Civil War

Title: Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Description: Stereograph of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from 1867. Fort Leavenworth was originally established in 1827 to provide protection along the Santa Fe Trail. During the Civil War, Fort Leavenworth served as a training station for Kansas volunteers, and in 1864 the fort's garrison prepared for a possible attack by Major General Sterling Price on his Missouri Expedition. At an age of more than 180 years, Fort Leavenworth is the oldest post west of Washington, D.C. that remains in continuous operation.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1867

Title: Missouri Militia Request for Recommendations for Enrolling Officers
Description: Missouri Militia Colonel Hosea G. Mullings requests that James J. Akard recommends "competent energetic and reliable men, for Enrolling Officers" in southwestern Missouri.
Date: September 3, 1866

Title: Independence, Missouri
Description: Bird's eye view of the city of Independence, Jackson Co., Missouri 1868.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1868

Title: From Abishai Stowell to Margaret Torrence
Description: On October 14, 1864, Abishai Stowell writes from Fort Smith, Arkansas to his sister Margaret. Stowell, a member of Co. A, 2nd Kansas Volunteers, tells Margaret that her recent letter "was the third letter that I have got for over 8 months and I have written at least forty since that time." He adds that he hastens to answer her letter, "for soldiers don't know at what hour they may be called on to leave camp or how long they will have to stay away."
Date: October 14, 1864

Title: William Clarke Quantrill
Description: Portrait of William Clarke Quantrill from the book "Quantrill and the Border Wars" by William Elsey Connelley (1st Ed., 1909).
Object Type: Image

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father
Description: This letter was written on March 31, 1855, by Frederick Starr in Weston, Missouri, to his father. Starr describes the election fraud that took place at the Kansas legislative elections on March 30, calling it “a high handed outrage.” He says that hundreds of armed, pro-slavery Missourians came into Kansas to disrupt the election, and that more than 800 illegal votes were cast in Leavenworth, Kansas. Starr asks his father to publish the information in his letter in the Albany Evening Journal, without mentioning his name.
Date: March 31, 1855

Title: List of Colored Recruits Enlisted, 6th District Missouri
Description: This March 1864 military roll lists the names of "colored troops" enlisted in the 6th district, 28th sub-district in Chariton County, Missouri. The roll provides the soldiers' physical characteristics, occupations, birthplaces, and the names of their owners.
Date: March 1864

Title: Lt. William Bunkley and Sgt. Channing Bunkley
Description: Two black-and-white portraits—displayed in a single wooden frame—depict Lt. William Bunkley and Sgt. Channing Bunkley in military uniform. The men’s birth and death dates are listed: William lived from 1842-1863 and Channing from 1844-1863. A note indicates that both men served under Confederate General Joseph Shelby; William was a color bearer.
Object Type: Image

Title: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Gettysburg
Description: Black and white photograph of President Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
Object Type: Image
Date: November 19, 1863

Title: From James M. Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated October 1, 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 writes to Comingo regarding the apprehension of several military deserters. Attached to the document is a note from Brig. Gen. O. Guitar, the commanding officer of two of the deserters, along with correspondence between Col. E.B. Alexander and Asst. Adj. Gen. J.A. Campbell.
Date: October 1, 1863-October 12, 1863

Title: From Charles Sumner to My Dear Hale
Description: Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner writes a letter from Washington to "My dear Hale" on March 1, 1856. Sumner criticizes Stephen A. Douglas, Lewis Cass, and the Know Nothing Party, and worries that "this Congress will do nothing for the benefit of Kansas." He expresses concern that Kansas will not be admitted to the Union due to its small population and the lack of support for its constitution.
Date: March 1, 1856

Title: From E.B. Alexander to A. Comingo
Description: On August 9, 1864, Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General in St. Louis, writes to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri in Lexington, Missouri. Alexander states that one black soldier was enlisted from Comingo's district during July 1864, in Clinton County.
Date: August 9, 1864

Title: Charleston, South Carolina. Ruins of Secession Hall
Description: Photograph of the remains of Secession Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, where delegates voted to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860.
Object Type: Image
Date: April, 1865

Title: From Chauncey McKeever to E.B. Alexander
Description: This is a copy of a November 12, 1863 dispatch from Chauncey McKeever, Assistant Adjutant General to Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General of Missouri. McKeever writes from the Provost Marshal General's Office at the War Department in Washington, D.C., providing instructions on payment to Recruiting Agents for each volunteer they enlist.
Date: November 12, 1863

Title: From Edward Bates to James L. McDowell
Description: This letter, dated July 23, 1861, was written by U.S. Attorney General Edward Bates to James L. McDowell, U.S. Marshal in Kansas. Bates replies to McDowell’s request for advice about enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law, declaring that no government official can choose to enforce the laws he likes and ignore those he dislikes. Bates adds that the recent “insurrectionary disorder” in Missouri does not alter its legal status as a member of the Union.
Date: July 23, 1861

Title: The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Description: Mountain Meadows Massacre courtesy of T.B.H. Stenhouse's The Rocky Mountain Saints: a Full and Complete History of the Mormons, from the First Vision of Joseph Smith to the Last Courtship of Brigham Young. The Mountain Meadows Massacre, which occurred September 7-11, 1857, was one notable event in the turbulent period known as the Mormon or Utah War.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1873

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. 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: Resolutions of the Kansas Territorial Legislative Assembly
Description: These documents comprise 14 separate resolutions of the Kansas Territorial Legislative Assembly, dated between 1858 and 1861. The resolutions address a variety of topics, including support for admitting Kansas into the Union as a state; revision of county and township laws; protection of American Indian land rights; and maintaining peace with Missouri by denouncing any attempt by Kansans to interfere with slavery.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1858-1861

Title: From S.F. Chalfin to E.B. Alexander
Description: This letter, dated November 16, 1863, is from S.F. Chalfin, Assistant Adjutant General, to Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General of Missouri. Writing from the War Department in Washington, D.C., Chalfin informs Alexander that when a Deputy or "Special Agent" is sent in pursuit of military deserters, his transportation expenses will be paid, whether or not he is successful in apprehending the deserters.
Date: November 16, 1863

Title: Correspondence With Recruiting Officers and Special Orders (Provost Marshal General's Bureau)
Description: This notebook contains copies of correspondence between the Missouri Provost Marshal General's Bureau and recruiting officers in the field from December 1863 to July 1864. Topics addressed in the correspondence include appointments to various military positions; inventories of supplies and equipage; and information about new recruits. Participants in the correspondence include Col. E.B. Alexander, Lieut. James E. Clark; and Capt. C.W. Noell.
Date: December 1863-July 1864

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

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