Civil War

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: Petition from N.J. Chaney & Others
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on January 7, 1859 by N.J. Chaney and 12 other citizens of West Point, Bates County, Missouri. The petitioners request that Dr. Thomas J.B. Rockwell be appointed as surgeon for the Missouri Militia companies serving in Bates County “and in adjoining counties of the border.” Among the petition’s signatories are U.S. Deputy Marshal Andrew J. Russell and Bates County Sherriff John W. Cline.
Object Type: Petition
Date: January 7, 1859

Title: Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Daily Schedule
Description: By order of Major Edward B. Eno, Lt. William S. Gibbs lists the daily schedule for Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry.
Date: April 9, 1863

Title: From T.W. Trego to Dear Sister Alice
Description: This letter, dated September 24, 1862, is from T.W. Trego of Chicago to his sister-in-law Alice in Kansas. He decries the “anxieties of the War” and praises Alice and other women in Kansas for their bravery: “we think very, very often of your exposed situation and believe you must be perfect heroines.” He also commends President Lincoln for announcing that he will issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
Date: September 24, 1862

Title: Report of the Secretary of War
Description: This is Executive Document No. 50, 2nd Session, 33rd Congress, presented to the Senate on February 14, 1855 by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. The report contains copies of correspondence “respecting a claim advanced by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the military reservation at Fort Leavenworth; together with the result of his investigation of the alleged interference of certain army officers…with the rights of the Delaware Indians.”
Object Type: Government Document
Date: February 14, 1855

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

Title: From Edward Fitch to Mr. Editor
Description: This letter, dated July 4, 1856, is from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to the editor of the Hopkinton (MA) Patriot. Fitch states that the Free State Legislature was supposed to convene that day in Topeka, but Colonel Sumner arrived with armed troops and, under orders from Washington, commanded everyone to leave. Fitch declares that “unless the North awakes and men (not fools) are placed in the Presidential chair this fall, Civil War must follow.” He also discusses a group of women who, in response to local rum selling, "took possession of the Liquor, which they spilled without mercy." He signs the letter “Yours for Free men, Free speech, Free Kansas, and Fre-mont.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: From William Nelson to Kate Newland
Description: William Nelson, a Union soldier, writes a letter from Fort Riley, Kansas to Kate Newland on June 1, 1862. Nelson regrets that his regiment is stationed in Kansas, and admits that “My career as a soldier certainly does not seem destined to be a brilliant one.” He writes that he would prefer to serve in the South, despite rumors of rampant illness there, because he feels that his place is “where the danger is most threatening.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: June 1, 1862

Title: From Thomas Carney to James L. McDowell
Description: This letter, dated June 16, 1863, was written by Kansas Governor Thomas Carney in St. Louis, Missouri, to Major General James L. McDowell. Carney plans to travel to Washington to ask Secretary of War Edwin Stanton for approval to raise a regiment of U.S. cavalry to defend Kansas. Carney states that this step, authorized by Major General Schofield, will relieve Kansas from having to pay for its own defense. He advises McDowell to begin planning for the prospective new regiment.
Date: June 16, 1863

Title: Release From Arrest
Description: This document exonerates ten men who were charged with conspiracy to assassinate military officers at a post in Brunswick, Missouri. The document is dated November 29, 1862 and is signed by Brig. Gen. Richard C. Vaughan at the 6th Military District Headquarters in Lexington, Missouri. Vaughan states, “I have examined all the testimony . . . there is no foundation in truth for the charge against them.”
Date: November 29, 1862

Title: 1860 Presidential Election Returns from Holt County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Holt County, Missouri for the Presidential election held on November 6, 1860: Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson received 453 votes; John Bell and Edward Everett received 348 votes; Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin received 202 votes; and John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane received 171 votes. On November 9, James Scott, Clerk of the Holt County Court, certifies the results and notes that Thomas Thoroughman received 313 votes for Circuit Attorney with no opposition.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 6, 1860

Title: Preston B. Plumb
Description: A Portrait of Preston B. Plumb, Senator of Kansas.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1865-1880

Title: Application of George Anderson
Description: This is George Anderson’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Robert. The documents, dated December 30 and 31, 1866, include an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Anderson lawfully obtained his slave, and the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public. The application was filed by Anderson’s attorney, John M. Richardson, in Pettis County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 30, 1866-December 31, 1866

Title: Examination of David M. Morris
Description: This is David M. Morris's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Morris, a 49-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that during the Civil War he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government by "staying at home" and "tending to my own business," as well as "feeding Federal soldiers." The oath, No. 12 in a bound volume, was signed by Morris in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Little Berry Stollings
Description: This is Little Berry Stollings's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Stollings, a 39-year-old Missouri native, states that he lives in Clay County, Missouri and was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 177 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description: On October 14, 1863, Abishai Stowell writes from Springfield, Missouri to his sister. Stowell reports that he was recently home on furlough, and says the family wants to move away from their home. He thinks this is unnecessary: "Our folks live in a place where there is no danger from the Indians & but little from the Guirilas." Stowell believes that many girls are so "afraid that the men will all be killed off before this war ends...they marry men that they would not think of speaking to 4 years ago."
Date: October 14, 1863

Title: Examination of Edward E. Dale
Description: This is Edward E. Dale's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Dale, a 34-year-old Missouri native, states that he was not required to give bond during the war. When asked which side he supported during the war, Dale replies, "I hardly know which I was. I believe I rather not answer that." The oath is No. 260 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Beecher "Bible & Rifle" Church, Wabaunsee, Wabaunsee County, KS
Description: This photograph, taken by Douglas McCleery for the 1958 Historic American Buildings Survey, shows the north facade of the Beecher "Bible and Rifle" Church, built during the Civil War in Wabaunsee, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.
Object Type: Image
Date: June 1958

Title: State vs. Thomas Brown
Description: These documents, created between 1855 and 1856, relate to the Jackson County, Missouri court case State vs. Thomas Brown. Brown is accused of attempting to take four slaves out of Missouri with the intention of procuring their freedom. The slaves were caught in DeKalb County, Missouri in November 1855; a witness recounts that “Brown stated he took those Negroes for the love he had for them.” In a signed statement dated November 28, 1855, Thomas Brown pleads guilty to the charges.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 25, 1855 - March 11, 1856

Title: From W.J. Marion to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated November 2, 1863, is from W.J. Marion to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Marion, the editor of the Plattsburg American in Clinton County, Missouri, responds to Comingo's request for information about advertising in the newspaper.
Date: November 2, 1863

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

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