1861 Missouri Speaks
Rebooting History
Special Purpose Volumes
Special Purpose Volumes have been created to make it easier to access documents and articles about a particular topic or person. Series 6-14 make up the Special Purpose Volumes. The documents are still arranged chronologically but often grouped by subject or person. Each series is briefly described below. Click on the orange boxes to preview pages. If you have any comments or questions regarding a volume, please submit them through the Contact Us page. For additional volumes, see the Core Volumes page.
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​Copyright Notice: All the content on this website, including the PDF volume samples are copyrighted by Fry's Lyon Foundation, Inc. They are for personal use only and must not be copied or distributed without express written consent of Fry's Lyon Foundation, Inc.
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
This volume documents that Major General Fremont performed admirably during his time in Missouri. It also reveals that his relief by the president was the result of a covert campaign by Congressman Francis P. Blair Jr., his father, and brother Montgomery, as well as a group of disloyal West Point officers (Generals Hunter, Pope, and Curtis). The overall campaign was organized by President Lincoln himself in order to eliminate Fremont as a potential rival for the 1864 Republican Party nomination for president while at the same time destroying his reputation.
Volume 2 - Fremont as Reported by the Press – In Chronological Order (2 Parts)​
Newspaper articles reporting and commenting on the service of MGen. Fremont in Missouri. Among the many newspapers represented in this series are the Missouri Republican, Missouri Democrat, New York Tribune, New York Times, New York Herald, Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Press, and the Cincinnati Gazette. Part 1 contains Missouri Newspapers. Part 2 contains newspapers outside Missouri.
Volume 2A - Fremont as Reported by the Press – Arranged by Subject (2 Parts)
​Same content as Volume 2, but articles are grouped into 16 subjects. Part 1: Subjects 1-8; Part 2: Subjects 9-16
Volume 3 - Committee on the Conduct of the War Report, Part 3: Dept. of the West (Full Report)
This is a reprint of the report of a joint congressional committee established during the Civil War to investigate the conduct of the war. Only Part 3, which focuses on the Department of the West is included.
Volume 3A - Committee on the Conduct of the War Report, Part 3: Dept. of the West (Arranged by Subject)
The testimonies from Volume 3 are separated into topics. For example, all testimonies mentioning government contracts, along with the documents presented as part of that testimony, are consolidated. Many maps, pictures, sidebars, and editor's notes are included.​
Volume 4 – Contracts Investigation of the Department of the West (4 Parts)
The Committee on Government Contracts was a select committee of the United States House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863 during the 37th Congress. The committee investigated various charges of fraud in the issuance of government contracts related to the Civil War. The committee's findings as well as testimonies related to the Department of the West are presented in four parts. Part 1 also contains another investigation into the Dept. of the West published as War Claims at St. Louis (1862), as well as the related publication, Vindication of Brig. Gen. J. McKinstry, Formerly Quartermaster Western Department: (1962).
Volume 5 – Sabotaging MGen. Fremont (2 Parts)
Military correspondence and newspaper articles reveal how Maj. Gen. Fremont was set up by the Blair family and others, only to be relieved from command when Fremont did not do their bidding.​
Volume 6 – The Brown Water Navy
Nearly 500 transcribed pages of the The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (1908), which highlight the importance of gunboats and mortar rafts on the Mississippi River during the war. This work was begun by Maj. Gen. Fremont.​
Series 8
BGen. Lyon’s Service in Missouri
Volume 1 – Documents and Articles Concerning BGen. Lyon
Includes correspondence to and from Gen. Lyon and newspaper articles about his activities in 1861.
Volume 2 – Books and Articles Concerning BGen. Lyon
Includes magazine articles and book written about Gen. Lyon after his death, as well as Lyon's own pre-Civil War political writings.
Series 9
President Abraham Lincoln
Background: 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.
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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
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 - Correspondence grouped by officer or official with some newspaper articles included. Volume parts are organized alphabetically by last name.
Volume 2 - Confederate and Rebel - Correspondence arranged in chronological order with some newspaper articles included.
Volume 2A - Confederate and Rebel - Correspondence grouped by officer or official with some newspaper articles included.
Volume 3 - Governors of Missouri and Surrounding States - Correspondence grouped by governor with some newspaper articles included.
Series 11
The Way It Was​
Stories and first-hand recollections concerning the Civil War in Missouri
Volume 3 – Civil War Recollections Concerning Missouri (3 Parts)
Eighty-nine articles written by those who served in Missouri during the war years, taken from multiple sources, including Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS)’s magazine, The Loyal Legion Historical Journal, the 1885-1887 Missouri Republican series of articles entitled “Tales of the War,” and the Confederate Veteran magazine.
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.​
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
Transcribed books from the 19th and early 20th century with helpful footnotes, pictures, and editor's notes added.
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