Civil War

Title: Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, 1864
Description: This military document is a return of ordnance and ordnance stores for Company "A" 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia under command of Captain James J. Akard for the second quarter of 1864.
Date: July 7, 1864

Title: John Brown
Description: Photograph showing three-quarter length portrait of John Brown, with beard, facing slightly right.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1859

Title: Missouri Tasting Secession Soup, and Gets Burnt! and Thinks She Won't Go In
Description: Political cartoon commenting on the lack of support for secession in Missouri.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Act to Provide for Calling a State Convention, 1861
Description: This act, approved January 21, 1861 by Missouri Secretary of State B.F. Massey in Jefferson City, Missouri, calls for a state convention to consider the “relations between the Government of the United States… and the Government and people of the State of Missouri; and to adopt such measures for vindicating the sovereignty of the State, and the protection of its institutions, as shall appear to them to be demanded.” The act states that delegates to the convention will be elected by popular vote on February 18, 1861 and will convene in Jefferson City on February 28, 1861. The document is signed by B.F. Massey and Missouri Gov. Claiborne Fox Jackson.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: January 21, 1861

Title: From David M. Fox to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated November 27, 1860, is from David M. Fox in Fredericktown, Missouri to Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Fox complains about violent guerrilla attacks launched by James Montgomery and John Brown. He claims that the people in his town have neither arms nor militia for defense, and he asks Stewart to send somebody to organize a militia. Fox also complains that the election of President Lincoln has “thrown a gloom over our people.”
Date: November 27, 1860

Title: Examination of John McKarmin
Description: This is John McKarmin's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. McKarmin, a 22-year-old native of Ireland, states that he has lived in Missouri for 14 years and served in the militia during the war. The unnumbered oath is contained in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Application of John H. Peacock
Description: This is John H. Peacock’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Antony Mason. The application, dated December 11, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Lafayette County, Missouri. Also attached is a signed statement that Peacock lawfully purchased another slave, Archie, and the October 9, 1854 bill of sale for Archie.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 9, 1854 and December 11, 1866

Title: Diary of Dr. J.H.P. Baker
Description: This is an excerpt from the diary of Dr. J.H.P. Baker, an army doctor working under the command of Gen. Joseph O. Shelby. The entries included here are from October 10-27, 1864. Baker discusses conscription, bushwhackers, travelling across Missouri, and marching to Price’s headquarters. He mentions the Battle of Boonville, the Second Battle of Lexington, the Battle of the Big Blue, the Second Battle of Independence, the Battle of Westport, and the Battle of Cedar Creek.
Object Type: Diary
Date: October 10, 1864-October 27, 1864

Title: From Robert M. Stewart to D.M. Frost
Description: This dispatch, dated December 10, 1860, is from Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart to Brig. Gen. D.M. Frost at Camp Daniel Boone. Stewart orders Frost to station 200 men on the Kansas-Missouri border to protect Missouri citizens from the “wanton and murderous attacks of the outlaws and bandits.” The order is signed by Stewart and Lt. Col. John T. Tracy.
Date: December 10, 1860

Title: List of Colored Recruits Enlisted, 6th District Missouri
Description: This February 1864 military roll lists the names of "colored recruits" enlisted in the 27th sub-district of the 6th congressional district of Missouri in Chariton County. The roll provides the soldiers' physical characteristics, occupation, birthplace, and the names of their owners.
Date: February 1864

Title: Letters Received (Kansas Provost Marshal's Office)
Description: This notebook contains copies of correspondence received by the Kansas Provost Marshal's Office in Leavenworth, Kansas, between December 1863 and March 1864. Topics addressed include military enrollment, soldiers' requests for extended sick leave, and general management of the office. Participants in the correspondence include Provost Marshal General James B. Fry; Sidney Clarke, Kansas Acting Asst. Provost Marshal General; and J. McCahon, Provost Marshal for the Northern District of Kansas.
Date: December 1863-March 1864

Title: Western House, or Pro-Slavery Hotel, Fort Scott, Kansas
Description: A crude illustration of the Western House, also known as the Pro-Slavery Hotel, that burned on December 16, 1858 during James Montgomery's raid on Fort Scott, Kansas.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Examination of Patrick Barry
Description: This is Patrick Barry's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Barry, a 55-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that he was born in Ireland and that he sympathized with the United States Government during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 76 in a bound volume, was signed by Barry in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From J.D. Kirk to Dear Sister
Description: This is a handwritten copy of a letter from J.D. Kirk in California to his sister on March 3, 1863. Kirk writes about the debate over slavery, criticizing "this bogus, free-negro, puritan congress" and explaining that his father opposes abolition of slavery in parts of the country "where the economy depends solely on its continuation." He also mentions the recently adopted Conscription Act, and predicts an imminent end to the Civil War.
Date: March 3, 1863

Title: Petition from Leavenworth Women
Description: This petition, written ca. September 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 16 women in Leavenworth, Kansas. The petitioners complain that they have been driven from their homes by a group of armed men. They say that some of their husbands have been imprisoned or extradited, “leaving us unprotected in the midst of a scene of general robbery and all too frequently of murder.” They also claim that the mayor of Leavenworth and other city officials were aware of the raids and failed to stop them. The petitioners ask Geary for his assistance.
Object Type: Petition

Title: Chloroform Tin
Description: Chloroform tin used by Civil War surgeons to render wounded soldiers unconscious. During the Civil War, chloroform slowly replaced ether as an incapacitating agent to subdue struggling and suffering patients. Chloroform was administered to wounded soldiers by placing drops of the drug onto a cone-shaped cloth, which was placed over the patient's nose and mouth.
Object Type: Image

Title: From W. Leonard Birney to A. Comingo
Description: On December 25, 1863, W. Leonard Birney writes from Plattsburg, Clinton County, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri. Birney states that he has accepted the position of Recruiting Agent for Clinton County, but has not heard anything more from Comingo. He adds that the printed enrollment lists need to be corrected, because certain names are missing.
Date: December 25, 1863

Title: From Henry S. Glaze to James Boyer
Description: On December 18, 1863, Capt. Henry S. Glaze, 9th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, writes from Macon, Missouri to James Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal for Chariton County, Missouri. Glaze sends a summary of his recent interviews with a number of soldiers accused of deserting, noting that most of them were properly discharged or released unconditionally.
Date: December 18, 1863

Title: From Alex M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: On January 26, 1865, Alex M. Bedford writes from Hilton Head, South Carolina, to his wife, Mary E. Bedford, in Savannah, Andrew County, Missouri. Alex writes, “I must get out of prison or I will soon go to my long home[.] I am leaner in flesh than I ever was…I am so weak I reel as I walk & nearly lossed my eyesight.” He asks Mary to verify that it is safe for him to return home, and inquires whether James Bohart has returned yet.
Date: January 26, 1865

Title: Examination of Nathaniel Grant
Description: This is Nathaniel Grant's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Grant, a 48-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, says that he felt "a little sorry" when Gen. Sterling Price captured Gen. Mulligan's army at Lexington, Missouri, and that he felt "rather down in the mouth" when the Federal army was defeated at Bull Run in 1861. The oath, labeled No. 52 in a bound volume, was signed by Nathaniel Grant in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

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

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