Battle of Lawrence
Encyclopedia
The Lawrence Massacre, also known as Quantrill's Raid, was a rebel guerrilla attack during the U.S. Civil War by Quantrill's Raiders
, led by William Clarke Quantrill, on the pro-Union
town of Lawrence, Kansas
.
The attack on August 21, 1863, targeted Lawrence due to the town's long support of abolition
and its reputation as a center for Redlegs
and Jayhawkers, which were free-state militia
and vigilante
groups known for attacking and destroying farms and plantations in Missouri
's pro-slavery western counties.
had long been the center of strife and warfare over the admission of slave versus free states. In the summer of 1856, the first sacking of Lawrence
sparked a guerrilla war in Kansas that lasted for months. John Brown
might be the best known participant, but numerous groups fought for each side in Bleeding Kansas
.
By the beginning of the American Civil War
, Lawrence, Kansas, was already a target for pro-slavery ire, having been seen as the anti-slavery stronghold in the state and more importantly, a staging area for Union and Jayhawker
incursions into Missouri. Initially the town and surrounding area were extremely vigilant and reacted strongly to any rumors that enemy forces might be advancing on the town. However by the summer of 1863, as none of the threats had materialized, citizen fears had declined and defense preparations were relaxed.
in September 1861, led by Senator James H. Lane. Osceola was plundered and nine men were given a drumhead court-martial trial and executed. Several other Missouri towns and large swaths of the Missouri countryside had been similarly plundered and burned by Unionist forces from Kansas. Castel (1999) concludes that revenge was the primary motive, followed by a desire to plunder. The retaliatory nature of the attack on Lawrence was confirmed by the survivors. "The universal testimony of all the ladies and others who talked with the butchers of the 21st ult. Is that these demons claimed there were here to revenge the wrongs done their families by our men under Lane, Jennison, Anthony and Co."
Collapse of the Women's Prison in Kansas City
In a bid to put down the Missouri guerrilla raiders operating in Kansas, General Thomas Ewing, Jr.
issued General Order No. 10, which ordered the arrest of anyone giving aid or comfort to Quantrill's raiders. This meant chiefly women or girls who were relatives of the guerrillas. Ewing confined those arrested in a series of make-shift prisons in Kansas City
. The women were sequentially housed in two buildings which were considered either too small or too unsanitary, before being moved to an empty property at 1425 Grand. This structure was part of the estate of the deceased Robert S. Thomas, George Caleb Bingham's
father-in-law. In 1861 Bingham and his family were living in the structure, but in early 1862 after being appointed treasurer of the state of Missouri, he and his family relocated to Jefferson City. Bingham had added a third story to the existing structure to use as a studio.
At least ten women or girls, all under the age of 20, were incarcerated in the building when it collapsed August 13, 1863, killing four: Charity McCorkle Kerr, Susan Crawford Vandever, Armenia Crawford Selvey, and Josephine Anderson--the 14 year old sister of William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson
. Rumors circulated (later promulgated by Bingham who held a personal grudge against Ewing and who would seek financial compensation for the loss of the building) that the structure was undermined by the guards to cause its collapse. However, a 1995 study of the events and affidavits surrounding the collapse concludes this is "the least plausible of the theories." Instead, testimony indicated that alterations to the first floor of the adjoining Cockrell structure for use as a barracks, caused the common wall to buckle. The weight of the third story on the former Bingham residence contributed to the resultant collapse. While Quantrill's raid on Lawrence was planned prior to the collapse of the jail, the deaths of the guerrilla's female relatives undoubtedly added to their thirst for revenge and blood lust during the raid.
groups, and chose the day and time of the attack well in advance. The different groups of Missouri riders approached Lawrence from the east in several independent columns, and converged with well-timed precision in the final miles before Lawrence during the pre-dawn hours of the chosen day. Many of the men had been riding for over 24 hours to make the rendezvous and had lashed themselves to their saddles to keep riding if they fell asleep. Almost all were armed with multiple six-shot revolvers.
