Letter signed James H. Birch, Jr., Cameron, Missouri, to Father. Your letter by Captain Edgar was handed me yesterday. I confess I was astonished at the mistake regarding division inspector, and am enclosing copies of letters to Captain Edgar and B.F. Bassett regarding my appointment as inspector. This has provided some embarrassment, but will permit Colonel Nevill to assume charge of the district. I will furnish the organization here tomorrow of a cavalry battalion. I am gratified that the prospect for arms is so flattering. If the men had arms of their own we would be better fixed. I hope General Curtis will send us cavalry arms for at least seven companies. There should be at the arsenal, old Mexican War cavalry arms, out of date, such as breach loading carbines, old fashioned holsters and convention cased sabers. Secessionism at Plattsburg and Liberty is getting very insolent. Camps are being formed again in Platte, Clay and Buchanan and are coming home in squads. The most efficient service we could render would to break up all such nests and to arrest all such as are coming home. We are anxiously waiting the attack on Lexington. If it is a success we feel the country will be safer. We are afraid, however, that no provision will be made to prevent their crossing to this side of the river and we will be subject to their ravages. We heard firing of cannon yesterday evening rather to the right of Lexington, and it is believed here that it was Rains and Sturgis, or Lane’s command. Fred Selle wants you to get him a revolver, a mate to yours. Individuals mentioned include Captain W.A. Edgar, B.F. Bassett, Adjutant General [Missouri] G.R. Smith, Colonel Nevill, General Curtis, [James S.?] Rains, [Samuel D.?] Sturgis, [James H?] Lane and Fred Selle. Places mentioned include Cameron, Missouri, Plattsburg, Liberty, Platte County, Clay County, Buchanan County and Lexington. (4 pages), 1861 Sept 29

Item — Box: 9, Folder: 11

Staff Only

Letter signed James H. Birch, Jr., Cameron, Mo., to Father [James H. Birch], September 29, 1861

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Hamilton Rowan Gamble Papers consist of deeds, early land grants, surveys, a St. Louis court docket book (1816-1833), bills of sale, legal papers regarding land ownership and business agreements, letters pertaining to causes of the Civil War, letters regarding the raising of a state militia, correspondence with political and military leaders, account books and receipts. Papers pertaining to land cases include deeds from French and Spanish ownership of this area, such as a deed between Pierre Chouteau and his wife who sold land for $248 to Meriwether Lewis (box 1/folder 2); a land grant to Andrew Bowen from President James Monroe with the presidential seal (box 1/folder 5); notes on Doit Delany’s land between Creve Coeur Lake and the Missouri River, part of a land grant to Antoine Reynal by the Spanish government (box 6/folder 1); a copy of the land paper from May 23, 1772, signed by Laclede Liguest, et al., designating land granted in the name of the king (box 5/folder 3). Papers regarding slave cases in the courts of Missouri include an 1805 freedom suit by Celeste, an Indian woman, versus Madame Chevalier (box 1/folder 2). An 1827 case of Margrite versus Pierre Chouteau, Sr., explains that the plaintiff’s grandmother, an Indian, was taken in war by the French and possibly sold as a slave in 1769 (box 2/folder 5). Subsequent papers in the collection show that the case was dismissed in 1838 for want of jurisdiction (box 6/folder 6). Letters to and from Gamble from the years before and during the Civil War illuminate the issue of slavery and emancipation in a border state. A copy of a letter from Gamble in 1861 states his view of abolitionists (box 9/folder 13). A copy of an address at an 1862 meeting of loyal states in support of President Lincoln and emancipation bears a notation that Governor Gamble refused to sign it as governor of Missouri (box 10/folder 3). The original draft and copy of Gamble’s 1863 message before a party convention concerns emancipation for the state of Missouri (box 10/folder 7). Critical papers and letters between Gamble and President Abraham Lincoln cover such issues as: raising and paying for a state militia (box 9/folder 3); the situation in Missouri at the beginning of the Civil War (box 9/folder 8); and disagreements between Gamble and Union generals over who should be in control of the state militia (box 10). Collection includes several letters signed by President Lincoln (box 9/folder 12, box 10/folder 9). The collection includes official papers with government seals from 1824 when Gamble was appointed secretary of state of Missouri (box 2/folder 2), and from 1849 on a certificate admitting Gamble as an attorney and counselor of the U.S. Supreme Court (box 8/folder 5). Miscellaneous letters consist of one against gambling and playing roulette from “The Friends of Morality” (box 4/folder 6); plans for a 2nd Presbyterian Church on 5th Street, including drawings of the church interior (box 7/folder 1); and a letter soliciting donations to establish Linden Wood Female College (box 8/folder 9). Other letters and journal entries discuss treatments of diseases, e.g., cholera and neuralgia (box 8/folder 5). Receipts and account books show costs of clothing, household items, food, building materials and bills of sale for slaves to and from Gamble (box 2/folder 6; box 3/folder 7; box 5/folder 1, 5; box 7/folder 5; box 8/folders 4, 6, 11; box 9/folder 2). Letters written near the end of the Civil War, shortly before Gamble’s death, discuss the status of the provisional government (box 10/folder 7).