Terror at dawn; Lawrence in ashes

"Lawrence, August 21, 1863: 5 p.m.[To: Brigadier General T. Ewing, Comdg.: District of the Border,Kansas City, Mo.]

General: I have, with regret, to report that Quantrill, alias Charley Hart, reached this town about 4:30 this morning; burned the town; slaughtered in cold blood about 60 citizens; then left by Blanton Bridge and by the way of the town of Brooklyn. As near as I can estimate, he and about 200 men, armed principally with revolvers. It is said that Lane, with a few men, held him at bay in Brooklyn and has sent back for help.

-- A.R. Banks"

This was one of the first of many communications that described the destruction of Lawrence, Kan., by William C. Quantrill's. If you were from or in the South, this was a "glorious victory." If you were from or in the North, it was a "massacre" from which there would be very severe repercussions and reprisals! Much has been written about this incident and I will only suggest that from a Confederate perspective, it was a very successful raid deep behind the lines in enemy territory that succeeded in destroying for a short time the despised and hated "Abolitionist Capitol of Kansas."

Kansas Governor Thomas Carney described the incident in a letter to Major Gen. J . M. Schofield (no relation to the columnist) who commanded the Department of the Missouri as follows:

"Leavenworth, Kansas, August 24, 1863.

Major General Schofield, St. Louis, Mo.:

Sir: Disaster has again fallen on our state. Lawrence is in ahes. Millions of property have been destroyed and worse yet, nearly 200 lives of our best citizens have been sacrificed. No fiends in human shape could have attacked with more savage barbarity than did Quantrill and his band in their last successful raid. No body of men as large as that commanded by Quantrill could have been gathered together without the people residing in Western Missouri knowing everything about it. Such people cannot be considered loyal and should not be treated as loyal citizens; for while they conceal the movements of desperadoes like Quantrill and his followers, they are, in the worst sense of the word, their aiders & abbettors and should be held equally guilty. There is no way of reaching these armed ruffians while the civilian is permitted to cloak him.

There can be no peace in Missouri, there will be utter desolation in Kansas, unless both are made to feel promptly the rigor of military low. The peace of both States and the safety of the Republic demand alike this resolute course of action I urge upon you therefore, the adoption of this policy, as the only policy which can save both Western Missouri and Kansas; for if this policy be not immediately adopted, the people themselves, acting upon the common principle of self-defense, will take the matter in their own hands and avenge their own wrongs. The excitement over the success of Quantrill is intense -- intense all over the state."

Part of Gen. Schofield's report of Quantrill's Raid to the War Department in Washington, D.C. is as follows:

"Headquarters Dept. of the Missouri, Saint Louis, Mo., Sept. 14, 1862.

Colonel: I have the honor to forward herewith, for the information of the general-in Chief, Brig. Gen. Ewing's report of the burning of Lawrence, Kans. & massacre of its inhabitants & of the operations of his troops in pursuit and punishment of the rebels and assassins who committed this atrocious deed.

Immediately after his return from the pursuit of Quantrill, on the 25th of August, General Ewing issued an order depopulating certain counties and destroying all forage and subsistence therein.

The people of Kansas were very naturally, intensely excited over the destruction of one of their fairest towns and the murder of a large number of its unarmed citizens and many of them called loudly for vengence not only upon the perpetrators of the horrible crime, but also upon all of the people residing in the western counties of Missouri and who were assumed to be more or less guilty of aiding the criminals. It would be greatly unjust to the people of Kansas, in general, to say that they shared this desire for indescriminate vengeance; but there were not wanting unprincipled leaders

[James H. lane, Charles Jennison and other Jayhawkers] to fan the flame of popular excitement and goad the people to madness, in the hope of thereby accomplishing their own selfish ends.

On the 26th of August, a mass meeting was held in Leavenworth, at which it was resolved that the people should meet at Paola on the 8th of September, armed and supplied for a campaign of 15 days for the purpose ofentering Missouri to search for their stolen property and retaliate upon the people of Missouri for the outrages committed in Kansas . The meeting was addressed by some of the leading men of Kansas [including James H. Lane] in the most violent and inflammatory manner and the temper of these leaders their followers was such that there seemed to be great danger of an indescriminate slaughter of the people in Western Missouri or of a collision with the troops under Gen. Ewing in their efforts to prevent it."

The large. vengeful invasion or campaign in Missouri by Kansans did not occur, however the issuance of Order No. 11 by Gen. Ewing did depopulate specific Missouri border counties, destroyed all the crops and buildings in same, created a "no man's land" or buffer zone between Kansas and Missouri and created reprisals and anomosities between the citizens of Kansas and Missouri that are still remembered today!

More about Order No. 11 next week!