75 CENTS | LJWORLD.COM | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013 | VOL. 155/NO. 233
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD AUGUST 21, 1863
LAWRENCE DESTROYED BY QUANTRILL’S GUERILLAS!! TOWN ATTACKED AS IT SLEEPS
AN EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT
HORRIBLE ATROCITIES! ENTIRE DOWNTOWN IN FLAMES
From The Leavenworth Conservative We arrived in Lawrence at 7 o’clock. Flying rumors had painted a terrible picture, but the reality exceeded the reports. We found Massachusetts Street one mass of smoldering ruins and crumbling walls, the light from which cast a sickening glare upon the little knots of excited men and distracted women, gazing upon the ruins of their once happy homes and prosperous businesses. Only two business houses were left upon this street — one known as the Armory, and the other as the old Miller Block. About 125 houses in all were burned, and only one or two escaped being ransacked, and everything of value was carried away or destroyed. Six or eight soldiers, who camped upon this side of the river, and who fired across at every Rebel who appeared upon the bank, deterred the cowards from destroying some of the houses near the ferry and from cutting down the flagpole. The force of the Rebels is variously estimated from 250 to 400. Trustworthy parties place it at 300. Their every act during their stay in the city was characterized by the most cowardly barbarism. The entered the town on the gallop, firing into every house, and when the occupants appeared at the door, they were shot down like dogs. Five bodies, burned to a crisp, lay near the ruins of the Eldridge House. They could not be recognized. Seventeen out of twenty-two unarmed recruits, camped south of town, were murdered in their tents. Their bodies lay in the colored church when we arrived. Every safe in the city but two were robbed. In the Eldridge store, James Eldridge and James Perrine gave the rebels all the money in the safe, and were instantly shot down. All the hotels were destroyed except the City Hotel, The loss in cash is estimated at $250,000 and in property and all at $2,000,000. That is a low enough estimate. The number of bodies up to the time we left was 113, of which about 20 were burned so badly as to render recognition impossible. There was a large number of strangers in town, and when the entire loss is ascertained, we think it will reach 150 killed. Many were doubtless killed by the Rebel pickets in the brush. Several cases of remarkable bravery of women were related to us. Mr. Riggs, District-Attorney, was saved by the coolness of his wife. They were in the yard when a savage rode up and prepared to shoot. Mr. Riggs started to run, when the ruffian, who was mounted, drew on him. Mrs. R. pulled the reins of the horse and the ball did not hit. He shot again, but she pulled the rein and her husband escaped. The wife of Sheriff Brown three successive times put out the fire kindled to burn the house. Her husband was hidden under the floor. The house was saved by her heroism. Miss Stone, daughter of the proprietor of the City Hotel, had a diamond ring stolen from her finger. Quantrill obliged the man to restore it. In revenge for this, the ruffians afterward came back and shot her father before the mother’s eyes. They also tried to kill Miss Stone. The people have not yet recovered from the terrible blow sufficiently to appreciate the full force of their desolation, and when they do recover from the shock, many more will doubtless be missing. We have seen battle-fields and scenes of carnage and bloodshed, but have never witnessed a spectacle so horrible as that seen among the smoldering runs at Lawrence. No fighting, no resistance: but cold-blooded murder was there.
