Civil War

Title: Sarah and Julia Fitch
Description: This black and white photograph shows Sarah Wilmarth Fitch Stevens along with her daughter Julia Sumner Fitch. They both lived in Lawrence, Kansas and were survivors of Quantrill’s Raid. Edward Fitch, husband to Sarah and father to Julia, was shot and killed in the 1863 attack. Their house was burned down and the rest of the family escaped.
Object Type: Image

Title: Oath of Allegiance of John T. Armantrout
Description: In his Oath of Allegiance, signed and dated June 22, 1865, former Confederate soldier John T. Armantrout declares loyalty to the United States government and denounces the Confederacy. Attached is a document that permits Armantrout to return home, by order of Major General Canby, following the surrender in Shreveport, Louisiana on June 8, 1865. Also attached is Armantrout’s Certificate of Enrollment in the Missouri Militia, signed in Saline County in 1866. Armantrout served as a private in Company C, 10th Regiment of Missouri Volunteers.
Date: 1865 - 1866

Title: Charles Otis Fitch
Description: This black and white photograph, taken circa 1890, depicts Charles Otis Fitch, son of Edward and Sarah Fitch. He was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1860. At the age of three, he survived Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, but his family’s house was burned down and his father was killed in the attack.
Object Type: Image

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell of Calhoun, Missouri writes a letter on February 28, 1863 to Eugenia Bronaugh in Hickory Grove, Missouri. He tells her that “petty acts of tyranny have been committed elsewhere” and predicts that if similar violence occurs where he lives, his neighbors will be too cowardly to defend themselves. He also complains about censorship in newspapers and shares news that General Price “is appointed to the command in rebel army west of the Mississippi.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: February 28, 1863

Title: Disloyalists Banished from Western Missouri
Description: This newspaper clipping, ca. August 1863, lists the names of "disloyalists" who were banished from Western Missouri in accordance with Gen. Ewing's General Order No. 11. The people listed were residents of Kansas City, Missouri; Independence, Missouri; Osage County, Kansas; and Olathe, Kansas. The order prohibits these "disloyal" citizens from residing in their homes or in Platte, Clay, Ray, or Carroll counties.
Object Type: Newspaper Article

Title: From Emma Adair to Florella Brown Adair, Samuel Lyle Adair, and Ada Adair
Description: On May 30 and 31, 1862, Emma Adair writes from Leavenworth, Kansas, to her parents Florella Brown Adair and Samuel Lyle Adair and sister Ada Adair. Emma writes about staying with her Uncle and his family, who live in Leavenworth and own a store there. She supposes they have already heard about the evacuation of Corinth by the Rebels, and notes that “5 boats left here yesterday filled with soldiers.”
Date: May 30, 1861-May 31, 1861

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: Presentation of Flag to Col. John D. Stevenson
Description: In this ca. 1862 ambrotype, Union Col. John D. Stevenson is presented with an American flag outside a brick building in Lexington, Missouri. A crowd of soldiers and citizens observes the ceremony.
Object Type: Image

Title: From J.L. Bennett to Alex M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated April 24, 1865, was written by J.L. Bennett in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Lt. Alex M. Bedford, a prisoner of war. Bennett states that he recently met with Gen. Craig and Maj. Bruce in St. Joseph, and that Maj. Bruce telegraphed Washington to request Bedford’s release. He advises Bedford to write to Gen. Hickcock in Washington and say that he is “tired of the war & willing to take the oath and return home.” Bennett instructs Bedford to let him know when he is released, and that he will make arrangements for him to meet his family in St. Joseph.
Date: April 24, 1865

Title: John Brown's Sharps Rifle
Description: Photograph of John Brown's personal Sharps rifle, which he carried during his Kansas campaign of 1856.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: From Charles R. Street to Alex M. Bedford
Description: On July 24, 1865, Charles R. Street writes from Huntington, New York to Alex M. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. Street says he was glad to hear that Bedford returned from military prison to his family. He writes about the difficult loss of his wife and “the loss of my country” to abolitionists: “I have no hopes of the old Government, we must submit to a new order of things.” Street also admits that “there is a terrible bitterness of feeling” in Huntington, New York on the subject of politics.
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 24, 1865

