In the spring of 1847, Drew and Lige had several disagreements. The exact origins of the arguments are unknown, but their arguments were public knowledge. Abram, a fellow slave, witnessed Lige and Drew arguing on the Springfield Square in May 1847. The argument ended with Drew threatening to “fix” Lige. Mahailey, a female slave, added, “I heard Drew say that he allowed to give Lige his dose for whipping of him – I heard him threaten him Lige more than once making use of about the same Language.”1 Within the next month Lige became extremely ill. Doctors treated his Typhoid Fever like symptoms with “large portions of Opium.”2 Lige died two weeks after becoming sick.

Shortly after Lige’s death, Nancy, a fellow slave, saw Drew and Yellow John, another slave, having an argument. Approximately a week later, Yellow John contracted very similar symptoms to Lige. By July, Drew was charged with murder. Nancy learned that Drew and Titus, a younger male slave, purchased a pint of whiskey from a store in Springfield. They then brought the whiskey back to the estate and shared a portion of it with a third slave named Old John Haden. Obtaining the whiskey did not draw suspicion to Drew, as one slave noted, “It is common for the boys to have flasks of Liquor.”3

Moses, also a slave, testified that Drew, Titus and Old John met in John’s quarters. After ushering all of the children from the room they locked the door to meet. Several slaves saw Drew with a fine white powder, similar in appearance to flour. Some of the witnesses identified the substance as ratsbane, a white powdered trioxide of arsenic. Ratsbane was used as a pesticide (rat poison) and weed killer. According to Moses, Drew offered Old John five dollars for mixing the powder and whiskey. Other witnesses testified that aqua fortis was also added to the whiskey. Aqua fortis is a solution of nitric acid and water, and was another pesticide. Moses testified that the trio became paranoid that someone might peer between the cracks in the wall and spot their mischievous deeds. They dispersed and relocated to a large “ruff” in the back of the field to mix the substances. This new location offered more privacy, as very few people passed through the area.

Once the poison was mixed it was given to Titus to pass to Lige. Perhaps Lige would have been suspicious of a gift from Drew, but Titus appeared as an innocent third party. Titus found Lige in the Layton shop with a couple other slaves.

I was in Layton shop when Titus came there with a bottle of liqour and asked Lige if he did not want a draw Titus handed Lige the bottle and he drank some of the Liquor

Finis and Horace slaves were in there at the time and he never asked them or myself to drink anything – When he gave Lige the bottle he told him to keep the bottle until he came after it and Lige set it down by him on the bench – Lige was taken sick the evening of the day he drank the Liqour
Jim Sims Deposition – July 2, 1847

Finis reported that he, Lige and Yellow John planned to meet later that night. Lige, however, became very sick. He offered the whiskey to both Finis and Yellow John, who drank from the flask. It is unknown if Finis or Yellow John became sick from their single draw.

The doctors had difficulties determining the source of Lige’s illness. They treated him with different types of medicine, which resulted in varying degrees of success. Lige eventually died from his illness. The doctors reported that Lige did not show signs of being poisoned, and they could not determine a cause of death without a postmortem examination, which was not completed.

Nancy added to her deposition that she saw Drew arguing with Yellow John shortly after Lige’s death. She then saw Drew with a strange red liquid. She asked Drew about it, and he told her it was whiskey. Nancy noted it was too red to be whiskey, and about a week later Yellow John became very sick. One of the doctors that treated Lige also treated Yellow John. He noted that Yellow John displayed similar symptoms as Lige before he died. It is unknown if Yellow John was indeed poisoned, if he recovered or if he died from the illness.

Drew pled not guilty to the murder charge. He claimed to have no knowledge of the poison mentioned by the witnesses. Drew’s fate and the ultimate outcome of the case are unknown, as the historical records did not survive. Drew posted $500 for bail, paid for with his labor and produce from his master’s estate. While the outcome of the trial is unclear, the witnesses offer depositions condemning Drew’s actions.

Contributed by the The Greene County Archives and Records Center

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1. Greene County Circuit Court. State of Missouri vs. Drew, a Slave. 09 Apr. 1847. African American Civil Court, Folder 12. Greene County Archives and Records Center, Springfield, Missouri, 6.
2. Greene County Circuit Court. State of Missouri vs. Drew, a Slave. 09 Apr. 1847. African American Civil Court, Folder 12. Greene County Archives and Records Center, Springfield, Missouri, 11.
3. Greene County Circuit Court. State of Missouri vs. Drew, a Slave. 09 Apr. 1847. African American Civil Court, Folder 12. Greene County Archives and Records Center, Springfield, Missouri, 9.

Dr. Albert Badger was among the early Caucasian settlers in Vernon County, Missouri. The first settlers came to the area in 1823, but by 1840 there were only 35 or 40 families living in the County.1 Badger was born in 1821 in Windham County, Connecticut. His father, Albert, died when he was only four and a half years old. Young Albert was raised by his uncle, until he turned 14. In 1835, Albert traveled with his grandfather to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend school. Five years later, he sailed down the Ohio River to Louisiana, where he eventually became interested in medicine and attended the New Orleans Medical College. After graduation, Badger began his voyage north. In 1844, he traveled up the Mississippi River and across to Osceola, Missouri. He purchased a land claim for $30 dollars in present day Vernon County and became the namesake of Badger Township. Badger built the first “modern” house in the area. It featured glass windows, a nailed-on roof, three large rooms, a hallway and a porch. Other settlers only had simple cabins with wooden widows on leather hinges.2

On a visit to Blue Mound Township, Albert met Col. Anselmn Halley, namesake of Halley’s Bluffs, and his daughter Sarah Halley. Albert and Sarah married in 1853, and through the course of their lives had eight children. Albert practiced medicine in Vernon County, but the area’s small population made it difficult for that to be his only source of income. Albert purchased 2,200 acres of land for cultivation, and had a large population of livestock and at least one slave.3 Before 1861, Albert’s mother, Asenath Badger, traveled from the east coast to live with Albert and Sarah in their Vernon County home. She assisted Sarah with raising and educating the children, as there were no schools available at the time. Albert’s brother, Oscar Badger, was a Captain in the US Navy, and stationed on the east coast. Oscar owned land next to Albert’s estate, and hired men to take care of the property. In late 1860, Oscar wrote Albert from Baltimore about the volatile political climate and the outbreak of war.

