Skirmish near Brooklyn, Kansas

Last updated
Skirmish near Brooklyn, Kansas
Part of the American Civil War
DateAugust 21, 1863
Location
South of Brooklyn, Kansas
38°45′09″N95°14′34″W / 38.752546°N 95.242758°W / 38.752546; -95.242758
Result See Skirmish section
Belligerents
Flag of the Confederate States of America (1863-1865).svg  Confederate States of America Flag of the United States (1863-1865).svg  United States
Commanders and leaders
William Quantrill
George Todd 		Preston B. Plumb
Jim Lane
Units involved
Quantrill's Raiders Militia
9th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment [1]

The skirmish near Brooklyn, Kansas was a skirmish of the American Civil War on August 21, 1863, between Quantrill's Raiders and pursuing Union forces immediately after the Lawrence massacre. James Henry Lane led a small group of survivors of the massacre in pursuit of Quantrill's men, and were joined by a force of about 200 Union Army cavalrymen, commanded by Major Preston B. Plumb. Lane's and Plumb's men fought with Quantrill's Raiders to the south of the town of Brooklyn, Kansas, which the raiders had burned. The Confederates began to panic, but a charge led by George Todd halted the Union pursuit. Quantrill's men escaped across the state line into Missouri and then scattered; a few were later caught and executed.

Contents

Background

During the American Civil War, much of the fighting in the state of Missouri was guerrilla warfare. The neighboring state of Kansas was largely abolitionist, while some of Missouri's residents supported slavery. Informal military forces from Kansas were known as Jayhawkers, and the pro-slavery Missouri guerrillas were known as bushwhackers. Both sides committed atrocities, such as murder, theft, and wanton destruction. One of the most notorious bushwhacker groups was Quantrill's Raiders, which was led by William Clarke Quantrill, who had a captain's commission in the Confederate States Army; the historian James M. McPherson described the band as containing "some of the most psychopathic killers in American history". In August 1863, Quantrill gathered 450 men and entered Kansas. They kidnapped locals, forced them to serve as guides on the way to the city of Lawrence, Kansas, and then murdered them. [2]

Lawrence was selected as the target for the raid, as it was viewed in Missouri as a center of abolitionism and Jayhawkers. The city was also home to Jayhawker leader Jim Lane, who was hated in Missouri as a notorious Jayhawker leader. Quantrill stated that the raid was revenge for the earlier Sacking of Osceola, Missouri. [3] The historian Albert E. Castel suggests that it was unlikely that the bushwhackers had motivations other than stealing and killing. [4] In the ensuing Lawrence Massacre on August 21, Quantrill's men destroyed 185 buildings and killed 182 men and boys, having been told by their leader to "kill every male and burn every house". [5]

Skirmish

William Clarke Quantrill Quantrill.jpg
William Clarke Quantrill

Later that day, after the massacre, some of Quantrill's men detected Union soldiers approaching, and the guerrillas left the town, moving the roads towards Baldwin, until they reached the Santa Fe Trail at Brooklyn, Kansas. [6] Brooklyn was 12 miles (19 km) from Lawrence. Local farmers had warned Brooklyn's residents of the approach of Quantrill, so the town was abandoned when the bushwhackers arrived. Quantrill expected Union forces to already be blocking the route he had taken into Kansas, so he decided to withdraw in a southeasterly direction towards some woods around the Marais des Cygnes River. He also ordered Brooklyn burned. [7] All of the town's buildings were destroyed except for the saloon. Historian Katie Armitage suggests that the burning of the town was possibly fueled by adrenaline and alcohol consumption, while a research paper published with Baker University proposes that Quantrill's men may have been targeting local members of a pacifist sect who had earlier been forced out of Missouri by pro-slavery advocates. [6]