Title: From Sara Robinson to Charles Robinson
Description: Sara Robinson writes a letter to her husband, Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, on May 11, 1862. She discusses officer appointments in a Kansas military regiment, and reports that some regiments have been ordered to leave for New Mexico soon. She also discusses their finances, expresses concern for her ill husband's health, and seeks his permission to let her visit him.
Date: May 11, 1862

Title: From Mary Savage to Dear Mother and Sister
Description: Mary Savage writes a letter to her mother and sister on October 10 and 12, 1863, describing Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence. She writes of the “fiendish pleasure” the attackers took in “witnessing the death agonies of our best citizens Murdered in cold blood.” She mentions helping soldiers and taking care of her minister’s family after their house was burned down in the raid. Mary says she fears an imminent guerrilla attack and tells her family, “we live in a state of constant excitement . . . our citizens are all armed . . . but their mode of warfare is so treacherous that we cannot have a fair fight.”
Date: October 10, 1863-October 12, 1863

Title: From Thomas E. Ewing to Thomas Carney
Description: This telegram, dated August 27, 1863 was sent by Brig. Gen. Thomas E. Ewing in Kansas City, Missouri, to Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney. Ewing writes: “I ask you to use your influence & authority to prevent any expedition of citizens or militia organizing in Leavenworth for a Raid into Missouri.”
Object Type: Telegram
Date: August 27, 1863

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: On September 27, 1864, John A. Bushnell writes from Calhoun, Missouri to Eugenia Bronaugh in Hickory Grove, Missouri. John describes his recent trip to Clinton, Missouri and states that executions have been ordered against him. However, he does not think court will be in session because “the news of the papers and the moves of the troops in this state show something is up. Various rumors are afloat about which I would write if it was safe.”
Date: September 27, 1864

Title: From Fred L. Haywood to Dear Sister Loesa
Description: This letter, dated April 6, 1863, is from Fred L. Haywood, a soldier in the 1st Minnesota Battery, McArthur’s Division, Army of the Tennessee, to his sister Loesa. He writes from Louisiana, where both his regiment and the 1st Kansas Regiment are camped. He tells his sister that the 1st Kansas Regiment recently discovered, upon the death of one of their sergeants, that the sergeant was a woman: “You can imagine their astonishment . . . She was brave as a Lion in battle . . . She would have been promoted to a Lieutenancy in a few days if she had lived.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: April 6, 1863

Title: From Eugenia Bronaugh to John A. Bushnell
Description: This letter, dated June 10, 1864, is from Eugenia Bronaugh at Hickory Grove, Missouri, to John Bushnell. Eugenia expresses her gratitude that “Dear Friends” remained safe – presumably in battle – on May 4th and writes that “we should all pray that this cruel war may soon be over.” She tells John she longs for him to visit, but warns him to be careful and to attempt a visit only if he thinks it “prudent.”
Date: June 10, 1864

Title: Diary of C.T. Kimmel
Description: This is an excerpt from the diary of C.T. Kimmel, an assistant surgeon in the 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry. The entries, dated May 10 – June 2, 1865, describe Kimmel mustering out of service and returning home to Chariton County, Missouri. He mentions nearby guerrilla warfare, and writes about mourning the death of President Lincoln. Attached is an invitation to a New Year’s Union Ball on December 31, 1865 in Brunswick, Missouri.
Object Type: Diary
Date: May 10, 1865-December 30, 1865

Title: From Unknown to Hamilton R. Gamble
Description: This letter, dated August 2, 1862, is from an unknown writer in DeKalb, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Hamilton R. Gamble. The writer asks Gamble to replace Gen. B.F. Loan, claiming that Loan is disobeying Gamble's orders and plotting to appoint a military governor in Missouri. In a statement written on the reverse side, Gamble notes that he referred the letter to Lieut. Gov. Hall, and expresses doubt that Gen. Loan is guilty of "the insubordinate language imputed to him" by the anonymous writer.
Date: August 2, 1862

Title: Business Permits
Description: These four business permits were issued on October 12, 21, and 22, 1864 by Col. R.N. Hershfield. Hershfield grants permission to four different citizens to produce beer for the Army, to run a ferry boat, to keep a shop open, and to continue operating a millinery establishment.
Date: October 12, 1864 and October 21, 1864-October 22, 1864

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

Error message

In collections

Pages

Pages

Object Type

Local Subject

People

Geographic Subject

Owning Organization