5fish
Captain
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2007
- Location
- Central Florida
I am surprised that the Sacking of Osceola, Mo. is conveniently overlooked by history. We all know about the Lawrence Massacre but little about the Sacking of Osceola, only 8 died in the sacking of Osceola while over 150 died in Lawrence.
Start!!!
Lane and approximately 2,000 of his troops arrived in Osceola, a port town on the Osage River, on September 22, 1861. In the early morning hours of September 23, Lane and his troops violently descended on the community. The so-called "Kansas Brigade" looted valuable goods and supplies from private homes, stores, the bank, and other businesses throughout the city, burning houses and buildings as they went. Lane and his men also "succeeded in capturing a heavy train of supplies destined for the armies of Generals [Gabriel J.] Rains and Price, together with $100,000 in money." When the raid began, Missouri State Guard Captain John M. Weidemeyer and 200 Missouri militiamen fired their rifles and cannons at Lane and his men in an effort to protect the town and its citizens. Severely outnumbered and outmatched, however, the Missouri troops were soon forced to retreat to safety.
Why???
Lane's precise motivations for attacking Osceola are unclear. Local Osceola historian Richard Sunderwirth claims Lane targeted it because it was the home of one of his Confederate political foes, Missouri Senator Waldo P. Johnson. Other scholars, including Jay Monaghan, acknowledge the Johnson-Lane rivalry, but they assert that Lane's chief purpose was to liberate African American slaves and squelch proslavery Missourians' plans of secession from the Union. Indeed, before the sacking of Osceola, Lane stated, "Everything disloyal from a Durham cow to a Shanghai chicken must be cleaned out."
Plunder!!!
Brigadier General Lane and his troops left Osceola on September 23, many of them in a drunken state. Having plundered and burned almost everything in sight, including all but three of the town's 800 buildings, the unauthorized jayhawker attack left Osceola in ruins. The October 11, 1861 edition of The Newark Advocate reported, "With his immense train of supplies, three hundred and fifty horses and mules, four hundred head of Price's cattle, large droves of sheep and swine, with as many 'contrabands' [200 slaves] as he could employ, he [Lane] made his way to West Point [Missouri] unpursued."Additionally, Lane stole 3,000 sacks of flour, 500 pounds of sugar and molasses, 50 pounds of coffee, and even the country records from the local courthouse. At least one of Captain Wiedemeyer's men was killed during the raid and Lane executed nine other Osceola residents after giving them a hurried mass hearing.
Quantrill!!!
The long-term consequences of the Kansas Brigade's sacking of Osceola became evident two years later. On August 21, 1863, a group of 400 Missouri bushwhackers raided Lawrence, Kansas, killing between 160 and 190 men and boys and looting and burning much of the town. Commanded by William Clarke Quantrill, a proslavery guerrilla, the bushwhackers cited the sacking of Osceola as one of the primary justifications for their surprise attack on Lawrence. Brigadier General Lane was in Lawrence at the time of Quantrill's bloody raid, and he narrowly avoided the wrath of the bushwhackers by running into a cornfield clothed only in his nightshirt.
http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/sacking-osceola
Start!!!
Lane and approximately 2,000 of his troops arrived in Osceola, a port town on the Osage River, on September 22, 1861. In the early morning hours of September 23, Lane and his troops violently descended on the community. The so-called "Kansas Brigade" looted valuable goods and supplies from private homes, stores, the bank, and other businesses throughout the city, burning houses and buildings as they went. Lane and his men also "succeeded in capturing a heavy train of supplies destined for the armies of Generals [Gabriel J.] Rains and Price, together with $100,000 in money." When the raid began, Missouri State Guard Captain John M. Weidemeyer and 200 Missouri militiamen fired their rifles and cannons at Lane and his men in an effort to protect the town and its citizens. Severely outnumbered and outmatched, however, the Missouri troops were soon forced to retreat to safety.
Why???
Lane's precise motivations for attacking Osceola are unclear. Local Osceola historian Richard Sunderwirth claims Lane targeted it because it was the home of one of his Confederate political foes, Missouri Senator Waldo P. Johnson. Other scholars, including Jay Monaghan, acknowledge the Johnson-Lane rivalry, but they assert that Lane's chief purpose was to liberate African American slaves and squelch proslavery Missourians' plans of secession from the Union. Indeed, before the sacking of Osceola, Lane stated, "Everything disloyal from a Durham cow to a Shanghai chicken must be cleaned out."
Plunder!!!
Brigadier General Lane and his troops left Osceola on September 23, many of them in a drunken state. Having plundered and burned almost everything in sight, including all but three of the town's 800 buildings, the unauthorized jayhawker attack left Osceola in ruins. The October 11, 1861 edition of The Newark Advocate reported, "With his immense train of supplies, three hundred and fifty horses and mules, four hundred head of Price's cattle, large droves of sheep and swine, with as many 'contrabands' [200 slaves] as he could employ, he [Lane] made his way to West Point [Missouri] unpursued."Additionally, Lane stole 3,000 sacks of flour, 500 pounds of sugar and molasses, 50 pounds of coffee, and even the country records from the local courthouse. At least one of Captain Wiedemeyer's men was killed during the raid and Lane executed nine other Osceola residents after giving them a hurried mass hearing.
Quantrill!!!
The long-term consequences of the Kansas Brigade's sacking of Osceola became evident two years later. On August 21, 1863, a group of 400 Missouri bushwhackers raided Lawrence, Kansas, killing between 160 and 190 men and boys and looting and burning much of the town. Commanded by William Clarke Quantrill, a proslavery guerrilla, the bushwhackers cited the sacking of Osceola as one of the primary justifications for their surprise attack on Lawrence. Brigadier General Lane was in Lawrence at the time of Quantrill's bloody raid, and he narrowly avoided the wrath of the bushwhackers by running into a cornfield clothed only in his nightshirt.
http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/sacking-osceola
Bringing the