Richard Henry Roberts was born on November 11, 1843 in Brookville, Indiana to Billingsley and Emily Roberts.1 In the spring of 1853, he moved to Cedar County, Missouri where he lived until 1864 when Guerrilla violence forced his family to relocate to Nebraska.2 He received letters from two of his cousins in the Union army, George and Henry Swan.

George Swan was a member of the 6th Missouri Cavalry. Swan was not married and was very close with his immediate family hence his frequent writings to his cousin. His letters provided considerable insight into the conflict in southern Missouri. From the movements of his regiment to guerrilla warfare, disease, and capture, he endured a variety of experiences during his service. Swan was discharged from the army in 1864 and returned to his home in Warrensburg, Missouri.3 He died of dropsy of the heart on September 23, 1881 in St. Louis, Missouri.4

George’s brother, Henry S. Swan of the 15th Missouri Cavalry, described unique forms of duty such as guarding a group of slaves from abolitionists that were stealing from them.5 Additionally, he gave clues regarding the well-being of their father, George W. Swan, who had also enlisted in the Union Army.6 Henry Swan survived the war and died on March 14, 1918.7

Revealed in these letters are the struggles of a Civil War soldier: encounters with harsh natural elements, physical tolls, homesickness, and more. The other contributors of the Richard Henry Roberts collection provide further historical context and offer information on the war’s effects on civilians.

Contributed by the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, Lawrence

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1. 1860 United States Federal Census; Census Place: Cedar, Cedar, Missouri; Roll: M653_613; Page: 32; Image: 36; Family History Library Film: 803613.
2. Emily Swan Roberts obituary, in The Peru Pointer, Peru, Nebraska, November 18, 1904, http://www.eltiste-kaiser.com/Adcock/Emily%28Swan%29Roberts.htm
3. Swan, George.  Letter to Richard Henry Roberts.  22 Aug. 1864.  RH MS 132. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
4. Missouri Death Records, 1834-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008.Original data: Missouri Death Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm.
5. Swan, Henry.  Letter to Richard Henry Roberts.  17 Apr. [1863]. Richard Henry Roberts Collection, RH MS 132. Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
6. Swan, Henry.  Letter to Richard Henry Roberts and Isabella Swan.  25 Nov. 1862. Richard Henry Roberts Collection, RH MS 132. Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
7. Henry S. Swan, Find A Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Swan&GSfn=Henry&GSmn=S&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=60636208&df=all&