Dear Brother: I have had it in contemplation to write to you for some weeks past, but put it off in hopes I should be able to surprise you by a visit this Fall, but I have been ordered to duty at this station, which will keep me here for some time. I shall however see you all in the Spring. I hope. I consider my Commission in the Navy of no great value at present, as from the complexion of affairs in the political horizon, the Country will fall into anarcy and dissolution of its several members before many months roll around. I may threfore be forced to seek some other occupation, which will probably be farming alongside of you on my land.

Oscar Badger letter to Albert Badger – Oct. 13, 1860

Oscar’s letter suggests he was a Southern sympathizer. Presumably he meant to resign from the navy if hostilities broke out. Though we have no evidence for why, Oscar definitely changed his mind. He remained in the navy and participated in the 1863 Union Campaign to capture Charleston, South Carolina. During the assault on Fort Sumter, he was hit in the leg by shrapnel which left him with a noticeable limp. Oscar eventually rose through the ranks to Commodore.

Back in Vernon County, Albert chose the Southern cause. Carrying his double-barrel shotgun from home, Albert enlisted in the 7th Missouri Cavalry, 8th Division, Missouri State Guard on June 1, 1861. Albert was commissioned as a Lieutenant and served under Confederate General Sterling Price at the Battles of Carthage and Wilson’s Creek. At the Battle of Carthage, he was shot through the leg with a bullet, and like his brother, walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He went on to fight at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861. Albert left the Missouri State Guard on August 25, 1861. His shotgun, valued at $20, was sold to William Halley before he and the MSG marched north to Lexington, Missouri.4

The historical records documenting Albert’s actions between the fall of 1861 and beginning of 1864 are vague. Presumably, Albert returned home after he left the Missouri State Guard in late August 1861. Some accounts indicate Albert was harassed by Jayhawkers, and he fled his home in fear of his life. Other reports state he simply moved to St. Louis. The collection contains two letters written during that interim period, but neither provides Albert’s location at the time. In the summer of 1863 Albert’s father-in-law left his home in Vernon County and moved to Calhoun, Missouri. He wrote Albert shortly after General Thomas Ewing issued General Order No. 11, forcing civilians to evacuate their homes in Bates, Cass, Jackson and parts of Vernon County Missouri.

Dear Albert,

I received your letter the 6th. The times in Johnson County is bad. The soldiers have burned five houses in that County. Henry County is peace. In the last of August some eight or ten Bushwhackers paid me a visit. After searching the house some time, they asked my name and what I was. I told them “Union” they thought it strange. They behaved very well and said they would not take anything of mine. There are a great many people moving from the counties west. Some of them are in destitute condition. It is a bad order. I am told it does not enclude Vernon County, if it does, what will Sarah & the children do.

Anselm Hailey letter to Albert Badger – Sep. 14, 1863

While Order #11 included Vernon County, it was only the northern half, thus, Sarah, the children and Albert’s mother remained on their farm. Unfortunately, Asenath Badger passed away in 1864.

Meanwhile, Albert probably maintained correspondence with his brother Oscar, letters which unfortunately have not survived. Albert reappears in the historical records at Mound City, Illinois, working as a Chief Clerk in the Naval Ordnance Department. The decision was likely encouraged by Oscar, but Albert’s true motivation is unknown. Mound City is located approximately seven miles north of Cairo, IL along the Ohio River. Three of the Union’s “City Class” ironclad gunboats – U.S.S. Cairo, U.S.S. Cincinnati and U.S.S. Mound City – were built at Mound City. The small town eventually became the location of a Union General Hospital, and by April 1862 a spur of the Illinois Central Railroad ran into the city. Troops and supplies traveled by train to Mound City and then were transferred by ship along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. In November 1863, the Navy Department established Mound City as the primary ordnance depot for the Mississippi Squadron. Ordnance shipments distributed through Mound City, were at some point overseen by Albert.

Head Quarters, Department of the Missouri, Saint Louis,

The Conductor of the first train passing Pana, Ills. Central RailRoad for Mound City, after 5 O’Clock tomorrow morning, will attach three cars of Orinance Stores, under charge of Mr [Albert] Badger. It being absolutely necessary that the stores reach Cairo to-morrow

By order of Major Genl William S. Rosecrans – Mar. 29, 1864

The experiences of Oscar and Albert are fascinating but difficult to explain. Oscar seemed concerned by the impeding crisis, yet he remained in the Union navy. Albert actually fought alongside Confederate soldiers in the Missouri State Guard, but ended the war working on Union ships. Without other documents, students and historians are left to speculate on why these men acted as they did.

Like most families in the Ozarks, the war took a heavy toll on Sarah. With Albert away, nearly all of their livestock was stolen by bushwhackers who frequently raided their home for food and clothing. Sarah was left with a blind horse and an ox, which she used to drive a cart to Fort Scott, Kansas for supplies. Albert commended Sarah for her courage and dedication to the family, as she assumed control over their estate, farm and family affairs while Albert was gone.

You had better hire a boy or man, probably a man one or two days. Mr Eidson if possible to take some loose rails, & fix up your Field & Orchard & Garden fence, you might take some of the rails from the fence round the pasture if you could do no better. It can be fixed temporally enough to stop out hogs & cattle in a coupple of days. Call on Mr Eidson & he will do it, and credit his note. Also call on him at any time for money, giving him a few days notice & he will get it. Or for any thing else you may want. You have been a good, brave woman, to stay there as long as you have, & now nearly at the end of trouble, dont despare.

