Civil War

Title: Proclamation of Daniel Woodson
Description: This proclamation was issued July 4, 1856 by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Woodson forbids all persons claiming legislative authority or power in Kansas from assembling at Topeka, Kansas and from organizing, attempting to organize, or acting in any legislative capacity whatsoever. Woodson declares that this proclamation upholds President Pierce’s proclamation of February 11, 1856, which decreed that all such acts would be considered insurrectionary.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: Statements of Clothing Prices and Clothing Invoices
Description: This military document includes a statement on clothing prices beginning in July 1861. Following this statement are two invoices of clothing turned over to Captain David D. Stockton from Colonel Joseph W. McClurg and Captain Henry D. Moore, all of which are officers of the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment.
Date: December 8, 1862

Title: William T. Anderson
Description: A photograph of William "Bloody Bill" T. Anderson that appears in the 1914 publication of "Three years with Quantrell; a true story".
Object Type: Image
Date: 1864

Title: John T. Hughes
Description: Photograph of Colonel John Taylor Hughes of the First Infantry Regiment, Fourth Division, Missouri State Guards. A veteran of the Mexican War, Hughes joined the Missouri State Guard following the Camp Jackson Affair and participated in several battles including the Battle of Carthage, the Battle of Wilson's Creek, the Siege of Lexington, and the First Battle of Independence where he was killed while leading a charge.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: 1st Kansas Colored Infantry flag
Description: Regimental flag of the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry, who triumphed over the Missouri State Guard in the Battle of Island Mound. It was the first battle of the Civil War to be fought by a regiment of African-American soldiers.
Object Type: Image

Title: Ho for Kansas!
Description: One of Benjamin "Pap" Singleton's fliers urging African Americans to leave for Kansas. Ultimately, Singleton's advertisements prompted thousands of individuals and families to leave the South.
Object Type: Leaflet
Date: March 18, 1878

Title: From James Griffing to Augusta
Description: This April 6, 1855 letter was written by James Griffing in Wakarusa, Kansas, to Augusta. James has been helping some new “pioneer friends” stake a claim and become settled in Kansas Territory, remarking, “You can hardly think how fast the emigration is pouring in from the free states.” James describes a recent episode of election fraud: “armed forces from Missouri came and took possession of the ballot boxes and pretty much carried on the election as they pleased. Their proceedings will only work against them.”
Date: April 6, 1855

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on August 20, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas. Florella says that she has become something of a local celebrity as a “Kansas ‘Lion,’” and that people often stop by to visit her. She says that she met many old friends and classmates at a gathering in Oberlin. Florella reports that her son Charles has an opportunity to attend school in Hudson, Ohio, and asks Samuel what he thinks about this prospect.
Date: August 20, 1860

Title: Sterling Price
Description: Major General Sterling Price led the largest Confederate cavalry raid of the war.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1860-1870

Title: From Thomas Carney to James L. McDowell
Description: This dispatch, dated September 15, 1863, is from Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney to General James L. McDowell. Carney informs McDowell that Col. C.G. Foster and Major Crowell of the Kansas State Militia want additional arms and cavalry. He urges McDowell to grant their request.
Date: September 15, 1863

Title: Extracts From Instructions to Capt. A.J. Weaver
Description: This unsigned document is an extract of military instructions to Capt. A.J. Weaver, dated June 26, 1858. Weaver is instructed to “preserve the peace and protect all the peaceable inhabitants in the counties of Bourbon and Linn particularly.” The writer adds, “I cannot too strongly urge on you the importance of establishing and keeping up a good understanding with the people living on the Missouri side of the boundary line…in no event will you allow the troops under your command to enter the State of Missouri. You will see that your men do not annoy the people...or in any way needlessly alarm the community."
Date: June 26, 1858

Title: From S.H. Holmes to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated December 21, 1863, is from S.H. Holmes in Liberty, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Holmes reports that he arrested a deserter and turned him over to Col. Moss. Holmes asks Comingo to give him the authority to make arrests, claiming that otherwise "it will be next to impossible for me to discharge my duties as an officer of my Government."
Date: December 21, 1863

Title: Missouri State Militia Order for J. J. Akard to Attend a Court Martial
Description: By order of Brigadier General John B. Sanborn, Captain William T. Kittredge instructs Captain James J. Akard to attend a general court martial at Springfield, Missouri on January 30, 1895 and a military commission in Springfield the following day.
Date: January 24, 1865

Title: From T.W.B. Rockwell to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on March 16, 1859 by T.W.B. Rockwell in Butler, Bates County, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Rockwell reports “we…had the Border Bill published in our county paper...the people wish to be organized & as yet I am unable to give them any satisfaction.” He adds, "Affairs are not as quiet as they were," since "we had one negro stolen."
Date: March 16, 1859

Title: Franz Sigel
Description: Print showing Major General Franz Sigel, full-length portrait, facing right, riding on horseback with troops marching in formation.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1862

Title: Martial Law or Order No. 11
Description: Depiction of Order No. 11, which was issued by Union General Thomas E. Ewing at the District of the Border Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri on August 25, 1863. The order commanded residents of Jackson, Cass, Bates, and northern Vernon counties to leave their homes and move away from the area within fifteen days. Ewing issued the directive four days after Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, in an attempt to suppress guerrilla violence.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1868

Title: From Robert M. Stewart to J.W. Denver
Description: This letter, dated August 7, 1858, is from Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart to Kansas Gov. J.W. Denver. Stewart informs Denver that Missouri citizens living near the state line in Cass and Bates Counties are in constant danger of attacks by “marauding parties” from Kansas. Therefore, Stewart writes, he plans to station troops along the border to protect his citizens. Stewart asks Denver to cooperate and to do everything in his power to prevent further invasions.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: August 7, 1858

Title: Emancipation Ordinance of Missouri
Description: Commemorative lithograph celebrating the emancipation of Missouri slaves by ordinance of Governor Thomas C. Fletcher on January 11, 1865, three weeks before the Thirteenth Amendment was proposed by Congress.
Object Type: Image

Title: From R.F. Stiger to John W. Geary
Description: R.F. Stiger, Sheriff of Madison County, Kansas writes a letter to Gov. John W. Geary on December 4, 1856. Stiger tells Geary that several families from the East have recently settled in his neighborhood, and that they all appear to be “true and faithful citizens” with the exception of one man, Herman B. Elliott. Elliott has said that all Free State men, including Stiger, must leave the neighborhood. Stiger asks Geary to keep the interests of Madison County citizens in mind, and assures him that they will remain loyal.
Date: December 4, 1856

Title: Chisolm Inhaler
Description: Reproduction of a Chisolm Inhaler, invented by Confederate surgeon Julian John Chisolm for the administration of chloroform to wounded soldiers. During the Civil War, chloroform slowly replaced ether as an incapacitating agent to subdue struggling and suffering patients. Traditionally, chloroform was administered to wounded soldiers by placing drops of the drug onto a cone-shaped cloth, which was then placed over the patient's nose and mouth. Not only did this method waste chloroform, as much of it evaporated into the air, but also it often left everyone in the operating room slightly affected by the drug. Dr. Chisolm's invention solved this issue with his inhaler, which confined the fluid to the patient alone.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

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

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