More than 150 killed, more wounded
MISSOURI RAIDERS
ATTACKED FROM
THE SOUTH
QUANTRILL’S GANG RUTHLESS
THE PURSUIT OF THE DEMONS
PROMINENT RESIDENTS INHUMANELY BUTCHERED One hundred and eightytwo buildings destroyed
ENCAMPMENT OF RECRUITS WIPED OUT
Cowardly Attackers Retreat Towards Missouri
HOUSES BURNED WITH OCCUPANTS STILL INSIDE
Killing, Burning, Looting Everything in Their Path
INDIAN CHIEFS PLEDGE SUPPORT
FIENDS ATTACK AND KILL UNARMED MEN, THREATEN WOMEN
MOST OF THE RUFFIANS GOT AWAY Gen. Lane and a Party of 20 Pursued the Guerillas It is ascertained that Quantrill’s whole force consisted of three hundred selected men, who assembled from Lafayette, Saline, Clay, Johnson and the border counties, on Thursday noon, at the head of Middle Fork, Grand River, 15 miles from the Kansas line, and on the same day started for Kansas. The marauders were reported to have crossed into Kansas from Missouri near Westport, riding unmolested past a federal troop encampment. Scouts brought word that afternoon to the military station at Aubrey, six miles north of the place where they crossed the line of their assembling on Grand River; and an hour after their entrance into Kansas other scouts brought word to that effect. Quantrill’s men told many persons before reaching Lawrence that they were going there to destroy the town, but by some strange fatality the people along the route, who might easily have got word to Lawrence, did not try. A messenger sent by Capt. Coleman to notify the people of Lawrence of Quantrill’s approach failed to get through. Advancing from the south, the fiends first encountered a group of freed slaves and colored soldiers on the outskirts of town. These men were awoken by gunshots and chased by the bushwackers until they were killed or drowned. More than 20 are believed to have lost their lives. The raiders then encountered a camp of 22 recruits for Fourteenth Kansas on New Hampshire Street. As the men arose from their beds, seventeen were shot dead. The band pressed on to the Eldridge House, which was surrendered by Cpt. A.R. Banks, provost marshal of the state. Guests at the hotel were rousted and the building was sacked and burned. Among the most prominent citizens known to be killed include the following: Gen. G.W. Collamore mayor of the city, and his son; S.M. Thorp, state senator; Wm. Williams, the deputy marshal; Capt. Geo. W. Ball, the County Clerk; Dr. Griswold, the druggist; Col. Stone and his two brothers; Judge Carpenter; Rec. Mr. Snyder; and James Eldridge, son of the proprietor of the ruined Eldridge House hotel. For four hours, the raiders inflicted carnage on the town, looting, burning and murdering, before taking leave as quickly as they had arrived. Quantrill went to the home of Gen. James Lane, with malice in his eyes. But he learned that Lane was out of town and chose not to search for him. Lane, however, had been home, but escaped through the cornfield in his nightclothes and organized a group of 20 men to rout Quantrill.
Gen. Lane, it is said, is fearlessly pursuing the villains with a group of 20 volunteers from Lawrence. One of Quantrill’s spies already has been captured and hanged in Lawrence. Quantrill obtained a supply of fresh horses at Lawrence, which enabled him to outstrip and elude the pursuit of our soldiers, whose horses were nearly exhausted, when they reached him six miles south of Lawrence. The citizens who joined in the pursuit were able to keep up with the enemy, and often compelled him to halt and form in line of battle; but the soldiers could not force their jaded horses to gallop for charge, and the pursuit went on ineffectively. When last heard from, General Lane was at Hickman’s Mills, in Missouri, with his half-clothed, half-armed men in pursuit of the bandits. He attacked Quantrill, and kept up a running fight with him to Missouri, killing up to 20 of the rebels. We learned from a gentleman who arrived by the coach this evening that Quantrill was overtaken near the State line, and 20 of his men killed. Further details are looked for hourly. There are unconfirmed reports that as many as 100 of the rebels were killed in a raid in Missouri. The chiefs of the Delaware, Saca and Fox Indians have offered their services to Gen. Lane.
THE HORRIBLE DEATH
OF OUR MAYOR
Gen. Collamore Suffocates Tragically His Rescuer, Mr. Low, Dies As Well The death of Lawrence mayor Gen. G.W. Collamore was especially tragic. The raiders sought out his home, and there appeared no possible way of escape. The raiders were bursting off the doors of his house. To face them would be to face their revolvers and death. Flee he could not; hide he must. At the kitchen door there was a well, and into this he went. The raiders entered his house and searched it from cellar to garrett, but not finding him they fired the home and watched for him to run out. When he did not come, they supposed he had perished in the flames. Fate was against him nonetheless. A portion of the burning home fell into the well, and between the two elements — fire and water — he perished. After the raiders had gone, Mrs. Collamore — who knew her husband’s hiding place — sent a friend, Mr. Low, to look for him. However, the rope broke and he perished, too. Assistance was brought and three bodies were taken out. How the third man got into the well no one knew
Eighty widows and 245 orphans made by raid
