Civil War

Title: It Went Against Us
Description: Samuel J. Reader painting of the Battle of Mine Creek (or "Little Osage"), Kansas, which occurred October 25, 1864. Reader was a Union prisoner of war captured by the Confederate army; he escaped capture shortly after this battle. Over forty years later in 1906, Reader produced this painting.
Object Type: Image
Date: March 24, 1906

Title: Henry Clay Bruce
Description: Portrait of Liberated Missouri slave Henry Clay Bruce, brother of the first black U.S. Senator Blanche K. Bruce. A literate man, Henry Bruce declared famously that slaves “understood the war to be for their freedom solely, and prayed earnestly and often for the success of the Union cause.”
Object Type: Image

Title: Emancipation Proclamation
Description: Commemorative lithograph celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Thomas Sherwood to Friend Woodward
Description: This letter, dated July 5, 1855, is from Thomas Sherwood in Squaws Leg City to his friend Woodward. Sherwood says that he has just left Pawnee, Kansas, where the Legislature is now in session, and mentions that the Legislature might move to the Shawnee Methodist Mission. He describes a conflict between Kansas Gov. Andrew Reeder and Benjamin Stringfellow, which began when Reeder accused Stringfellow, a Missourian, of voting illegally in Kansas.
Date: July 5, 1855

Title: From John W. Clem to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on August 18, 1859 by John W. Clem in Butler, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Clem, the Sheriff of Bates County, Missouri, reports that James Montgomery and his Jayhawkers have laid siege to Paris, Kansas; they soon intend to cross over into Missouri to free William Wright (alias Pickles), a prisoner being held there for murder and robbery. Clem states that if the Jayhawkers enter Bates County, “I will then call out the entire militia force for defense.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: August 18, 1859

Title: List of Colored Recruits Enlisted, 6th District Missouri
Description: This military roll, ca. 1863-1864, lists the names of "colored recruits" enlisted in the 6th congressional district of Missouri. The soldiers were recruited from Ray, Andrew, Clinton, Lafayette, Pettis, and Saline Counties. The document includes the names of the soldiers' owners and the months of their enlistment.

Title: Galvanized Yankee
Description: This portrait of an unknown "Galvanized Yankee" is affixed to a postcard with a three cent stamp attached on its back with a destination address in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., Illinois. A "Galvanized Yankee" was a captured Confederate soldier that swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1860 - 1865

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

Title: From M.C. Goodlett to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated January 5, 1859, was written by M.C. Goodlett in the Senate Chamber, Jefferson City, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Goodlett states that he received a letter from a newly-formed military company in Johnson County, Missouri, tendering its services to the Governor. Goodlett says that he personally knows all the officers and soldiers of the Johnson Guards and hopes that Stewart will call on them “to assist in driving back the Plundering Murdering Horde” of Kansas outlaws.
Date: January 5, 1859

Title: John C. Fremont Campaign Poster
Description: Proof for a large woodcut campaign banner or poster for John C. Fremont, Republican presidential contender in 1856. Fremont is shown in full-length on a mountain peak, planting an American flag. He is clad in fringed trousers and military coat and waves a visored cap in the air. Below, at right, are a bearded trapper or fellow explorer and a Mexican wearing a wide-brimmed hat. An eagle soars in the air beyond them. This scene is no doubt intended to evoke heroic memories of Fremont's famous exploring expeditions to the Rocky Mountains in 1842 and 1843.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of David Roberts
Description: This is David Roberts's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Roberts, a 50-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 40 years. When asked if he "openly expressed a desire for the success of the Govt" during the war, Roberts answers, "I don't know as I can say that. I have been very careful about saying anything." The oath is No. 199 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From A.F. Cox to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated November 30, 1863, is from A.F. Cox, Deputy Provost Marshal of Platte County, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Cox informs Comingo that there are inaccuracies in recent payrolls for two of his Enrolling Officers, Miles and Carson. He also states that he will print the names of all the soldiers who enlisted in Platte County, in obedience to orders from Washington.
Date: November 30, 1863

Title: The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation Before the Cabinet
Description: Print of F.B. Carpenter's painting of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation on July 22, 1862.
Object Type: Image

Title: Chariton Negros, Enlisted at Glasgow
Description: This military roll, ca. 1863-1864, lists the names of former slaves from Chariton County, Missouri who were enlisted in Howard County, Missouri. The list includes the names of the recruits' former owners and is signed by Col. C.H. Green. A note at the bottom from J.W. Boyer states that he has tried unsuccessfully to obtain the descriptions and dates of enlistment for the recruits.

Title: Missouri State Militia General Order No. 1
Description: This general order, as dictated by Captain David D. Stockton, outlines general regulations for service in the Missouri State Militia, most which are in regard to punctuality of those enrolled.
Date: March 25, 1862

Title: Plat of Dayton Township, Cass County, Missouri
Description: Plat of Dayton Township, Cass County, Missouri which includes the settlement of Dayton, Missouri. On New Year's Day of 1862, jayhawkers under the command of Charles R. Jennison raided Dayton as it had gained a reputation as an enclave for Southern sympathizers.
Date: 1877

Title: From Henry Grimshaw to J.F. Benjamin
Description: This letter, dated September 26, 1863, is from Henry Grimshaw, Captain and Deputy Provost Marshal of Schuyler County, Missouri, to Col. J.F. Benjamin, Provost Marshal of the 8th district of Missouri. Grimshaw reports that a group of soldiers from the Enrolled Missouri Militia attacked several citizens at their homes in Schuyler County. Grimshaw adds that his life was threatened after reporting the incident, and he appeals to Benjamin for assistance.
Date: September 26, 1863

Title: From T.J. Matlock to J.F. Benjamin
Description: This dispatch, dated August 3, 1863, is from T.J. Matlock, Deputy Provost Marshal in St. Louis County, Missouri to Col. J.F. Benjamin, Provost Marshal of the 8th district of Missouri. Matlock writes that he recently arrested a man who was in the "Rebel service" during the Battle of Kirksville, but claimed to have subsequently taken an oath of allegiance to the United States. Matlock states that there is no evidence of the oath, and asks Benjamin whether the man should be released from arrest, adding, "I apprehend many such cases and desire instructions on how to proceed."
Date: August 3, 1863

Title: From Thornton Grimsley to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated November 23, 1860, is from Thornton Grimsley in St. Louis, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Grimsley writes that he is a member of the Constitutional Guards, a new political organization formed in preparation for city elections in St. Louis. Their object, he states, is to “wipe out black republicanism.” He also offers the services of 700-1,000 men for any military service the state might need.
Date: November 23, 1860

Title: From Joseph Moore to Hugh Fisher
Description: Joseph Moore writes a letter from Marysville, Kansas to Rev. Hugh D. Fisher on August 8, 1863. Moore requests that Fisher send African Americans to work in Marshall County: “I understand you have charge of all the contrabands at Leavenworth, hence I write to you requesting you to send me a stout negro man. Quite a number could get good steady employment here at good wages.”
Date: August 8, 1863

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

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