Civil War

Title: From Mary E. Bedford to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated January 11, 1864, is from Mary E. Bedford to her husband, Lieut. Alex M. Bedford. She expresses concern about his ailing health, and promises to send him money and provisions. She shares news of relatives, and reports that “it is peaceable hear now but the lord only knows how long it will remain so.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: January 11, 1864

Title: From A.J. Huntoon to My Dear Wife and Boy
Description: This letter, dated October 6, 7, 10, and 11, 1861, is from A.J. Huntoon to his wife Lizzie and son Prentice. Huntoon, a member of the 5th Kansas Cavalry volunteer regiment, tells his family that he was ordered to take charge of a military hospital in Mapleton, Bourbon County, Kansas. He estimates that there are 50,000-55,000 Union soldiers in Missouri, including the companies of Generals Sturgis, Siegel, and Fremont, and that there are about 70,000 Confederate troops in Missouri under the commandment of Generals McCulloch and Rains. Huntoon predicts that “We will have a big battle in this vicinity ere so long.”
Date: October 6, 1861-October 11, 1861

Title: From Daniel R. Anthony to Sister
Description: This letter, dated February 3, 1862, was written by Daniel R. Anthony in Mound City, Kansas, to his sister. Anthony’s command will march the following day to Humboldt, Kansas; he also plans to visit the Cherokee Nation where “there are 6,000 or 7,000 friendly Indians…ready and willing to fight all rebeldom.” He says that when his troops are on the march, they free and arm every slave they meet, hoping to incite a slave insurrection. Anthony notes that many men believe Frederick Douglass should come to Kansas and raise a regiment of blacks.
Date: February 3, 1862

Title: Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence
Description: This print, originally published in Harper's Weekly on September 5, 1863, shows Quantrill and his rebel guerrillas killing the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas, and setting fire to the buildings.
Object Type: Image
Date: September 5, 1863

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.

Title: Soldier, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This sepia carte de visite, ca. 1861-1865, depicts an unidentified soldier who served in the Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. It was produced by photographer J.P. Babbitt of Fort Scott, Kansas. Carte de visites were small photographs that were often used as calling cards and became very popular during the Civil War.
Object Type: Image

Title: List of Colored Recruits Enlisted, 6th District Missouri
Description: This December 1863 military roll lists the names of "colored recruits" enlisted in the 30th sub-district of the 6th congressional district of Missouri in Chariton County. The roll provides the soldiers' physical characteristics, occupations, birthplaces, and the names of their owners.
Date: December 1863

Title: From G.A. Parsons to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This dispatch, dated August 25, 1859 is from G.A. Parsons, Adjutant General of the Missouri Militia, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Parsons relays a rumor that Kansas guerrillas are threatening to invade the border counties of Missouri, including Bates and Vernon Counties, in retaliation for the arrest of a man named “Pickles.” Parsons suggests that Stewart send an officer to the Kansas line to “watch the movements of the enemy.”
Date: August 25, 1859

Title: Examination of Charles Barbee
Description: This is Charles Barbee's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Barbee, a 48-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 6 years, and was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 252 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: William S. Graham
Description: This portrait of Lieutenant William S. Graham, Company H, 2nd U.S. Volunteers is affixed to a postcard with the words, "Ever Thine" written above Graham's signature. The postcard was sent to Osceola, St. Clair Co., Missouri with a 3 cent stamp attached.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1860 - 1865

Title: Order for Funding from Lexington, Missouri
Description: This is an order for funding issued by the headquarters of the Sixth Military District E.M.M., Lexington, Missouri. The order, issued by Brigadier General Vaughn and dated October 29, 1862, declares that “the disloyal citizens of the City and Township of Lexington are assessed $15,000 for the subsistence of the troops, the families of such as are in indigent circumstances, and refugees.” Recipients of the order are directed to pay their “proportion of the said assessment” at headquarters within ten days.
Date: October 29, 1862

Title: Invoices for Quartermaster Property for 1864
Description: This military document is a collection of Quartermaster Property Invoices for the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A" that shows the transfer of various items such as wagon saddles, horses, and mules in between Captain James J. Akard, Captain R. B. Owen, and Lieutenant G. B. Shubert.
Date: 1864

Title: From Charles Doubleday to James Montgomery
Description: This dispatch, dated April 1, 1862, was sent by Adj. Brig. Gen. Charles Doubleday at Fort Scott, Kansas, to Col. James Montgomery. Doubleday writes that he will investigate the “guerrilla parties” in Bates County as soon as he receives more specific instructions from department headquarters. He says he is reluctant to send his cavalry very far at present since he expects to receive marching orders for them.
Date: April 1, 1862

Title: John Brown Fort, Shenandoah Street, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, WV
Description: Photograph of U.S. Armory watchman's house at Harpers Ferry, where Abolitionist John Brown and his followers saught refuge during their unsuccessful raid on the federal arsenal.
Object Type: Image

Title: From H.C. Wood to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated December 10, 1863, is from U.S. Army Capt. H.C. Wood to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Wood writes from the Provost Marshal General's Office at the War Department in Washington, D.C., clarifying a policy related to the employment of Enrolling Officers on Sundays.
Date: December 10, 1863

Title: From S.P. Higgins to John W. Geary
Description: Lieut. S.P. Higgins writes a letter from Tecumseh, Kansas to Gov. John W. Geary on November 23, 1856. He informs Geary that 31 prisoners in his custody escaped the previous night through holes in the prison walls. He says that he suspected the prisoners were headed for Topeka, so he travelled there, but did not find them. He now suspects that they might have gone to Lawrence, and assures Geary that he will update him when he receives new information.
Date: November 23, 1856

Title: From James Griffing to Unknown
Description: This letter, dated January 10, 1854 but presumably written January 10, 1855, was sent by James Griffing in Wyandotte County, Kansas to an unknown recipient. James discusses pioneer life in Kansas Territory, claiming that it is not at all dangerous: “Our society is mostly all from the East, and you feel just as much composed as when in New England.” Although James believes Missourians are more dangerous than the American Indians, he insists “there is no more reason for a person who attends to his own business to be afraid here” than anywhere else.
Date: January 10, 1855

Title: Invoices for Quartermasters Stores for 1863
Description: This military document is a collection of Quartermasters Stores Invoices for the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A" that shows the transfer of various items such as wagon grease, paper, and mules in between Lieutenant Thomas A. Wakefield, Captain William C. Human, Lieutenant James J. Akard, Lieutenant J. B. Dexter.
Date: 1863

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

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