Albert Badger letter to Sarah Badger – Aug. 20, 1864

Albert was discharged at the close of the war. Family records indicate he worked 18 months in Mound City. The Badger family lost approximately $10,000 in property during the war, some of which was taken by Union soldiers. He wrote the Quartermaster General in 1874, “I also lost… Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Hogs, Corn, Oats, Hay &c: taken by U. States Troops for the use of the U.S. and found myself when discharged from service at the close of the war, made poor, by the very Government, I had so faithfully Served.”5 Albert requested compensation for the lost property, and it is unknown if he received any type of payment. Albert died on February 19, 1885, after leading a successful life. He helped establish Vernon County, and served as the first County Administrator, its first Justice of the Peace and first Probate Judge. He served both the Confederacy and the Union, and was a loving family man.

This collection consists of fourteen documents spanning from 1852 through 1874, related to Albert Badger and his family. It comprises of material contributed from the Bushwhacker Museum and Jail and Missouri State University’s Special Collections. The MSU documents are part of the Freeman Barrows Collection. Freeman’s son, John N. Barrows, married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Badger, Albert’s daughter. Correspondence between John and Lizzie are available at MSU.

Contributed by the The Bushwhacker Museum and Jail and Missouri State University, Special Collections and Archives

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1. “County named for Col. Vernon,” The Nevada (Mo.) Herald, 29 June 1980, pg. 4C.
2. “Historic Houses of Vernon County” in Albert Badger’s Vertical File, 09.56.273.3, Bushwhacker Museum, Nevada, Missouri.
3. In an 1874 letter to the US Quartermaster, Albert claimed he took a slave into the service with him. He lost the slave while in the service and asked the Quartermaster for compensation. Albert Badger. Letter to US Quartermaster. Jul. 12, 1874. Barrows Family Collection, M31, Special Collections, Missouri State University, Springfield
4. Ordance Department, Missouri State Guard. Letter to Albert Badger. ca. Aug. 25, 1861. Barrows Family Collection, M31, Special Collections, Missouri State University, Springfield.
5. Albert Badger. Letter to US Quartermaster. Jul. 12, 1874.

John Polk Campbell was one of the first pioneers of European ancestry to settle in present day Springfield, Missouri; however, there are discrepancies among the historical records indicating the exact year Campbell ventured into the area. Some historians believe Campbell did not come until 1829 or 1830, while family records indicate he came to southwest Missouri as early as 1825. John Polk Campbell was the fifth child of John Campbell and Matilda Golden Polk. John Polk was born in North Carolina in 1804, and his family moved to Tennessee when he was three years old. When the Campbell boys reached adulthood, they wanted land of their own, and explored outside of well settled Maury County, Tennessee.

In 1825 my grandfather, John Polk Campbell with his brother, Madison, a cousin, and several other young men, went on a prospecting trip to Southwest Missouri, a country then peopled by the Kickapoo and Cherokee Indians.

Louisa (Lulu) Cheairs McKenny Sheppard - A Confederate Girlhood

The settlers encountered a tribe of Kickapoo Indians encamped along the James River. A young boy from the tribe was gravely ill, and John Polk offered to assist with his recovery. He gave the boy simple herbs which eventually lifted the boy’s fever and brought him back to full health. The Kickapoo Chieftain gave John Polk a tract of land to the north of their village near a large spring as a token of his gratitude. According to Lulu, granddaughter of John Polk and Louisa Campbell, John Polk built a small log cabin near the spring and began a small farm.

In 1827, John Polk returned to Tennessee and married Louisa Terrell Cheairs on May 28.1 John and Louisa traveled to Missouri, but lived there for only a short period as Louisa became pregnant with the couple’s first child. John and Louisa questioned giving birth in the rural regions of southwest Missouri, and returned to Tennessee for the birth of Talitha Caroline. According to the family, John Polk left his wife and child in Tennessee and returned to Missouri. In October 1829, John returned to his family to escort them back to their new home.

Before John Polk left Missouri, he hired two men to clear timber for construction of a larger cabin near the spring. He carved his initials into an ash tree to mark the land and location of the new cabin. On his way to Tennessee he stopped at William Fulbright’s house in Rolla. Fulbright and John Polk were friends from Tennessee, and John told him about the ample springs and land in the southwest region of the state. John continued on to Tennessee where he was welcomed by his family and friends. As they prepared to leave, several friends and family members decided to join the Campbells as they set off towards Missouri. The party arrived in Missouri in March 1830, and John Polk found his lumber had been constructed into a cabin near his spring.2

After Campbell left Rolla, Fulbright and his brother-in-law, A. J. Burnett, decided to move to the area. They found the pile of lumber, and presuming the materials to be abandoned, built a cabin. John Polk showed Burnett his initials on the ash tree near the spring which marked his property. Burnett turned over the cabin, and both families worked together to build homes for everyone as they started a community in rural southwest Missouri.