MORE THAN FORTY GUERILLAS KILLED Tragedy has come to Lawrence. Our fair city, thriving just yesterday, lies in ruins, the victim of a group of ruffians who murdered and burned without remorse. Raiders led by the anti-abolitionist fiend William Quantrill rode in from Missouri and attacked without warning, before dawn, in the most ruthless fashion imaginable, ruining the town in just four hours. Just a handful of buildings remain standing. The list of killed and wounded numbers more than 150, including some of the town’s most notable citizens, among them our mayor, Gen. G.W. Collamore, who suffocated along with his son as flames consumed his hiding place. Our grand Massachusetts Street lies in ruins, with most buildings destroyed on either side of the thoroughfare. Dead bodies lie in the streets, some burned beyond recognition. More bodies are to be found and remains are to be identified. The houses that remain standing are filled with the killed and wounded, who belong to all classes of society. Quantrill and his horde of bandits blocked all streets existing the town and then attacked, pillaging, plundering and burning everything in sight. The wailing of women and children, newly widowed and orphaned, could be heard throughout the town. The women and children clung to their husbands and fathers and pleaded with the killers for mercy, to no avail. Resistance was out of the question. Townspeople clad in nightshirts tried to flee, but were cut down like animals by the marauders. Their bodies, still warm and twitching, were thrown into wells and cisterns, or left to burn with their homes and businesses. General Lane and a group of about 20 brave men gave pursuit to the villains, and early reports say that more than 40 have been killed. Quantrill’s own whereabouts are unknown, but he and his gang of outlaws are said to have escaped to Missouri. We are indebted to Mr. Wm. Kempp’s account for the following gruesome eye-witness report: “The sight that met us when coming out I cannot describe. I have read of outrages committed in the so-called dark ages, and horribly as they appeared to me, they sink into insignificance in comparison with what I was then compelled to witness. “Well-known citizens were lying in front of the spot where their stores or residences had been, completely roasted. The bodies were crisped and nearly black. We thought at first that they were all negroes, till we recognized some of them. In handling the dead bodies, pieces of roasted flesh would remain in our hands. Soon our
strength failed us in this horrible and sickening work. Many could not help crying like children. “Women and little children were all over town hunting for their husbands and fathers, and sad indeed was the scene when they did finally find them among the corpses laid out for recognition. I cannot describe the horrors; language fails me, and the recollection of scenes I witnessed makes me sick when I am compelled to repeat them.” Along with the killing there was stealing and plundering. All items of value were stripped from victims, even the rings and earrings of women. The guerillas took all the money that could be found in the pockets or houses of the deceased. Two banks were robbed, and the third escaped the thieves only because its safe could not be forced quick enough. Plunder was carried off on pack horses, and each private of the rebel gang must have been greatly elated by his share of the stolen money, as all the safes in the city were cut open or blown up by filling the keyholes with powder. In some instances the keys were demanded, and a refusal in every case was a death warrant, and compliance scarcely better. Anything of value too heavy to carry was smashed. Houses and businesses were set ablaze, and the burning buildings became gravesites for those who had been murdered inside. Just the evening before, Lawrence residents were peacefully unaware of the carnage to come, enjoying the first concert by the new Lawrence City Band. Three of its members were among those killed.
PRELIMINARY LIST OF THE DEAD We give below a list of seventy-six killed, and several wounded. The fiends finished their murderous work in nearly every case. The list is all white men. A few negroes were killed, but we did not get their names. John Fromley J.C. Trask of State Journal Gen. G.W. Collamore and son James Eldridge James Perrine Joseph Lowe Dr. Griswold, druggist Wm. Williamson, Dept. Marshl S.M. Thorp, State Senator Judge Lewis, carpenter John Speer, jr., of Kansas Tribune Nathan Stone, City Hotel Mr. Brant Mr. West Thomas Murphy Mr. T. Fitch, bookbinder at Journal office E.P. Fitch, bookseller Chas. Palmer of The Journal Lemuel Gilmore James O’Neal John Doyle D.C. Allison, of the firm of Duncan & Allison J.Z. Evans Levi Gates George Burt Samuel Jones George Coates John B. Gill Ralph E Dix Stephen Dix Capt. Geo. W. Ball, County Clerk
John C. Cornell A. Kridmiller George Albrecht S. Dollinski Robert Martin Otis Longley John W. Lowrie Wm. Lowrie James Roach Michael Meeking Louis Wise and infant Jos. Batchelbaner August Ellis Dennis Murphy John K. Zimmerman Carl Enzler George Range Samuel Range Jacob Pollok Fred. Klaus Fred. Kimball Dwight Colunan Mr. Carle Daniel McClellan Rev. S. Snyder Samuel Reynolds George Garrard A.W. Griswold Charles Key Charles Amen James Wilson Charles Riggen A.J. Woods Charles Anderson W.B. Griswold A.C. Cooper Asbury Narkle David Markle Lewis Markle Aaron Holdeman Addison Fraugh
WOUNDED G.W. Baker G. Smith Dennis Boyman H. Hays G.G. Sargent, M. Haneson mortally Mr. Livingston Reports are that the number of dead will reach 170, perhaps 200, as bodies are constantly being found.
QUANTRILL’S RAID SESQUICENTENNIAL SPECIAL EDITION