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Title: From A.J. Sexton to Catherine
Description: This letter was written on April 29, 1862, by A.J. Sexton in camp at Fort Riley, Kansas, to his wife Catherine. A.J. writes of his plans to send Catherine $20.00 after he is paid on May 1st. He reports that the health of his regiment is good, and he believes they will be sent next to Mexico. A.J. refers to the Battle of Shiloh, and writes with regret about the death of Wisconsin Gov. Harvey shortly after the battle.
Date: April 29, 1862

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Description: This letter, dated March 8, 1862, is from Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown. Webber describes marching with his regiment from Kansas City, Missouri to Fort Scott, Kansas, and shares concerns about an upcoming march to Fort Smith, Kansas.
Date: March 8, 1862

Title: View of Manhattan, Kansas
Description: A civil war drawing by John Gaddis of the 12th Regt. Wisconsin Volunteers on their way to Ft. Riley, Kansas, near Manhattan, Kansas.
Object Type: Image
Date: April 24, 1862

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 A.J. Sexton to Catherine
Description: This letter was written on March 18 and 19, 1862, by A.J. Sexton in camp at Fort Scott, Kansas, to his wife Catherine. He describes the area around Fort Scott as “good farming country,” though thinly settled. A.J. asserts that his company is the largest and best drilled in camp, noting that his regiment “is favored with good health” in comparison to the Kansas regiments, who “have buried from one to four a day.” Part of the letter is written on the back of a printed roster for the 12th Wisconsin Volunteers, which lists A.J. as a private in Co. E.
Date: March 18, 1862-March 19, 1862

Title: From Samuel R. Ayres to Lyman Langdon
Description: This letter, dated May 6, 1862, is from Samuel R. Ayres to Lyman Langdon. Ayres states that he was ordered, along with the 7th Kansas Volunteer Regiment, to report at Fort Riley. The 1st and 2nd Kansas Volunteer Regiments and the 12th and 13th Wisconsin Regiments are also at Fort Riley, Ayres says, and they are all preparing to move to New Mexico. Ayres suspects that the purpose of the relocation is to move the abolitionist soldiers away from “the vicinity of slavedom.”
Date: May 6, 1862

Title: From A.J. Sexton to Catherine
Description: This letter was written on April 6, 1862, by A.J. Sexton to his wife Catherine. A.J. states that his regiment is camped near Lawrence, Kansas and may go next to New Mexico. He writes about the health of the men in his regiment, mentioning several illnesses and deaths. A.J. says that he received two months’ pay the previous week, and plans to send $15.00 to Catherine by express. He asks Catherine if she has received any money from the state, and wants to know “how you get along for money.”
Date: April 6, 1862

Title: From A.J. Sexton to Catherine
Description: A.J. Sexton writes a letter from Leavenworth, Kansas to his wife Catherine in Wisconsin on February 26, 1862. Sexton, a member of the 12th Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, describes daily life at Fort Leavenworth, where his company is headquartered. He also announces that the city of Nashville recently surrendered to the Union and “the general opinion is that the war will soon close.”
Date: February 26, 1862

Title: From Samuel R. Curtis to Thomas Carney
Description: This telegram, dated June 7, 1864, was sent by Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney. Curtis states that he has been authorized to issue 1,000 arms and 200,000 rounds of ammunition to the militia. He tells Curtis that “Bushwhackers are east & south of us and hostile thieving indians west but with great vigilance on the part of federal & state troops we may protect the settlement.”
Object Type: Telegram
Date: June 7, 1864

Title: From Unknown to Thomas Carney
Description: This telegram was sent from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney on April 26, 1864. The telegram consists of an April 23, 1864 telegraph communication between Col. Phillips and Major General S.R. Curtis. Phillips informs Curtis that his troops are tracking Quantrill’s movements through Kansas along the Arkansas River, and that one of his companies stationed near the river may meet Quantrill soon. Curtis replies that from Phillips’ telegram, he infers Quantrill’s location to be on the southern side of the Arkansas.
Object Type: Telegram
Date: April 26, 1864

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