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Title: From "C." to "Col."
Description: This letter, dated September 21, 1861, is from "C." in St. Joseph, Missouri to "Col." C. reports that the Federal troops surrendered at the Battle of Lexington on September 20. He writes that "our country has been rob[b]ed by both parties . . . nearly evry body that is worth any thing has been rob[b]ed more or less, no matter what their politics are." He adds that people are "bitter" about the Platte Purchase, and predicts that fighting will ensue.
Date: September 21, 1861

Title: Excerpt from George Palmer's Diary
Description: Union Captain George Palmer’s diary, written July-August, 1861, records daily life in his company of dragoons. Palmer writes of meeting “Col. Grant,” searching a suspicious barge, and receiving orders from General Pope. He also hears news of a “battle at Springfield,” presumably the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Palmer recalls that during a storm in camp, 100 men from Col. Williams’ regiment “stripped of all their clothes and ran out in the rain,” causing “much merriment.”
Object Type: Diary

Title: Court Martial Proceedings of Captain Lyman D. Rouell
Description: This military document includes proceedings of the general court martial of Lyman D. Rouell, Captain of the 2nd Colorado Volunteers, Company F. In this court martial held at the Headquarters District of the Border in Kansas City, Missouri, Captain Rouell pleads "not guilty" to: charges of drunkenness while on duty at Fort Lyon in the Colorado Territory and at Council Grove, Kansas; and for driving contraband stock into Kansas from Hickman Mills, Missouri. The official charges included "Conduct unbecoming an Officer and Gentlemen" and "Neglect of duty to the prejudices of good order and military discipline." The verdict is not extant. This document shows how some military units took advantage of General Ewing's General Order No. 11 by accumulating and selling property from abandoned counties.
Date: November 1863 - December 1863

Title: From E.F. Slaughter to Eliza Colgan
Description: On December 11, 1864, E.F. Slaughter writes from Hickmans Mill, Jackson County, Missouri, to Mrs. Eliza Colgan. Slaughter, a member of the local home guards, states that he was captured by "Prices men Shelby's division. We were taken to their camp and next morning paroled. We all started home…directly after we started the battle commenced." He says that both the Confederate and Union wounded were taken to Kansas City, "which shows that our armies are merciful as well as brave." He adds that guerrillas are becoming more active in the area since the soldiers have left.
Date: December 11, 1864

Title: Price's Raid
Description: Samuel J. Reader painting of Price's Raid when Reader was a Union prisoner of war amongst the Rebel Army from October 22-25, 1864, escaping shortly after the Battle of Mine Creek. Reader made this painting the following year at his home in Indianola (just north of downtown Topeka), Kansas. Reader labels the painting, "'Close Up' 'Double Quick!' Members of the 2nd Regiment Kansas State Militia, prisoners of war. 'Price Raid', October, AD. 1864. An eye-witness. On the way to 'Camp Ford' prison pen, near Tyler, Texas".
Object Type: Image
Date: February 13, 1865

Title: From Fred to Dear Cousins
Description: This February 28, 1862 letter is from a soldier named Fred to his cousins. He reports that he just marched from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas with Company A, to Kansas City, Missouri, where they are guarding Fort Union against the Jayhawkers. He tells his cousins that the 2nd Battalion of his regiment "had a brush with the rebels at Independence," and adds that he may be marching to St. Louis soon.
Date: February 28, 1862

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