Thomas Payne was a hospital steward in St. Louis, Missouri during the Camp Jackson Affair of 1861. Payne was born in Kentucky in 1800, but had moved to the St. Louis area by 1850.1 While working for City Hospital, he attended to John G. Jones who had been fatally shot at Camp Jackson. Before his […]

Henry Z. Curtis was born in Mansfield, Ohio in October 1836. Henry was the son of Union General Samuel R. Curtis.1 After moving to the Nebraska territory in late 1860, he established the first daily newspaper in Omaha, the Daily Telegraph. Curtis managed the newspaper until the summer of 1861 when he left to join […]

Harry Custer supported the Free Soil movement and helped fight to ensure that Kansas would enter the Union as a Free State. Custer battled against pro-slavery supporters from Missouri, who wanted to continue the spread of slavery in the western territory. This volatile period became known as the Bleeding Kansas Era and was a prelude to the violence and destruction that would ravish the Trans-Mississippi in the 1860s.

Clark Wright was a well-known Unionist in southwest Missouri. A native of Highland County, Ohio, he married Sarah Hixson on February 25, 1847 in Lewisburg. They settled in Polk County, Missouri in 1858. Wright saw combat in Missouri and Arkansas before being transferred to Mississippi with the 6th Missouri Cavalry in 1863. His letters describe the experiences of a prominent cavalry officer in the first half of the war.

William E. Woodruff , Jr. was born into one of the most prominent families in Arkansas on June 8, 1832. His father, William Woodruff, Sr., was the editor of the state’s best known newspaper, The Arkansas Gazette. Woodruff commanded the Totten Artillery in Little Rock during the winter of 1860-61. The unit was named in honor of Dr. William Totten, a local physician, whose son, Captain James Totten commanded the United States Arsenal there. Captain Totten helped train Woodruff’s men, then surrendered the arsenal to state forces during the secession crisis. Renamed the Pulaski Light Battery, Woodruff led his command in action against Captain Totten at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861.

Shortly after Totten’s surrender of the arsenal, Woodruff wrote to Colonel C. Peyton requesting equipment for fifty men in his company.

W.T. Stone corresponded with a friend in England, about his travels to Kansas and his stops in Lawrence and Leavenworth. Stone commented on the strong abolitionist sentiment in Lawrence and how the town is modeled after Boston, Massachusetts. There is little information about W.T. Stone, but according to the 1870 Census there was a W.T. Stone living in Shawnee, Kansas living with the White family. He was approximately 26 years old and working as a farmer.

A native of New York, Charles P. Hutchinson moved to Wenona, Illinois, before the war. A farmer, he enlisted as a musician in the 44th Illinois Infantry on July 1, 1861. He wrote to his brother from Rolla, Missouri on May 28, 1862 describing conditions in the hospitals and recent guerrilla activity. Hutchinson was killed in action at Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. He left behind his widowed mother Lydia. Hutchinson had financially supported her both before and after his enlistment. She received a pension of $8.00 per month for her son’s service.

John S. Gray enlisted in the 1st Light Artillery (Kansas) on July 24, 1861. In March 1863, Gray wrote a friend in Springfield, Missouri, describing conditions in the area. Gray observed that the threat of guerrilla attacks had diminished greatly. Although a number of Native American soldiers were deserting the Confederate cause and joining the Federals, Gray complained they were of little use to the Union cause. Gray also described how 87 Confederate prisoners escaped from Springfield and headed back to Confederate lines. Finally, Gray expressed hope that General James G. Blunt would soon be transferred to Missouri.

Joseph Dean, a St. Louis merchant, traveled through the newly created Kansas Territory in late 1857 and early 1858. Dean recorded his impressions of the troubled territory in a letter to his sister on February 24. The violence had taken a tremendous toll on the population and its stark results were readily apparent to Dean. He enlisted in Company C, 1st Missouri Infantry (C.S.) at Memphis, Tennessee in July 1861. Dean was mortally wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862.

In 1807, James Henry Gower was born in Maine, but he lived most of his life in Iowa City, Iowa. Gower was a prominent businessman in Iowa City. With the outbreak of the war his son, James Otis, enlisted in Company F, of the Iowa 1st Cavalry Regiment. This collection contains letters from James Otis Gower in which he describes the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, and enclosed a copy of Confederate general, Thomas C. Hindman’s address to his soldiers prior to the battle. James Otis survived the war and was mustered out of service in August 1863, but he died just two years later on September 12, 1865, and was buried in Iowa City. After the war, the rest of his family moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in pursuit of James Henry Gower’s new business venture.

Jonathan Pugh was born in Tennessee but moved to Illinois with his wife Minerva and family in the 1850s. Pugh was very outspoken regarding politics and wrote about his opinions on who should be elected in the 1856 election and why. Pugh was a Southern Whig and believed the Whigs and Democrats needed to unite to help get James Buchanan elected over John C. Freemont and Millard Fillmore. Pugh also commented on the growing tension between Missouri and Kansas and that he expected a battle to erupt if the issue of slavery in the Kansas-Nebraska territory was not dealt with soon.

