muster rolls from 1861 and 1862 list the names, ranks, and enrollment dates of soldiers in companies from the 4th and 10th Kansas Volunteer Regiments. They also list the names of soldiers who deserted their regiments or were discharged, transferred, or deceased. The companies were commanded by Capt. James M. Harvey, Capt. James H. Harris, Col. William Weir, and Col. William Cloud.
Date: 1861-1862

Title: From Charles Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair, Florella Brown Adair, Emma Adair, and Ada Adair
Description: On December 10 and 13, 1862, Charles Adair writes from Rays Mill and Cane Hill, Arkansas, to his parents Florella Brown Adair and Samuel Lyle Adair, and sisters Emma and Ada Adair. Charles reports that he was involved in a “hard battle” at Boonesboro, Arkansas on November 28, and provides a brief account of the fighting. He also describes the Battle of Prairie Grove, in which his regiment fought on December 7. Charles says that they are given enough clothing and food in the army, but “I have suffered dreadfully for the want of sleep.”
Date: December 10, 1862-December 13, 1862

Title: From Edward Hoogland and John A.W. Jones to John W. Geary
Description: In this November 29, 1856 letter, Edward Hoogland and John A.W. Jones report to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary about their recent expedition to southeastern Kansas. They inform Geary that they took depositions, issued warrants, and made arrests in relation to a number of crimes, including some committed during the Pottawatomie Massacre. They also report that they found and returned a substantial amount of stolen property. Hoogland and Jones ask Geary to station U.S. troops in southeastern Kansas, suggesting that “their presence would aid in restoring confidence.”
Date: November 29, 1856

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