Civil War

Title: From Samuel Worthington to My Dear Father
Description: Samuel Worthington writes a letter from Fort Riley, Kansas to his father on October 12, 1864. He has just received news that Gen. Price is advancing his forces, and he expresses fear that Kansas does not have enough troops to defeat him. He also mentions the possibility of a new treaty with the Indians. In a postscript, Worthington reports that Rebels have just arrived in Kansas City, and tells his father “goodbye—If I dont return remember I fought for the right.”
Date: October 12, 1864

Title: Resolutions Presented to the Missouri State Convention
Description: This document presents resolutions drafted ca. March 7, 1861 by Abram Comingo for the Missouri State Convention held in Jefferson City, Missouri. Comingo declares, “we are warmly attached to the Federal Union, and…we will not cease our efforts for its preservation,” but warns that Missouri “will resist and oppose any attempt that may point to the coercion of the seceded States.” Comingo proposes a meeting of representatives from the border states for the purpose of “presenting a plan of adjustment” to the states that have not seceded.
Object Type: Government Document

Title: 1860 Circuit Attorney Election Returns from Saline County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Saline County, Missouri for the circuit attorney election held on November 6, 1860: Jonathan C. Royle received 889 votes and John W. Bryant received 845 votes. On November 7, Jesse Davis, Clerk of the Saline County Court, certified the results.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 7, 1860

Title: POW barracks rebuilt at Fort Delaware
Description: Image of replica POW barracks at Fort Delaware, Pea Patch Island. Confederate prisoners held at the fort included Missouri resident Alex M. Bedford and Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, Missouri State Guard.
Object Type: Image
Date: March 9, 2010

Title: Examination of Joel H. Martin
Description: This is Joel H. Martin's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Martin, a native of Kentucky, states that he has lived in Missouri for 34 years. He says he served in the State Guard during the war and "was arrested on suspicion of being a bushwhacker and was under arrest six weeks." He was later acquitted of the charge. The oath is contained in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Allen T. Ward to My Dear Sister
Description: Allen T. Ward writes a letter from Paola, Kansas to his sister, S.T. Roberts, on October 21, 1861. He describes the warfare in Missouri: “as the Secession army sweeps over it, the union party has to fly for their lives; then in turn comes the union forces under Jim Lane and Montgomery, and all the Secessionists have to leave in a hurry or be shot down as so many wolves.” He states that the war has destroyed much of western Missouri, rendering it “almost entirely depopulated.” He tells her that Jayhawkers have been robbing people in both Kansas and Missouri, and that business and farming in Kansas have mostly ceased.
Date: October 21, 1861

Title: From Philip St. George Cooke to Colonel Preston
Description: This dispatch, dated October 10, 1856, is from Lieut. Col. Philip St. George Cooke to Col. Preston. Cooke states that Col. Eldridge and Gen. Pomeroy are in command of 240 troops, and that they are adequately supplied with arms and ammunition.
Date: October 10, 1856

Title: Nebraska and Kansas
Description: This color map, entitled “Nebraska and Kansas,” shows those two territories, the territory acquired from Mexico in 1854, and a small map of the continental United States. The map was published in 1854 by J.H. Colton and Co. in New York.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1854

Title: Examination of James D. Baxter
Description: This is James D. Baxter's Oath of Loyalty to the United States, given on September 22, 1866. Baxter, a twenty-seven year old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that during the Civil War, he "sympathized with the Government" and served in the Missouri State Militia. He swears that he only left Missouri once during the war, when he was hired to "take some negroes South." He admits that he has cousins who served in the Missouri State Guard, but attests that "I know nothing further." The oath, No. 1 in a bound volume, is signed by Baxter and by James W. James, Clay County Register.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 22, 1866

