Friday Aug. 21 1863 One of the most tragic acts of the Civil War period occurred today when a band of “Confederate” marauders led by William Clarke Quantrill sacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas. The 450-man band, some of whom were regular Confederate soldiers, some Missouri guerillas, and others simple outlaws, claimed they were acting in revenge for depredations committed on Southern sympathizers in the Kansas-Missouri region. They systematically hunted down every male over the age of 14 that they could find, eventually killing some 150. They then burned buildings and other property valued at about 1 1/2 million dollars, and rode out of town. Some women managed to save their husbands and sons by hiding them in outbuildings, closets, under floors or in fields of tall crops.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:22:59 +0000