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.

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.

The Tallman and Brown families lived in Miller County, Missouri, and kept correspondence with family members during the war. The principal correspondents were John, Martha, and Matthew Tallman who wrote to their brother, Jeremiah, while he served in the 1st Missouri Light Artillery, and John D. Brown, of the same regiment, who wrote to his sister, Hannah M. Brown. This collection of letters is the result of the marriage of Jeremiah W. Tallman and Hannah M. Brown. The collection spans from 1860-1865 and covers a variety of topics from family relations, conditions in the military camps, wartime communication, the economy, and life after the war.

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.

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.

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 […]

John M. Weidemeyer was born January 10, 1834, in Charlottesville, Virginia. By 1850, John and his parents moved to Osceola, St. Clair County, Missouri. Weidemeyer married Lelia V. Crutchfield in 1856, and the couple resided in Osceola until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Weidemeyer and his family supported the Confederacy and Missouri’s secession from the Union. Weidemeyer recorded in his diary and letters to his wife, Lelia, the struggles of military life for a Confederate soldier. He also gave a first-hand account of the raid and burning of Osceola by James H. Lane and Charles Jennison’s Jayhawkers. John M. Weidemeyer was Captain of Company F of the 6th Missouri Infantry CSA and served in Missouri, Arkansas, but the regiment primarily assisted the Confederate Army on the East coast. After the war, Weidemeyer rejoined his family in Texas, before moving them to Clinton, Missouri, where they lived the remainder of his life. John M. Weidemeyer died on January 12, 1911, at 77 years old.

George Washington Williams served in Company D of the 7th Missouri Cavalry from 1862 thru 1864. His letters are addressed to his wife, Jane, in Sage Town, Illinois, which is present day Gladstone, in Henderson County, Illinois. He described the conditions he and the rest of his unit faced while fighting Confederate forces throughout Arkansas. Williams expressed great concern for his family’s safety and well-being, but voiced little concern for himself. His letters exhibit the difficulties faced by families trying to survive during the conflict. Williams died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on November 25, 1864 from chronic diarrhea.

Alfred Dexter Morgan recorded his experiences in the 17th Illinois Cavalry from 1864 to 1865. Morgan and his company saw duty primarily in Missouri, but were also stationed in Kansas at the end of the war. His diary documents encounters with Bloody Bill Anderson and Confederate General Sterling Price, during his 1864 raid into Missouri. The collection consists of two diaries. The second diary concludes in 1866, after Morgan returns home.

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.

Coleman Bruce wrote to his children William and Martha Jane Jackson regarding the political tension within Missouri and the United States. While Bruce’s children supported the Union, he cited in his letter several injustices committed by Northern men. Bruce’s use of derogatory terminology conveyed his feelings about the Union troops. He also, commented on poor market values for crops and recent news from the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Bruce even stated that Sample Orr, an 1860 Missouri gubernatorial candidate, robbed a Springfield bank of $24,000. Allegedly, the money was taken to Rolla to remain in Union hands. Little documentation on this event exists. Bruce encouraged his children to share this letter with their friends and family, perhaps in an attempt to persuade others to support the Confederacy. The letter draw attentions to the impact the War had on family dynamics as well as the crumbling economic condition in the country.

William H. Mengel, a native of Germany, lived in California, Missouri before the War. Mengel was pressed into service as a teamster for the Missouri State Guard in May 1861. He was released a after a little less than a month and he enlisted in the 1st U.S. Reserve Corps, Missouri Home Guards. Mengel was taken prisoner at the Battle of Lexington, where he fought against the Missouri State Guard. After being paroled, he joined the 26th Missouri Infantry, and was sent to Mississippi and Tennessee. Mengel was eventually mustered out of service in January 1865.

James H. Wiswell was a teenage solider in the Union Army from Vermont. Wiswell enlisted in Company C, 4th US Cavalry, and served in Kansas and Missouri. He fought under the command of General Nathan Lyon and participated in the Battles of Dug Springs and Wilson’s Creek in 1861. His letter to his sister Naomi revealed the conditions of military life and the toll the defeat at Wilson’s Creek had on his company.

William H. Kesler joined the 3rd Missouri Cavalry in the late fall of 1861. Kesler saw action at Halltown and Mount Zion Church in northern Missouri. Most of his time in the Army, though, was spent near Rolla and Pilot Knob, Missouri. Kesler corresponded with his sisters back in Illinois noting camp life, combat, and the effect President Lincoln’s assassination had on him and the other soldiers.

Corporal Frederick August Kullman, a soldier in the 13th Missouri Cavalry, kept a journal, recording the conclusion of the American Civil War. Kullman documented his perspective as a German-American soldier in the Union Army. His diary describes social interactions, camp life, and leisure activates of a Union soldier. Kullman also gave his thoughts on Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and other national events. Kullman ended his diary in late April 1865 with news of Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender. Twenty-seven years later, Kullman began recording his daily activities again in the fall of 1892.

