Certificate, James Abbott as Brigadier General
Date: July 15, 1857
James Lane, from the Headquarters of the Kansas Volunteers free state militia, issued this certificate to appoint James Abbott (Brigadier General of the 1st Brigade) to organize people to protect the ballot boxes during the upcoming elections. Election fraud, in the form of multiple votes cast by pro-slavery men, was a constant concern of free state supporters.

Commission, James Montgomery, captain
Date: September 16, 1857
This printed commission, issued from the "Head-Quarters Kansas Volunteers, For the Protection of the Ballot-Box," was given to James Montgomery and signed by J. H. Lane and M. F. Conway, adjutant general, on September 16, 1857. Montgomery was commissioned captain of the "Little Sugar Creek Company." [This would have been specifically for the territorial election held October 5, 1857.]

General Order No. 1, 18th Kansas Cavalry
Creator: Moore, Horace L. (Horace Ladd), 1837-1914
Date: July 17, 1867
This order for the 18th Kansas Cavalry, located at Fort Harker, regulates the maintenance of cavalry horses. Fort Harker was established to provide protection for the Kansas Stage Line and the military supply trains traveling the Smoky Hill Trail and the Fort Riley Road. As stated in the order, these regulations are essential because "the efficiency of every cavalry command depends much upon the condition of its horses."

General order no. 17
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: April 13, 1869
Colonel Moore of the 19th Kansas Cavalry, at camp near Fort Hays, Kansas, issues general order 17 concerning the turning over of property to the supply department at Fort Hays.

General order no. 17
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: April 5, 1869
General order no. 17, issued for one regiment of the 19th Kansas Cavalry, on Walnut Creek, Indian Territory, concerns the status of abandoned property.

General Order No. 2, 19th Kansas Cavalry
Date: October 29, 1868
This order establishes the 19th Kansas Cavalry at Camp Crawford, which was located outside Topeka, Kansas. This camp had been named after Samuel Crawford, the former governor of Kansas who took command of this cavalry regiment in 1868. It also laid out the regulations that must be obeyed by officers and enlisted men and established the daily routine (including the calls of reveille, meals, and taps) that must be observed by these soldiers. The 19th Kansas Cavalry was organized to fight against various Indian tribes in the Great Plains.

General Order No. 2, 19th Kansas Cavalry
Creator: Crawford, S. J. (Samuel Johnson), 1835-1913
Date: January 2, 1869
This order established the daily routine that must be observed by the cavalry forces located near Fort Cobb. This includes reveille (5:45am), calls for meals, and finally taps (8:25pm).

General order no. 3. R. H. 2
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: January 3, 1869
Colonel Samuel Crawford of Fort Cobb, Indian Territory, issued this general order to discourage the seizure of Indian ponies by members of the 19th Cavalry.

General order no. 4. R. H. 2
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: January 11, 1869
Colonel Samuel Crawford, Camp No. 19 (possibly in Indian Territory) issues general order no. 4 concerning the care of the horses of the 19th Kansas Cavalry.

General order no. 5. R. H. 2
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: January 12, 1869
Colonel Samuel Crawford of Camp No. 19 (possibly Indian Territory) issues general order no. 5 commending several members of the 19th Kansas Cavalry for their neat and orderly appearance and excusing them from ground detail.

General order no. 6
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: January 18, 1869
Colonel Samuel Crawford of Camp 20 (possibly Indian Territory), 19th Kansas Cavalry, issues general order no. 6 concerning the proper instruction of soldiers.

General order no. 7. R. H. 2
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: January 22, 1969
Colonel Samuel Crawford of the 19th Kansas Cavalry, at Camp 20 on Medicine Bluff Creek, Indian Territory, issues general order no. 7 announcing a general dismounted inspection of the regiment.

General order no. 8
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: January 26, 1869
Colonel Samuel Crawford of the 19th Kansas Cavalry, at Medicine Bluff Creek, Indian Territory, issues general order no. 8 concerning the creation of morning reports for the regiment.

General order no. 9
Creator: United States. Army. Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 19th (1868-1869)
Date: February 3, 1969
Colonel Samuel Crawford of the 19th Kansas Cavalry, at Medicine Bluff Creek, Indian Territory, issues general order no. 9 announcing a general inspection for the regiment.

General order number 15, issued by Major General Samuel Curtis and others
Creator: Curtis, Samuel Ryan, 1805-1866
Date: October 23, 1864
This order states that General Order No. 54, which established martial law north of the Kaw River, has since been revoked now that the enemy has been driven south and the danger has been removed from the area.

Jacob H. Aley Civil War Discharge Paper, Albany, NY
Creator: United States. War Dept
Date: 1865
These are the Civil War discharge papers for "Jacob H. Aley" on July 11, 1865. Albany, NY. Aley later settled in Wichita after the war. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

James Henry Lane to A. W. Philips
Creator: Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866
Date: December 17, 1857
James Lane, Major General of the free state militia forces, wrote to General A. W. Philips, ordering him to Sugar Mound, Kansas Territory, to help "our friends who are there. . .defending themselves against an invading force."

