Civil War

Title: Unidentified Guerrilla
Description: Charcoal portrait of man in typical guerrilla overshirt, wearing a hat with a plume, and holding two crossed pistols. Drawing is signed by the artist with "93" immediately below the signature.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Soldier, Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This carte de visite depicts an unidentified member of the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph was produced ca. 1861-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: From E.B. Alexander to William Fowler
Description: On August 7, 1863, Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General in St. Louis, writes to Capt. William Fowler, Provost Marshal for the 7th District of Missouri, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Alexander copies the text of a communication he received from the Provost Marshal General, stating that Deputy Provost Marshals are not in the U.S. service and are therefore eligible for the draft.
Date: August 7, 1863

Title: Statement of C.W. Babcock
Description: This is C.W. Babcock’s sworn statement to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Dated October 11, 1856, the statement claims that a man named Castleman, posing as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, unlawfully arrested Babcock in Topeka, forcibly moved him to Lecompton, and held him there for three hours.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 11, 1856

Title: Quarterly Return of Quartermaster's Stores, 1863
Description: This military document is a return of quartermaster's stores for Company "A" 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia under command of Captain James J. Akard for the second quarter of 1863.
Date: 1863

Title: From James M. Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated November 16, 1863, is from James M. Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal of Chariton County, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Boyer reports that several new volunteers have enlisted in Chariton County. He lists the name, age, race, occupation, and birthplace for each recruit.
Date: November 16, 1863

Title: Advertisement for Slave Auction
Description: In this press release for an advertisement, Theodore Duncan announces that there will be a public auction on April 25th, 1859 in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri for the sale of ten slaves, that were previously owned by the estate of William Duncan. Each slave's name, sex, and age are listed and range from two to 53 years of age.
Object Type: Circular
Date: March 23, 1859

Title: Thomas Ewing
Description: Black and white portrait of Thomas Ewing, Jr., Union Army general in command of the District of the Border during the Civil War. In addition to commanding Union forces in several notable battles, Ewing was responsible for issuing General Order No. 11, which expelled southern sympathizers from four Missouri counties in an effort to suppress bushwhackers in the region.
Object Type: Image

Title: Special Orders, No. 81
Description: This Special Order No. 81 was issued December 16, 1862 by Major General Curtis at the headquarters of the Department of the Missouri in St. Louis, Missouri. The order states that Col. O. Guitar, 9th Cavalry M.S.M. “will proceed without delay to St. Joseph, MO and temporarily relieve Brig. Genl. W.P. Hall…in command of the District of Northwestern Missouri.” C.H. Dyer adds that transportation has been arranged from St. Louis to St. Joseph, Missouri.
Date: December 16, 1862

Title: From James Montgomery to Capt. Fail
Description: This is a copy of a letter written on August 13, 1859 by James Montgomery in Barnesville, Kansas, to Capt. Fail. Montgomery tells Fail he believes “there is an armed force in your vicinity. If this is so we would respectfully ask an explanation of the object for which they are assembled.” Montgomery adds that a group of Kansas citizens met and resolved “that the kidnapping of Wm. Wright (alias Pickles) is an outrage…we therefore demand his immediate return to his home in the Territory.” Capt. James McCool, Company D, Missouri Volunteers, certifies that the document is a true copy of the original letter.
Date: August 13, 1859

Title: 13th Amendment Print
Description: Commemorative print of the congressional resolution for the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1868

Title: General Orders, No. 38
Description: Brig. Gen. James Totten and Maj. Lucien J. Barnes of the Missouri State Militia issued General Order No. 38 on September 1, 1862 in Springfield, Missouri. The order quotes sections of a document issued by the War Department in Washington, D.C. on August 15, 1862, which declares that the U.S. government has the right to seize private property for the use of soldiers and to issue the death penalty for "pillage and plundering."
Date: September 1, 1862

Title: Map Showing the Lands Assigned to Emigrant Indians West of Arkansas and Missouri
Description: This 1836 black-and-white map depicts the lands assigned to emigrant Indians west of Arkansas and Missouri. The map was printed by Bowen and Co. Lithographers of Philadelphia.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1836

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on August 19, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella describes her journey to Grafton via boat and train with her son Charles and daughter Ada. She says there will soon be a great gathering in Oberlin but expresses reluctance to attend: “I have been so long away from such refined & stilish society that I feel a shrinking from it. Marian thinks I have grown old very fast.”
Date: August 19, 1860

Title: Joseph O. Shelby
Description: Black and white portrait of Joseph Orville Shelby seated with open coat.
Object Type: Image

Title: Report of Deputy U.S. Marshal William H. Tebbs
Description: This report, dated September 27, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by Deputy U.S. Marshal William H. Tebbs. Tebbs informs Geary that he went to Ozawkie, Kansas and arrested eight men who had outstanding warrants issued by Judge Samuel Lecompte. Tebbs states that he heard a rumor that the day after the Battle of Hickory Point, Gen. Lane read Geary’s proclamation ordering all troops to disperse. According to the rumor, Lane then dispersed his troops and left the area.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 27, 1856

Title: Frederick W. Emery
Description: This sepia carte de visite depicts Frederick W. Emery, 1st Lieut. and Adjt. of the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph, ca. 1861-1865, was produced by Armstead & White of Corinth, Mississippi.
Object Type: Image

Title: Military Orders of the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment
Description: These documents include a series of military orders and correspondence of the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment written at Camp Helena, Arkansas on August 22 and 28 and September 16, 1862. General Order No. 43 and Special Orders No. 44, 46, and 49, issued by Lieut. Col. W.A. Jenkins and Maj. Sam Walker, concern court martials and an inventory of property belonging to a deceased captain. Additional correspondence concerns the summoning of witnesses to a military trial.
Date: August 22, 1862 and August 28, 1862 and September 16, 1862

Title: Frank Shepherd
Description: Charcoal portrait of Frank Shepherd with suit coat, vest, shirt, and tie. Frank Shepherd served under Quantrill and Bill Anderson. He was part of the Lawrence, Kansas, massacre on August 21, 1863. During the Centralia, Missouri, battle on September 27, 1864, he rode on one side of Frank James; Richard Kinney on the other side. Both Kinney and Shepherd were killed, but James escaped unharmed.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Noah Grant to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated November 26, 1860, is from Noah Grant of Canton, Missouri to Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Grant, captain of the Canton Guards, states that he has heard about attacks launched on western Missouri by bands of Kansas abolitionists, and he volunteers the services of his troops: “we are ever Ready to hunt our Enemies.”
Date: November 26, 1860

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

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