Southern History Series: The Kansas-Missouri Border War

Editor’s Note: This is a work in progress.

As I said in Southern History Series: How Missouri Joined The Union, I have been reading about Missouri in the War Between the States.

“Unfortunately, the new commander continued his predecessor’s policy of attaching western Missouri counties to Kansas when he determined the boundaries for military districts. On June 9, he divided the old Military District of Kansas into two new ones with Maj. Gens. James B. Blunt and Thomas Ewing, Jr. in command. Both men were ardent Radicals, and Ewing was a political sycophant of Sen. Jim Lane and a brother-in-law of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. Not trusting the Missouri militia to maintain order in their part of his district, Ewing relied on Kansas troops whose “loyalty was unquestioned.” Actually, this policy simply aggravated an already difficult situation.

With the circumstances on the border steadily deteriorating, Ewing wrote Schofield on August 3 to propose the mass evacuation of those known to have aided or abetted the guerrilla cause. Although he had some misgivings, the departmental commander finally agreed to the move on the 14th with the proviso that it be limited to the smallest number of people because of the expense involved and “the suffering it may cause to children and other comparatively innocent persons.” That same day, disaster struck one of several makeshift prisons in which Ewing had incarcerated the mothers, wives, and sisters of those men suspected of guerrilla activity. When it collapsed from overloading, five women were killed and several others seriously injured. The rumor quickly spread that Ewing had deliberately deliberately planned the tragedy. Although no evidence exists to support this accusation, the grieving guerrillas needed no proof. When Ewing’s new order for evacuation followed quickly, they were spurred into action.

The result was a raid on Lawrence, Kansas, by the Quantrill gang in which some 150 men and boys were gunned down leaving 80 widows and 250 orphans. Property damage totaled more than $2 million. The guerrillas struck so swiftly and unexpectedly that they lost only one of their own; he had stayed behind in a drunken stupor and had been shot by an Indian. His body was torn to pieces by a vengeful mob. The guerrillas seemed to vanish. The border was aflame. For a few days afterward, it appeared that Kansans would make a retaliatory strike into Missouri as Jim Lane led the cries for vengeance. He blamed Schofield and, indirectly, Gamble for being lax and demanded more positive federal action. The Radical press did not hesitate to blame the Governor for the occurrence of the tragedy. The Missouri Democrat went to the extreme of accusing him of supporting Quantrill. Indeed, it charged him with personal responsibility for failure to contain the guerrilla leader.

Schofield hastened to the border to calm the troubled situation. Without waiting for his superior’s arrival, Ewing had carried his evacuation policy to its ultimate in General Order No.11, dated August 25. Through this order all persons in Jackson, Cass, Bates and the northern half of Vernon County, who lived beyond a mile’s distance from a Union military post, were required to leave their homes within fifteen days. Those who could prove their loyalty could remain at a post in the area; all others would have to move completely outside the military district. To enforce the order, Ewing utilized the Fifteenth Kansas Cavalry under Doc Jennison, whom most Missourians hated bitterly.

Much of the border area lay in ruin within two weeks and became known for years as the “Burnt District.” In Cass County, which had a population of ten thousand before the war, only six hundred remained; Bates County suffered to an even greater degree. One officer wrote his wife on September 10: “It is heart sickening to see what I have seen since I have been back here. A desolated country and men & women and children, some of them almost naked. Some on foot and some in old wagons. Oh God.” Although called upon by Acting Governor Hall to rescind the order, Schofield felt he could not do so for fear of antagonizing hostile Kansans who were threatening to retaliate. Later that winter, however, he mitigated its effects somewhat through the appointment of a new district commander who allowed those not “disloyal or unworthy” to return to their homes.”

Lawrence Journal World:

“Since its founding in 1854, Lawrence had been a hub of anti-slavery forces. Jayhawkers, the anti-slavery counterparts to bushwhackers, from the town and surrounding area frequently raided Missouri farms and towns. Quantrill and many of the men with him despised Senator James Lane, a strong anti-slavery voice who lived in Lawrence. Quantrill wanted to capture or kill Lane and plunder the city as revenge for attacks in Missouri.

Aggression among Quantrill’s men was fueled by the collapse of a women’s prison in Kansas City a few weeks before the raid. The women, all under 20 years old, were imprisoned for giving aid to Confederate sympathizers and bushwhackers. William “Bloody Bill” Anderson’s 14-year-old sister and three other young women were killed when the three-story structure collapsed. Anderson was a major player in Quantrill’s band of ruffians, and committed most of the murders in Lawrence that morning. Many bushwhackers and pro-slavists believed the disaster was the work of Jayhawkers, but no evidence supported this.

As dawn broke, Quantrill and his men descended on Lawrence from the southeast with instructions to kill any man old enough to carry a gun.

On the outskirts of town, the raiders found a group of tents filled with goods taken during the Jayhawkers’ raids in Missouri. A number of freed slaves and African-American soldiers still asleep there were awoken by gunshots. The startled men fled away from the camp, but the bushwhackers chased them to the river. The men were either shot or drowned.

“None succeeded in reaching the opposite shore,” John McCorkle wrote in his 1914 account of riding with Quantrill.

The riders moved into the heart of Lawrence. On New Hampshire Street between Ninth and Tenth streets they attacked an encampment of young Union recruits. When Quantrill’s gang left the encampment, 17 of the 22 boys had been slain. They were unarmed.

Reaching the central business district, Quantrill dispatched his men in various directions to search for plunder and in search of notable Jayhawkers. At the Eldridge House, Captain A. R. Banks waved a white sheet out his window at the raiders. He requested that Quantrill not harm any of the hotel’s residents. Abiding, Quantrill ordered all guests out into the street and took them prisoner in the neighboring City Hotel. The owner of that establishment had offered charity to Quantrill when he was living in Lawrence as Charlie Hart, so Quantrill ordered his men to leave the City Hotel alone.

At the Eldridge, his men sacked the building, removing valuables before torching it. For the second time in 10 years Missourians burned the Eldridge House.

Across Lawrence, Quantrill’s raiders tore through houses. They attacked the home of mayor George Collamore. He hid from the attackers in his well, but suffocated there when the men lit his house on fire. His son and a friend died trying to rescue him.

The offices of Lawrence’s three newspapers, the Journal, Tribune and Republican, were leveled. The papers were anti-slavery publications and had been the victim of the previous sacking seven years before as well. Tribune employee John Speer Jr. was killed by the raiders while trying to defend his home.

The Bell residence was under construction at 1008 Ohio Street. Mr. Bell left his wife and eight children there to confront the attackers. A raider who happened to be an old friend of Bell’s shot him some time later.

Dr. Walter Griswold, a local pharmacist, and a two other men were murdered in Griswold’s yard in front of his family.

At James Lane’s house, Quantrill was told the senator was not home. Having previously heard that Lane was out of town, Quantrill decided not to pursue a search for him. In fact, Lane had been home — but escaped through a cornfield in his nightclothes. …”

Skip to 7:18 for William Quantrill’s speech in the 1999 movie Ride with the Devil on the eve of his famous attack on Lawrence, KS on August 23, 1863.