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Title: Warrant for the Arrest of Gen. John Reid
Description: This warrant for the arrest of Gen. John Reid was issued on September 19, 1856 by S.G. Cato, Assistant Justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas Territory. The warrant accuses Reid and others of sacking and burning the town of Osawatomie, Kansas, kidnapping two people, and stealing property worth several thousand dollars on August 30, 1856.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: September 19, 1856

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 Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: In this August 10, 1856 letter to his parents in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch reports a rumor that Border Ruffians plan to attack Lawrence, Kansas. He says he has been gathering firearms in preparation, but worries that “this may be the last letter” he ever writes. He also tells them about the Battle of Franklin and relates a rumor that Colonel Lane was there.
Date: August 10, 1856

Title: Battle of Osawatomie
Description: In this excerpt of a ca. 1856-1861 document, Orville Chester Brown describes the August 30, 1856 Battle of Osawatomie. In the middle of the night, Brown states, John Reid led his men towards Osawatomie. At dawn they marched into the town armed with bayonets, and the men of the town “flew to arms – whilst the women in their night clothes bearing their children in their arms fled to the woods.” Brown's house was burned down in the battle and his son was taken prisoner.
Object Type: Document

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 Samuel R. Ayres to Lyman Langdon
Description: This letter was written on August 24 and 27, 1863 by Samuel R. Ayres in Moneka, Kansas, to Lyman Langdon. Ayres writes that “along our Missouri border we are subject to almost constant raids from the Bushwhackers over the line who rob our citizens burn their houses and murder prominent men.” Ayres offers a description of Quantrill’s recent raid on Lawrence, Kansas, calling it “an act of barbarity but seldom if ever equaled by the most savage tribes.” Ayres says that he and other local citizens are organizing to defend Mound City, Kansas from guerrilla attacks.
Date: August 24, 1863-August 27, 1863

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 James A. Holmes to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 2, 1856, was written by James A. Holmes on behalf of the people of Osawatomie, Kansas, to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Holmes states that on August 30, 1856, a band of 410 Border Ruffians led by Martin White attacked Osawatomie, killing two men and injuring a third before plundering and burning the town. Holmes seeks permission for the citizens of Osawatomie to organize in self-defense against another attack by White.
Date: October 2, 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: The Western Dispatch.
Description: This is the August 17, 1856 evening issue of the Western Dispatch, printed in Independence, Missouri. The newspaper announces that war is "being waged by the Abolitionists," and reports that James Henry Lane, John Brown, and their forces have robbed several Kansas residents and driven them into Missouri. The paper also mentions that Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon requested aid from the U.S. military, but was refused. A last minute extra, printed at the bottom of the paper, states that Lane and his men have captured Lecompton.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: August 17, 1856

Title: Diary Entries
Description: These unsigned diary entries discuss the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the election of the Bogus Legislature and subsequent protests, the arrest of John Brown, and violent Bushwhacker raids. The author describes the “tragic + bloody + exciting scenes” of life on the border of Kansas and Missouri.
Object Type: Diary
Date: 1854-1855

Title: From John M. Schofield to Thomas Carney
Description: This letter, written on the letterhead of Headquarters, Department of the Missouri and dated August 29, 1863, was sent by John M. Schofield in St. Louis to Kansas Governor Thomas Carney in Topeka, Kansas. Writing in the aftermath of Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas, Major General Schofield states his hope that President Lincoln will appoint a Court of Inquiry to investigate the raid. Schofield refers to a meeting proposed for September 8, 1863 in Paola, Kansas, in which participants plan to enter Missouri “to recover their stolen property.” Schofield emphasizes the need to preempt this potentially violent meeting.
Date: August 29, 1863

Title: From E.S. Lowman to Charles Robinson
Description: This letter was written by E.S. Lowman in Paola, Kansas, to Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson on August 13, 1861. Lowman writes that the citizens of Olathe, Kansas were recently in a state of “confusion and alarm,” fearing invasion by guerrillas. After the local sheriff arrested several suspected guerrillas from a “secret organization,” the situation settled down. Lowman believes that Aubrey, Kansas is at risk of attack by “’Jayhawkers’ from both sides of the line,” and states that he delivered additional arms to troops stationed there. He also describes recent efforts by law enforcement to recover property stolen by Jayhawkers.
Date: August 13, 1861

Title: War in Kansas!
Description: This 1856 broadside announces the commencement of civil war in Kansas. It urges the citizens of Lafayette County, Missouri to gather with their guns and horses in Lexington on August 20, and "put an end to Abolitionism in Kansas." The broadside, signed by twelve men, reports that John Brown, James Henry Lane, and their forces have launched several guerrilla attacks upon Kansas residents, and are now "advancing upon us--the next breath from Kansas may bring to our ears the death shrieks of our Fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, neighbors and friends."
Object Type: Broadside
Date: August 1856

Title: From Allen T. Ward to My Dear Sister
Description: Allen T. Ward writes a letter from Paola, Kansas to his sister, S.T. Roberts, on October 21, 1861. He describes the warfare in Missouri: “as the Secession army sweeps over it, the union party has to fly for their lives; then in turn comes the union forces under Jim Lane and Montgomery, and all the Secessionists have to leave in a hurry or be shot down as so many wolves.” He states that the war has destroyed much of western Missouri, rendering it “almost entirely depopulated.” He tells her that Jayhawkers have been robbing people in both Kansas and Missouri, and that business and farming in Kansas have mostly ceased.
Date: October 21, 1861

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 Persifor Smith to M.C. Dickey
Description: This letter, dated July 23, 1856, is from Persifor Smith, a U.S. Army Major at Fort Leavenworth, to M.C. Dickey and “others, conductors of emigrating companies.” Smith responds to a letter in which Dickey and the others request military protection from armed bodies guarding the Kansas border. Smith denies their request: “I have no evidence that any parties are in arms to oppose you . . . I cannot act on your vague suspicions.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 23, 1856

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

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