Over the years John Polk built several houses. Each house was vacated for new settlers to inherit. The Campbell’s second child, Mary Francis, was born in 1831 and was the first white female born in the area. The settlers traded with the Native Americans in the region and began to stockpile goods in their homes. In 1833, John Polk donated fifty acres for the construction of a town, with two acres designated as the public square. Lots were sold to new settlers and John Polk began the organization of the county. He appointed his family members as county officials to assist with the establishment of Greene County. By 1835, approximately 500 people lived in Springfield which included five Campbell brothers, one sister and their mother, Matilda Golden Polk Campbell. Springfield was finally incorporated into a town in 1838.3 As Springfield grew John Polk began to explore new territory in Texas and Indian Territory, current day Oklahoma. John Pol died on May 28, 1852 in Oil Springs, Cherokee Nation.4

John Polk and Louisa had ten children: Talitha Caroline, Mary Frances, John Nathaniel, Leonidas Adolphus, Sarah Rush, James Cheairs, Thomas Polk, Samuel Independence, Constantine and William Argyll.5 John Polk outlived two of his children, who succumbed to diseases at an early age. Four of his sons fought in the Civil War, two of which died. The Campbell family supported the Confederacy, and they owned a number of slaves both in Springfield and on their Mississippi plantations near Vicksburg. Lulu was a young girl during the Civil War, but she recorded her memories of the family’s experiences in “A Confederate Girlhood.” After Union forces secured Springfield, the Campbell’s were forced from their home and they sought refuge on family land in Tennessee and Mississippi. After the war, Louisa and Sarah Rush came back to Springfield, but the Springfield they returned to was vastly different from the one they left. Much of the family’s property lost during the war was never regained, and Louisa died trying to rebuild their life.

The Campbell-McCammon Collection consists of letters written between friends and family members from 1861 through 1872. Included is Louisa T. Campbell’s exile order from Springfield, Missouri, several letters reflecting on the war’s impact on the family and letters written by former family slaves.

Contributed by the The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County

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1. Charles Sheppard, “Watch Out! The Campbells are Coming.” John Polk Campbell vertical file, Springfield-Greene County Library Center, 1-5.
2. Sheppard, “Watch Out! The Campbells are Coming,” 6.
3. Sheppard, “Watch Out! The Campbells are Coming,” 8-12.
4. “Lucy MCammon’s Home, Built in 1851, Holds Memories of Civil War Visitors” in The Springfield Leader 3 June 1932, 15.
5. “Genealogies of Some Early Springfield Families,” Ozar’kin, vol. 1, no. 1, (Spring 1979), 27.

Introduction
Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers

Few Civil War terms generate more controversy than “Bushwhacker” and “Jayhawker.” Today, each elicits strong emotions from partisans on both sides, just as they did during the war. Though they were often used interchangeably to describe some men on both sides, the origin of each term is relatively certain. “Bushwhacker” was originally a complimentary term coined by Washington Irving. Writing for Knickerbocker Magazine in the late 1840s, Irving described hearty frontiersmen as “gallant bush-whackers and hunters of raccoons.” The stalking tactics of game hunters were not appreciated when those frontier skills were applied to hunting soldiers. Although it was a favorite term among Union commanders for the numerous roving bands throughout the Ozarks, bushwhacker was soon used for any band, Union or Confederate, who preyed on military and civilian targets.1

“Jayhawker” was a term well known to Missourians during the “Bleeding Kansas” era. Used to describe Kansas Free Staters, Missourians considered it a perfect description of their hated enemy. Though no such bird exists, it recognized the voracious hawk and the pesky jay, who, in the form of Kansas soldiers plundered Missouri farms. Of course to Missourians it was derogatory, but Kansans proudly embraced it. The term was quickly applied to Union troops from other states, and finally to the most notorious looters, regardless of their allegiance. Widespread plundering became such a problem that leaders on both sides condemned the relentless “jayhawking,” that ravaged the Ozarks.2

Significantly, bushwhacker and jayhawker were meant not only to describe the enemy, but to demonize him. Both sides saw their adversaries as social inferiors whose actions were explained by their ancestry. For Union writers like John McElroy, bushwhackers were the worst kind of poor Southerners. Descendants of the lowest elements in English society, they lacked spirit and energy. They lived in crude cabins and farmed only when absolutely necessary, preferring to subsist by hunting. Unionists believed they were unsuited to honorable warfare because they were cowards. Thus, they hid in the brush and fought only when guaranteed of success.3

A Southerner’s description of jayhawkers is surprisingly similar to its bushwhacker counterpart. John Newman Edwards, General Joseph Shelby’s wartime adjutant and author of Noted Guerrillas, wrote jayhawkers traced their ancestry to the Puritans of New England. Here was the source of their awkward appearance and natural laziness. They were not truly concerned about the wrongs of slavery; it just gave them an excuse to steal from their social betters. Edwards also condemned their lack of courage. They fought only when forced to and would not make a heroic stand.4

Of course partisan definitions, especially those penned in the post-war years, were exaggerated. Unionist ideas about the laziness of white Southerners rarely considered the Ozarks infrastructure. Access to markets, an absolute necessity for social mobility, were often unavailable to local farmers. With railroads and rivers either nonexistent or too far away, farming was largely subsistence. Likewise, while New Englanders were among the first, and often most stringent settlers in the Kansas Territory, they were not the majority. Families from the Midwest, whose ancestry was not that different from their pro-slavery counterparts, made Kansas a free state.5

Confederate troops are most closely associated with using irregular warfare in the Ozarks, largely because their conventional forces abandoned the region. Southern commanders shifted most of their troops east of the Mississippi River after the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862. General Thomas Hindman was ordered to Little Rock where he assumed command of the Trans-Mississippi District, a vast region that included not only Arkansas and Missouri, but parts of Texas and Louisiana as well.6 Upon arrival in Little Rock, Hindman discovered that Arkansas had been stripped of virtually all war making material and manpower. Undeterred, he went to work immediately. He declared martial law and imposed conscription. Soon a new Confederate army began to take shape. Hindman also ordered men not subject to his conscription order to enroll in a partisan band and make war upon the Union army. These bands wreaked havoc on Union forces in 1862, and as one historian has argued, marks the only example of an organized, popular uprising in the Confederacy.7