James H. Lane to James B. Abbott
Creator: Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866
Date: October 15, 1857
James Lane ordered James Abbott to gather his brigade and have them in Lecompton by early morning on the following Monday. The order is, perhaps, a response to the results of the early October election of the Territorial Legislature, in which free state men questioned the validity of votes cast by U.S. troops, or to anticipate the meeting of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention that would reconvene on October 20, 1857.

Kansas Adjutant General general correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1863
This item is correspondence of the Kansas Adjutant General's Office under Charles Chadwick (1862-1863) and Guilford Dudley (1863-1864), including special orders issued by Governor Thomas Carney to Samuel N. Wood of the Morris County Rangers to detain any organized bands of guerillas near Council Grove and William P. Dutton to equip his company in Miami County. Several letters were received from John B. Gray, Missouri Adjutant General, inquiring about Missouri men that had enlisted in the Kansas militia. Most of the correspondence consists of requests for muster rolls, arms, resignations, and commissions. Other notable correspondents include Stephen A. Cobb and Sidney Clarke. A searchable, full-text version of this correspondence is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Kansas Adjutant General general correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1864
This is correspondence sent and received by the Kansas Adjutant General's Office. Cyrus K. Holliday succeeded Guilford Dudley as Adjutant General in May 1864. Topics of this correspondence include hospital reports from Fort Scott, requests for more appointments of medical officers, transmittal of muster rolls, a list of volunteers from Wisconsin who enlisted in Kansas, and letters from Elizabeth Pearsons Clouse inquiring about her son, Benjamin Franklin Pearsons. Correspondence was frequently exchanged with Lieutenant J.R. Kemble, General John B. Gray, Assistant Provost Marshal Sidney Clarke, Provost Marshal James McCahon, and Provost Marshal A.J. Shannon. Also included are letters from newspaper publishers requesting payment for printing General and Special Orders, including a young Marshall M. Murdock from the Burlingame Chronicle. A letter dated January 31, 1864 from President Abraham Lincoln orders the draft of 500,000 men. A searchable, full-text version of this correspondence is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Kansas Adjutant General general correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1878
This correspondence was sent and received by the Kansas Adjutant General's Office. Hiram T. Benam served as Adjutant General from 1876-1878 and Peter S. Noble served from 1878-1883. It includes inquiries made from men "anxious for organization" hoping to enlist militias in the towns of Parsons, Independence, Iuka, Lawrence, and Hutchinson. The collection also includes bill of ladings from the Kansas Pacific Railway and Rock Island (Illinois) Arsenal. Frequent correspondence was exchanged with Willis Brown, cashier for the State Bank of Kansas in Seneca, Kansas, Scott Hopkins of the Kansas University Cadets, John T. Bradley, a lawyer from Council Grove and member of the Kansas Senate from 1876 to 1880, F.C. Merrill, a lumber dealer from Paola, and E.D. Rose, a hardware dealer from Holton.

Kansas Adjutant General general correspondence
Date: 1915-1918
Correspondence including general orders from Adjutant General Charles I. Martin and telegrams between commanding officers of the Kansas National Guard. Also included are appointments of non-commission officers, strength reports detailing desertions and injuries, and descriptive cards of cavalry horses, including their age, size, purchase date and location. Topics discussed include the recruiting of qualified Kansas National Guard members for service in the regular army, instructions for removing enemy sympathizers within ranks and monitoring German nationals in service, and furloughs or personnel transfers. A payroll list with signatures of received payments for members of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, drafted into service on August 5, 1917, can also be found in this material.

Kansas Adjutant General miscellaneous correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1893
Correspondence sent and received by Kansas Adjutant General Henry H. Artz. Many of the letters are addressed to Governor Lorenzo D. Lewelling. Correspondence includes letters from former Adjutant General Alexander B. Campbell in his new position working for the Department of Kansas Grand Army of the Republic, and Captain George W. Jackson of the Garfield Rifles, a colored regiment in Leavenworth, seeking additional uniforms and arms.

Kansas Adjutant General miscellaneous correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1905
Correspondence sent and received by Adjutant General Samuel H. Kelsey (1903-1905). Included are several requisitions for ordnance and clothing.

Kansas Adjutant General miscellaneous correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1894
Correspondence sent and received by the Kansas Adjutant General's Office. Albert J. Davis succeeded Henry H. Artz as Adjutant General in April 1894. Included in this correspondence are ordnance returns of Captain Willard E. Whitaker and a report from the assistant surgeon at Camp Townsend in Ottawa, Kansas. Frequent correspondents include Brigadier General William H. Sears, Quartermaster General Charles A. Taylor, Lieutenant Governor Percy Daniels, and Colonel C.J. Garver.