Civil War

Title: James Montgomery
Description: Carte de visite portrait of James Montgomery.

Title: From James Montgomery to George L. Stearns
Description: James Montgomery writes a letter from Mound City, Kansas to George L. Stearns on May 8, 1861. He reports that, “We are in a perilous position here, and have not ammunition enough to make a respectable fight.” He says that he has organized a regiment to help defend Kansas against pro-slavery Missourians, whose troops are camped along the border of Linn and Bourbon counties. He mentions that an Osage Indian chief attacked some of these troops, then “tied them with ropes to the Horns of his Saddles and dragged them out of the country.” Montgomery asks for Stearns’s assistance in acquiring arms and declares that, “If we have to fight, we will carry the war out of Kansas.”
Date: May 8, 1861

Title: From The Few That Are Left to John W. Geary
Description: This letter to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary is dated September 18, 1856 and signed by “The few that are left.” The letter asks Geary to send troops to protect the citizens of Cass County, Missouri; Sugar Mound, Kansas; and Fort Scott, Kansas. “This section of the country has just been ravaged by the war parties from Missouri,” the letter says. “The people here are unarmed and defenseless.”
Date: September 18, 1856

Title: Thomas (Tom) Maupin
Description: Charcoal portrait of Thomas (Tom) Maupin wearing a checked shirt covered by a pullover with decorated pockets and decorations around the V neck. Maupin was part of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863, and the Centralia, Missouri, massacre on September 27, 1864. "Weekly Graphic" of Kirksville, Missouri, April 7, 1882, page 1, relates that Maupin owned several cattle ranches in Texas; other sources say he was killed near Rocheport on May 24, 1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: Battle of Carthage, Missouri
Description: This drawing, based on a sketch made during the battle on July 5, 1861, shows Union troops under Franz Sigel's command firing upon the Confederate position in Carthage, Missouri.
Object Type: Image
Date: August 3, 1861

Title: From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description: On March 26, 1862, Abishai Stowell writes from Springfield, Missouri to his sister, Margaret. Stowell, a member of Co. A, 2nd Regt., Kansas Volunteers, says that he recently went home and reports that their family was mostly in good health. Stowell asks his sister to write to Jim "and try to persuade him to go home…if he will only stay at home till this war is ended."
Object Type: Letter
Date: March 26, 1862

Title: From H.C. Wood to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated October 9, 1863, is from U.S. Army Capt. H.C. Wood to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Wood states that Comingo's accounts cannot be settled until he sends the "Oaths" of his employees to the Provost Marshal General's Bureau in Washington, D.C.
Date: October 9, 1863

Title: William T. Anderson
Description: Portrait of William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson
Object Type: Image
Date: 1864

Title: Examination of Edmund Haynes
Description: This is Edmund Haynes's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Haynes describes himself as a 48-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri who was born in Kentucky. He states that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 94 in a bound volume, was signed by Haynes on October 6, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 6, 1866

Title: James S. Cunningham
Description: This tintype photograph, taken circa 1861-1865, shows James S. Cunningham in the uniform of the 8th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry. Cunningham served as a private in Company D and was a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Object Type: Image

Title: From James B. Fry to E.B. Alexander
Description: On November 7, 1863, James B. Fry, Provost Marshal General in Washington, DC, writes to Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General in St. Louis. Fry informs Alexander that the enrollment quota for Missouri under Lincoln's call for three hundred thousand volunteers is 13,516 men. Fry also provides the exact number of men required from each Missouri district.
Date: November 7, 1863

Title: From William H. Doah to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This dispatch was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on April 21, 1859 by Capt. William H. Doah, Company B, Missouri Militia at Headquarters, Missouri Militia, in Butler, Bates County, Missouri. Doah reports that some Missouri citizens in “thinly settled neighborhoods” along the state line fear they will be attacked by guerrillas from Kansas. Therefore, Doah plans to “move on the line with my company in seven or eight days or as soon as I get the necessary arms.” Doah requests that “some fifty stand of muskets” be sent to the citizens of West Point, Missouri for their defense.
Date: April 21, 1859

Title: The Kansas Herald of Freedom
Description: An 1859 issue of the Herald of Freedom. The Herald of Freedom, a prominent Free-State newspaper, was first published in Lawrence, Kansas on October 21, 1854. The press was destroyed in the May 1856 Sacking of Lawrence, but it returned to print in November 1856.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: March 26, 1859

Title: From A.F. Cox to A. Comingo
Description: On December 14, 1863, A.F. Cox writes from Weston, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri. Cox discusses the progress of enrollment in Platte County, noting that many names are missing from the published enrollment lists. He asks Comingo to give William Wells a special appointment as an enrollment officer for the county.
Date: December 14, 1863

Title: USS Housatonic
Description: Illustration of the USS Housatonic prior to its sinking by the Confederate submarine, H.L. Hunley on February 17, 1864.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: From Emma Adair to Florella Brown Adair
Description: On May 10, 11, and 21, 1862, Emma Adair writes from Oberlin, Ohio, to her mother Florella Brown Adair. Emma writes that her school term ends on May 27, and that she believes there will be a place for her next term. She says that a report came by telegram “that Richmond was taken, but there was not much confidence put in it.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: May 10, 1862-May 21, 1862

Title: Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, 1863
Description: This military document is a return of ordnance and ordnance stores for Company "A" 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia under command of Captain James J. Akard for the fourth quarter of 1863.
Date: January 13, 1864

Title: From Daniel Woodson to H.H. Sibley
Description: This dispatch, dated July 4, 1856, was sent by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in camp with the 1st Cavalry at Topeka, Kansas, to Major H.H. Sibley, 2nd Dragoons. Woodson instructs Sibley to march his command down to the vicinity of Topeka and encamp for the day just above the town.
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: Missouri State Militia General Orders Outlining Delegation of Responsibilities
Description: This General Order to the Missouri State Militia describes in detail the delegation of responsibilities amongst commissioned and non-commissioned officers. Some of these responsibilities include making sure privates "wash their feet at least once a week; that they wash their hands and faces daily; that they brush or comb their heads, and keep their hair and whiskers neatly trimmed; ..."
Date: January 8, 1862

Title: Examination of Russell Shouse
Description: This is Russell Shouse's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Shouse states that he is a Kentucky native who has resided in Clay County, Missouri for 12 months. The oath is No. 137 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

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

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