Between three and four hundred riders arrived at the summit of Mount Oread, then descended on Lawrence in a fury. Over four hours, the raiders pillaged and set fire to the town and killed most of its male population. Quantrill's men burned to the ground a quarter of the buildings in Lawrence, including all but two businesses. They looted most of the banks and stores and killed between 185 and 200 men and boys. According to an 1897 account, among the dead were 18 of 23 unmustered army recruits. By 9 a.m., the raiders were on their way out of town, evading the few units that came in pursuit, and splitting up so as to avoid Union pursuit of a unified column.
The real target of the raid, Jayhawker
Senator James H. Lane, who had been responsible for the raid
in Osceola, Missouri
two years earlier, escaped death by racing through a cornfield in his nightshirt.
in Lawrence survived the attack, but a number of its members were killed and records destroyed.
A day after the attack, the surviving citizens of Lawrence lynch
ed a member of Quantrill's Raiders caught in the town. On August 25, General Ewing authorized General Order No. 11 (not to be confused with Grant's famous General Order of the same name) evicting thousands of Missourians in four counties from their homes near the Kansas border. Virtually everything in these counties was then systematically burned to the ground. The action was carried out by the infamous Jayhawker, Charles "Doc" Jennison. Jennison's raids into Missouri were thorough and indiscriminate, and left five counties in western Missouri wasted, save for the standing brick chimneys of the two-storey period houses, which are still called "Jennison Monuments" in those parts.
A Missouri abolitionist and preacher described the role of the Lawrence Massacre in the region's descent into the horror of total war on the civilian population of Kansas and Missouri:
The city seal of Lawrence commemorates Quantrill's attack with its depiction of a Phoenix
rising from the ashes of the burnt city.
For his part, Quantrill led his men south to Texas for the winter. By the next year, the raiders had disintegrated as a unified force, so were unable to achieve similar successes. William Clarke Quantrill died of wounds received in Kentucky in 1865, with only a few staunch supporters left. Among these appear to have been Frank James
and his younger brother, Jesse James
.
dramedy Psych
, the fictional "Battle of Piper's Cove" reenacted in the 2006 episode "Weekend Warriors" seems to be based on the Lawrence Massacre.
The battle is also depicted in the Steven Spielberg
-produced 2005 miniseries Into the West
and in Ang Lee
's 1999 film Ride with the Devil.
The 1940 film Dark Command
, based on a novel of the same name, is a fictionalized account of the events in much more of a classic B-movie western style. The film starred John Wayne
, Roy Rogers
, Gabby Hayes, and Walter Pidgeon
, but bore no resemblance to the events of history.
The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953), with Randolph Scott
as a Rebel spy, is based on the Lawrence raid.
The 2010 Coen Brother's film, True Grit
, includes a scene in which the characters played by Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon argue about Quantrill. Damon's Texas Ranger calls him a murderer; Bridges' US Marshall, who "rode with" Quantrill, calls him a patriot. Damon ends the argument after Bridges refers to "Captain Quantrill," ridiculing the title: "Captain of what?" This conversation appeared first in Charles Portis
' book of the same name published in 1968.
Quantrill's Raiders
Quantrill's Raiders were a loosely organized force of pro-Confederate Partisan rangers, "bushwhackers", who fought in the American Civil War under the leadership of William Clarke Quantrill...
, led by William Clarke Quantrill, on the pro-Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
town of Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
.
The attack on August 21, 1863, targeted Lawrence due to the town's long support of abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
and its reputation as a center for Redlegs
Redlegs (disambiguation)
Redlegs are the class of poor whites who lived on the colonial Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada and other Caribbean islands.Redlegs may also refer to:* Unionist guerrillas who were headquartered at Lawrence, Kansas, during the American Civil War; see Jayhawker...
and Jayhawkers, which were free-state militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
and vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
groups known for attacking and destroying farms and plantations in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
's pro-slavery western counties.
Background
By 1863, KansasHistory of Kansas
The history of Kansas, argued historian Carl L. Becker a century ago, reflects American ideals. He wrote: "The Kansas spirit is the American spirit double distilled. It is a new grafted product of American individualism, American idealism, American intolerance. Kansas is America in...
had long been the center of strife and warfare over the admission of slave versus free states. In the summer of 1856, the first sacking of Lawrence
Sacking of Lawrence
In the northern spring of 1856, the Sacking of Lawrence helped ratchet up the guerrilla war in Kansas Territory that became known as Bleeding Kansas.-Background:...
sparked a guerrilla war in Kansas that lasted for months. John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
might be the best known participant, but numerous groups fought for each side in Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
.
