Civil War

Title: Abstract of Ordinance Expenditure, 1864
Description: This military document includes two abstracts of materials expended or consumed by the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A". These abstracts are documentation of the first and second quarters of 1864.
Date: 1864

Title: From W.W. Thayer to James Montgomery
Description: On April 16, 1861, W.W. Thayer of Boston writes a letter to James Montgomery, encouraging him to mount an insurrection in the South and help liberate the slaves. Thayer argues that an organized slave rebellion could bring a swift end to the war: “a bloody war full of horrors concentrated into a few days or months would be far preferable to one consuming time, money, lives.” He warns Montgomery that the people of the South are brave and that they “will fight to the bitter End.” A note from R.J. Hinton at the bottom of the letter states that James Lane was recently put in command of 1,000 troops in Washington.
Date: April 16, 1861

Title: From A.M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated August 2, 1863, is from Lieut. A.M. Bedford to his wife Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. Bedford, imprisoned at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, tells his wife that he is looking forward to her visit, and that he plans to have a degarian artist to visit and make a portrait of them. He asks her if she received his last letter, and tells her he had enclosed 2 rings for “the little girls.”
Date: August 2, 1863

Title: 1860 Missouri Census Table
Description: This ca. 1860 printed document presents the results of the 1860 Missouri census, showing the population of whites, “free colored” and slaves in each county. The table lists the total state population as 1,182,012, with 1,063,599 whites, 3,572 Free Colored, and 114,931 slaves. Lafayette County has the largest slave population with 6,374 slaves. The table also reveals a small American Indian population in Gasconade and Jackson Counties.
Object Type: Government Document

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

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father and All
Description: On October 30, 1854, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to “Dear Father and all.” Starr describes the hostile atmosphere in Weston: “for 2 years I have lived in this community, and because I was born in the north, have been belied, opposed & persecuted…I have been stigmatized as an abolitionist, & everything done to drive me from the country that could be done.” Starr also writes about attending a meeting of the Self Defensive Association of Platte County, Missouri, to give his opinions on slavery and answer charges of abolitionism.
Date: October 30, 1854

Title: African Methodist Episcopal Church, Nicodemus, KS
Description: View of the east front of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Adams & Third Streets, Nicodemus, Graham County, KS
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Missouri State Militia Special Order No. 52
Description: By order of Brigadier General John B. Sanborn, 1st Lt. W. D. Hubbard calls for James J. Akard and six other commanding officers from the Missouri State Militia 6th and 8th Calvary Regiments to serve as the Court for the trial of a war prisoner.
Date: February 25, 1864

Title: Unidentified Man
Description: Charcoal portrait of unidentified man with suit coat, shirt, and tie. Drawing is signed by the artist with "93" immediately below the signature.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Soldier, Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This sepia carte de visite depicts an unidentified member of the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph, ca. 1861-1865, was produced by A.C. Nichols of Leavenworth, Kansas.
Object Type: Image

Title: Indictment Against Andrew Reeder et al.
Description: This indictment was issued against Andrew H. Reeder, Charles Robinson, James H. Lane, George W. Brown, George W. Dietzler, George W. Smith, Samuel N. Wood, and Gaius Jenkins for the crime of treason. The indictment, issued October 4, 1856 by the 3rd U.S. District Court of Kansas Territory, accuses Reeder and the others of “unlawfully and traitorously” assembling for the purpose of “overthrowing and subverting by force and violence” the government of Kansas Territory, among other crimes.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 4, 1856

Title: The Battle of Boonville, Missouri
Description: Sketch originally appearing in Harper's Weekly of the Battle of Boonville.
Object Type: Image
Date: July 13, 1861

Title: From James Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: On December 22, 1863, James Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal for Chariton County, Missouri, writes from Brunswick, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri. Boyer expresses concern that a number of deserters he arrested were exonerated after being delivered to the authorities at Macon City, Missouri. Boyer believes that the soldiers should have been found guilty of deserting, and declares, "there is no use in having a law if it is not lived up to."
Date: December 22, 1863

Title: Plat of Vernon County, Missouri
Description: Plat of Vernon County, Missouri which includes county seat Nevada, Missouri. The Battle of the Marmaton River, Battle of Dry Wood Creek, the Sacking of Osceola, and the Sacking of Nevada City occured in this county.
Date: 1886

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Description: This letter, dated March 8, 1862, is from Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown. Webber describes marching with his regiment from Kansas City, Missouri to Fort Scott, Kansas, and shares concerns about an upcoming march to Fort Smith, Kansas.
Date: March 8, 1862

Title: General Alfred Pleasonton, September, 1863
Description: Stereograph print card depicting General Alfred Pleasonton seated in front of a building in Warrenton, Virginia.
Object Type: Image
Date: September, 1863

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written between December 20 and 29, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Hudson and Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella describes her trip from Hudson to Grafton with her daughter Ada. She states that she has collected $21.00 from friends and relatives to send back to Kansas, and that many people feel a “deep interest in Kansas troubles.” Florella adds that “People here are all awake upon the troubles that threaten our country.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: December 20, 1860-December 29, 1860

Title: Plat of Deerfield Township, Vernon County, Missouri
Description: Plat of Deerfield Township, Vernon County, Missouri which includes the settlements of Deerfield, Ellis, and Moundville, Missouri. The Battle of Drywood Creek took place on September 2, 1861 southeast of Deerfield along the Big Drywood Creek.
Date: 1903

Title: Battle of Dug Springs
Description: This sketch, originally published in Harper's Weekly on August 24, 1861, depicts the Battle of Dug Springs (August 2, 1861), near present day Clever, Missouri. Union forces under the command of Nathaniel Lyon were victorious in this first skirmish of the Missouri Campaign of 1861.
Object Type: Image
Date: August 24, 1861

Title: Missouri State Militia General Order No. 2
Description: By order of Major John Cosgrove, 1st Lt. T. E. Gray warns that if the soldiers of the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment 1st Battalion will be punished if they continue their insubordinate habits. Particularly, "Any man found shooting his gun or pistol within one mile of his camp without a permit... will be punished for disobedience of orders[.]"
Date: April 25, 1864

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

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