Civil War

Title: Battle of Spotsylvania
Description: L. Prang & Co. lithograph print of the Battle of Spotsylvania as painted by Thure de Thulstrup, circa 1887.
Object Type: Image

Title: Proclamation of Daniel Woodson
Description: This proclamation was issued July 4, 1856 by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Woodson forbids all persons claiming legislative authority or power in Kansas from assembling at Topeka, Kansas and from organizing, attempting to organize, or acting in any legislative capacity whatsoever. Woodson declares that this proclamation upholds President Pierce’s proclamation of February 11, 1856, which decreed that all such acts would be considered insurrectionary.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: Statements of Clothing Prices and Clothing Invoices
Description: This military document includes a statement on clothing prices beginning in July 1861. Following this statement are two invoices of clothing turned over to Captain David D. Stockton from Colonel Joseph W. McClurg and Captain Henry D. Moore, all of which are officers of the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment.
Date: December 8, 1862

Title: Examination of Michael Dixon
Description: This is Michael Dixon's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Dixon, a 45-year-old native of Ireland, states that he has lived in Missouri for 16 years and "was one week in the service" during the war. He also says that he was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862, and was not required to give bond. The oath is No. 248 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of John Dulin
Description: This is John Dulin's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Dulin, a 48-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he "was on the side of the federal Government" during the war. The oath is No. 155 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: William T. Anderson
Description: A photograph of William "Bloody Bill" T. Anderson that appears in the 1914 publication of "Three years with Quantrell; a true story".
Object Type: Image
Date: 1864

Title: John T. Hughes
Description: Photograph of Colonel John Taylor Hughes of the First Infantry Regiment, Fourth Division, Missouri State Guards. A veteran of the Mexican War, Hughes joined the Missouri State Guard following the Camp Jackson Affair and participated in several battles including the Battle of Carthage, the Battle of Wilson's Creek, the Siege of Lexington, and the First Battle of Independence where he was killed while leading a charge.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: 1st Kansas Colored Infantry flag
Description: Regimental flag of the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry, who triumphed over the Missouri State Guard in the Battle of Island Mound. It was the first battle of the Civil War to be fought by a regiment of African-American soldiers.
Object Type: Image

Title: Ho for Kansas!
Description: One of Benjamin "Pap" Singleton's fliers urging African Americans to leave for Kansas. Ultimately, Singleton's advertisements prompted thousands of individuals and families to leave the South.
Object Type: Leaflet
Date: March 18, 1878

Title: Application of Montgomery Slemons
Description: This is Montgomery Slemons’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, George. The application, dated November 14, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Slemons lawfully acquired George, and the signatures of two witnesses, a lawyer, and a notary public in Clinton County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the second page indicates that the application was rejected. Also included is a signed statement that Slemons lawfully purchased another slave, Nat.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 14, 1866

Title: From James Griffing to Augusta
Description: This April 6, 1855 letter was written by James Griffing in Wakarusa, Kansas, to Augusta. James has been helping some new “pioneer friends” stake a claim and become settled in Kansas Territory, remarking, “You can hardly think how fast the emigration is pouring in from the free states.” James describes a recent episode of election fraud: “armed forces from Missouri came and took possession of the ballot boxes and pretty much carried on the election as they pleased. Their proceedings will only work against them.”
Date: April 6, 1855

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on August 20, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas. Florella says that she has become something of a local celebrity as a “Kansas ‘Lion,’” and that people often stop by to visit her. She says that she met many old friends and classmates at a gathering in Oberlin. Florella reports that her son Charles has an opportunity to attend school in Hudson, Ohio, and asks Samuel what he thinks about this prospect.
Date: August 20, 1860

Title: From "C." to "Col."
Description: This letter, dated September 21, 1861, is from "C." in St. Joseph, Missouri to "Col." C. reports that the Federal troops surrendered at the Battle of Lexington on September 20. He writes that "our country has been rob[b]ed by both parties . . . nearly evry body that is worth any thing has been rob[b]ed more or less, no matter what their politics are." He adds that people are "bitter" about the Platte Purchase, and predicts that fighting will ensue.
Date: September 21, 1861

Title: Sterling Price
Description: Major General Sterling Price led the largest Confederate cavalry raid of the war.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1860-1870

Title: From Thomas Carney to James L. McDowell
Description: This dispatch, dated September 15, 1863, is from Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney to General James L. McDowell. Carney informs McDowell that Col. C.G. Foster and Major Crowell of the Kansas State Militia want additional arms and cavalry. He urges McDowell to grant their request.
Date: September 15, 1863

Title: Medical Record of Examination of Recruits
Description: This is a bound volume of records noting the medical examinations of men recruited to the Union Army in Kansas. The records, dating from November 5, 1864 to April 20, 1865, include the recruits' names, ages, country or state of birth, occupation, height, complexion, eye and hair color, chest measurements, race, and town or county of residence.
Date: November 5, 1864-April 20, 1865

Title: From James Montgomery to G.L. Stearns
Description: These two letters were sent to G.L. Stearns by James Montgomery. Writing from Mound City, Kansas on May 8, 1861, Montgomery states that he has organized a regiment and accepted a position on the Governor’s War Council. He reports that the Missourians are “trying to stir up the Indians on our border,” and asks Stearns for two small breech-loading guns. Writing from Lawrence, Kansas on June 21, 1861, Montgomery says that southern Kansas is threatened by invasion from Missouri and Arkansas, while Union men in Missouri are either driven out of the state or drafted into the Confederate army. Montgomery states that he has used Stearns' letter of credit at various times, and thanks him for his generosity.
Date: May 8, 1861 and June 21, 1861

Title: Extracts From Instructions to Capt. A.J. Weaver
Description: This unsigned document is an extract of military instructions to Capt. A.J. Weaver, dated June 26, 1858. Weaver is instructed to “preserve the peace and protect all the peaceable inhabitants in the counties of Bourbon and Linn particularly.” The writer adds, “I cannot too strongly urge on you the importance of establishing and keeping up a good understanding with the people living on the Missouri side of the boundary line…in no event will you allow the troops under your command to enter the State of Missouri. You will see that your men do not annoy the people...or in any way needlessly alarm the community."
Date: June 26, 1858

Title: Examination of James Smithey
Description: This is James Smithey's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Smithey, a 50-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has resided in Missouri for 16 years and has always denounced the rebellion in conversation. The oath is No. 207 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From S.H. Holmes to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated December 21, 1863, is from S.H. Holmes in Liberty, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Holmes reports that he arrested a deserter and turned him over to Col. Moss. Holmes asks Comingo to give him the authority to make arrests, claiming that otherwise "it will be next to impossible for me to discharge my duties as an officer of my Government."
Date: December 21, 1863

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

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