15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This tintype shows Captain Oran Curtis, to the left, with members of the 15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Company F. Captain Curtis was the father of U.S. vice-president Charles Curtis.

15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Date: Between 1860 and 1870
This tintype shows Captain Oran Curtis, to the left, with members of the 15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Company F. Captain Curtis was the father of United States Vice President Charles Curtis.

1st Kansas Colored Infantry flag
Date: between 1862 and 1864
Blue silk regimental flag of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, the first African American regiment from a northern state in the Civil War. Recruitment began August 1862, although they weren't mustered into Federal service until January 13, 1863. They saw their first action at Island Mound, Missouri on October 29, 1862. The flag bears the names of eight battle honors. In 1864 the regiment was redesignated the 79th United States Colored Regiment.

2nd Kansas Colored Infantry flag
Date: 1863
Blue silk regimental flag of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. The flag bears the names of six battle honors. The 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry was organized in mid-1863 and saw action in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Its commander was Colonel Samuel J. Crawford, who later served as the governor of Kansas.

4th Kansas Infantry muster rolls
Date: 1862
These are the muster rolls of the 4th Kansas Infantry. The muster roll identifies the officers and enlisted men, their age, birthplace, the location from which they came to Kansas, and their Kansas residence.

6th Kansas Cavalry flag
Date: 1861
This national flag was carried by the 6th Kansas Cavalry during the Civil War. Established at Fort Scott, Kansas, in July 1861, the unit started out as a "Home Guard," meant to protect citizens living in counties along the state's eastern border from guerilla raiders. In the spring of 1862, the unit was organized as a cavalry regiment. During the course of the war, the 6th Kansas fought in skirmishes in Missouri and Arkansas, preventing Confederate troops from moving farther north. The unit also participated in the Camden Expedition, a Union military campaign meant to secure Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas in Northern hands. As part of the expedition, they fought in the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry and the Battle of Prairie Grove, among others. The 6th Kansas mustered out on August 27, 1865, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry
Date: 1862
This tintype shows members of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry, Company E. Soldiers in the tintype are: (standing) Elisha D. Rose, James Hunter, Volney Brown, Henry Davidson, (kneeling) Lewis V. Bryan, Richard Russell, William Wendall, and Cyrus Grant.

8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry flag
Date: between 1862 and 1866
This flag belonged to Eighth Kansas Volunteer Regiment, which was recruited in 1862 and mustered out in 1866. The Eighth Kansas went farther east than any other Kansas unit, fighting in the battles of Chickmauga and Chattanooga, and taking part in the Atlanta campaign.

8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry monument at Missionary Ridge
Creator: Schmedling Photographer
Date: Between 1870 and 1900
These are three photographs of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry monument on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

9th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Company D
Date: Between 1861 and 1864
This is a poster for the 9th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Company D. It contains the names of officers, enlisted men, and those soldiers that were transferred, discharged, died, and deserted. The home towns of the soldiers are listed also. The poster has colored illustrations depicting the Civil War. The company was organized in Iola, Kansas. A history of the company is at the bottom of the poster but it is difficult to read. Portions of the poster have deteriorated.

Aaron Kuykendall
Creator: Morse, A. S.
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte de visite of Private Aaron Kuykendall from Moline, Illinois, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The carte de visite was removed from an album belonging to Lt. Charles H. Slawson, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The photographer was A. S. Morse in Nashville, Tennessee.

Abishai Stowell to Margaret Stowell Torrence
Creator: Stowell, Abishai
Date: February 1, 1862 - April 22, 1865
Eighteen letters written by Abishai Stowell to his sister Margaret Stowell Torrence, Gambles, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania. The letters were written while he served in the Civil War. Stowell was a private in the Second Kansas Infantry, Company E, he enlisted May 14, 1861 and was mustered out October 31, 1861; re-enlisted in the Second Kansas Cavalry, Company A, November 6, 1861 and was promoted to corporal April 15, 1862; re-enlisted in the Second Kansas Cavalry, Co. A, January 5, 1864 and promoted to sergeant March 25, 1864; and re-enlisted in the Second Kansas Cavalry veterans of Co. A and was assigned to Co. B, January 5, 1864 and mustered out June 22, 1865 at Ft. Gibson.

Albert Robinson Greene to Franklin G. Adams
Creator: Greene, A.R.
Date: January 16, 1889
In this letter to Franklin G. Adams of the Kansas State Historical Society, Albert R. Greene briefly describes the major events of his life, including his early years, his service with the 9th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry during the Civil War, and his career after the war's end.

Alfred Johnson
Date: Between 1891 and 1865
This is a carte-de-visite of Lt. Alfred Johnson who served in the 12th Kansas Volunteer Infantry, Company D.

Alfred Robinson
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte de visite showing Alfred Robinson, from Lawrence, Kansas, who served as quartermaster in the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The carte de visite was removed from an album belonging to Lt. Charles H. Slawson, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry.

