NEWS OF 150 YEARS AGO
September 1863
Early on the morning of August 21, 1863, from 300-400 guerrilla cavalry under William Quantrill descended on the pro-Union town of Lawrence, Kansas. Over the next 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. By 9 a.m., the guerrillas were headed back to Missouri, with Union troops from nearby locations in a vain pursuit. On August 25, Gen. Thomas Ewing, Union commander of the District of the Border, issued General Order No. 11, forcing the evacuation of four Missouri border counties that he believed were aiding and abetting the guerrillas. The DEMOCRAT printed Ewing’s report to his headquarters.
From The Missouri Democrat, Tuesday, September 1, 1863.
THE TRAGEDY OF LAWRENCE.
A LETTER FROM A CITIZEN, AND EYE WITNESS.
Thrilling Details of the Massacre
[A Private Letter from a Citizen of Lawrence.]
LAWRENCE, August 23, 1863.
DEAR BROTHER: You have doubtless heard before this will reach you, of the dreadful calamity that has befallen Lawrence and vicinity, by the sacking and burning of the town, and other indiscriminate slaughter of its citizens on Friday, the 21st instant, by Quantril[l] and his band of incarnate demons. The record will make a page in the history of America, alike humiliating to every American, who has a spark of manhood left within him, and disgracing, insulting, and outraging to common humanity. Such a record would degrade the wildest savage tribe of our Western plains, and yet these beings, animals, (for you cannot call them men) are said to be “erring brethren,” whose rights have been invaded, and whose institutions have been trampled upon.
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