Lane, who had survived the massacre by hiding in a cornfield, gathered about a dozen men after the bushwhackers left, and followed after Quantrill, armed with pepperbox revolvers, knives, and shotguns. Lane's force gathered more men during the pursuit, and reached Brooklyn with about 35 men. [8] Lane's men kicked up a cloud of dust, which alerted Quantrill's guerrillas of their approach; the bushwhackers began a retreat. [9] A force of about 200 Union Army cavalrymen under Major Preston B. Plumb who had been trying to locate Quantrill's force since before the massacre met up with Lane's force, and made contact with the bushwhackers beyond Brooklyn. [10] Shots were fired to no effect, and Quantrill's men began to become disorderly and panic while passing down a lane through a cornfield. [11] Guerrilla leader George M. Todd rallied 20 bushwhackers and charged the Federal cavalry, driving them back with losses on both sides. Todd was given command of the rearguard and a pattern of brief firefights ensued as Todd's men would set up a defense and hold off the Union vanguard until the main Union force would catch up. At that point the raiders would ride to reach Quantrill and repeat the pattern as they withdrew towards Paola. [11] [12] [13]

Aftermath

Union forces attempted to set a trap for Quantrill in the area of Paola, but the bushwhackers fought off a small Union charge and then bypassed a planned ambush. [14] The bushwhackers avoided a force of 150 Missouri militiamen at the Missouri/Kansas state line, [15] and had scattered within Missouri by the end of August 22. A handful of the bushwhackers were later caught and executed. [16] The Lawrence Massacre caused widespread outrage, and led to Union Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr. issuing General Order No. 11, which depopulated 10,000 civilians from parts of four counties in western Missouri. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Ride with the Devil</i> (film) 1999 film

Ride with the Devil is a 1999 American Revisionist Western film directed by Ang Lee and starring Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, and Jewel in her feature film debut. Based on the novel Woe to Live On, by Daniel Woodrell, the film, set during the American Civil War, follows a group of men who join the First Missouri Irregulars, also known as the Bushwhackers—guerrilla units loyal to pro-Confederacy units of the state—and their war against Northern Jayhawkers allied with the Union army. Simon Baker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jonathan Brandis, Jim Caviezel, Mark Ruffalo, and Celia Weston are featured in supporting performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Border states (American Civil War)</span> Slave states that did not secede from the Union during the American Civil War

In the context of the American Civil War (1861–65), the border states were slave states that did not secede from the Union. They were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, and after 1863, the new state of West Virginia. To their north they bordered free states of the Union and all but Delaware bordered slave states of the Confederacy to their south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quantrill's Raiders</span> Pro-Confederate partisan guerrillas in the American Civil War

Quantrill's Raiders were the best-known of the pro-Confederate partisan guerrillas who fought in the American Civil War. Their leader was William Quantrill and they included Jesse James and his brother Frank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Quantrill</span> American Confederate guerilla leader (1837–1865)

William Clarke Quantrill was a Confederate guerrilla leader and mass murderer during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Henry Lane (Union general)</span> Pro-Union partisan, politician, and general during the American Civil War

James Henry Lane was a partisan militia leader during the Bleeding Kansas period that immediately preceded the American Civil War. During the war itself, Lane served as a United States Senator and as a general for the Union. Although reelected as a Senator in 1865, Lane died by suicide the next year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Baxter Springs</span> 1863 minor battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Baxter Springs, more commonly known as the Baxter Springs Massacre, was a minor battle of the American Civil War fought on 6 October 1863, near the present-day town of Baxter Springs, Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Massacre</span> Raid in the American Civil War

The Lawrence Massacre was an attack during the American Civil War (1861–65) by Quantrill's Raiders, a Confederate guerrilla group led by William Quantrill, on the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing around 150 unarmed men and boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William T. Anderson</span> Confederate guerrilla fighter

William T. Anderson, known by the nickname "Bloody Bill" Anderson, was a soldier who was one of the deadliest and most notorious Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War. Anderson led a band of volunteer partisan raiders who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Border ruffian</span> 1850s pejorative for pro-slavery Missourian raiders within Kansas Territory

Border ruffians were proslavery raiders, crossing from the slave state of Missouri into the Kansas Territory, to help ensure Kansas entered the Union as a slave state. They were a key part of the violent period called Bleeding Kansas, that peaked from 1854 to 1858. Their crimes included fraudulent voting, interference with elections, and raiding, intimidating, and destroying property of "Free-State" (anti-slavery) settlers. Some took pride in their criminal reputation. Many became pro-Confederate guerrillas, or bushwhackers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayhawker</span> Became synonymous with the people of Kansas during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s

