USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 13
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It is easy to see that any unguarded town in a country where such a number of outlaws can be assembled is liable to a similar fate, if the villains are willing to risk retribution which must follow. In this case 100 of them have already been slain, and the remainder are hotly pur- sued in all directions. If there was any fault on the part of General Ewing, it appears to have been in not guarding Lawrence. But of this it was not my purpose to speak. General Ewing and the governor of Kansas have asked for a court of inquiry, and I have sent to the War- Department a request that one may be appointed, and I do not wish to anticipate the result of a full investigation I believe, beyond doubt, that the terrible disaster at Lawrence was the immediate consequence of the "radical" measures to which I have alluded. Although these meas- ures are far behind what many, at least, of the radical leaders demand, they surely cannot attribute the sad result to "conservative policy."
Had these measures been adopted last winter, when the state was easily controlled, because the absence of leaves from the brush rendered it impossible for the bushwhackers to hide from the troops, and there was a large force in the state lying idle, they might have been carried out without injury to the loyal people. The larger part of my troops having been called off for service in Arkansas and down the Mississippi, and the summer being favorable for guerrilla operations, it may have been unwise to adopt such measures at this time. If so, they have no right to complain who have been continually clamoring for such meas- ures, and who couple their denunciations of me with demands for more radical measures still, and hold up by way of contrast, as their model, the general who did not see fit to adopt such measures when they could (10)
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have been carried out with perfect ease and security. You will, per- haps, remember that while in command of Missouri, in 1862, I adopted and enforced certain very severe and radical measures towards those in open rebellion and their sympathizers. I believed at the time, and still believe, that those measures were wise and necessary at the time they were adopted, and they seemed to meet with the hearty approval of at least the ultra-Union people of Missouri. After I was relieved by General Curtis, these measures were all abandoned. None of them were revised by him during his administration except that of banish- ment of Rebel sympathizers, and no other of like radical character adopted by him, except that, perhaps, of granting "free papers" to slaves, and confiscation of property without any form of trial known to any law, either civil or military. The banishment of Rebels I have continued, and I have conformed to the laws as nearly as possible in reference to slaves and property subject to confiscation.
I have revised my former severe mode of dealing with guerrillas, robbers, and murderers which General Curtis had abandoned, and have treated with some severity, though of a far milder form, those law- breakers who profess to be Union men. Among the latter were several provost marshals and members of commissions whom I have been com- pelled to arrest and punish for enormous frauds and extortions. They are, of course, loud-mouthed radicals.
I have permitted those who have been in rebellion, and who voltin- tarily surrender themselves and their arms. to take the oath of alle- giance and give bonds for their future good conduct, and release them upon condition that they reside in such portion of the State as I shall direct. For this I am most bitterly assailed by the radicals, who demand that every man who has been in rebellion or in any way aided shall be exterminated or driven from the state. There are thousands of such criminals, and no man can fail to see that such a course would light the flames of a war such as Missouri has never yet seen. Their leaders know it, but it is necessary to their ascendacy, and they scruple at noth- ing to accomplish that end.
I am officially informed that a large meeting has been held at Leaven- worth, in which a resolution was adopted to the effect that the people would assemble at a certain place on the border, on the 8th of Sep- tember, for the purpose of entering Missouri to search for their stolen property. Efforts have been made by the mayor of Leavenworth to get possession of the ferry at that place for the purpose of crossing armed parties of citizens into northern Missouri.
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I have strong reasons for believing that the authors of the telegram to you are among those who introduced and obtained the adoption of the Leavenworth resolution, and who are endeavoring to organize a force for the purpose of general retaliation upon Missouri. Those who so deplore my "imbecility and incapacity" are the very men who are endeavoring to bring about a collision between the people of Kansas and the troops under General Ewing's command. I have not the "capa- city" to see the wisdom or justice of permitting an irresponsible mob to enter Missouri for the purpose of retaliation even for so grievous a wrong as that which Lawrence has suffered.
I have increased the force upon the border as far as possible, and no effort has been or will be spared to punish the invaders of Kansas and to prevent such acts in future. The force there has been all the time far larger than in any other portion of my department except on the advanced line in Arkansas and the Indian Territory.
I deem it proper to remark here that the allusions to my prede- cessor are in no wise intended as a reflection upon him or his official acts, but merely because those who so bitterly assail me hold him up as their model.
