The most famous battles of the Civil War are written into every school curriculum and American History book – Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh – places we hear about all the time. Thousands of men died at these battles and their names are forever etched into the American psyche.
But, just preceding the years of the civil war, a different conflict was already raging on, far away from the bloody fields of Virginia, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. A deadly border war between the states of Missouri and Kansas stretched on for years, spilling over into surrounding towns and cities as militias and civilians from the two states fought over an extremely pressing issue: slavery.
By the time the Civil War began in 1861, opposing factions from Kansas and Missouri had already been engaged in a tit-for-tat conflict since 1854. The dispute was over whether Kansas would be admitted to the Union as a free state or a slave state. Pro-slavery groups from Missouri, called Border Ruffians or bushwhackers, clashed with abolitionist groups, known as Jayhawkers, who lived in Kansas. This conflict became is known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
The town of Lawrence, Kansas was an anti-slavery stronghold. It was first raided by Border Ruffians in May 1856. Only one was killed during the raid, but this incident sent a clear message to the abolitionist Jayhawkers that violence would be employed if and when it was needed. A few days later, abolitionist and firebrand John Brown led a raiding group in retaliation, and killed five pro-slavery settlers south of Lawrence in Franklin County.
The violence continued to escalate and by 1859, more than 50 men from both sides of the conflict had been killed. After substantial violence and conflict, on January 29, 1861, Kansas…
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