Civil War

Title: From Mrs. Silliman to My Dear Brother
Description: This letter, dated August 24, 1862, is from Mrs. Silliman to her brother. She describes the “horror” of life in Warrensburg, Missouri, which has been invaded by both Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers, and is now “swarming with runaway slaves.” She complains about her health and says that the black girl who was caring for her was lured away to Kansas by soldiers. She also describes how her son Oscar avoided military service: “he was exempted from drafting, as not being ‘able bodied,’ caused by an internal injury.”
Date: August 24, 1862

Title: Missouri Militia Order to Organize Platoons and Companies for Polk and Cedar Counties
Description: Missouri Militia Colonel Hosea G. Mullings orders that residents of Polk and Cedar Counties in Missouri enrolled in military duty to be organized into companies and platoons. Mullings provides specifications of rank and number for a platoon and company.
Date: June 3, 1865

Title: From Calvin Iserman to Brother William
Description: In this letter of October 3, 1858, Calvin Iserman writes from Independence, Missouri to his brother William. Calvin wants to leave Independence, where non-slaveholders are “counted just nobody at all," and “a poor man, and mechanic is looked upon as no better than a slave.” He declares that “any man East that upholds Slavery…should be made to live in a Slave State all of his life time.” Calvin plans to go to Kansas Territory and “take a look around.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: October 3, 1858

Title: From E.B. Alexander to A. Comingo
Description: On December 31, 1863, Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General in St. Louis, writes to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri. Alexander informs Comingo that "Recruiting Agents appointed by the Provost Marshal General have nothing to do with the Enlistment of slaves." He refers Comingo to Col. J. Broadhead, in the Department of the Provost Marshal General, for information on that subject.
Date: December 31, 1863

Title: Examination of Larkin Bradford
Description: This is Larkin Bradford's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Bradford, a 52-year-old Tennessee native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 18 years and manifested his loyalty during the war by "attending to my own business and letting everything else alone." Bradford declares that he cannot recall his feelings about the Federal defeat at Bull Run in 1861, and describes the question as "irrelevant." The oath is No. 179 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From S.B. Wait to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated October 1, 1863, is from S.B. Wait, Deputy Provost Marshal of Carroll County, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Wait states that he is sending Comingo the military roll for the 25th sub-district. He asks, on behalf of the enrolling officers, for information about their pay, and he informs Comingo that there has been considerable "ill will" towards the enrolling officers in his community.
Date: October 1, 1863

Title: Petition of Sundry Citizens of Pottawatomie Creek
Description: This petition, dated September 19, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 32 Kansas citizens living near the Pottawatomie, Sugar, and Middle Creeks and the Osage River. The petitioners describe several recent guerrilla attacks in their region, including the Battle of Osawatomie, and ask for Geary to take action. They complain that the attacks, launched by Missourians and “guided by a few desperate men in our midst,” have succeeded in “sacking and burning houses and in robbing and plundering and menacing the lives of our citizens.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 19, 1856

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: In a May 18, 1856 letter to his parents in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas announces that “the blow has been struck, the war has begun.” He reports that two men have been killed near Lawrence and that several, including Governor Robinson, have been captured. He expresses concern that Kansas does not have adequate resources for defense, and he appeals for support: “Tell every one who has the least interest in Kansas that now we want help-–men money and arms.”

Title: From Thomas Carney to E.M. Stanton
Description: This telegram, dated May 9, 1863, is from Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney to E.M. Stanton, U.S. Secretary of War. Carney, writing from Leavenworth, Kansas, requests permission from Stanton to raise a regiment of Home Guards for border protection, as well as two or more “Negro Regiments for General service.” Carney adds that “A portion of the State will be depopulated unless protection given.”
Object Type: Telegram
Date: May 9, 1863

Title: Examination of W.H. Ellis
Description: This is W.H. Ellis's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Ellis, a 35-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was born in Tennessee and that he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government during the Civil War by "taking care of my family the best I could." The oath, labeled No. 120 in a bound volume, was signed by Ellis in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of William Galvin
Description: This is William Galvin's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Galvin, a resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was born in Ireland and that he aided the United States Government during the Civil War by serving in the militia. The oath, labeled No. 57 in a bound volume, was signed by Galvin in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of William A. King
Description: This is William A. King's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. King, a 34-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he demonstrated his loyalty to the Union during the Civil War by "risking my life as a Provost Marshall." The oath, labeled No. 46 in a bound volume, was signed by King in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: P.W. Shannon
Description: This carte de visite depicts P.W. Shannon, who served in Company A, Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph was produced ca. 1861-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of M.A. Miller
Description: This is M.A. Miller's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Miller, a 22-year-old native of Liberty, Missouri, states that he sympathized with the southern side during the war. The unnumbered oath is contained in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Petersburg, Va. Bomb-Proof Shelter in Federal Lines
Description: Black and white photograph of a Union fortification at the Siege of Petersburg.
Object Type: Image

Title: Anderson Morton's Appointment to Second Sergeant
Description: Colonel Joseph W. McClurg informs the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment that Anderson Morton is appointed to Second Sergeant, in Company "A", of the Eighth Regiment of Cavalry, M.S.M..
Date: June 23, 1862

Title: Siege of Atlanta
Description: L. Prang & Co. lithograph print of the Siege of Atlanta as painted by Thure de Thulstrup, circa 1888.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Unknown to A. Comingo
Description: In this letter to A. Comingo, sent December 3, 1863 from Harrodsburg, the writer asks Comingo to send several items he left in Independence, Missouri to Lexington, Kentucky. The writer says that since "all is now quiet at Independence--and…there are no [soldiers] there," Comingo should be able to send the articles he requests.
Date: December 3, 1863

Title: The Burning of Osceola, Missouri
Description: An illustration of James Lane's Sacking of Osceola on September 22, 1861, as published in "The Border Outlaws" (1880) by James W. Buel.
Object Type: Image

Title: Petition from Citizens of Vernon County, Missouri
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on March 28, 1859 by 43 citizens of Vernon County, Missouri. The petitioners request military protection from a threatened attack by Kansas guerrillas. They state that the guerrillas are assembling near the Little Osage River under the command of James Montgomery, and that “the notorious Brown” has again made an appearance in Kansas. The petitioners believe that "it is the full intention of those lawless men to invade the State and rob and murder the inhabitants.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: March 28, 1859

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

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