Hindman’s guerrillas enjoyed early success and their disruption of Union operations was not limited to Arkansas. New bands sprang up in Missouri throughout 1862, prompting Provisional Governor Hamilton Gamble to authorize the formation of the Enrolled Missouri Militia. Designed for local defense, these and other Missouri militia troops began a long, bloody struggle against the irregulars. Unfortunately, Hindman’s guerrillas were not designed for long term success. No thought was given to their provisions and they were rarely responsible to conventional military authorities. Without strong leadership, many of these bands terrorized Union civilians, stealing what the government did not provide them with. Slowly, some even turned against Southern sympathizers. Ironically, because of their lawlessness, many bands became an enemy to both Union and Confederate troops. What had started with such promise, ended with wholesale plundering that forced most civilians off of their land.8

While Union troops often described all irregular forces they encountered as “bushwhackers,” determining the legitimacy of a particular band was largely dependent on its organization. Simply put, bushwhacker does not adequately describe the various kinds of irregular forces operating in the Ozarks. For Unionists, a bushwhacker was the worst kind of Southern sympathizer, men who were little better than criminals. Though it often went unnoticed by Union soldiers, guerrillas and partisans were more organized and accountable to military authorities, but they still operated outside of the formal army command structure. Hindman’s guerrillas in Arkansas and John S. Mosby’s Partisans in Virginia are good examples of these forces. In the Trans-Mississippi, Shelby’s brigade best combined the merits of military organization with the advantages of irregular warfare. Shelby’s men were legally enrolled in the Confederate army and were subject to the orders of military commanders. Still, Shelby’s men excelled at detached service and their raids often disrupted Union operations and the flow of all important supplies.9

The clothing of an irregular band also determined its status. Bushwhackers and guerrillas rarely, or never, wore Confederate uniforms. Rather they operated in civilian clothes, or often, in captured Union uniforms. This tactic allowed them to get close to the enemy, but it also ensured they would be shown no mercy if captured.

Old animosities and resentments were not forgotten in the post-war years. The violent struggle between jayhawkers and bushwhackers left a bitter legacy throughout the Ozarks. Though their meanings sometimes varied, and were even used by both sides, both words always symbolized the bitter guerrilla war that raged throughout the region.

Browse all collections in Guerrilla Warfare

1. Daniel E. Sutherland, “Jayhawkers and Bushwhackers,” Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/
2. Sutherland, “Jayhawkers and Bushwhackers.”
3. “Jayhawkers vs. Bushwhackers,” Civil War St. Louis, www.civilwarstlouis.com
4. “Jayhawkers vs. Bushwhackers,” Civil War St. Louis.
5. Jeremy Neely, The Border Between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2007), 64.
6. Robert R. Mackey, The Uncivil War: Irregular Warfare in the Upper South, 1861-1865 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 207-08.
7. Mackey, Uncivil War, 26.
8. Mackey, Uncivil War, 49.
9. Mackey, Uncivil War, 8-9.

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 in the Confederate Army and urged Sarah to send their children to school. In a previous letter, James sent home $100 in cash and notes for $153 of debt owed to him. Mail routes were prime targets for bushwhackers and organized troops looking to seize valuables, goods and money sent through the mail. Family members often wrote notes of shipped goods and important news in consecutive letters to ensure the recipient received the information.

In this letter, Morris encouraged his mother-in-law to hire a worker with Confederate script to cultivate the family’s crops. With James away at war, the Morris women were left in charge of the family farm. Confederate currency was not as valuable as Union currency, and it was difficult to find someone to honor the script. Missouri civilians possessing Confederate script drew the attention of the Union Provost Marshal, which could lead to questions regarding their loyalty. It is unlikely that the Morris family only had Confederate currency, and more likely James wanted to spend the script he received for his service before it lost all of its value.

Contributed by the The Bushwhacker Museum and Jail

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John Polk Campbell was one of the first pioneers of European ancestry to settle in present day Springfield, Missouri. The Campbell family was instrumental in the establishment of Springfield and Greene County. As Springfield grew, so did the Campbell’s prosperity. On August 11, 1851, John created his last will and testament, bequeathing all of his “property, real & personal, monies and effects” to Louisa T. Campbell, his “dearly beloved wife.”1 With Springfield firmly established, John began to explore southward into Indian Territory and Texas. He eventually died on May 28, 1852 in Oil Springs, Cherokee Nation.2

After John’s death, Louisa attempted to secure his property and entered into a dispute over a mulatto girl named Margaret with Samuel Sproul. Louisa claimed Sproul wrongfully and unjustly detained the girl, even though she was rightfully left to Louisa through John’s will. Sproul responded that he had been the girl’s true owner since 1850, as she was a gift from John Polk Campbell to him and his wife, Mary. Mary Frances Sproul was the second daughter of John and Louisa, and was the first Caucasian female to be born in present day Springfield. Mary and Samuel lived in Greenfield and had no children.

The family unsuccessfully tried to settle the disagreement outside of the court system. In June 1855, Leonidas Campbell, John and Louisa’s son, visited his sister’s home and demanded they turn over the slave. Samuel refused, so Leonidas kidnapped her. He grabbed Margaret and rode back towards Springfield with her on the back of his horse. Samuel chased after Leonidas, and was able to reclaim Margaret and brought her back to his home.

Unable to settle the dispute, Louisa sued Samuel for $1,000 in damages and custody of the girl. On March 11, 1856, the court authorized Louisa T. Campbell to “collect and secure all and singular the goods & chattels rights and credits which were of the said John P. Campbell at the time of his death in whomsever hand and possession the same may be found….” This disagreement over Magaret did not split the Campbell family, but this case represents the circumstances many civilians faced before the Civil War. Rivalry over property, debt, murder and other preexisting issues often fueled feelings of revenge and hatred causing the Civil War to become even more personal and violent then it was already destine to become.

Contributed by the Greene County Archives and Records Center

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1. John Polk Campbell Will, 11 August 1851, Campbell vs. Sproul, 1855. African America Circuit Court, Folder 10. Greene County Archives and Records Center, Springfield, Missouri.
2. “Lucy M’Cammon’s Home, Built in 1851, Holds Memories of Civil War Visitors” in The Springfield Leader, 3 June 1932, pg 15.