Jayhawker and red leg are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs were guerrillas who often clashed with pro-slavery groups from Missouri, known at the time in Kansas Territory as "Border Ruffians" or "Bushwhackers". After the Civil War, the word "Jayhawker" became synonymous with the people of Kansas, or anybody born in Kansas. Today a modified version of the term, Jayhawk, is used as a nickname for a native-born Kansan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas Jayhawks</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Kansas

The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a member of the Big 12 Conference. KU athletic teams have won twelve NCAA Division I championships: four in men's basketball, one in men's cross country, three in men's indoor track and field, three in men's outdoor track and field, and one in women's outdoor track and field. KU basketball also has two Helms Foundation National Titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Order No. 11 (1863)</span> American Union Army forced resettlement directive

General Order No. 11 is the title of a Union Army directive issued during the American Civil War on August 25, 1863, forcing the abandonment of rural areas in four counties in western Missouri. The order, issued by Union General Thomas Ewing, Jr., affected all rural residents regardless of their allegiance. Those who could prove their loyalty to the Union were permitted to stay in the affected area, but had to leave their farms and move to communities near military outposts. Those who could not do so had to vacate the area altogether.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushwhacker</span> Form of guerrilla warfare during the American Revolutionary War, and American Civil War

Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tracts. This was particularly prevalent in rural areas during the Civil War where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers. The term "bushwhacking" is still in use today to describe ambushes done with the aim of attrition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri in the American Civil War</span> Events within the borders of the U.S. state between 1861 and 1865

During the American Civil War, Missouri was a hotly contested border state populated by both Union and Confederate sympathizers. It sent armies, generals, and supplies to both sides, maintained dual governments, and endured a bloody neighbor-against-neighbor intrastate war within the larger national war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas in the American Civil War</span> Union state in the American Civil War

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, Kansas was the newest U.S. state, admitted just months earlier in January. The state had formally rejected slavery by popular vote and vowed to fight on the side of the Union, though ideological divisions with neighboring Missouri, a slave state, had led to violent conflict in previous years and persisted for the duration of the war.

The sacking of Osceola was a Kansas Jayhawker initiative on September 23, 1861, to push out pro-slavery Southerners at Osceola, Missouri. It was not authorized by Union military authorities but was the work of an informal group of anti-slavery Kansas "Jayhawkers". The town of 2,077 people was plundered and burned to the ground, 200 slaves were freed and nine local citizens were court-martialed and executed.

Hickman Mills is a neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri in the Kansas City metropolitan area. There is good access to the Interstate and Federal highway system, with I-435, I-470, and US-71/I-49 running through the area, including the Grandview Triangle. It also includes Longview Lake and Longview Community College. It is covered by the Hickman Mills C-1 School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George M. Todd</span>

George M. Todd was an American Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War who served under William C. Quantrill. A participant in numerous raids, including the Lawrence Massacre in 1863, he was ultimately killed at the Battle of Little Blue River in 1864.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War</span> Irregular warfare in the American Civil War

Guerrilla warfare during the American Civil War (1861–1865) was a form of warfare characterized by ambushes, surprise raids, and irregular styles of combat. Waged by both sides of the conflict, but most notoriously by the Confederacy, it gathered in intensity as the war dragged.

John Noland was an enslaved man who was the personal servant of bushwhacker William C. Quantrill during the American Civil War. Noland was a chattel slave owned by Francis Asbury Noland in Jackson County, Missouri.

References

  1. ↑ "9th Regiment, Kansas Cavalry". National Park Service. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  2. ↑ McPherson 1988, pp. 784–786.
  3. ↑ Castel 1997, pp. 136–138.
  4. ↑ Castel 1997, p. 138.
  5. 1 2 McPherson 1988, p. 786.
  6. 1 2 Bruce, Giles (August 18, 2013). "Not Far Away, a Town that Never Recovered". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  7. ↑ Schultz 1996, pp. 214–215.
  8. ↑ Castel 1997, p. 133.
  9. ↑ Schultz 1996, p. 215.
  10. ↑ Castel 1997, pp. 133–134.
  11. 1 2 Castel 1999, p. 137.
  12. ↑ Schultz 1996, pp. 216–221.
  13. ↑ Castel 1997, pp. 134–135.
  14. ↑ Schultz 1996, pp. 222–223.
  15. ↑ Castel 1997, p. 135.
  16. ↑ Brownlee 1989, p. 125.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.