Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society

Portals to the Past by David W. Jackson

In Civil War, area saw rise of martial law

Historical organizations this month are commemorating a harrowing sequence of events from August 1863 when local civil government gave way to martial law.

Six years before the outbreak of the Civil War, terrorism reigned here. Kansans favoring abolition migrating primarily from northern states came into conflict with Missourians where ¾ of the 1860 population were sympathetic to southern traditions reliant on slavery. Widespread bloodshed, daily skirmishes, and clashes between neighbors typified escalating guerilla tactics.

In 1861, Col. Jennison, of the 1^st Kansas Cavalry, issued an edict to Missourians along the border counties that their property would confiscated, houses burned, and that nobody would be spared who refused the proclamation. William Clarke Quantrill responded in January 1862 by organizing the first band of about 20 Confederate Missourians. These irregular, or guerilla forces grew in numbers, attacked and surprised their enemies by stealth, and fought to protect themselves and their property.

Quantrill’s posse was ambushed and narrowly escaped a blazing house fire at New Santa Fe (at about 125^th and Wornall today). The Union also set Osceola, Mo., afire. In retaliation, there was a “massacre” at Centralia, Ks. A previous Portals to the Past column discussed the destruction of a Kansas City women’s prison killing or injuring many southern ladies, which led to Quantrill’s 1863 infamous burning of Lawrence, Ks., a Union stronghold. Mapleton, Ks., resident, David Lee Campbell, wrote to his brother:

“…Nearly all the good houses were burned. It is an awful sight to look at. They killed all the prominent men they could find. In fact they kill every thing they saw except a few person at the Whitney House.... They stayed some two or three hours in town. They stole all the horses, money, and goods they could carry and burned the rest. They were so hurried that they could not burn all the houses. And the women put out the fire when they could. But in the center of the town the rebles (sic.) were too watchful to allow the fire put out. They were in the town before the people knew it. They had their spies there for a week and some of the copperheads assisted them by pointing out houses to burn. There is no doubt but they intended to kill all the men of Lawrence and then go down throught (sic.) Kansas and kill and burn as they went. They burned all the houses for ten miles south of Lawrence as they left town but there Jim Lane over took them and commenced a fight. Quantrille had from 500 to 800 men well armed. Lane had only 150 men just picked up.... The people of Kansas will be sure to avenge the slain of Lawrence.... There are about 80 widows and over 300 orphant (sic.) children in Lawrence”

Trying to control of vigilante justice, Union General Ewing issued General Orders No. 11 in August 1863, requiring all Southern sympathizers to vacate their homes and remove from Jackson County, under pain of death.

Brutally enforcing the Order, some Union forces abused their power. Eyewitness accounts recount the cruelty of homes and crops being burned, destruction of livestock, people being killed without cause or proof of crime and, possessions being looted. Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham was the only Union soldier to protest publicly. Refusing to plunder and kill, he painted, “Martial Law” depicting these atrocities.

An engraving of the painting signed by Bingham has been reproduced for sale by the Jackson County Historical Society in response to frequent questions about “Order No. 11,” and Quantrill.

Historical materials from and about those directly affected by the border warfare and “Order No. 11” are available for research in the Jackson County Historical Society’s Archives, which collects and preserves original letters and diaries from this unique chapter in our history.

Visit an “Order No. 11” re-enactment, Saturday, August 19, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Encampments of the Union and Confederate troops stationed at Cave Spring. Re-live 1863 at the Rice-Tremonti Plantation. For more information about this event, call (816) 358-2283.

David W. Jackson is archivist for the nonprofit, membership supported Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society's Archives and Research Library at 112 W Lexington Ave, Suite 103, Independence, MO 64050. The Society collects and makes available local history documents and photographs. For more information, or to donate historical materials, visit www.jchs.org, call (816) 252-7454, or e-mail info@jchs.org.

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