Andrew Jackson Huntoon correspondence
Creator: Huntoon, Andrew Jackson, d. 1902
Date: 1860-1863
Andrew Jackson Huntoon was a physician who came to Kansas in 1857, settling south of Topeka in Williamsport, Shawnee County. In 1861 he enlisted with the 5th Kansas Cavalry volunteer regiment, serving as assistant surgeon and surgeon of that group, seeing service along the Missouri border and in Arkansas. After mustering out he settled in Topeka, where he died in 1902. This collection consists primarily of letters to or from Lizzie, Huntoon's friend and later wife. Some of the content describes Indian affairs and military matters. A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

A. Roenigk to George W. Martin
Creator: Roenigk, Adolph, 1847-1938
Date: July 18, 1904
A letter from Adolph Roenigk of Lincoln, Kansas, to George W. Martin, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. Roenigk recounts hearing from a Mr. Ferdinand Erhardt, of an Indian battle site in Lincoln County.

Arvine Ayers
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte-de-visite of Sgt. Arvine Ayers who served in the 12th Kansas Volunteer Infantry, Company C.

Asbury Thornhill to the editor of the National Tribune
Creator: Thornhill, Asbury
Date: Between 1870 and 1879
A letter to the editor of the National Tribune, Washington, D.C., describing his experiences as an inmate at the Confederate prisoner-of-war Camp Ford, Texas. Asbury Thornhill was a member of Co. D, 2d Kansas Cavalry. He describes their capture near Flat Rock Creek in the Cherokee Nation north of Fort Gibson, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma); the murder of all but 8 African American Union troops; their movement to the Camp; their rations; and their bedding. He tells of their march from Camp Ford to Shreveport, Louisiana; their exchange; their transport to the distribution camp at New Orleans, La.; their condition; their trip to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and his discharge.

August Schultz
Creator: Larcombe, Augustus
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte de visite showing First Lieutenant August Schultz from Leavenworth, Kansas, who served in Company B of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The carte de visite was removed from an album belonging to Lt. Charles H. Slawson, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The photographer was Augustus Larcombe in Nashville, Tennessee.

Avra P. Russell
Date: Between 1861 and 1862
A portrait of Captain Avra P. Russell who was a member of Company G, 2nd Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. He was killed at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862.

Battle of Platte River bridge in Wyoming
Creator: Playford, Jesse
Date: 1865
Here are two illustrations of the Platte Bridge Station drawn by Jesse Playford, a member of the 11th Kansas Cavalry, Company I. The station was established in 1858 as one of a series of fortified stations on the Oregon-California Trail. It was located on the south side of the North Platte River. Regular troops abandoned the station in 1859, the same year a 1,000-foot toll bridge was completed across the river. In 1862, during the Civil War, to counter increased Indian hostilities along the Oregon-California Trail and to guard the telegraph lines, volunteer regiments reoccupied Platte Bridge Station. The Indian threat reached a peak in the summer of 1865, when Lakota and Cheyenne descended on the trail from the Powder River country. At the time of the battle, the Platte Bridge Station was commanded by Major Martin Anderson of the 11th Kansas Cavalry. The garrison consisted of about 120 men of the Kansas Cavalry, detachments of Ohio Cavalry, and some volunteers. Following the battle, troops enlarged and rebuilt the fort in 1866, but the following year evacuated it and moved to Fort Fetterman, Wyoming. Almost immediately the Indians burned the buildings and the bridge.

Battle of the Blue
Creator: Mileham, Benjamin D.
Date: 1896
This painting depicts the Battle of Byram's Ford (a.k.a. Battle of the Big Blue), which took place on October 22, 1864, in Jackson County, Missouri. During the battle, the 2nd Regiment of the Kansas State Militia, which was aided by the Topeka Battery of Artillery, fought the Confederate forces of Sterling Price. Captain Ross Burns commanded that artillery battery. Ross may have commissioned artist Benjamin Mileham to execute this painting. Mrs. Ross Burns later donated it the Shawnee County Commissioners and the Grand Army of Republic in memory of her then deceased husband.

B.F. Dawson to Colonel of the Second Kansas militia
Creator: Dawson, B.F.
Date: Between 1865 and 1866
This letter is from B.F. Dawson to the Colonel of the Second Kansas Militia, in Topeka, Kansas. The letter contains Dawson's recollections of the Battle of the Blue, which happened on October 22, 1864, in Jackson County, Missouri. Dawson wrote the letter in Topeka, Kansas.

Campaigning in the Army of the Frontier
Creator: Greene, A.R.
Date: 1861-1865
This item, written Albert R. Greene in the years after the Civil War, describes his experiences campaigning with the Army of the Frontier. A member of Company A, 9th Kansas, Cavalry, Greene joined the U.S. Army just over a year after the Civil War began. His recollections describe a number of things, including life in the Army, the geography of Kansas, interactions with Native Americans, and wartime combat.