Pleasanton, Kansas

Photograph of Pleasanton, Kansas.

Post-Civil War photograph of Pleasanton, Linn County, Kansas, which was founded in 1869; the undated photograph appears to be of the town’s main street. It appears that construction is still being done on the “L. A. Count & Bro.” building, based on the ladder and lumber seen next to the building. The photograph ...

Pleasonton, Alfred

Alfred Pleasonton was born in Washington, D.C., on July 7, 1824, and graduated from West Point in 1844. As a dragoon officer, he saw action at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma during the Mexican-American War, and against the Apaches in New Mexico in 1852. By 1861, Pleasonton had ...

Plumb, Preston B.

Preston Plumb was born in Ohio in 1837; he moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1856 to support the Free State movement and was one of the founders of Emporia, Kansas. With the start of the Civil War, Plumb joined the 11th Kansas Infantry as a second lieutenant; in August 1863 the regiment was re-organized ...

Poll, John R.

John Poll enlisted on April 23, 1861, for three months, as a private in Company E, 1st Missouri Infantry at the St. Louis Arsenal; on June 10, 1861, he was transferred to Company A. The 1st Missouri participated in the capture of Camp Jackson and Jefferson City and the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Poll was ...

Pontoon Bridge at St. Charles, Mo.

People crossing a pontoon bridge.

Photograph of a 1560 foot pontoon bridge that spanned the Missouri River at St. Charles, Missouri, ca. 1871. During the Civil War, Union engineers built pontoon bridges over waterways to provide crossings for troops or to replace destroyed bridges. The bridges were prebuilt and transported to where needed, then assembled on floating pontoons, which were secured ...

Porter, William T.

William Porter served as lieutenant colonel of the 50th Enrolled Missouri Militia from November 30, 1863, until he resigned on October 4, 1864. The Enrolled Missouri Militia was a part-time force whose primary duty was garrison and guard duty, although a number of EMM units participated in actions against Confederate guerrillas and regulars. The presence ...

Pratt, Isaac V.

Isaac Vinson Pratt, a native of Massachusetts and resident of Linn County, Missouri, joined the 18th Missouri Infantry on August 17, 1861, as its lieutenant colonel; at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862, he was taken prisoner, but was paroled. Pratt was mustered out of service in December 1862 after winning election ...

Prentice, Owen

Owen Prentice, a printer and native of Shelby County, Illinois, enlisted in Company C, 11th Missouri Infantry on July 20, 1861 at Springfield, Illinois. On May 14, 1863, he was wounded at Jackson, Mississippi; on December 15, 1864, he was wounded again at Nashville. Prentice also participated in the battles of Fredericktown, New ...

Price, Martha (Head)

Born in Virginia on May 2, 1810, Martha Head married Sterling Price in Randolph County, Missouri, on May 14, 1833; they had seven children, of which five lived to adulthood. During the war she left Missouri and settled in Washington, Texas. In the spring of 1866, Martha joined her husband in Mexico, and ...

Quantrill, William C.

Born on July 31, 1837 in Dover, Ohio, William Clarke Quantrill became one of the most famous and controversial guerilla leaders of the Civil War. Moving to Kansas in the 1850s, Quantrill left his former occupation of schoolteacher and began a career stealing livestock and attempting to capture runaway slaves. In December 1860, ...

Quantrill’s Men Reunion, Independence, Mo.

Post-war photograph of William C. Quantrill's guerrillas.

The first reunion of the men who rode with William Clarke Quantrill was held in September 1898 at Blue Springs, Missouri. They continued to hold annual reunions for thirty-two years, until 1929. The reunions were held in various locations, including Wallace Grove (the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Wallace) in Independence, Mo. This ...

Rawlings, Austin

Kentucky native Austin Rawlings mustered into Company L, 1st Missouri Cavalry in 1861, as a corporal; he was promoted to first sergeant and assigned to Company B on May 6, 1862, promoted to second lieutenant on February 16, 1865, and to first lieutenant on April 18, 1865, all with Company B. The 1st Missouri ...

Ray, Olivia

Post-Civil War photograph of Olivia Ray, daughter of John and Roxanna Ray; Olivia was born on May 22, 1855, and was six years old when the Battle of Wilson’s Creek was fought on her family’s farm on August 10, 1861. Olivia and her siblings took refuge in the cellar of their house during the ...

Ray, Rhoda

Rhoda Ray was born a slave about 1837; she and her children were owned by John Ray. She was referred to as “Aunt Rhoda” by the Ray family, and she and the children worked on the Ray farm. During the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, on August 10, 1861, Rhoda and her children initially sought shelter ...