Civil War

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: 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: 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

Title: Missouri State Militia Notification of New Command
Description: This General Order notifies the Missouri State Militia that Lt. Col. Joseph W. McClurg replaces Major William Dean Colman as Commander of the State forces.
Date: January 18, 1862

Title: From W.J. Patterson to Sterling Price
Description: This telegram is from W.J. Patterson in Parkville, Missouri to Gov. Sterling Price in Jefferson City, Missouri. The telegram, dated April 26, 1855, states that an armed mob destroyed Patterson’s printing press and threatened to kill the citizens of Platte County if they did not leave. Patterson, an editor of a Free Soil paper, The Parkville Luminary, asks Gov. Price to send state authorities to protect the county, emphasizing that danger is imminent.
Object Type: Telegram
Date: April 26, 1855

Title: From George W. Deane to the Commander of Lawrence Forces
Description: This dispatch, dated August 26, 1861, is from George W. Deane at Camp Briggs in New Lancaster, Miami County, Kansas to the “Commander of Lawrence forces.” Deane asks the officer to join forces “for the purpose of Clearing the Border of Rebel forces.” He states that his goal is to concentrate as many forces in New Lancaster as he possibly can. He tells the officer to meet him in New Lancaster.
Date: August 26, 1861

Title: From S.S. Sawyer to John P. Bowman
Description: This telegram, dated March 9, 1861, was sent by S.S. Sawyer in Jefferson City, Missouri, to John P. Bowman (presumably the sheriff of Lexington, Missouri). Sawyer relates details of a committee report, presumably that of the Missouri State Convention’s Committee on Federal Relations, which was meeting in St. Louis to consider secession. Sawyer states that the committee is "against secession, against coercion, [and] for Crittenden amendment." He notes that "the majority [are] for national, the minority for border slave state convention."
Object Type: Telegram
Date: March 9, 1861

Title: From Calvin Iserman to Brother William
Description: In this letter of September 5, 1858, Calvin Iserman writes from Independence, Missouri to his brother William. Calvin declares that Independence is hostile to free-staters: “Most of the head men of this town, and the wealthiest, are slave holders who…hate a free-state man worse than they do the Devil.” Calvin adds that his father plans to move to Kansas Territory in the fall or spring to live “among some free state men.” The letter includes a separate note to “sister Gus,” possibly written by Calvin’s wife.
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 5, 1858

Title: Fort Scott Army Post, Officers Quarters
Description: The Fort Scott officers quarters were constructed between 1842 to 1848. Army officers and their families who were posted at Fort Scott lived in the quarters.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1890-1900

Title: John Wadsworth (Mixed Blood) n.d.
Description: Portrait of John Wadsworth, a member of the Peoria Tribe, no date.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Governor Charles Robinson
Description: Photograph of Governor Charles Robinson. Robinson, an ardent Free-Stater associated with the New England Emigrant Aid Company, was named Kansas territorial governor by the illegitimate Topeka legislature on January 15, 1856. He was never officially recognized as territorial governor.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: General Orders, No. 4
Description: Maj. W. Dean Colman of the Missouri State Militia issued General Order No. 4 on January 10, 1862. The order states that his battalion received a donation of clothing from a group of women in Springfield, Mass. Colman states that his soldiers have an obligation to "conquer this wicked rebellion" and make every effort to gain the approval of their families and the general public. The order was signed by S.B. Shaw, Post Adjutant, at the headquarters of the Missouri State Militia in Jefferson City.
Date: January 10, 1862

Title: Certificate of Exemption for William Glenn
Description: This certificate of exemption, dated April 2, 1864, excuses William Glenn from serving in the Missouri Militia due to dyspepsia and “Constitutional disability”. It is signed by Dr. J.R. Sands and R.M. Holland, Commissioner of Exemptions, in the town of Laclede in Linn County, Missouri.
Date: April 2, 1864

Title: From A. Comingo to E.B. Alexander
Description: This dispatch, dated November 19, 1863, is from Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri, to Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General of Missouri. Comingo asks for Alexander's help in procuring military escorts for an Enrolling Officer. The officer will be recruiting volunteers in Lafayette County, which is threatened by "a few guerrillas prowling around."
Date: November 19, 1863

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

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