Quantrill's Raid

[Patrick H]

On this day 155 years ago, William Clarke Quantrill led one of the most controversial and violent raids of the Civil War. Lawrence, Kansas was targeted because of its association with abolitionism and because it was the headquarters of a number of "Jayhawking" militia bands that, for several years, had been raiding, robbing, and burning Missouri farms, plantations and towns in the counties bordering Kansas.

Many men and teenage boys were killed. Estimates vary, and I'm not sure anyone knows the correct answer. I have seen estimates from 150 to more than 200 victims.

The age of the victims is often seen as particularly vicious, but it was not uncommon for teenage boys to be soldiers in that era, and very many of Quantrill's own guerrillas were teenagers, too. One of the victims was a boy of 12 or 13 years--indeed very young. He might have been the victim of mistaken identity, as William Elsey Connelley says he was big for his age and was wearing items of clothing from his father's militia uniform. Regardless, his size and his clothing would have offered scant consolation to his mother.

I personally believe the greater outrage is that most of the victims were unarmed. Lawrence was caught unawares and unprepared.

Quantrill had planned the raid for some time, and had prepared a "death list" of specific targets who were known to have murdered, robbed and burned in Missouri, or who had otherwise earned the hatred of the Missouri men. Shortly before the raid, an improvised jail in Kansas City, in which several wives and sisters of the Q men were imprisoned, had collapsed. Several of the girls and women were killed and wounded. The Lawrence raid is often explained as a retaliation to the jail collapse, but I don't believe that's accurate. The raid was in response to years of jayhawking. But many of the Q. men were reluctant to go so far into Kansas (about 40 miles). Quantrill was able to use the jail collapse as a rallying event to whip his men into the mood for a deep strike.

William Gregg, a Quantrill lieutenant, tells us that Quantrill uttered the fateful words "kill and you will make no mistake." Unfortunately for all, I believe the raid got completely out of control at that point. Q. himself went to a local hotel and protected some citizens there. I have written many times that I believe most of the excesses were caused by the men under Bill Anderson and George Todd, but that is only my hunch. (I think it's a VERY good hunch!)

The raid remains controversial to this day, much like the massacre at Fort Pillow, or Anderson's massacre of unarmed Union troops at Centralia, Missouri. It is one of those weeping, oozing wounds that scabs over for a while, but never really heals.

 

[JOHN42768]

A violent murderous raid on civilians can never be justified. One thing to selectively attack known other violent murderous opposing raiders.

 

[Lusty Murfax]

Well, they did have it commin.

 

[Booner]

A violent murderous raid on civilians can never be justified. One thing to selectively attack known other violent murderous opposing raiders.

I guess I don't understand your comment.

Quantrill's men thought the raid on Lawrence was revenge for two years of Savage war upon their families from various forces from Kansas, especially after their wives, sisters, and cousins had been killed and wounded in the KC jail collapse. In their view, you didn't make war upon women.

 

[archieclement]

I'm just reminded of proverbs 22:8 personally "whoever sows injustice reaps calamity" from which comes the country proverb "you reap what you sow"

 

[mofederal]

Quantrill and his men with a combination of reasoning, the last reason being the jail collapse, carried out their retaliatory raid on Lawrence. The main question being was the raid justified. I would have to say yes. The strong feelings of the groups of men involved were thirsting for a real "revenge." Lawrence was the chosen place, it being the place where the Jayhawkers were headquartered as well as the Red Legs. Stolen items ( loot) from Missouri was sold there and of course Senator James H. Lane made his home there. Those combinations made Lawrence the only logical place for the bushwhackers to raid. They really did take their revenge. Anderson's thirst for revenge was understandable. At this point he lost about his whole family in the prison collapse. The other men who had also lost family members in the collapse can also be understood. Did the rest go along out of loyalty or was there more involved? Years of Kansas raids on Missourians was a strong incentive. I also think a lot of personal scores were settled in Lawrence. It is still hard to see the positive effects for the bushwhackers. In 1864, they had to move into the interior of Missouri due to the long term impact of the raid. Order No. 11, came in 1863, but the Army also tried to get the Kansas military out of the border area also. There was a failure in the border area military command, and those responsible for it, were moved out of the area quickly enough, leaving the Red Legs and Jayhawkers coming in to raid the border area once again, until Order No. 11 cleaned the area out of residents.

