Opinion

Order No. 11 -- A military necessity

Friday, September 6, 2013

It has often been said that, "Necessity is the mother of Invention" and this was certainly the case in the Civil War, and for that matter in any war. There was a time in the summer of 1863 in Western Missouri, when after a little more than two years of fighting a vicious guerrilla war, which appeared to have no end, that that it was necessary for the Union Commanding the Department of the Missouri to develop a new strategy for combating the enemy guerrillas or Bushwhackers if one was of the northern persuasion.

It did not take long for a new strategy to be conceived and implemented in the District of the Border which included all of Jackson, Cass and Bates counties, and the northern half of Vernon County.

This strategy is described in the infamous or famous Order No. 11 which directed the forced removal of all disloyal civilians from the identified counties in the District of the Border. This included men not in military service, women and children. It is not known exactly how many civilians became refugees, but a conservative estimate is approximately 40,000 and their homes, farm out-buildings and all their crops were eventually burned to the ground.

All of this was done to eliminate the logistical support of food, shelter and sanctuary that the civilians provided the guerrillas as they waged war against the Yankees. The most significant parts of Order No. 11 are described as follows and are located on Page 473 in Series I, Volume 22, Part II Correspondence of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion.

"General Orders, Headquarters, District of the Border, No. 11. Kansas City, Missouri; August 25, 1863.

1. All persons living in Jackson, Cass & Bates Counties, Missouri & in that part of Vernon included in this district, except those living within 1 mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman Mills, Pleasant Hill & Harrisonville and except those in part of Kaw Township, Jackson County, north of Brush Creek and west of the Big Blue, are hereby ORDERED TO REMOVE FROM THEIR PRESENT PLACES OF RESIDENCE WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS from the date thereof. Those who, within that time establish their loyalty to the satisfaction of the commanding officer of the military station nearest their present places of residence will receive from him certificates stating the fact of their loyalty and the names of the witnesses by whom it can be shown. All who receive such certificates will be permitted to remove to any military station in this district or to any part of the State of Kansas except those counties on the eastern border of the state. ALL OTHERS SHALL REMOVE OUT OF THIS DISTRICT. Officers commanding companies and detachments serving in the counties named will see that this paragraph is promptly obeyed.

2. All grain and hay in the field or under shelter in the district from which the inhabitants are required to remove within reach of the military stations after the 9th day of September next will be taken to such stations and turned over to the proper officers there and report of the amount so turned over made to the district headquarters, specifying the names of all loyal owners and the amount of such produce taken from them. All GRAIN & HAY found in the district after the 9th day of September next not convenient to such stations WILL BE DESTROYED! ...

By order of Brigadier General Thomas Ewing, Jr.

H. HANNAHS

Acting Assistant Adjutant General."

Now, after the destruction was completed this area which encompassed more than 200,000 acres of land became known as the "BURNT DISTRICT" which it is still referred to today, and the bitter memories of this scorched earth action still remain 150 years after the fact in this the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

From a military perspective the implementation of Order No. 11 was a military necessity that was necessary to destroy the logistical or guerrilla supply network and sanctuary. Was it successful? It certainly was, because the "Burnt District" was no longer a guerrilla sanctuary, but it did not destroy the guerrilla operations in Western & Central Missouri. In fact, the guerrilla war became more intensified in central Missouri.

Then, as now, the bitter memory of the "Burnt District" lives on and of course the war went on!