By the beginning of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Lawrence, Kansas, was already a target for pro-slavery ire, having been seen as the anti-slavery stronghold in the state and more importantly, a staging area for Union and Jayhawker
Jayhawker
Jayhawkers is a term that came to prominence just before the American Civil War in Bleeding Kansas, where it was adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause. These bands, known as "Jayhawkers", were guerrilla fighters who often clashed with pro-slavery groups from Missouri known...
incursions into Missouri. Initially the town and surrounding area were extremely vigilant and reacted strongly to any rumors that enemy forces might be advancing on the town. However by the summer of 1863, as none of the threats had materialized, citizen fears had declined and defense preparations were relaxed.
Motivations
Quantrill himself said his motivation for the attack was, "To plunder, and destroy the town in retaliation for Osceola." That was a reference to the Union's attack on Osceola, MissouriSacking of Osceola
The Sacking of Osceola was a Union Jayhawker initiative on September 23, 1861, to push out pro-Southern elements at Osceola, Missouri. It was not authorized by Union military authorities but was the work of an informal group of Kansas pro-Union "Jayhawkers"...
in September 1861, led by Senator James H. Lane. Osceola was plundered and nine men were given a drumhead court-martial trial and executed. Several other Missouri towns and large swaths of the Missouri countryside had been similarly plundered and burned by Unionist forces from Kansas. Castel (1999) concludes that revenge was the primary motive, followed by a desire to plunder. The retaliatory nature of the attack on Lawrence was confirmed by the survivors. "The universal testimony of all the ladies and others who talked with the butchers of the 21st ult. Is that these demons claimed there were here to revenge the wrongs done their families by our men under Lane, Jennison, Anthony and Co."
Collapse of the Women's Prison in Kansas City
In a bid to put down the Missouri guerrilla raiders operating in Kansas, General Thomas Ewing, Jr.
Thomas Ewing, Jr.
Thomas Ewing, Jr. was an attorney, the first chief justice of Kansas and leading free state advocate, Union Army general during the American Civil War, and two-term United States Congressman from Ohio, 1877-1881. He narrowly lost the 1880 campaign for Ohio Governor.-Early life and career:Ewing...
issued General Order No. 10, which ordered the arrest of anyone giving aid or comfort to Quantrill's raiders. This meant chiefly women or girls who were relatives of the guerrillas. Ewing confined those arrested in a series of make-shift prisons in Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
. The women were sequentially housed in two buildings which were considered either too small or too unsanitary, before being moved to an empty property at 1425 Grand. This structure was part of the estate of the deceased Robert S. Thomas, George Caleb Bingham's
George Caleb Bingham
George Caleb Bingham was an American artist whose paintings of American life in the frontier lands along the Missouri River exemplify the Luminist style. Left to languish in obscurity, Bingham's work was rediscovered in the 1930s...
father-in-law. In 1861 Bingham and his family were living in the structure, but in early 1862 after being appointed treasurer of the state of Missouri, he and his family relocated to Jefferson City. Bingham had added a third story to the existing structure to use as a studio.
At least ten women or girls, all under the age of 20, were incarcerated in the building when it collapsed August 13, 1863, killing four: Charity McCorkle Kerr, Susan Crawford Vandever, Armenia Crawford Selvey, and Josephine Anderson--the 14 year old sister of William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson
William T. Anderson
William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson was a pro-Confederate guerrilla leader in the American Civil War.Anderson was known for his brutality towards Union soldiers, and pro Union partisans, who were called Jayhawkers. Anderson participated in Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863...
. Rumors circulated (later promulgated by Bingham who held a personal grudge against Ewing and who would seek financial compensation for the loss of the building) that the structure was undermined by the guards to cause its collapse. However, a 1995 study of the events and affidavits surrounding the collapse concludes this is "the least plausible of the theories." Instead, testimony indicated that alterations to the first floor of the adjoining Cockrell structure for use as a barracks, caused the common wall to buckle. The weight of the third story on the former Bingham residence contributed to the resultant collapse. While Quantrill's raid on Lawrence was planned prior to the collapse of the jail, the deaths of the guerrilla's female relatives undoubtedly added to their thirst for revenge and blood lust during the raid.