In 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed repealing the Missouri Compromise and opening the Nebraska Territory to popular sovereignty. The Kansas-Nebraska Act triggered a land rush in Kansas. Missourians were especially passionate about making Kansas a slave state. That fall, 1,700 armed Missourians poured into Kansas to elect a proslavery delegate to Congress.1 Dubbed, “border ruffians,” by the antislavery newspapers, these Missourians flooded the elections with Southern votes. The territorial elections for Kansas took place in March 1855, and reports estimate as many as five thousand Missourians crossed into Kansas to participate.

Proslavery voters cast 5,247 ballots against the 791 from the Free Soilers in the territorial election; however, a congressional investigation later concluded that 4,986 of the proslavery votes were fraudulent.2 Intimidated by the border ruffians, Kansas politicians did not overturn the results, which led to the adoption of proslavery laws. Anyone opposing slavery in Kansas could be imprisoned, and those instigating a slave rebellion or assisting a fugitive slave could be sentenced to death.

Enraged free-staters banned together and turned Lawrence into an antislavery stronghold. Armed with “Beecher’s Bibles,” Sharps rifles transported in boxes labeled “Bibles,” the men organized the free-state party, and held an election for a constitutional convention.3 The party met in Topeka, Kansas, drew up a new constitution that prohibited slavery in the territory, and established a legislature. As historian James M. McPherson points out, Kansas had two territorial governments - one legal by fraudulent votes, and a second illegal, but representing the majority of settlers. The Democratic controlled Senate and President James Buchanan recognized the former, while the Republican House favored the latter.4

In September 1857, the Kansas Constitutional convention met in Lecompton, determined to make Kansas a slave state. Newly appointed Governor, Robert J. Walker, assured his free-state opponents that a fair and legitimate territorial legislature would be seated. The election results gave the proslavery candidates an edge, but it was soon discovered that Missourians were up to their old tricks. In one district, which had only 30 legitimate voters, 1,601 ballots were cast with names from the Cincinnati city directory.5 In total 2,800 fraudulent votes were discarded and the free-staters won the majority.

The new Lecompton Constitution included a provisional article that guaranteed a slaveholder’s right to retain ownership of their slaves currently living in the territory, but it also prohibited future importation of slaves to Kansas. Voters would later decide to include or exclude this article in the constitution. If excluded, slavery would be prohibited in Kansas entirely. Like each of the previous constitutions, the Lecompton Constitution had its opponents and supporters. Two referendums were held, each boycotted by a different party. Eventually the proslavery vote was accepted.

Heated debates took place in the Senate over the admission of Kansas, under the proslavery Lecompton Constitution. Some Senators argued the Lecompton Constitution did not represent the true values of the people in Kansas. Missouri Senator, Trusten Polk, argued, if the people wanted a free state then they should not have boycotted the vote. Southerners threatened secession unless Kansas became a slave state. With President Buchanan stating that Kansas “is at this moment as much a slave State as Georgia or South Carolina,” the Lecompton Constitution barely passed the Senate, and was eventually defeated in the House.6 On August 2, 1858 the people of Kansas finally rejected the Lecompton Constitution.

This collection contains speeches from Missouri Senator, Trusten Polk and Illinois Senator, Steven A. Douglas on the admission of Kansas to the Union under the Lecompton Constitution.

Contributed by Territorial Capital Museum

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1. James M. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001),102.
2. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire, 102.
3. Antislavery clergyman Henry Ward Beecher said that just one Sharp rifle would do more good than a hundred Bibles in Kansas. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire, 103.
4. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire, 103.
5. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire, 115.
6. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire, 116.

The Eighth Division, under the command of Gen. James Rains, participated in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861. Wilson’s Creek was the second major battle of the Civil War. Union troops under Nathaniel Lyon marched from Springfield, Missouri to engage the Confederates encamped along the creek. Completely surprised by the attack, the Confederates were able to hold their ground and repel the Union advance. Gen. Lyon was killed during the battle, and Union forces retreated to Rolla, MO. Bradford sketched part of the battlefield noting the location of the Sharp house, Sterling Price’s headquarters at the Edwards’ farm and the Gibson’s Mill.

After the Battle, Bradford’s company marched north with Price and participated in the Battle of Lexington between September 18 and 20, 1861. Price mobilized roughly 7,000 men on his march to Lexington. The town was held by Col. James A. Mulligan and his force of 2,700 Federals. Southerners flocked to Price, and by September 18 his army had grown to nearly 10,000 men.

Mulligan fortified his position in the Masonic College on the north end of town. Rains and his men, which included 3,052 guardsmen and two batteries of artillery, took a position to the north and east of the college. Mulligan launched an unrelenting artillery barrage into the approaching Confederate line. The Rebels captured Oliver Anderson’s house, which at the time was being utilized as a Union hospital. This enraged Mulligan, and he quickly ordered a counterassault to reclaim the building. The order resulted in heavy casualties, and the Federals only held the Anderson home for a short period before the Confederates overpowered them again.

On September 19, the guardsmen encircled the college, and the federals eventually exhausted their supplies. The Union men, surrounded by enemy troops, were forced to endure the battle and heat without water. On September 20, the Confederates discovered a large quantity of hemp bales stored in a nearby warehouse. The guardsmen rolled the bales onto the battlefield slowly charging the Union trenches. The bales provided ample protection for the men; even the Union cannons could not penetrate the dense hemp. Finally, the guardsmen advanced close enough to charge the Union line. Hand-to-hand combat erupted, and soon Mulligan realized surrender was his only option. Price captured several pieces of artillery, 3,000 rifles and 750 horses.

In his journal, Bradford recorded the names of his men who fought bravely at Lexington. He then made a list of those who did not answer the call of duty.

