Civil War

Title: Nicholas Haerle
Description: Two black-and-white photographs depict Nicholas Haerle, a German immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1856. In May 1861, Haerle attended a pro-Union meeting at the Lexington, Missouri courthouse. The meeting was stormed by Confederate supporters and Haerle was shot and wounded in the resulting struggle. He later fled to St. Louis. The September 11, 1862 document on State of Missouri letterhead certifies Haerle’s American citizenship.
Object Type: Image

Title: From A.J. Sexton to Catherine
Description: This letter was written on March 18 and 19, 1862, by A.J. Sexton in camp at Fort Scott, Kansas, to his wife Catherine. He describes the area around Fort Scott as “good farming country,” though thinly settled. A.J. asserts that his company is the largest and best drilled in camp, noting that his regiment “is favored with good health” in comparison to the Kansas regiments, who “have buried from one to four a day.” Part of the letter is written on the back of a printed roster for the 12th Wisconsin Volunteers, which lists A.J. as a private in Co. E.
Date: March 18, 1862-March 19, 1862

Title: Examination of Wilson C. Creek
Description: This is Wilson C. Creek's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Creek, a 37-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri states that he was born in Indiana and that he served in the militia for three years during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 119 in a bound volume, was signed by Creek in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Gen. James G. Blunt
Description: Black and white full-length portrait of Major General James Gillpatrick Blunt posing in uniform. Blunt commanded Union forces in several notable Civil War battles, including the Battle of Prairie Grove, the Battle of Fort Blair, and the Battle of Westport.
Object Type: Image

Title: Inventory and Inspection Report of Public Property
Description: This document is an "Inventory and inspection report of public property (including Captured or "Contraband" Property), belonging to the United States, and held by Co. "A" 8th MSM Cavalry, and for which Captain James J Akard is accountable." This report was completed by Akard and submitted for inspection to Lieutenant D. E. Murphy, Assistant Inspector for the District of Southwest Missouri at Springfield. This specific inventory includes eighteen wedge tents received new from Lt. Stockley Etter on July 4, 1863.
Date: March 29, 1864

Title: From Eugenia Bronaugh to John A. Bushnell
Description: On December 29, 1863, Eugenia Bronaugh of Hickory Grove, Missouri writes a letter to John A. Bushnell in St. Louis. She tells him that she had planned to travel to Deepwater, Missouri, but was unable to go because of the "Kansas Raid." She writes, in reference to Bushnell’s recently freed slaves: “I had hoped that your blacks were giving you no trouble . . . I often wish that ours were as far away.”
Date: December 29, 1863

Title: Signing the Ordinance of Secession of Louisiana, January 26, 1861
Description: Painting by Enoch Wood Perry, Jr. depicting the signing of the Ordinance of Secession of Louisiana on January 26, 1861, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1861

Title: From Charles Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written on February 20, 1861 by Charles Adair in Hudson, Ohio, to his father Samuel Lyle Adair. Charles says that he plans to stop attending school the following week before joining his mother, Florella Brown Adair, in Grafton, Ohio to travel south. He states that his school’s schedule was briefly disrupted by Lincoln’s recent visit to Hudson.
Date: February 20, 1861

Title: John Otis Wattles
Description: A photograph of John Otis Wattles, abolitionist and founder of the Free-State town of Moneka, in Linn County, Kansas.
Object Type: Image

Title: Benjamin McCulloch, C.S.A.
Description: Black and white portrait of Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch.
Object Type: Image

Title: Lexington Courthouse
Description: Partial frontal view of courthouse in Lexington showing cannon ball embedded in column.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: From Samuel B. Lawrence to A. Comingo
Description: On December 3, 1863, Assistant Adjutant General Samuel B. Lawrence writes from the Provost Marshal General's Office in Washington, DC, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri. Lawrence informs Comingo that the nominations he submitted for recruiting agents have been approved, adding that Comingo should notify him if any of the men are currently in the U.S. service.
Date: December 3, 1863

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

Title: Gen. John W. Geary
Description: Glass plate negative of General John W. Geary circa 1860-1870. John W. Geary, former mayor of San Francisco, took office as Kansas territorial governor on September 9, 1856. Geary was appointed by President Franklin Pierce to replace Wilson Shannon and attempt to bring peace to "Bleeding Kansas." Geary attempted to remain neutral in the debate over slavery, but he increasingly sided with Free-Staters and drew the ire of proslavery residents and their Missouri neighbors. After receiving numerous death threats, Geary tendered his resignation to President James Buchanan, but Buchanan fired him on March 12. On March 20, 1857, Geary left office and served as a brigadier general with mixed success under General Ulysses S. Grant.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of John A. Estes
Description: This 1866 loyalty examination document bears the name John A. Estes. Estes, a 48-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has resided in Missouri for 35 years. He declares that he is a "sympathizer with the Rebellion" and does not wish to take the Oath of Loyalty. The document is contained in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From E.B. Alexander to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated November 27, 1863, is from Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General of Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. In response to a letter from Comingo, Alexander states that he is unable to relieve Comingo's Board of the duties imposed upon it by Circular No. 101.
Date: November 27, 1863

Title: From Edward and Sarah Fitch to Dear Mother
Description: Edward Fitch, along with his wife Sarah, writes a letter to his mother in Massachusetts on December 8, 1861. They describe their family’s Thanksgiving celebration in Lawrence, Kansas, where they served a baked turkey and twenty-five pies. Edward goes on to criticize James Henry Lane and accuses him of stealing money. He also expresses disappointment about the removal of John Fremont from military command: “He has been grossly abused by men in high places because they thought he was getting to be more popular than they themselves were.”
Date: December 8, 1861

Title: "An Abolition Trick Exposed!" Eh?
Description: This broadside was published by H. Miles Moore, a writer for the Weston Reporter in Platte County, Missouri, on August 12, 1854. Moore responds to B.F. Stringfellow’s accusations that he is a Freesoiler and “the secret tool of abolitionists.” He angrily denies the charges and claims to despise abolitionists. He includes a letter, signed by 17 other Platte County citizens, that accuses Stringfellow of publicly stating that “all who labor for their daily bread . . . are slaves” and “all females who labor for their daily bread are whores.”
Object Type: Broadside
Date: August 12, 1854

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

Title: Monument to the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry
Description: This photograph depicts a monument to the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. John A. Martin and Generals August Willich, T.J. Wood, and Gordon Granger. A bronze plaque commemorates the regiment's November 23, 1863 battle at Missionary Ridge, which is now a part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The photograph was taken by Schmedling of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Object Type: Image

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

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