The Dachenbach Family was originally from Pennsylvania and had immigrated to Iowa by the mid-1800s. Isaac and Mary Dachenbach’s eldest son, Jacob enlisted in the 1st Iowa Cavalry in 1862 and soon left to fight for the Union in Missouri and Arkansas. Jacob wrote extensively to his family describing military life and his experiences in combat. His regiment would be sent to serve in Mississippi and unfortunately Jacob would not return from that campaign. The Dachenbach letter collection is housed at the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Museum in Republic, Missouri.

As the patriarch of a prominent Union family in the Ozarks, John S. Phelps was one of the most important figures in the Civil War history of southwest Missouri. His experiences as a politician and soldier illustrate how complicated the war was in the bitterly divided Trans-Mississippi Theater.

Commanding the Greene and Christian County Home Guards, Phelps wrote two letters to Colonel Franz Sigel relaying intelligence about the movements of the Missouri State Guard in the summer of 1861. Phelps led a regiment named for him in heavy fighting at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas in March 1862 and then served as the Military Governor of Arkansas. Phelps returned to his home in Springfield after the war. In 1865, he successfully defended James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickock who had killed Dave Tutt on the public square in Springfield. Phelps became the governor of Missouri in 1876.

Frederick P. Leavenworth lived in Van Buren, Arkansas in May 1861, while preparing to join a company of Confederate men. Leavenworth’s wife and the other women of the town were secluded in the courthouse making uniforms for the troops. Leavenworth hoped to join the Engineer Corp and asked his father to send him a manual on field fortifications. Although Leavenworth was enthusiastic about serving the Confederacy, he was concerned about having enough provisions and for the safety of his wife while he was away.

In 1822, Samuel Kellogg Hall was born in New York. In October 1862, he enlisted in the 7th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry and became Adjunct General. The 7th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry was a consolidated regiment of Black Hawk Cavalry and unattached companies. The regiment participated in the skirmish at Lone Jack, Missouri, in August 1862, and continued to pursue Gen. John T. Coffee through Southwest Missouri, and into Arkansas. Hall survived the war and moved to Colorado with his wife, Massie Dickson Hall, and their children. The Halls eventually ended up in Washington, D.C., where Hall died in December 1913, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

In March 1828, Hamilton Schooley was born in New York, and by 1855, he was living in Mound City, in Linn County, Kansas, with his wife, Polly Ann, and their son, Willie. Schooley and his family had survived through the “Bleeding Kansas Era” and hoped all the violence and trouble was finally coming to an end. Schooley wrote his parents and sister in New York, about the large number of people traveling through Kansas, that were headed West in search of gold. Although Schooley was asked to go on several expeditions, he believed most people, including himself, would be disappointed in their venture.

A veteran of the Missouri State Guard, Wright C. Schaumburg joined the Confederate army and fought in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas in March 1862. A staff officer to Colonel and later Brigadier General Lewis Henry Little, Schaumburg wrote a vivid description of his commander. He also described helping to bury the dead and the friends he lost in the battle.

Andrew Tinkham’s Drawing of Springfield, Missouri, 1861 Image courtesy of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Andrew Tinkham enlisted May 25, 1861, as a private in Company F of the First Kansas Infantry, which was organized at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, between May 20 and June 3, 1861. Unlike other volunteer troops which fought at Wilson’s Creek, the […]

Benjamin Fullager served in the Union Army in the 3rd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, in Company A, who served mostly in Arkansas and the Kansas Territory. His correspondents with his brother and other friends offer a candid and raw perspective to the life of a Union soldier. Fullager did not conceal his opinion of the men involved in the conflict and the War in general. Within Fullager’s letters, he described several battles, his personal experience with guerrilla warfare, the condition of the men in his regiment, and the general political opinion of the men in service.

Sterling Price was a strong military leader and politician. He served in the U.S. military in the Mexican War and was elected Governor of Missouri in 1852. Price firmly believed in the southern antebellum way of life, though he did not believe that Missouri should secede from the Union. As the impending war grew closer, Price’s opinion of Missouri’s status changed and he was selected to command the Missouri State Guard in 1861 in defending Missouri from Federal troops.

Nathaniel Lyon was born on July 14, 1818 in Ashford, Connecticut. Having a strong military family background Lyon joined the U.S. Military Academy and after his graduation served as an officer in the Seminole and Mexican wars. Once these wars ended, Lyon continued his service in Kansas and later Missouri where he would fight vigorously to stop Missouri from succeeding from the Union. Lyon is most remembered for his capture of Camp Jackson in St. Louis in 1861 and for his service at the Battle of Wilson Creek, where he became the first Union General to be killed in the Civil War. Lyon’s death inspired many federal soldiers and his military tactics help preserve Missouri from falling into Confederate control, giving him the title of the “Savior of Missouri.”