Title: From D.R. Anthony to Dear Father
Description: On December 22, 1861, D.R. Anthony writes a letter to his father, describing recent “skirmishes” with rebels. He says that he and his comrades killed Hurst, a Missouri Confederate colonel, and several of his soldiers. They also gave horses, mules, oxen, wagons, and carriages to 129 slaves and helped them escape to Kansas. Anthony informs his father that he took possession of a Secessionist flag in Harrisonville, Missouri, and adds that he hopes to take Col. Jennison’s position if Jennison is promoted to General.
Object Type: Letter
Date: December 22, 1861

Title: From John Bretz to Trusten Polk
Description: John Bretz of Buchanan County, Missouri writes a letter to Trusten W. Polk on August 16, 1856, congratulating him on being elected Governor. Bretz also announces his own election to Legislature and expresses happiness that the entire Democratic ticket triumphed over the Know Nothing and Benton Parties. Bretz requests as a favor from Polk to retain his friend Maj. Cochran as warden of the penitentiary.
Date: August 16, 1856

Title: Battle of Wilson's Creek
Description: This sketch, originally published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on August 31, 1861, depicts the Battle of Wilson's Creek. The caption states: "The Great Battle of the West, Wilson's Creek, Missouri-Repulse of the Rebel Cavalry by a section of artillery under Capt. Totten, U. S. A., supported by a company of Capt. Wood's Kansas Rangers (Cavalry), and two companies of Second Regiment of Kansas Volunteers."
Object Type: Image
Date: August 31, 1861

Title: Examination of Nathan D. Law
Description: This is Nathan D. Law's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Law, a 35-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he has lived in Missouri for 10 years and was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 153 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Thomas Carney to Col. James B. Fry
Description: This letter, dated January 9, 1864, was written by Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney in Topeka, Kansas, to Col. James B. Fry, Provost Marshal General, in Washington, DC. Carney says that part of a letter he wrote to Fry was published in the Leavenworth Daily Conservative, “accompanied with scurrilous remarks.” Carney blames Capt. Sidney Clarke, Assistant Provost Marshal General, for publishing the letter, but leaves it up to Fry to determine Clarke's guilt.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: January 9, 1864

Title: From Lizzie P. Huntoon to A.J. Huntoon
Description: This letter was written by Lizzie P. Huntoon between July 14 and July 21, 1861 to her husband A.J. Huntoon. Lizzie expresses concern for her husband’s safety, while questioning his decision to enlist in the military and leave her and their young son on their own. She writes that she wants to go home to Kansas as soon as possible, feeling like a burden upon the people with whom they are staying.
Date: July 14, 1861-July 21, 1861

Title: New York Herald, April 15, 1865
Description: These excerpts of the New York Herald from April 15, 1865 document the final events of the Civil War including Jefferson Davis' Last Proclamation, the Confederate evacuation of Richmond, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: April 15, 1865

Title: From James M. Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated November 25, 1863, is from James M. Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal of Chariton County, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Boyer tells Comingo he suspects that several Chariton County residents are military deserters, but without a proper police force he cannot apprehend them. He expresses further concerns about Bushwhackers and "rebel deserters" who have not taken the Oath of Allegiance.
Date: November 25, 1863

Title: Applications of Moses Chapman
Description: These are Moses Chapman’s applications for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slaves, Joseph Clark and Samuel A. Creel. The applications, dated November 21, 1866 and January 18, 1867, each include an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Chapman lawfully obtained his slaves, and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Lafayette County, Missouri. Notes on pages six and ten indicate that the applications were rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 21, 1864-January 18, 1867

Title: From Sterling Price to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated September 9, 1856, was written by Sterling Price on Executive Department letterhead in Jefferson City, Missouri, to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Price believes that the Missouri citizens currently in Kansas are there to “protect their friends and relatives in Kansas from the murderer, the incendiary, and the robber,” and will disband immediately upon Geary’s order. Price states that if he is wrong, he will do everything in his power to assist Geary in quelling the “disturbance.”
Date: September 9, 1856

Title: Missouri State Militia List of Soldiers to Transferred
Description: By order of Major John Cosgrove, Captain William T. Kittredge provides a list of enlisted men to be transferred from Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company A to Company K.
Date: January 10, 1865

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

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