Civil War

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 Hoag & Quick's Art Palace in Cincinnati. 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: Free State Convention!
Description: Invitation to the Free State Convention in Big Springs, Kansas. On September 5-6, 1855, approximately 100 delegates gathered at Big Springs, Kansas, along the California Road in Douglas County, to form the Free-State Party. The party supported the entry of Kansas into the Union as a free state, but it did not necessarily espouse abolition of slavery in the South, a position commonly considered to be radical in both the North and the South.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1855

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 Charles R. Jennison to Charles Robinson
Description: This letter was written by Charles R. Jennison in Mound City, Kansas, to Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson on August 22, 1862. Jennison writes that in southern Kansas there is “a general feeling that Lane is a great humbug.” Jennison notes that he has a petition from Dr. Mitchell – a Missourian – and other “Lane men” who are organizing a new regiment in Mound City. Jennison believes that Kansas men should command Kansas troops.
Date: August 22, 1862

Title: From John Tasmilen to John Ament
Description: This 1864 letter was written by John Tasmilen in Centralia, Missouri to John Ament. Declaring that “slavery is dead” and the war nearly over, John predicts that preachers will try to take credit for ending slavery, “but they lie, they sanctioned it as long as they could.” John encourages Ament to return to Cass County, Missouri: “I think you would find a great political change since you left…so that I think you might feel safe.”
Date: 1864

Title: Examination of Z. Barnes
Description: This is Z. Barnes's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Barnes, a 69-year-old Pennsylvania native, states that he has lived in Missouri since 1845. He says that during the war he was "in sentiment on the Southern side," and was not required by the military authorities to give bond. The oath is No. 256 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Abstract of Ordinance Expenditure, 1864
Description: This military document includes two abstracts of materials expended or consumed by the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A". These abstracts are documentation of the first and second quarters of 1864.
Date: 1864

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 A.M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated August 2, 1863, is from Lieut. A.M. Bedford to his wife Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. Bedford, imprisoned at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, tells his wife that he is looking forward to her visit, and that he plans to have a degarian artist to visit and make a portrait of them. He asks her if she received his last letter, and tells her he had enclosed 2 rings for “the little girls.”
Date: August 2, 1863

Title: Kelley Fields
Description: This carte de visite depicts Kelley Fields, who served in the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph was produced ca. 1861-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: African Methodist Episcopal Church, Nicodemus, KS
Description: View of the east front of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Adams & Third Streets, Nicodemus, Graham County, KS
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Missouri State Militia Special Order No. 52
Description: By order of Brigadier General John B. Sanborn, 1st Lt. W. D. Hubbard calls for James J. Akard and six other commanding officers from the Missouri State Militia 6th and 8th Calvary Regiments to serve as the Court for the trial of a war prisoner.
Date: February 25, 1864

Title: Unidentified Man
Description: Charcoal portrait of unidentified man with suit coat, shirt, and tie. Drawing is signed by the artist with "93" immediately below the signature.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Examination of L.D. Marr
Description: This is L.D. Marr's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Marr, a native of Kentucky, states that he has lived in Missouri for nine years. He says he traveled to Illinois during the war "and was away a few weeks." The oath is No. 230 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Littleberry Estes
Description: This is Littleberry Estes's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Estes, a 63-year-old Virginia native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 43 years and opposed "the enemies of the Government" by staying at home and growing produce "to feed the troops to fight the Rebels." The oath is No. 183 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Thomas G. Leitch
Description: This is Thomas G. Leitch's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Leitch, a 34-year-old Virginia native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 12 years and served in the militia during the war. The oath is No. 242 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Samuel H. Bryan
Description: This is Samuel H. Bryan's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Bryan, a 24-year-old native of Monroe County, Missouri, states that he served three years in the Federal army during the war. The oath is No. 195 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: The Battle of Boonville, Missouri
Description: Sketch originally appearing in Harper's Weekly of the Battle of Boonville.
Object Type: Image
Date: July 13, 1861

Title: From James Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: On December 22, 1863, James Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal for Chariton County, Missouri, writes from Brunswick, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri. Boyer expresses concern that a number of deserters he arrested were exonerated after being delivered to the authorities at Macon City, Missouri. Boyer believes that the soldiers should have been found guilty of deserting, and declares, "there is no use in having a law if it is not lived up to."
Date: December 22, 1863

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

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