Captain Asbury C. Bradford kept this journal of enrolled soldiers, equipment and actions of Company E, 2nd Regiment, 8th Division, Missouri State Guard. The 2nd Regiment was organized in July 1861, and this journal documents activities from August through November 1861. Bradford also kept a few journal entries about troop movement and activities of the MSG, along with sketches of the Battles of Wilson’s Creek and Dry Wood.

The Missouri General Assembly met at the Newton County Courthouse in Neosho, Missouri on October 21, 1861 to formally secede from the Union. Legislators passed Missouri’s ordinance of secession on October 28, dissolving all political ties between the State of Missouri and the United States of America. The legality of the assembly, and thus, its resolutions, hinges on the presence of a quorum. This Senate Journal is the only surviving evidence from the Neosho convention, and it does not include a roll of members present.

Three reports outlining use, value and transfer of equipment for the 16th Missouri Cavalry. The regiment was organized from the 6th Enrolled Missouri Militia and attached to the District of Southwest Missouri. They scouted and patrolled routes across the Ozarks.

Emmett MacDonald, born in Ohio, came to St. Louis around 1851. He joined the St. Louis City Guards, and participated in the 1860 Southwest Expedition to expel Kansas Jayhawkers from Missouri. MacDonald was one of the 669 militia men training at Camp Jackson and captured by Nathaniel Lyon. MacDonald was the only soldier that refused to take an oath of allegiance to the United States and imprisoned. He wrote this letter to his sister during his incarceration. Eventually, MacDonald was released and he joined the Missouri State Guard. He participated in the Battles of Carthage, Wilson’s Creek, Dry Wood, Lexington, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Springfield, and was killed at the Battle of Hartville in 1863.

This extraordinary diary contains entries written by both Union and Confederate soldiers. It originally belonged to George Falconer, enrolled in Col J. J. Clarkson’s Confederate Cavalry. During the Battle of Locust Grove, 3 July 1862, Falconer was taken prisoner, and Maj. Albert Ellithorpe, Indian Home Guards, 1st Kansas Infantry, captured the diary. Most of the entries are written by Ellithorpe, who described engagements with Confederate soldiers, Kansas politicians and bushwhackers. Ellithorpe participated in several battles including Locust Grove, Cane Hill, Prairie Grove and a smaller engagement with Thomas Livingston’s bushwhackers.

The Robert Carnahan Letters consists of two correspondences written by Carnahan to his wife in November of 1861. Carnahan enlisted as an officer in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry at Camp Butler, Illinois in August of 1861. The 3rd Illinois Cavalry first served as part of John C. Fremont’s campaign to capture Springfield, Missouri. The first letters is written from Springfield, and the second is from Lebanon as the 3rd Illinois Cavalry marched to Rolla.

This bill of sale lists supplies and services purchased from Joseph Engle. Thomas Franklin signed the bill, and he is listed as a Captain in the Dallas County Home Guard in the Missouri State Archives’ Soldiers’ Records database. Engle charged $2.50 a day for shipping goods on a two horse wagon. This document warrants further investigation into shipping charges during the War. It would be interesting to compare shipping rates between counties with varying numbers of guerrilla attacks. The bill is dated August 10, 1861 the same day as the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Connections between the purchase of these supplies and the Battle is unlikely, as the Dallas County Home Guard probably did not know the Battle was taking place. This document adds to the understanding of economic conditions in the Ozarks during the War.

Joseph H. Trego, a Lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry, wrote his brother Thomas Trego about his experiences around Kansas City in early October 1861. The 5th Kansas Cavalry was organized on July 12, 1861, and many of its companies were stationed along the Kansas and Missouri border. Trego made several remarks about the poor leadership and judgment of Samuel D. Sturgis, and at one point humorously called him “Prince Sturges.” Trego provided accounts of Union forces raiding civilians in Missouri, and of a Confederate spy who destroyed an ordinance wagon in their camp. Trego informs his brother that he might be marching south again to protect southern Kansas from invading Missouri and Cherokee soldiers. This single letter exemplifies many of the hardship that faced civilians in Missouri and Kansas during the Civil War.

Thomas L. Snead was a soldier and a politician during the Civil War. He served under both Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson and Sterling Price. In 1886, he wrote The Fight for Missouri which chronicles the events in Missouri from the 1860 elections to the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. The Thomas Snead collection consists of several letters written about The Fight for Missouri. Most of these letters contain praise for Snead’s accomplishments, and note his ability to write a full and unbiased history of the events that unfolded. This collection is a valuable compendium to The Fight for Missouri, providing interesting insight to Missouri soldiers and politicians as they reflect on the war 20 years later.

John W. Fisher’s diary documents his duties in the Missouri State Guard from mid October, 1861, through the first week of January, 1862. Fisher was born in Virginia, and lived in Westport, Missouri prior to the War. Fisher served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Missouri State Guard. The diary cites Fisher’s movement through Missouri and Indian Territory. Fisher survived the war, ending his days in a Confederate Veterans home in Harrisonburg, Missouri, in 1910.