 

[Patrick H]

One thing I'd like to know about the Lawrence victims is how many of them were enlisted in their local militias or home guard units. I believe Lawrence constituted a genuine military target, because of the troops stationed there and because of the paramilitary Red Legs, the Jayhawkers, and so forth. However, it was also a civilian town and that fact has "muddied the water" for a century and a half. I know that identities of many victims are known, but I have never seen an attempt to cross reference them to a unit roster.

 

[BlueandGrayl]

Ride with the Devil everybody.

 

[diane]

One thing I'd like to know about the Lawrence victims is how many of them were enlisted in their local militias or home guard units. I believe Lawrence constituted a genuine military target, because of the troops stationed there and because of the paramilitary Red Legs, the Jayhawkers, and so forth. However, it was also a civilian town and that fact has "muddied the water" for a century and a half. I know that identities of many victims are known, but I have never seen an attempt to cross reference them to a unit roster.

That's another eery similarity to Ft Pillow. Civilians were killed...but how many really were civilians? I don't know of anyone who has tried to determine that.

 

[Patrick H]

Ride with the Devil everybody.

One of my favorite movies, and I believe a fairly accurate portrayal, too.

 

[Booner]

Quantrill and his boys needed a better press agent.

 

[Patrick H]

Quantrill and his boys needed a better press agent.

Booner, this is probably one of the most classic understatements you have ever made! I know your tongue was probably in your cheek as you wrote that, but there really is an element of truth to your comment.

Quantrill's good press came too late for him, but not for some of his boys. After the war, John Newman Edwards made a celebrity out of Jesse James, and he tried his best to do the same for some of the Q. men in his book "Noted Guerrillas." I'd say he was partially successful. Several of the boys later traded on their own minor celebrity. At least two of the boys became Sheriffs and several of them published memoirs. As we know, Quantrill is cursed and reviled by most people and he has been since Lawrence. Relatively few people know there is a William Quantrill Society devoted to honoring his memory.

...No, I'm not a member of the WCQ Society, but I know some members. I think Quantrill was interesting because of his apparent duality. He could be murderous or chivalrous at the drop of a hat. He was a very cunning and clever guerrilla.

 

[Waterloo50]

I fully understand why Quantrills attack against civilians is viewed by many as a callous act but if you think about it Quantrills attack against Lawrence was a clever move and fully understandable especially when you understand that guerilla tactics are more often than not about forcing a reaction. It's all about payoff and costs. What better way to elicit a response from a more powerful enemy without having to directly engage them and suffer any damage to your own men. It's was a win win situation, Quantrill gets to exact revenge and force his enemy to respond, if they respond with equal violence then his own people are likely to suffer but there's also the chance that they will unite against a common enemy and be stronger for it, if there is no response then he's managed to send out a very strong message and no harm done to either himself or his men. I don't believe for one second that Quantrill hadn't given any thought to repercussions, of course he did, he would have known exactly what the response was likely to be but the pay off was worth it. It's obvious that the raid on Lawrence would in the long term have an adverse effect on his own people but that's the world in which guerilla warfare operates, civilians on both sides will get killed and things will turn nasty pretty quick but civilian deaths are a byproduct of that type of warfare. Things probably did get out of hand but what would you expect, I've yet to read a single article where guerilla attacks in any period of history had a happy ending. Obviously these are just my opinions but I do feel that there's a desperate need to understand the raid in the correct context with due consideration given to the things Quantrill and his men had suffered.

