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Title: From E.C. to Dear Father and Mother
Description: This letter, dated March 21, 1862, is from E.C. to his father and mother. E.C. says he is well and is anxious for news of the fight at Sugar Creek: "it is current report that a fight…lasted 4 days with a loss of 8 or ten thousand on the side of the confederate and twenty two thousand killed wounded and prisinors." He adds that skirmishes continue to take place every two or three days.
Date: March 21, 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: Letters Sent (Provost Marshal, Northern District of Kansas)
Description: This notebook contains copies of correspondence sent by the Provost Marshal's Office, Northern District of Kansas in Leavenworth, Kansas, between December 1863 and May 1864. Topics addressed in the correspondence include desertions, weekly reports of the officers, and recruitment efforts. Participants in the correspondence include Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis; Provost Marshal General James B. Fry; and Capt. J. McCahon, Provost Marshal for the Northern District of Kansas.
Date: December 1863-May 1864

Title: General Orders, No. 17
Description: Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis issued General Order No. 17 from the Headquarters of the Department of the Missouri in St. Louis on March 5, 1863. The order authorizes medical officers to employ "contraband, and other men or women of African descent" as cooks, nurses, laundresses, or servants in military hospitals. The order was signed by Assistant Adjutant General H.Z. Curtis.
Date: March 5, 1863

Title: General Orders, No. 34
Description: Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis issued General Order No. 34 from the Department of the Missouri Headquarters in St. Louis on May 4, 1863. The order details the proceedings of a recent Military Commission in St. Joseph, Missouri, where several citizens were tried for war crimes, including disloyal conduct, violation of the conduct of war, bearing arms against the Government, violation of the Oath of Allegiance, and disturbing the peace of Union men. The order was signed by Assistant Adjutant General A.V. Colburn.
Date: May 4, 1863

Title: General Orders, No. 38
Description: Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis issued General Order No. 38 from the Department of the Missouri Headquarters in St. Louis on May 22, 1863. The order details the proceedings of recent Military Commissions in St. Joseph, St. Louis, and Springfield, Missouri, where citizens were tried for war crimes, including consorting with guerrillas and bushwhackers, killing United States soldiers from the Seventh Cavalry Regiment Missouri Volunteers, and encouraging rebellion against the government. The order was signed by Assistant Adjutant General A.V. Colburn.
Date: May 22, 1863

Title: Report on Loss of Clothing and Equipage
Description: This report, dated March 30, 1865, is signed by Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, and members of his Enrollment Board. The report attempts to explain "the destruction and loss of Clothing, Camp and Garrison Equipage…that occurred during the rebel raid into this state" in October 1864. Comingo concludes that the loss was "inevitable" under the circumstances. The report includes a copy of a letter sent by Gen. Samuel R. Curtis to Comingo on October 5, 1864.
Date: March 30, 1865

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