Attack
The attack was the product of careful planning. Quantrill had been able to gain the confidence of many of the leaders of independent BushwhackerBushwhacker
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there are large areas of contested land and few Governmental Resources to control these tracts...
groups, and chose the day and time of the attack well in advance. The different groups of Missouri riders approached Lawrence from the east in several independent columns, and converged with well-timed precision in the final miles before Lawrence during the pre-dawn hours of the chosen day. Many of the men had been riding for over 24 hours to make the rendezvous and had lashed themselves to their saddles to keep riding if they fell asleep. Almost all were armed with multiple six-shot revolvers.
Between three and four hundred riders arrived at the summit of Mount Oread, then descended on Lawrence in a fury. Over four hours, the raiders pillaged and set fire to the town and killed most of its male population. Quantrill's men burned to the ground a quarter of the buildings in Lawrence, including all but two businesses. They looted most of the banks and stores and killed between 185 and 200 men and boys. According to an 1897 account, among the dead were 18 of 23 unmustered army recruits. By 9 a.m., the raiders were on their way out of town, evading the few units that came in pursuit, and splitting up so as to avoid Union pursuit of a unified column.
The real target of the raid, Jayhawker
Jayhawker
Jayhawkers is a term that came to prominence just before the American Civil War in Bleeding Kansas, where it was adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause. These bands, known as "Jayhawkers", were guerrilla fighters who often clashed with pro-slavery groups from Missouri known...
Senator James H. Lane, who had been responsible for the raid
Sacking of Osceola
The Sacking of Osceola was a Union Jayhawker initiative on September 23, 1861, to push out pro-Southern elements at Osceola, Missouri. It was not authorized by Union military authorities but was the work of an informal group of Kansas pro-Union "Jayhawkers"...
in Osceola, Missouri
Osceola, Missouri
Osceola is a city in St. Clair County, Missouri, United States. The population was 835 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of St. Clair County.-History:...
two years earlier, escaped death by racing through a cornfield in his nightshirt.
Aftermath
The Lawrence Massacre was one of the bloodiest events in the whole history of Kansas. The Plymouth Congregational ChurchPlymouth Congregational Church (Lawrence, Kansas)
Plymouth Congregational Church of Lawrence, Kansas is an affiliate of the United Church of Christ that was established in 1854, months after the Territory of Kansas was opened to settlement. The present-day church building, built in 1870, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The...
in Lawrence survived the attack, but a number of its members were killed and records destroyed.
A day after the attack, the surviving citizens of Lawrence lynch
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
ed a member of Quantrill's Raiders caught in the town. On August 25, General Ewing authorized General Order No. 11 (not to be confused with Grant's famous General Order of the same name) evicting thousands of Missourians in four counties from their homes near the Kansas border. Virtually everything in these counties was then systematically burned to the ground. The action was carried out by the infamous Jayhawker, Charles "Doc" Jennison. Jennison's raids into Missouri were thorough and indiscriminate, and left five counties in western Missouri wasted, save for the standing brick chimneys of the two-storey period houses, which are still called "Jennison Monuments" in those parts.
A Missouri abolitionist and preacher described the role of the Lawrence Massacre in the region's descent into the horror of total war on the civilian population of Kansas and Missouri:
- "Viewed in any light, the Lawrence Raid will continue to be held, as the most infamous event of the uncivil war! The work of destruction did not stop in Kansas. The cowardly criminality of this spiteful reciprocity lay in the fact that each party knew, but did not care, that the consequences of their violent acts would fall most heavily upon their own helpless friends. Jenison in 1861 rushed into Missouri when there was no one to resist, and robbed and killed and sneaked away with his spoils and left the union people of Missouri to bear the vengeance of his crimes. Quantrell in 1863 rushed into Lawrence, Kansas, when there was no danger, and killed and robbed and sneaked off with his spoils, leaving helpless women and children of his own side to bear the dreadful vengeance invoked by that raid. So the Lawrence raid was followed by swift and cruel retribution, falling, as usual in this border warfare, upon the innocent and helpless, rather than the guilty ones. Quantrell left Kansas with the loss of one man. The Kansas troops followed him, at a respectful distance, and visited dire vengeance on all western Missouri. Unarmed old men and boys were accused and shot down, and homes with their now meagre comforts were burned, and helpless women and children turned out with no provision for the approaching winter. The number of those killed was never reported, as they were scattered all over western Missouri."