 

[Patrick H]

I fully understand why Quantrills attack against civilians is viewed by many as a callous act but if you think about it Quantrills attack against Lawrence was a clever move and fully understandable especially when you understand that guerilla tactics are more often than not about forcing a reaction. It's all about payoff and costs. What better way to elicit a response from a more powerful enemy without having to directly engage them and suffer any damage to your own men. It's was a win win situation, Quantrill gets to exact revenge and force his enemy to respond, if they respond with equal violence then his own people are likely to suffer but there's also the chance that they will unite against a common enemy and be stronger for it, if there is no response then he's managed to send out a very strong message and no harm done to either himself or his men. I don't believe for one second that Quantrill hadn't given any thought to repercussions, of course he did, he would have known exactly what the response was likely to be but the pay off was worth it. It's obvious that the raid on Lawrence would in the long term have an adverse effect on his own people but that's the world in which guerilla warfare operates, civilians on both sides will get killed and things will turn nasty pretty quick but civilian deaths are a byproduct of that type of warfare. Things probably did get out of hand but what would you expect, I've yet to read a single article where guerilla attacks in any period of history had a happy ending. Obviously these are just my opinions but I do feel that there's a desperate need to understand the raid in the correct context with due consideration given to the things Quantrill and his men had suffered.

I like your take on this incident, and on guerrilla warfare in general. I believe you've made some excellent points! Like you, I believe Quantrill knew exactly what he was doing. As I mentioned, I believe he'd have had trouble getting the boys to follow him so deeply into Kansas. He knew he'd have trouble. It looked like a suicide mission. He kept the target from them until just before they set out for the border. By then he'd had two tragedies work in his favor: First, the arrest of so many of the guerrillas' wives, cousins and sisters (yes, I know the girls were smuggling medicines and pistol caps for the boys) and then, tragically, the collapse of the jail building which killed and injured some of the girls and women. These were the kinds of motivational events that would make a teenage boy's blood boil! These events would fire up any man of any age who loved his women folk. If Bill Anderson wasn't unhinged before that happened, he certainly was afterward.

Quantrill was able to use that jail collapse to the advantage of his planned raid during his war council, just before they saddled up for Kansas. His captains and lieutenants were ready to go! Against all odds, they were ready. Can you imagine the odds of riding a horse...who knows how many miles to the state border...then 40 miles to Lawrence, then galloping it up and down the streets, and then fleeing back another 40 miles to Missouri with, as one of the boys wrote "the whole prairie turned blue with pursuing militia." On paper, it looked like a suicide mission. Q. pulled it off, thanks in no small part to William Gregg, who led the rear guard action during their retreat.

 

[Waterloo50]

I like your take on this incident, and on guerrilla warfare in general. I believe you've made some excellent points! Like you, I believe Quantrill knew exactly what he was doing. As I mentioned, I believe he'd have had trouble getting the boys to follow him so deeply into Kansas. He knew he'd have trouble. It looked like a suicide mission. He kept the target from them until just before they set out for the border. By then he'd had two tragedies work in his favor: First, the arrest of so many of the guerrillas' wives, cousins and sisters (yes, I know the girls were smuggling medicines and pistol caps for the boys) and then, tragically, the collapse of the jail building which killed and injured some of the girls and women. These were the kinds of motivational events that would make a teenage boy's blood boil! These events would fire up any man of any age who loved his women folk. If Bill Anderson wasn't unhinged before that happened, he certainly was afterward.

Quantrill was able to use that jail collapse to the advantage of his planned raid during his war council, just before they saddled up for Kansas. His captains and lieutenants were ready to go! Against all odds, they were ready. Can you imagine the odds of riding a horse...who knows how many miles to the state border...then 40 miles to Lawrence, then galloping it up and down the streets, and then fleeing back another 40 miles to Missouri with, as one of the boys wrote "the whole prairie turned blue with pursuing militia." On paper, it looked like a suicide mission. Q. pulled it off, thanks in no small part to William Gregg, who led the rear guard action during their retreat.

Thank you,
It occurred to me that the raid on Lawrence has happened a thousand times since, through all periods of conflict. The one common factor and primary goal of all guerilla operations has always been to force a reaction without cost, like I said earlier, there's always civilian cost when it comes to guerilla warfare, we still see it happening in various modern conflicts. Just as you described 'it looked like a suicide mission' and in some respects it was, however, I feel that some serious planning and thought had gone into that raid, the way in which the raid was carried out indicates that Quantrill had a decent level of tactical understanding. Planning a raid requires skill, courage and a certain amount of luck but it also requires the necessary ability to see the end game which in turn means that the pros and cons have to be weighed up . Obviously revenge was high on the agenda but that couldn't have been Quantrills single motivation, if it was then how does anyone explain his success, even today, those guerilla groups that act spontaneously don't fair very well. Some may argue that the attack was nothing more than a reactionary cold blooded killing spree and perhaps for some of the men,it was but Quantrill, I believe He knew the impact it would have, after all, he was right, we're still talking about it today.

