Civil War

Title: From A.M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated July 19, 1864, is from Lieut. Alex M. Bedford, of the 3rd Missouri Cavalry, to his wife Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. Writing from Fort Delaware, where he is imprisoned, Bedford tells his wife that he and his friend, Lieut. James M. Bohart, are attempting to get parole. He asks his wife to find Gen. James Craig and ask for his assistance in granting Bedford parole.
Date: July 19, 1864

Title: Examination of Hiram Chaney
Description: This is Hiram Chaney's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Chaney, a 43-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, swears that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 131 in a bound volume, was signed by Chaney in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Proceedings of the Citizens of Tecumseh
Description: This document details the proceedings of a meeting of Tecumseh, Kansas citizens held at the Tecumseh courthouse on November 26, 1856. The attendees appointed 12 men to serve as delegates at an upcoming convention in Leavenworth. They also voted on and approved several resolutions, including a commitment to establishing peace in Kansas, and an agreement to support Gov. John W. Geary. The document is dated November 29, 1856 and is signed by 18 citizens.
Object Type: Document
Date: November 29, 1856

Title: Discharge of Nathaniel B. Mitchell
Description: These are the official discharge papers for Nathaniel B. Mitchell, who served as a private under Confederate Captain John S. Percival in the Missouri 2nd Infantry from June to December 1861. Mitchell enlisted at Camp Holloway in Jackson County, Missouri, and was discharged in Osceola, Missouri. The document, dated December 11, 1861, notes that Mitchell was discharged after completing his six-month term of service.
Date: December 11, 1861

Title: James Hicklin Documents
Description: These documents attest that James Hicklin, a citizen of Lexington, Missouri, provided supplies and money to the Union army several times during the course of the war. Hicklin purchased $2,000 in state defense bonds on June 15, 1861, and received orders of protection from the army in February, September, and November 1862. He gave an oath of loyalty to the United States on July 8, 1862, which limited his movements to “Lafayette and Saline Counties.”
Object Type: Legal Document

Title: Soldier, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This sepia carte de visite, ca. 1861-1865, depicts an unidentified soldier who served in the Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The carte de visite was produced by photographer F.A. Olds of Covington, Indiana. Carte de visites were small photographs that were often used as calling cards and became very popular during the Civil War.
Object Type: Image

Title: Receipt of Clothing for Military Duty, 1862
Description: This military document shows that "the undersigned Non-commissioned Officers, Artificers, Musicians and Privates... do hereby acknowledge to have received of Capt. David D. Stockton, the several articles of Clothing" that are listed along with the name and signature of every individual in the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A". This disbursement of clothing was done under witness of Colonel Joseph J. Gravely.
Date: January 2, 1862

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father
Description: On February 26, 1855, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to his father. Starr states that after the Self Defensive Association ordered all free blacks to leave the city within 30 days, the local citizens armed themselves to prevent the order being carried out. Ten days later, the citizens forced “a mulatto barber, who was in the habit of gambling & drinking with white men,” to leave the city; “To this no one made any objection for he was generally considered a bad citizen.” Starr adds that the community has turned against Gen. Stringfellow, who was accused of calling all servants “whores.”
Date: February 26, 1855

Title: Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, 1862
Description: This Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation to take effect on Janurary 1st, 1863, only granted freedom to slaves residing in states in active rebellion. The document is so conditional that Union captured counties or cities of seceded states such as New Orleans were not subject to this Proclamation.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 22, 1862

Title: Examination of Timothy Hallissy
Description: This is Timothy Hallissy's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Hallissy, a 24-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that he was born in Ireland and that he served in the Enrolled Militia during the Civil War. He says that he sympathized with Gen. Mulligan when Mulligan and his army were captured by Gen. Price at Lexington, Missouri. The oath, labeled No. 85 in a bound volume, was signed by Hallissy on September 29, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 29, 1866

Title: Examination of Robert S. Reardin
Description: This is Robert S. Reardin's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Reardin, a 45-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 13 years and served in Capt. Moss' company during the war. He says he was required to give bond, "but it was rescinded by Col. Penick." The oath is No. 218 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From P. Naughton to A. Comingo
Description: On December 15, 1863, Capt. P. Naughton, 10th Missouri Cavalry, writes from the Recruiting Station in St. Louis to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri. Naughton states that he has been authorized by Col. Alexander to ask Comingo to "enlist all those men who would like to join my regiment, and furnish them Transportation here."
Date: December 15, 1863

Title: Henry Barnes, Henry Boothe, Fox Winne, and N.D. Horton
Description: This 1863 black and white photograph depicts four soldiers: Henry Barnes, Henry Boothe, Fox Winne, and N.D. Horton. All four were enrolled in Company G, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1863

Title: Battle of the Big Blue
Description: Benjamin D. Mileham painting of the Battle of the Big Blue, which occurred in Jackson County, Missouri, on October 22, 1864.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1896

Title: Examination of Edward P. Pickett
Description: This is Edward P. Pickett's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Pickett, a 21-year-old Missouri native, states that he manifested his loyalty during the war by "staying at home and obeying the laws." The oath is No. 229 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Soldier, Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This carte de visite depicts an unidentified member of the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph was produced ca. 1861-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: From E.B. Alexander to William Fowler
Description: On August 7, 1863, Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General in St. Louis, writes to Capt. William Fowler, Provost Marshal for the 7th District of Missouri, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Alexander copies the text of a communication he received from the Provost Marshal General, stating that Deputy Provost Marshals are not in the U.S. service and are therefore eligible for the draft.
Date: August 7, 1863

Title: Statement of C.W. Babcock
Description: This is C.W. Babcock’s sworn statement to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Dated October 11, 1856, the statement claims that a man named Castleman, posing as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, unlawfully arrested Babcock in Topeka, forcibly moved him to Lecompton, and held him there for three hours.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 11, 1856

Title: Quarterly Return of Quartermaster's Stores, 1863
Description: This military document is a return of quartermaster's stores for Company "A" 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia under command of Captain James J. Akard for the second quarter of 1863.
Date: 1863

Title: From James M. Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated November 16, 1863, is from James M. Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal of Chariton County, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Boyer reports that several new volunteers have enlisted in Chariton County. He lists the name, age, race, occupation, and birthplace for each recruit.
Date: November 16, 1863

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

Error message

In collections

Pages

Pages

Object Type

Local Subject

People

Geographic Subject

Owning Organization