Civil War

Title: From Orville Chester Brown to Friend Pomroy
Description: These are two drafts of a letter written by Orville Chester Brown to his friend Pomroy on December 12, 1861. Brown decries the evil of slavery, declaring that it has “poisoned and demoralized not only the social and political system, but the most sacred fountains of justice.” Congress will be meeting soon to discuss slavery, Brown says, and he hopes that they will end “the barbaric institution.” If slaves are legal property, he reasons, and if Congress has passed laws confiscating the property of rebels, then the rebels’ slaves should be confiscated and set free.
Date: December 12, 1861

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: This May 26, 1864 letter is from John A. Bushnell of Clinton, Missouri to Eugenia Bronaugh. He tells Eugenia that he avoids going out much of the time because he is afraid of being attacked by bushwhackers. He also tells her that, according to newspaper reports, Joseph Orville Shelby recently crossed the Arkansas River with 2,000 troops. He voices frustration with news sources, which he describes as “stirring” but “confused and contradictory.”
Date: May 26, 1864

Title: Invoice of Quartermaster Property
Description: This military document is an invoice of quartermaster's stores created in duplicate from Captain W. C. Human on January 11, 1863. These supplies, quires of paper, were given to Lieutenant James J. Akard for use by the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A".
Date: January 11, 1863

Title: Examination of Thomas Leonard
Description: This is Thomas Leonard's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Leonard states that he has resided in Missouri for eight years and that he visited Kansas once during the war "and stayed about an hour." The oath is No. 228 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Claiborne F. Jackson
Description: Illustration of Claiborne Fox Jackson, Governor of Missouri from 1860 until his death in 1862. This engraving originally appears in the 1886 article "Abraham Lincoln: A History; The Border States" by John G. Nicolay and John Hay, published in The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Vol. 36, published in 1888.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1886

Title: William (Bill) Hulse
Description: Charcoal portrait drawing of a seated William Hulse (Bill) dressed in shirt with pullover decorated on edges typical of Quantrill's guerrillas, tie, and hat. A member of Quantrill's guerrillas, Hulse participated in the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, in August 1863, and the massacre at Centralia, Missouri, September 1864. On July 26, 1865, he surrendered at Samuel's Depot, Kentucky. Hulse died in 1890 and is buried in the Lee's Summit, Missouri, cemetery.
Object Type: Image

Title: From A.M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated October 12, 1864, is from Lieut. Alex M. Bedford to his wife Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. He writes from Morris Island off the coast of Charleston, S.C., where he is imprisoned. He informs his wife that he has written to Gen. Craig and requested parole. He tells Mary, “I am very tired of prison life + want to get out if there is any honorable way.”
Date: October 12, 1864

Title: Jesse James
Description: Charcoal portrait of Jesse James dressed in suit coat, shirt, and cravat. In 1863, James joined Quantrill's Guerrillas and after the Civil War became leader of the James-Younger gang. He was shot by a new member of his gang, Robert Ford, April 3, 1882.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Description: Leigh R. Webber writes a letter from Lawrence, Kansas to Miss Brown on October 22, 1859. He reports on recent events in Kansas politics, mentioning that Charles Robinson was nominated for Governor and James Henry Lane plans to run for Senate if Kansas is admitted to the Union. He reports that John Brown has caused "quite a row in the East" and criticizes Brown's "insane madness against the Slave Power."
Date: October 22, 1859

Title: From Sumner Corbin to Frank Walker
Description: Sumner Corbin writes a letter from Linn County, Kansas to his friend Frank Walker on March 4, 1862. He tells Walker that many local men have enlisted in the 3rd and 4th Kansas Volunteer Regiments under the command of Col. Montgomery. He adds that a number of them no longer like Montgomery because he refused to commission Charles Jennison. Since then, Corbin says, Jennison became a Brigadier General of another regiment and has “cleaned out all the border counties of Missouri.”
Date: March 4, 1862

Title: Charles Jennison's Jayhawkers
Description: Antislavery guerrillas under Charles Jennison attacking civilians in Missouri.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1864

Title: A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand
Description: This is a copy of Abraham Lincoln's speech, "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand", delivered on June 16, 1858 at the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois. This speech is preserved here in its entirety with original italics as part of a 1936 publication that includes an introduction by Douglas C. McMurtrie.
Object Type: Speech
Date: June 16, 1858

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. The carte de visite was produced by R.H. Kimball & Company of Leavenworth, 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: Missouri State Militia Special Order No. 4
Description: By order of Missouri State Militia Major Edward B. Eno, Dubart E. Murphy instructs company commanders to secure horses at night in order to prevent their escape.
Date: September 25, 1862

Title: Fletcher Taylor with Frank and Jesse James
Description: Charcoal drawing of three of Quantrill's guerrillas: Fletcher Taylor (left), Frank James (sitting), and Jesse James (right). Fletch and Jesse are dressed in suits and hats; Frank is hatless and in uniform.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: From T.E. Brawner to Sue Brawner
Description: This letter, from January 12, 1862, is from T.E. Brawner in Linneus, Missouri, to Sue Brawner. T.E., presumed to be a Union soldier, writes “I am now out of the service but if the Rebels make their raids in this State again this summer, you will no doubt hear of me being in the service again.” T.E. notes that, regardless of the War, he has not "lost any of my love for the old stars and stripes." He sends his love for his son Eddie, asking Sue to “tell him Pa wants to see him more than ever.”
Date: January 12, 1862

Title: Diary of the Official Activities of the District Provost Marshal (6th District Missouri)
Description: This notebook documents the official activities of A. Comingo, District Provost Marshal, 6th District of Missouri, between July 1863 and April 1865. Included in the journal are records of appointments and meetings attended by Comingo, his daily activities running the office, and a report of vouchers issued and paid for using his "individual funds."
Date: July 1863-April 1865

Title: From Samuel R. Ayres to Lyman Langdon
Description: This letter from Samuel R. Ayres to Lyman Langdon is dated January 1, 1863, the day that President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. In his letter, Ayres expresses support for the proclamation, but mentions the possibility of it being revoked and questions whether or not slaves will indeed be set free. Ayres also reports that his two sons are in Gen. Grant’s division of the 7th Kansas Cavalry Regiment and have had to fight nearly every day.
Object Type: Letter
Date: January 1, 1863

Title: From Thomas Ewing to A.O. Runyan and Family
Description: This extract of Special Order No. 64 is addressed to A. O. Runyan and his family in Independence, Missouri. The order, issued from Headquarters, District of the Border in Kansas City, Missouri on August 29, 1863, instructs Runyan's family "to remove from this District within ten days," and forbids them from going to reside in Platte, Clay, Ray, or Carroll counties in Missouri. The order is issued by Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing and signed by Maj. Preston B. Plumb, Chief of Staff.
Date: August 29, 1863

Title: From S.F. Chalfin to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated August 26, 1863, is from S.F. Chalfin, Assistant Adjutant General, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Writing from the War Department in Washington, D.C., Chalfin states that the Provost Marshal General has approved Comingo's request for payment of his employees.
Date: August 26, 1863

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