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Title: Letters and Telegrams Sent (Provost Marshal's Office, 6th District Missouri)
Description: This notebook contains copies of letters and telegrams sent from the Provost Marshal's Office, 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri, between June 24, 1863 and May 19, 1864. Capt. A. Comingo was appointed Provost Marshal of the 6th District of Missouri in June 1863 and corresponded frequently with Missouri Provost Marshal General E.B. Alexander and U.S. Provost Marshal General James B. Fry. Topics addressed include the appointment of deputy provost marshals, military enrollment, recruitment of black soldiers, and the threat of attack by bushwhackers and guerrillas.
Date: June 24, 1863-May 19, 1864

Title: From Mrs. Silliman to My Dear Brother
Description: This letter, dated August 24, 1862, is from Mrs. Silliman to her brother. She describes the “horror” of life in Warrensburg, Missouri, which has been invaded by both Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers, and is now “swarming with runaway slaves.” She complains about her health and says that the black girl who was caring for her was lured away to Kansas by soldiers. She also describes how her son Oscar avoided military service: “he was exempted from drafting, as not being ‘able bodied,’ caused by an internal injury.”
Date: August 24, 1862

Title: From Hamilton R. Gamble to Abraham Lincoln
Description: On May 2, 1863, Missouri Gov. Hamilton R. Gamble writes from St. Louis to President Lincoln. Gamble informs Lincoln about "the perpetration of murders and arsons and other outrages committed by persons connected with the Army…and whose crimes you have the power to restrain." He asks Lincoln to put a stop to the "butcheries" occurring in Missouri's western counties, and suggests that Lincoln replace Gen. Curtis as commander of the district in favor of someone who is "too brave to be cruel."
Object Type: Government Document
Date: May 2, 1863

Title: From Allen T. Ward to My Dear Sister
Description: Allen T. Ward writes a letter from Paola, Kansas to his sister, S.T. Roberts, on October 21, 1861. He describes the warfare in Missouri: “as the Secession army sweeps over it, the union party has to fly for their lives; then in turn comes the union forces under Jim Lane and Montgomery, and all the Secessionists have to leave in a hurry or be shot down as so many wolves.” He states that the war has destroyed much of western Missouri, rendering it “almost entirely depopulated.” He tells her that Jayhawkers have been robbing people in both Kansas and Missouri, and that business and farming in Kansas have mostly ceased.
Date: October 21, 1861

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell writes a letter to Eugenia Bronaugh in Calhoun, Missouri on October 5, 1863. He mentions having a conversation with a stranger in St. Louis and says it is important to be careful when meeting new people because they may be spies. Spies and detectives are necessary in war, he argues, but they sometimes make errors at the expense of the people they are supposed to protect. He tells Eugenia about a Dr. Zimmerman who was arrested, tried, and shot after fighting Bushwhackers who invaded his home. Still, Bushnell has hope for justice: “like Death it is sure to come.”
Date: October 5, 1863

Title: From Susan A. Staples to Mary W. Mason
Description: On February 1, ca. 1863, Susan A. Staples writes from Independence, Missouri to Mary W. Mason. After reporting on the health of her family, Susan states that Col. Penick's command is stationed at Independence. "He deals very strict with Southerners," Susan writes, and "he has a great many female prisoners and says that he is going to [banish] every lady that has husbands in the Southern Army or with the bushwhackers." She adds that her family has been "dreadfully Jayhawked."

Title: From Joseph H. Trego to Alice Trego
Description: In this letter, dated November 23, 1863, Lieut. Joseph H. Trego of the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment informs his wife Alice that he has safely arrived at Fort Smith, Arkansas. He says that scouts from his regiment captured about a dozen Bushwhackers and that Gen. McNeil “is keeping them here to have them ready to hang to telegraph poles.” Trego also mentions that Gen. Blunt is at Fort Smith and is likely to be reinstated to his command.
Date: November 23, 1863

Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865