Franklin S. Denny was born 7 October 1825 in Bond County, Illinois. Before the Civil War, he was a blacksmith in Platteville, Wisconsin, and married Mary Ann Pennington, who died in 1859. Denny enlisted in Company C, 1st Missouri Cavalry on August 1, 1861. He was elected third sergeant, and in February 1862 he was promoted to first sergeant. In his diary, Denny recorded the actions of the 1st Missouri Cavalry as they travelled across Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas from 1862 through 1864. He noted engagements with bushwhackers and rebel soldiers, personal thoughts on Kansas Jayhawkers, the impact of the War on civilians, and the routine of military life. Denny was discharged from the service on September 17, 1864. In 1868, Denny mar¬ried Susan Dule¬bon at Freeport, Illinois. By 1874, Franklin and Susan Denny lived in Springfield, Missouri, where Franklin operated a carriage shop. They died in 1902 and 1917, re-spectively.

Charles C. Rainwater and his wife Sarah Hannah Fowler lived in Cole Camp, Missouri in 1860. Rainwater joined the Confederate 5th Missouri Infantry and fought under John S. Marmaduke during his 1863 Missouri Expedition. He was wounded at the Battle of Hartville on January 11, 1863, and appointed ordinance officer on Marmaduke’s Staff. Rainwater was severely injured during his service and received permanent disability from the Confederate Army for the wounds he received during combat. After the War, Rainwater and his wife had a prosperous life in St. Louis until his death in 1902.

Henry E. Skaggs lived in Cooke, Texas with his wife Narcissa and their three children in 1860. Skaggs was a “Union Man” and feared that he would be hung for his political beliefs if he remained in Texas, so he and five other men fled to Missouri and joined the 1st Missouri Regiment Cavalry. Henry E. Skaggs joined the United States Military in September of 1862 at the age of thirty-three. Skaggs chronicled his perspective of the Civil War from the latter half of 1862 to mid 1864 as he traveled throughout Missouri and Arkansas.

William J. Rountree was born in Springfield, Missouri on October 17, 1847. Rountree lived in St. Louis until his father decided to venture west in search of gold, at that time he was sent to live with his grandfather in Springfield. William’s grandfather, Joseph Roundtree, was one of the earliest settlers to Greene County and helped build the first schoolhouse in the area. Rountree describes in his autobiography the events that led up to the outbreak of the Civil War in Missouri and how he and his family were directly affected. Rountree recalls the Battle of Wilson’s Creek and the occupation of Springfield by both Confederate and Union forces. He enlisted into the Union army when he was sixteen, noting the army was so desperate for men they overlook the fact that he his was underage. Rountree’s autobiography gives a first-hand account of a young man who lived in Springfield through the war.

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.”

Douglas R. Bushnell was born 17 June 1824 at Norwich, Connecticut. He was educated as a civil engineer, and moved to New Hampshire as a young man to begin a career in railroad engineering in that state and in Vermont. Bushnell moved to Illinois in 1855 with his wife and family. In May 1861, Bushnell enlisted in Company B of the 13th Illinois Infantry. Bushnell participated in campaigns in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee.

Lemuel Amzi Donnell was a Tennessee native who had traveled with his family in 1850 to Missouri in search of new land. Donnell live on his family’s farm with his parents until 1860 when he decided to join the Missouri State Guard, Company F, 4th Infantry Regiment, 8th Division. Donnell served for four years fighting for the Confederate cause across Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri. He recorded his life as a solider in his personal diary, along with his own original poetry. Donnell participated in numerous military campaigns, and reported obtaining multiple furloughs for long periods of time; which was highly unusual for a soldier to receive during a time of conflict.

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.

The Stirman Davidson Collection is a spirited group of letters written to Rebecca Stirman Davidson, of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The bulk of the letters are from her brother Erasmus “Ras” Stirman, while serving in the Civil War. The letters tell the story of Erasmus service in the Confederate Army, his fears and doubts about winning the War, and leading his company of sharpshooters into certain death. Erasmus loved meeting new women, and his letters to Rebecca are full of candor and humor, often telling a larger tale of the social and cultural customs of the era to which he opportunistically flaunted. Erasmus’ successes in the military, coupled with his family’s access to political and societal privilege, combine to tell a wonderful story of upper class life in the Civil War of the Ozarks.

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.

The Mack Collection offers valuable insight into the lives of Union sympathizers in the Ozarks. In many ways, their experiences are typical of Southern Unionists, though their home in Missouri placed them squarely in a border region. The war was bitter and personal for the Mack family. Their experiences as refugees and those who fighting guerrillas in the 1st Arkansas Cavalry (U.S.) hardened their feelings towards Confederate sympathizers. As Radical Republicans, the Macks entered the political arena only to find themselves at odds with fellow Unionists.

Regrettably, the Mack collection contains only half of the correspondence between the family members. The surviving letters were written to those serving in the army. While the soldier’s responses are missing, the existing letters provide researchers with a unique perspective on the civilian experience in southwest Missouri.