The following list of names are those who stood bneath the enemies grape and muskets for 60 hours at Lexington Mo and won for themselves never dying glories

The following list of names are those who did not go to the brest works oposite these names are there and by excuses for them1

Price reported 25 killed and 72 wounded for the three day engagement. Rains reported only two men were killed from the 8th Division and twenty wounded. Bradford offered the following tribute to his fallen comrades.

So Sleep the brave who sink to res with all there countrys’ wishes best

Asbury C. Bradford journal – n.d.

While Confederate troops clinched victories at Carthage, Wilson’s Creek and Lexington, Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson prepared the political stage for Missouri admission to the Confederacy. The General Assembly elected to remain in the Union in early 1861, but Jackson was determined to cut ties with the United States Government. Days before the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Jackson issued a “Proclamation of Independence,” which declared Missouri a sovereign and independent state. He cited atrocities committed by Union forces, who repeatedly violated Missouri’s rights and liberties. Two weeks later, the Confederate Congress passed a resolution admitting Missouri to the Confederacy, but technically Missouri had not seceded from the Union.

The momentum built from the victories on the battlefield gave Jackson the opportunity to achieve his goal. In September, Jackson called the General Assembly back into session, and asked them to meet at the Newton County Courthouse in Neosho on October 21. On October 20, Bradford’s men marched towards Neosho to protect the legislators as they gathered to solidify Missouri’s future with the Confederacy.

Sunday 20 marched to Neosho

Sunday 27 yet at Neos.

Monday 28 a fine day News confirmed that the Fedrals are in Springfield Also the Legislature in Neosho assembled ratified the Proclamation of the Govens delivered at Newmadrid

Asbury C. Bradford journal – October 20 – 28, 1861

Bradford served in the Missouri State Guard for six months. On March 1, 1862, he was transferred to the 5th Missouri Infantry, C.S.A. According to his service records, Bradford participated in the Battles of Carthage, Wilson’s Creek, Dry Wood, Lexington, Pea Ridge, Fort Gibson, Champion Hill and Vicksburg. Bradford left the service on furlough in August 1863. His records state he was last heard from on December 22, 1863, when he reported that he was extremely sick and did not expect to live. Bradford resided in Bolivar, Missouri.

Contributed by Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield

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1. Asbury Bradford, Journal, 1861. WICR 30060. Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Museum, Republic, Missouri, 49-52.

Introduction
1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry

The 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry was one of the earliest African-American regiments organized during the Civil War. This regimental order book documents correspondences, general orders and special orders between 1863 and 1864. During this period the 1st Kansas Colored was stationed in southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri, western Arkansas and Indian Territory, Oklahoma.

In October 1862, soldiers from the regiment engaged Rebel troops at the Battle of Island Mound in Bates County, MO. This skirmish earned them the distinction of the first African-American troops from a northern state to see action as soldiers. The 1st Kansas Colored became seasoned veterans by the end of the war, participating in several battles and engagements. On December 13, 1864, the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry was re-designated as the 79th U.S. Colored Troops.

Original Documents Retained at the National Archives and Records Administration.

Photocopies Contributed by Mine Creek Battlefield, Kansas State Historic Site.

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Introduction
1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry

This chapter contains language that may be objectionable to the reader. Quotes contain original language to preserve authenticity of the documents.

The political chaos surrounding Kansas Territory planted seeds of rebellion among the settlers. Bloody violence spread along the border as settlers battled over the admission of Kansas as a free or slave state. Missourians feared the strong abolitionist movement growing in Kansas and its key figurehead, John Brown.

Born in 1800, Brown was raised by his parents to revere the Bible and hate slavery. As an adult he managed several unsuccessful businesses, and helped African-Americans obtain their freedom through the Underground Railroad. In August 1855, Brown followed his sons to Kansas. After the 1856 pillage of Lawrence by pro-southern men from Missouri, Brown escalated the level of violence in the region by conducting the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre. On the evening of May 23, he and six of his followers drug pro-slavery men from their homes along Pottawatomie Creek in Kansas. They brutally murdered the men - hacking them to death with a broadsword and firing several rounds into their bodies. Brown later carried out several raids into Missouri to liberate slaves, but had little success.

Brown’s abolitionist philosophy inspired others in Kansas including the politician James Henry Lane. Lane, like Brown, moved to Kansas in 1855. He previously served as lieutenant governor of Indiana and House Representative to the thirty-third Congress. Lane was a member of the 1855 Topeka Constitutional Convention and President of the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention in 1857. He was elected one of Kansas’ two senators in 1861, and established himself as a powerful political leader. Within days of the attack on Fort Sumter, Lane organized 120 Kansas men in Washington, D.C. and marched them to the Capitol and White House. Lane’s “Frontier Guards” protected the Capitol and President Abraham Lincoln for two weeks before they were disbanded. Lincoln, at Lane’s request, appointed him Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and gave him authority to raise two additional Kansas regiments.1

Lane’s position, however, still required him to report to Gen. David Hunter, Commander of the Department of Kansas, which Lane promptly ignored. Lane had excellent success with recruiting, and on July 22, 1862 he was appointed as Commissioner for Recruiting in the Department of Kansas. Lane’s recruiting policies, however, did not follow the government’s traditional guidelines. In 1861, Lane recruited Cherokee and Creek Native-Americans and their slaves for Indian Brigades. He led raids of Kansas militia into Missouri burning buildings, stealing property and liberating slaves. Reports indicate more than 300 African-Americans were freed, and many served as cooks, teamsters and even soldiers.2 Legally, Lane could not provide weapons to the liberated slaves. But during a Senate debate in 1862, Lane declared he would tell the blacks, “I have not arms for you, but if it is in your power to obtain arms from rebels, take them, and I will use you as soldiers against traitors.”3

President Lincoln, however, was not prepared to accept African-American troops into the Union Army. He refused authority to Gen. Hunter, now in command of the Department of the South in South Carolina, to raise African-American troops, but Lane ignored the order since it had not been directly issued to him.4 On August 4, 1862, Lane appointed Capt. James Williams and Henry Seaman to enlist both blacks and whites into service, and issued General Orders No. 2. The order allowed African-Americans to enlist in the service of the United States, and created controversy for politicians in Kansas and Washington. Lane was given a direct order forbidding him from enlisting men of African descent, but again Lane ignored the message.