 

[Booner]

I think the key to understanding Quantrill's motive for the raid goes back to the spring of '63 when Q went to Richmond, VA with the hopes of obtaining a Colonel's commition, which,of course, was refused, but I hink Q told his men that he was made a colonel. I dont think the Confederate authorities approved of, nor understood the type of war that was being waged in MO. On Q's way back to MO. he either met or had some communication with Gen. Price, who supposedly gave Q instructions on how, he (Price) wanted Q to conduct his operations in Western MO. in preparation for Price's invation plans. When Q got back to MO. his men were very excited about a raid another guerrila band had made into KS. The leader of this band was killed in the raid, and his second in command took over, a chrismatic man by the name of William Anderson. Anderson's group became a part of Q's band,
I think it was at this time that Q began his planning for a raid against Lawrence. The way he interacted with his men changed. He broke his group up into smaller units, each with an area of operation, and he didn't take part in many of the raids as he had done in the previous year. He was acting more like a "Chief of Operations," like a Colonel would act. I think his plans for attacking Lawrence was an act of his ego. He would plan and lead the most audacious raid of the war, solidifying his leadership with his men, and show Richmond how wrong they were by not giving him the rank he deserved.

For his men, the raid was about revenge. Many of them had joined Q when they or their families or relations had had Federals come to their farms, kill the head of the household, turn the rest of the family out with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and their farms burned. One other thing that must be understood, is how closely related many of Q's men were to each other. In many ways, Q's band of men were a family affair. So when the Kansas City jail collapsed, killing four of their wives, sisters, and cousin's it demanded retribution. Also what is mostly forgotten is that Gen. Ewing issued Gen. Order #10 right after the ail collapse, and prior to the Lawrence raid. The difference between Gen. Order #10 and the better known Gen. Order #11 is that #10 banned only southern sympathizors from the four county area. Q's men knew about this order as they gathered for the Lawrence raid.

The jail collapse and the issuence of Gen order #10 played into Q's hand in getting his men fired up for a raid deep into Kansas. I think for him it was all about his ego; for his men, it was revenge. And for the people of Lawrence, a taste of what Western Missouri had been experiencing for years.

Its amazing how I can ramble after one margarita. But then, it was made with Quervo Gold.

 

[mofederal]

Revenge was a great motivator in Missouri Guerrilla operations. It was easy enough to push young men to kill when using the idea of revenge against Unionists, union sympathizers and militia members as well as anyone from Kansas, military or civilian. The women were generally unmolested, but boys in their teens and all others to include old men were fair game. It may have been some sort of a game to the younger members of the guerrillas. Teenagers were still boys in many ways, and they were easier to guide in their actions. Older men were more sober, and not as easily pushed to kill, but in a group situation and with alcohol added to the mix, probably no other motivation was needed, unless one had the motivation of Bloody Bill. He did not need any motivation to kill. At Lawrence Quantrill had his loyal motivated young men and boys. Not much more is needed to understand other than we were dealing with followers had had lost everything and no longer carried any hope for anything other than survival. Their family and friends were dead or scattered, nothing else remained other than revenge on the people who had wronged them.

 

[Waterloo50]

So, is there any truth in the Map story, the supposed map mentioned along with Rev Hugh D Fisher...if it's true, doesn't that show planning and thought went into the raid, burning and killing of specific targets means that maximum psychological impact plus revenge were all motivating factors.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I'm never clear on why, because one side did something it clears the way for the other with impunity. ' They did it, too ' seems as excusatory as the whole ' War is H*** ' nonsense.

 

[Waterloo50]

I'm never clear on why, because one side did something it clears the way for the other with impunity. ' They did it, too ' seems as excusatory as the whole ' War is H*** ' nonsense.

That seems to be the general consensus for the Lawrence raid, 'revenge' I'm inclined to believe that revenge was used to motivate but it wasn't the single motivation for the raid.