Undated photograph of John Becker and his wife; John Becker mustered into Federal service as assistant surgeon of the 13th Kansas Volunteer Infantry on September 20, 1862, at Atchison, Kansas. The regiment fought in the 1862 battles of Newtonia and Prairie Grove, and in numerous skirmishes. Becker resigned his commission on February 27, ...
Henry Ward Beecher was born on June 24, 1813, in Litchfield, Connecticut; his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In 1847, he became the first minister of the new Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York. Beecher was an advocate of women’s suffrage, temperance, and Darwin’s theory of evolution, and ...
Francis Bennett enlisted in Company G, 4th Iowa Infantry at Mt. Ayr, Iowa, on July 4, 1861, and mustered into federal service at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, on August 15, 1861. On February 11, 1863 he was promoted to lieutenant. After the war, Bennett applied for an invalid pension, claiming he was wounded in ...
Born on March 14, 1782, at Harts Mill, North Carolina, Thomas Hart Benton studied law at the University of North Carolina, but as a young man was attracted by opportunities in the West. He moved his family to a 40,000 acre holding near Nashville, Tennessee. There he established a plantation with schools, churches and mills. ...
George Bingham was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, on August 9, 1824; he moved with his family to Saline County, Missouri, in 1825. At the age of twenty-one he established a wool-carding business in Arrow Rock, which he continued to operate until 1848. In 1852, Bingham, along with his brother, opened a wagon ...
Henry Bishop of Chicago enlisted and was mustered into Company E, 7th Kansas Cavalry, also known as “Jennison’s Jayhawkers,” on August 4, 1861; he was promoted to sergeant on October 18, 1861. The 7th Kansas Cavalry was organized at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on October 28, 1861, and fought in the 1862 battles of Iuka ...
Colonel Josiah W. Bissell’s “Engineer Regiment of the West” was mustered into service in the fall of 1861. The regiment contained men from Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa. Bissell’s Engineers contributed to Union battlefield victories early in the war, such as New Madrid, Island No. 10, and Corinth. They repaired and built ...
Edward Blackburn enlisted on July 12, 1861, in the 1st Northeast Missouri Home Guard Regiment, and fought at the Battle of Athens. He was promoted to first lieutenant on January 21, 1862, and mustered into Company G, 21st Missouri Infantry on February 1, 1862. He was promoted to captain on December 29, 1862, ...
Born in Lexington, Kentucky on February 19, 1821, the energetic, spoiled and rebellious “Frank” Blair was expelled from both Yale and the University of North Carolina for misconduct. He became a student at Princeton, but during his graduation week participated in a barroom brawl. Although initially denied his diploma, the faculty relented, and ...
William Blair of Oregon, Missouri, enlisted in Company F, 4th Missouri State Militia Cavalry on March 18, 1862, at St. Joseph, Missouri. He was mustered in as a private on April 10, 1862; on July 1, 1862, he was promoted to regimental sergeant major. On October 18, 1862, he was promoted to first ...
James Blake enlisted in the 4th Missouri State Militia Cavalry in January 1862, in Dallas County, Missouri; the 4th MSM was formally organized on April 28, 1862. They assisted in the withdrawal of Union troops from the 1862 Battle of Newtonia, but most of their duties consisted of guarding railroads and conducting anti-guerrilla patrols ...
Thomas Blanchard, a native of Perry County, Indiana, and a millwright by trade, enlisted in the 7th Missouri Cavalry in December 1861 at Macon City for three years. He served as a duty sergeant and company quartermaster sergeant. Re-enlisting in 1864, he transferred to the 1st Missouri Cavalry when the 7th and 1st ...
Stereoview of the August 1883 “Blue & Grey” reunion held in Springfield, Missouri; the reunion hosted Union and Confederate soldiers who fought at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek and other Civil War veterans. Several soldier reunions were held in Springfield, although the largest took place in 1883 and 1897. The reunions included trips ...
Born July 21, 1826 in Trenton, Maine, James Blunt moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he earned a degree from Starling Medical College in 1849. In 1856, he moved to Greeley, Kansas, and established a medical practice. While in Greeley, Blunt became an ardent abolitionist, aided John Brown in assisting slaves to escape to ...
