The Isely Family Papers contain correspondence and other documents dating from the late 1850s through the 1930s. A significant portion of the collection consists of letters written during the Civil War between Christian H. Isely and his wife, Marie Elizabeth “Eliza” Dubach. Christian served in the 2nd Kansas Cavalry and they traveled throughout Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma; which was then Indian Territory. During the war, Eliza went to live with Christian’s parents in Ohio, rather than stay with her father in Willow Dale, Kansas, due to the unstable conditions in the Kansas-Missouri border region. The Isely’s were a profoundly religious family and their correspondences depict the deeply rooted connection between religion and political convictions and how their beliefs often divided their family.

Major General Henry W. Halleck commanded the Department of Missouri and Department of the Mississippi from November 1861 through July 1862. He was then appointed General-in-Chief, and served as a military advisor to Abraham Lincoln. Contained within the Halleck papers is a single order placed on March 12, 1862 just months prior to being ordered to Washington. Halleck requested Major William Prince at Fort Leavenworth to advance regiments from there to Kansas City and Independence, Missouri. His orders were to clear the border counties of “marauding bands of rebels.”

Michael Jose lived in Cass County, Missouri in 1850, but by the start of the Civil War he and his family moved west to California. F. Brown, an old friend of Michael Jose’s, still lived in Missouri after the War and wrote to Jose about their mutual friends in Henry, Bates, and Vernon County. Brown discusses the death of neighbors, the local agriculture, economy, and politics, and how former Confederates and Unionist were getting along living post-war. Brown’s letter highlights the changes within communities and the country tired to rebuild itself.

Judson Taylor was a private in the Confederate Army. The exact regiment he served in is unknown. On February 18, 1862 Taylor wrote his last will and testament in the case he did not survive through the War. He divided his possession between his wife Bessie, daughter Jenny, son John and his friend Jake. With the uncertainty of surviving the war, soldiers often wrote letters directing how to divide their property and possessions if they died in battle.

John G. Linn was a solider in the Company E of the 8th Missouri Infantry, which later became the 11th Regiment Company E of the Missouri Confederate Infantry. He was taken as a prisoner of war and held at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island in December 1864. Fort Delaware served as one of the Union’s largest prisons during the Civil War. Linn wrote to his sister asking her to send money to him as he is as “destitute circumstances as man was ever placd.”

In February 1865, A. Halley wrote his daughter in Calhoun, Missouri regarding the sale of confederate property in the region. Halley forewarned his daughter that Captain Henry Jennings was “assessing the property of the copperheads in this county to pay the loss.” The term copperhead was slang used during the Civil War for a northerner sympathetic to the southern cause. Proceeds from the property liquidation would be given to civilians to cover depredation restitution from guerrilla warfare.

On January 31, 1861, John Boone wrote Albert Nelson about the value of land in Vernon County, Missouri. Nelson, a Tennessee resident, inquired about selling his land in Missouri, but Boone advised against any transaction. He stated the extreme “hard times” caused a depreciation of value in all property and he could not sell his land for a profit.

Dr. Albert Badger was among the early Caucasian settlers in Vernon County, Missouri. He built the first “modern” house in the area and owned over 2,000 acres of land. During the Civil War he served in the Missouri State Guard and Union Navy, and participated in the Battles of Carthage and Wilson’s Creek. The collection contains correspondence and records related to Badger’s military service.

In September 1863, James Morris wrote his wife, Sarah, while camp at Little Rock, Arkansas. Morris served in an unknown Confederate regiment, while his wife remained at their home in Vernon County, Missouri. Morris wrote about the deaths of family and friends and urged Sarah to send their children to school.

The Ozias Ruark collection contains correspondence and a diary detailing the service of a captain in the 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Throughout his diary, Ruark comments on four underlying themes: the impact of the war on civilians, foraging, engagements with guerrillas and the daily routine of camp life. He also notes weather, towns and the Ozarks landscape. Ruark’s perspective as a soldier provides a valuable portrait of military life in the region.

Lyman Gibson Bennett enlisted in the 36th Illinois Infantry in 1861. Prior to the War he trained as a surveyor and civil engineer, working for the railroad. The military utilized Bennett’s skills as a cartographer, and assigned him to survey battlefields, road systems, and fortifications. Bennett’s diaries document his daily duties as both a soldier and an engineer for the military. His regiment participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, which he describes in vivid detail. Bennett was discharged from the military in August 1864.

In 1865, Bennett joined the engineering department of General Samuel R. Curtis as a civilian. He mapped the 1864 battlefields of Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition. Bennett was then assigned to survey fortifications in Nebraska and Colorado, and eventually served as an engineering officer on the Powder River Expedition of 1865. Bennett’s diaries provide colorful insight to his perception of the Ozarks and its inhabitants.

On August 17, 1861 Missouri Governor Hamilton R. Gamble ordered a proclamation establishing the Missouri State Militia for defense of the State against guerrilla activity. Gamble soon realized the need for additional troops, and on July 22, 1862 he issued General Order Number 29 organizing the Enrolled Missouri Militia (EMM). General Colley B. Holland assumed command of the 4th Military district, consisting of the counties in southwest Missouri, on October 30, 1862. Based in Springfield, Missouri, roughly 2,500 men reported for duty, operating under the jurisdiction of the State of Missouri. Holland’s documented all activities related to his command in the enrolled Missouri Militia order book for the 4th Military District in Southwest Missouri, from November 1862 through May 1863. His reports cover the Battles of Springfield and Hartville and also include details about depredation in Southwest Missouri and the extensive guerrilla activity that took place in the region.