Lane began organization of the 1st and 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry, but had difficulties finding men to fill the ranks. He eventually resorted to his traditional tactics, of raiding towns in Missouri and capturing slaves. Within sixty days, Lane had 500 men enlisted in the 1st Kansas Colored.5 Williams was promoted to colonel and given command of the regiment. He noted the recruits demonstrated a “willing readiness to link their fate and share their perils with their white brethren in the war of the great rebellion….”6

Williams subjected his men to a rigorous training program, focusing on daily drills, dress parades and marksmanship. In late October 1862, the five companies from the 1st Kansas Colored successfully engaged a large force of Rebels at the Battle of Island Mound. The engagement marked the first time African-American troops from a northern state engaged Confederate troops as soldiers. Their victory also cost the regiment their first casualties, ten killed and twelve wounded.

Six companies of the 1st Kansas Colored were finally mustered in as a battalion on January 13, 1863. Four additional companies were added the following May. In spring of 1863, the regiment was stationed at Fort Scott, KS building fortifications. Morale among the men was low and desertion common. Williams reported to Col. Charles W. Blair, post commander at Fort Scott that, “My men have never yet received our cut of Bounty or of pay although they have now been in the Service nearly 10 Months; While other troops about us have been regularly paid.”7 He then reported to Gen. James G. Blunt that the growing “restlessness and insubordination” were a result of “long trials and sufferings” regarding the lack of pay.

I have taken the responsibility to order the details for the work on the fortifications in this vicinity to be discontinued from tomorrow morning in order to give my whole time to the discipline of the Regiment I feel that this step though irregular and unauthorized nevertheless is absolutely necessary to restrain the mutinous and insubordinate spirit which has all along manifested itself in a Small degree in the command
James Williams letter to H. G. Loring – April 21, 1863

Removing his men from work on Fort Scott afforded Williams two advantages. First, it allowed him to regain command and control of the regiment, and second, perhaps established faith among his men by demonstrating his willingness to address their concerns in regards to equal treatment as white soldiers. A few weeks later, their foraging party was attacked by Thomas Livingston and his band of bushwhackers near Sherwood, Missouri. Twenty men were killed and several were taken prisoner. Livingston and Williams negotiated terms for a prisoner exchange, but Livingston refused to acknowledge the African-American men as soldiers. A few white soldiers were exchanged, but over time negotiations for a black prisoner exchange broke down and ended with both sides killing prisoners.8 Throughout the war African-American soldiers struggled to earn respect from their Caucasian comrades, but over time their actions on the battlefield spoke for themselves.

In June 1863, the regiment received orders to escorted a wagon train headed into Cherokee Nation. The train was attacked at Cabin Creek by a force of Texas and Native-American Confederate soldiers.9 Their demeanor and calmness in battle earned the 1st Kansas Colored praise from many who fought alongside them. Gen. Blunt wrote, “They fought like veterans, with a coolness and valor that is unsurpassed.”10 And after Cabin Creek, an officer from the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry wrote, “I never believed in niggers before, but by Jasus, they are hell for fighting.”11

By the end of the War, the men of the 1st Kansas Colored were seasoned veterans, seeing further action at Honey Springs and Flat Rock in Indian Territory. The Regiment experienced its heaviest casualties during the Battle of Poison Springs, AR in April 1864. The 1st Kansas Colored, along with other Union regiments, escorted a 198-wagon forage train through enemy territory. The train was attacked by a strong Rebel contingent, and the Union troops were forced to abandon the forage train and artillery. The Federals casualties included 122 killed, 97 wounded and 81 missing.12 Afterwards, Col. Samuel Crawford of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry alleged the Rebels fought the Battle under a Black Flag; meaning “wounded colored soldiers were murdered on the field, as directed by the President of the Confederacy.”13

On December 13, 1864, the 1st Kansas Colored Regiment was designated as the 79th U.S. Colored Troops. The men were mustered out on October 1, 1865 in Pine Bluff, AR with 354 total casualties (188 killed or mortally wounded and 166 who succumbed to disease).

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1. Hondon B. Hargrove, Black Union Soldiers in the Civil War, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1988), 53.
2. Hargrove, Black Union Soldiers, 54.
3. Dudley Taylor Cornish, The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865, (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1987), 71.
4. General Hunter was appointed to command the Department of the South headquartered at Hilton Head, South Carolina in March 1862.
5. Hargrove, Black Union Soldiers, 57.
6. James Williams, Regimental History 1st Kansas Colored Late “79th U.S.” 1 Jan 1866. Muster Rolls and Payrolls, 79th United States Colored Infantry, AR 117, Kansas State Historical Society, 167.
7. James Williams, Letter to Charles Blair. 21 Apr 1863; p. 5; Regimental Order Book; 79th United States Colored Troop Infantry, 1863-1864; Regimental and Company Books of Civil War Volunteer Union Organizations, compiled 1861-1865; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Record Group 94; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
8. Correspondence between Livingston and Williams are recorded in the regimental order book.
9. William’s report for the Cabin Creek engagement is recorded in the regimental order book.
10. Cornish, The Sable Arm, 147.
11. Cornish, The Sable Arm, 147.
12. Hargrove, Black Union Soldiers, 58.
13. Hargrove, Black Union Soldiers, 58.