The city seal of Lawrence commemorates Quantrill's attack with its depiction of a Phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
rising from the ashes of the burnt city.
For his part, Quantrill led his men south to Texas for the winter. By the next year, the raiders had disintegrated as a unified force, so were unable to achieve similar successes. William Clarke Quantrill died of wounds received in Kentucky in 1865, with only a few staunch supporters left. Among these appear to have been Frank James
Frank James
Alexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:...
and his younger brother, Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
.
In popular media
In the USA NetworkUSA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
dramedy Psych
Psych
Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts...
, the fictional "Battle of Piper's Cove" reenacted in the 2006 episode "Weekend Warriors" seems to be based on the Lawrence Massacre.
The battle is also depicted in the Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
-produced 2005 miniseries Into the West
Into the West (TV miniseries)
Into the West is a 2005 miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks, with six two-hour episodes . The series was first broadcast in the U.S. on Turner Network Television on six Fridays starting on June 10, 2005...
and in Ang Lee
Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...
's 1999 film Ride with the Devil.
The 1940 film Dark Command
Dark Command
Dark Command is a 1940 western film starring Claire Trevor, John Wayne and Walter Pidgeon loosely based on Quantrill's Raiders in the American Civil War. Directed by Raoul Walsh from the novel by W.R...
, based on a novel of the same name, is a fictionalized account of the events in much more of a classic B-movie western style. The film starred John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
, Gabby Hayes, and Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
, but bore no resemblance to the events of history.
The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953), with Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
as a Rebel spy, is based on the Lawrence raid.
The 2010 Coen Brother's film, True Grit
True Grit (2010 film)
True Grit is a 2010 American Western film written and directed by the Coen brothers. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name, which was previously filmed in 1969 starring John Wayne. This version stars Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges as U.S....
, includes a scene in which the characters played by Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon argue about Quantrill. Damon's Texas Ranger calls him a murderer; Bridges' US Marshall, who "rode with" Quantrill, calls him a patriot. Damon ends the argument after Bridges refers to "Captain Quantrill," ridiculing the title: "Captain of what?" This conversation appeared first in Charles Portis
Charles Portis
Charles McColl Portis is an American author best known for his novels Norwood and the 1968 classic Western novel True Grit , both adapted as films. The latter also inspired a film sequel and made-for-TV movie sequel...
' book of the same name published in 1968.
See also
- Sacking of LawrenceSacking of LawrenceIn the northern spring of 1856, the Sacking of Lawrence helped ratchet up the guerrilla war in Kansas Territory that became known as Bleeding Kansas.-Background:...
, a different incident - BushwhackingBushwhackerBushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there are large areas of contested land and few Governmental Resources to control these tracts...
a form of guerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
common during the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25... - List of massacres in Kansas
Further reading
- Albert E. Castel. Civil War Kansas: Reaping the Whirlwind (1997)
- Albert E. Castel. William Clarke Quantrill: His Life and Times (1999) excerpt and text search
- Thomas Goodrich, Bloody Dawn: The Story of the Lawrence Massacre (1992)
- Paul I. Wellman. A Dynasty of Western Outlaws (1961). (On the formative background of the Kansas-Missouri border wars on the post-war western outlaws, notably the James-Younger gang.)
External links
External links
- Tour and photos of Lawrence Quantrill's Raid sites
- Other reports that mention Quantrill's Raid and the Lawrence Massacre
- Civil War history site article on Quantrill
- Rev. R. Cordley's Description of the Massacre (published in 1865) {Partial list of killed/wounded/missing}
- 1897 account "Guns and the Gospel" with listing of Lawrence Massacre Victims at the end of Chapter 22
- Monument to victims of William C. Quantrill