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At the outbreak of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
in April 1861,
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
was the newest U.S. state, admitted just months earlier in January. The state had formally rejected
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
by popular vote and vowed to fight on the side of the
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
, though ideological divisions with neighboring
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, a
slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
, had led to violent conflict in previous years and persisted for the duration of the war. While Kansas was a rural frontier state distant from the major theaters of war and its Unionist government was never seriously threatened by Confederate military forces, several engagements did occur within its borders, as well as countless raids and skirmishes between local irregulars, including the
Lawrence Massacre The Lawrence Massacre, also known as Quantrill's Raid, was an attack during the American Civil War (186165) by Quantrill's Raiders, a Confederate guerrilla group led by William Quantrill, on the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing a ...
by pro-Confederate guerrillas under
William Quantrill William Clarke Quantrill (July 31, 1837 – June 6, 1865) was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. Having endured a tempestuous childhood before later becoming a schoolteacher, Quantrill joined a group of bandits who ...
in August 1863. Later the state witnessed the defeat of Confederate General
Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...
by Union General
Alfred Pleasonton Alfred Pleasonton (June 7, 1824 – February 17, 1897) was a United States Army officer and major general of volunteers in the Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Ge ...
at the
Battle of Mine Creek The Battle of Mine Creek, also known as the Battle of the Osage, was fought on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, as part of Price's Missouri Expedition during the American Civil War. Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate Stat ...
, the second-largest cavalry action of the war. The decision of how Kansas would enter the Union was a pivotal one that forced the entire country to confront the political and social turmoil generated by the question of abolition and contributed to the strong division in sentiment that eventually erupted into war. The early violence there presaged the coming national conflict, and throughout the war, Kansas remained a staunchly loyal Union stronghold at the western edge of a border region otherwise populated by uneven governments and mixed sympathies.


Background

After the
Territory of Kansas The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the free state of Kansas. ...
approved the anti-slavery
Wyandotte Constitution The Wyandotte Constitution is the constitution of the U.S. state of Kansas. Background The Kansas Territory was created in 1854. The largest issue by far in territorial Kansas was whether slavery was to be permitted or prohibited; aside from the m ...
, it was
admitted to the Union ''Admitted'' is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language docudrama film directed by Chandigarh-based director Ojaswwee Sharma. The film is about Dhananjay Chauhan, the first transgender student at Panjab University. The role of Dhananjay Chauhan has been p ...
on January 29, 1861, in the midst of the national secession crisis: six states had already seceded, and five more would follow in the coming months. The
Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by ...
of 1854 had rescinded the former
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...
and permitted the territories of Kansas and
Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
to determine whether they would enter the Union as slave or free states by
popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...
. Violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups began almost immediately. The conflict was especially bloody along the Kansas–Missouri border, where Missouri
Border Ruffians 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 pea ...
and Kansas Free-Staters formed bands of partisan rangers to raid and pillage opposition strongholds, earning it the name "
Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...
". Kansas' popular vote eventually chose against slavery, so Kansas would fight with the North. As the local military organizations had fallen into disuse, the state's government had no well-organized militia, no arms, accouterments or supplies, nothing with which to meet Union Army demands except the united will of officials and citizens.


Military units

The first Kansas regiment was called on June 3, 1861, and the seventeenth, the last raised during the Civil War, on July 28, 1864. The entire quota assigned to Kansas was 16,654, and the number raised was 20,097, leaving a surplus of 3,443 to the credit of Kansas. About 1,000 Kansans joined Confederate forces since a number of people from the nation's south had settled in Kansas. There are no statistics on those serving the Confederacy, since some joined guerrilla units. Statistics indicate that the losses of Kansas regiments killed in battle and from the disease are greater per thousand than those of any other State. This led to a 19th-century nickname for Kansas: the "Spartan State".


Lawrence Massacre

The first action in Kansas was not between the rival Union and Confederate armies; it was an 1863 guerrilla raid by pro-slavery "
bushwhacker 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 tra ...
s", led by William C. Quantrill, who descended on
Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...
, a center of anti-slavery Unionist sentiment, and proceeded to sack the town, burning numerous buildings and executing about 180 men and boys. As the raiders could be heard shouting "Remember Osceola!", the attack was taken to be a reprisal for an earlier raid by anti-slavery " Jayhawkers" on Osceola, Missouri. Some believed that it was also a response to the recent deaths of some of the raiders' imprisoned womenfolk, when their jailhouse collapsed, perhaps by design, though recent research shows that the collapse was almost certainly accidental.Harris, Charles F. "Catalyst for Terror: The Collapse of the Women's Prison In Kansas City", ''Missouri Historical Review'', April 1995, pp. 302, 303 The massacre outraged the Confederate government, which had granted recognition to Quantrill under the Partisan Ranger Act, but now withdrew support from irregular forces.


Later engagements

The Battle of Baxter Springs, sometimes called the Baxter Springs Massacre, was a minor
battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
fought on October 6, 1863, near where the city of Baxter Springs now sits. On October 25, 1864, a series of three battles occurred, the first two in Linn County, Kansas, with the final in
Vernon County, Missouri Vernon County is located in the western region of the U.S. state of Missouri, on the border with Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 21,159. Its county seat is Nevada. The county was organized on February 27, 1855, considerably l ...
. The first was the Battle of Marais des Cygnes (also called the "Battle of Trading Post"), the second, a cavalry battle, was the
Battle of Mine Creek The Battle of Mine Creek, also known as the Battle of the Osage, was fought on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, as part of Price's Missouri Expedition during the American Civil War. Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate Stat ...
, a significant battle between mounted cavalry for Confederate forces and several brigades of Union cavalry that were pursuing General Price. They were between
Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...
, leading the Missouri expedition, against Union forces under Major General
Alfred Pleasonton Alfred Pleasonton (June 7, 1824 – February 17, 1897) was a United States Army officer and major general of volunteers in the Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Ge ...
. Price, after going south from Kansas City, was initially met by Pleasonton at Marais des Cygnes. At the end of the day, the Confederate army as an effective fighting force was decimated and forced to withdraw into Arkansas.


References


External links


Access documents, photographs, and other primary sources on Kansas Memory, the Kansas State Historical Society's digital portal

Online Exhibit - Keep the Flag to the Front, Kansas Historical Society

Cool Things - Civil War Battle Flags, Kansas Historical Society

The Civil War in Kansas: A Bibliography, Kansas Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas In The American Civil War History of Kansas American Civil War by state