1861 Missouri Speaks
Series Descriptions

Below are the current volumes in the Missouri Speaks Collection with a brief description for each. To preview pages of the volumes, go to the Core Volumes or Special Purpose Volumes pages.

Series Sampler

Available in hardcover, softcover, and softcover with bonus Atlas.

This sampler features excerpts from each series of the Missouri Speaks Collection. The collection consists of over 60 volumes that include transcribed copies of Civil War-era newspapers, primary source documents, and government reports. These volumes are presented in chronological order, with additional volumes arranged by subject or by the concerned officer/official.

Series 1-5
(Core Volumes)

11 Volumes

Series 1- The Missouri Democrat

The Missouri Democrat was a Republican Party, anti-slavery, unconditional unionist newspaper published in the slave state of Missouri. The articles provided cover the slavery debate, secession crisis, and political and military issues, which together provide a window into the social condition of the period. Articles are transcribed, modernized, footnoted, and explanatory notes are included to help contextualize the articles. Maps and pictures are added to help the reader visualize the information provided. A timeline, a finding-aid section, and an index are also provided.

Series 2- Primary Source Documents

Transcribed copies of documents, letters, reports, proclamations, military orders, etc. All items are modernized and footnoted, with supporting maps and pictures. This series is a repository of primary source documents dealing with Missouri, culled from many separate repositories dealing with the Civil War period.

11 Volumes

2 Volumes

Series 3 - Rural Newspaper Articles Published in 1861

Transcribed newspaper articles from all of Missouri’s rural newspapers that were available on microfilm in the State Historical Society of Missouri newspaper collection in 2014. The articles provided cover the slavery debate, secession crisis, and political and military issues.

Volume 1 - January-May 1861

Volume 1 - June-December 1861

2 Volumes

Series 4- New York Tribune Articles Concerning Missouri Published in 1861

The articles provided cover the slavery debate, secession crisis, and political and military issues.

Volume 1 – New York Tribune (January-July 1861)
Volume 2 – New York Tribune (August-December 1861)

3 Volumes

Series 5 - Missouri Republican Newspaper Articles Published in 1861

The Missouri Republican was a Democratic Party-supporting newspaper that was pro-slavery and conditional unionist. It advocated for compromise rather than coercion to keep the cotton states in the Union. The selected articles cover the slavery debate, secession crisis, and political and military issues related to Missouri. The Missouri Republican represented the Democratic Party's view, and the Missouri Democrat (Series 1) represented the Republican Party's view. Therefore, they usually presented opposing views on most topics.

Series 6-14
(Special Purpose Volumes)

2 Volumes

Series 6- War Correspondents Reporting from Missouri

Transcribed letters from War correspondents in the field with the Army, station in and around Missouri. These are fascinating first-person accounts detailing what is going on with the troops as they move or prepare for battle.

Volume 1 – Union

Volume 2 – Confederate

14 Volumes/Parts

See Special Purpose Volumes for details on these volumes

Series 7 – Vindication of MGen. Fremont’s Service in Missouri

Transcriptions of letters, reports, proclamations, military orders, and newspaper articles related to MGen. John C. Fremont's 100 days in Missouri, as the commander of the Department of the West.

Volume 1 – Fremont’s Service in Missouri

Volume 2 - Fremont as Reported by the Press (in chronological order)

Volume 2A - Fremont as Reported by the Press (arranged by subject)

Volume 3 – Committee on the Conduct of the War Report, Part 3: Dept. of the West (full report)

Volume 3A - Committee on the Conduct of the War Report, Part 3: Dept. of the West (arranged by subjects)

Volume 4 – Contracts Investigation of the Department of the West

Volume 5 – Sabotaging MGen. Fremont

Volume 6 – The Brown Water Navy

Series 8 – BGen. Lyon’s Service in Missouri

Includes transcribed military letters between Gen. Lyon and other officers/officials in 1861, as well as books and articles about Lyon.

Volume 1 – Documents and Articles Concerning BGen. Lyon

Volume 2 – Books and Articles Concerning BGen. Lyon

2 Volumes

4 Volumes

Series 9 – President Abraham Lincoln

Missouri’s governor called for a State Convention to justify secession from the Union. However, the Convention surprised him and other Democratic state officials by voting 98 to 1 to remain in the Union. Despite this, the governor and other state officials still attempted to carry Missouri out of the Union by force. To prevent this, citizen volunteers, led by a Regular Army captain, disarmed the State Militia at Camp Jackson, and drove the governor and his armed supporters to the far corner of the state. This allowed the State Convention to reconvene, depose the renegade governor, and appoint a provisional governor. Unfortunately, President Lincoln's constant interference in both civil and military affairs caused immense suffering for the citizens throughout the war.

Volume 1 - Lincoln and Missouri

Part 1 – Correspondence and Newspaper Articles

Part 2 – Washington’s War on Missouri

Volume 2 – Lincoln and Missouri’s Armed Forces

Part 1 - Union

Part 2 –Confederate and Rebel

8 Volumes/Parts

Series 10 – Principal Officers and Officials

As it is difficult to keep track of the actions of any one individual within a chronological presentation of documents, this series consolidates the documents from Series 1 and 2 of the Missouri Speaks Collection associated with individual officers and officials. Articles and documents concerning President Lincoln are found in Series 9; those concerning on MGen. Fremont are found in Series 7; those concerning BGen. Lyon are found in Series 8.

Volume 1 – Union (arranged by officer or official concerned)

Volume 2 – Confederate and Rebel (in chronological order)

Volume 2A – Confederate and Rebel (arranged by officer or official concerned)

Volume 3 – Governors of Missouri and Surrounding States

Series 11 – The Way It Was

Stories and first-hand recollections concerning the Civil War in Missouri

Volume 1 – Vignettes - Short Stories - Book Reviews

Volume 2 – Samples of Fake History

Volume 3 – Civil War Recollections Concerning Missouri (3 Parts)

5 Volumes/Parts

4 Volumes

Series 12 – Missouri Speaks Reference Volumes

Volume 1 – Biographies - Shortened biographies of many individuals mentioned in the Missouri Speaks Collection. In most cases, biographies have been extracted from pre-1920s sources, but no attempt has been made to verify their accuracy, unless stated in a footnote. The information provided in these biographies typically does not extend much beyond the Civil War period.

Volume 2 –Atlas – A Collection of over 300 maps prepared for the Missouri Speaks Collection.

Volume 3 – Military Orders - Documents concerning military operations in Missouri from the Official Record, War of the Rebellion, and many other military documents not found in the Official Record.

Volume 4 – Significant and Turning Point Documents - Documents such as Missouri’s 1820 Constitution, the 1858 Militia Act, summary and minutes of the three sessions of the 1861 State Convention, etc.

2 Volumes

Series 13 – Missouri Elections 1860

Transcribed newspaper articles from multiple sources published from July to December 1860. These articles cover the gubernatorial and presidential elections in Missouri, including the election campaigns, the results of the elections, and comments on the results. Volume 2 also provides reports on the attitudes of Missourians toward the secession of South Carolina.

Volume 1 – Gubernatorial Election (August 1860)

Volume 2 – Presidential Election (November 1860)

Series 14 – Revised and Modernized Period Books

Volume 1 – Contains 2 books: Gen. Nathaniel Lyon and Missouri in 1861 by James Peckham and The Struggle for Missouri by John McElroy

Volume 2 – The Fight for Missouri by Thomas L. Snead

Volume 3 – Ten Years in the Ranks, U.S. Army by Augustus Meyers

Volume 4 – Missouri: A Bone of Contention by Lucien Carr

4 Volumes