Please accept my apologies, Mr. President, for the length of this letter. I could hardly, in justice to myself or to truth, make it shorter.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General.
Hon. Edward Bates,
Saint Louis, August 28, 1863. Attorney-General United States:
My Dear Sir: I regret extremely the necessity which compels me to write you at this time, but the sad condition of the western coun- ties of our state prompts me to do so, and I certainly know of no one to whom Missourians can appeal with a greater certainty of being favorably listened to. At the earnest request of many of our citizens, who fear that the recent outrages in Kansas would be visited upon our own section of the state. I came down to see General Schofield, and to ascertain, if possible, what policy he proposed to adopt. I find, on conversation with him, that he is greatly excited, and seems entirely disposed to offer no obstruction to the contemplated invasion of our state by the people of Kansas indeed, he expressed a wish that such might be the case.
Now, sir, at the same time that no one would strive harder or risk
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more to bring those lawless murderers to justice than I would, I cannot see the propriety of adopting a policy which is to involve the innocent and the guilty in common ruin, and General Schofield's duty, under the circumstances is rather to throw himself into the breach, and to withstand the wild popular excitement of the moment, than, yielding to its influence, to add a thousand-fold to the miseries under which the country is already suffering. I can well imagine how General Schofield, situated as he is, would be reluctant to pursue any course which would bring down upon him the increased displeasure of the radical party in Missouri but it is not less his duty, and as the military commander of the department he ought to discharge his duty regardless of consequences. It is a fact . well known to me that hundreds of the people of Jackson and Cass counties are true and loyal men : they have already been robbed of their property, insulted, and in many instances murdered by these troops from Kansas. The policy pursued has caused hundreds of good men to leave their homes and fly to the bushes for protection, while others have actually joined the guerillas as a measure of safety, believing that they would be less liable to danger there than at their homes. These are generally men of little intelligence, who do not take consequences into consideration, and are not prompted by a very high order of patriotism ; they act from motives of present interest, and for the temporary safety of their persons have been induced to commit a great crime against their country. Others, I regret to say, who in the beginning were dis- loyal, have under the various proclamations of the President and the Governor, returned to their homes, and, after doing so, have been ruth- lessly shot and hung by the soldiery. The good faith of the Govern- ment has been broken in so many cases that the people have become reluctant to return, believing that it would be violated towards them. The Government is not to blame for this, but the officers in command are, for failing to punish their soldiers for such acts of faithlessness and brutality. Our population, loyal as well as disloyal, are unarmed, by order of the military authorities of the state, and in that helpless condition, I understand General Schofield to say, that it will meet his approbation for them to be invaded by the people of Kansas-not by an organized force but an irresponsible mob, already excited and enraged, and who, even before the commission of these outrages by Quantrill, were ready at all times to seize on any pretext which would justify the pillage of our state and the indiscriminate murder of our citizens. The absence of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor is at
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this time a inisfortune; they might successfully and with propriety appeal to General Schofield to act differently from what he proposes to do. Mr. Glover, in whose assistance and advice I have at all times relied witlr confidence, is also absent and sick in the northern part of the state. I have conversed with Colonel Broadhead, and find him fully coinciding with me in the policy which, in my opinion, should be adopted, and which I humbly beg to suggest. The great mistake was annexing a part of our state to the Military District of Kansas, and the next great error was in placing but a soldier, a man who has no purpose to subserve and no popularity to gain, by permitting one state to be robbed to enrich the people of another, and who would rigidly and fearlessly discharge his duties. A firm, just policy is what will give peace to the country, and nothing else will.
I have no motive other than the good of our state and people. I desire to see the country at peace once more, and peace can and will follow a judicious administration upon the border. Inclosed is a memo- rial addressed to the President, which I have been requested to forward to you, begging that you will present it. Mr. Henderson is in Wash- ington, and would, I have no doubt, co-operate with you in any way you might wish.
I am, sir, most faithfully, your friend,
RICH'D C. VAUGHAN.
(Inclosure)
His Excellency Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States:
Your memorialists would respectfully state that they are loyal citi- zens of the United States and of the State of Missouri, and. having been such at all times, they regard it as their right and duty to represent to Your Excellency the unhappy condition of affairs now existing along the western border of their state, and to pray Your Excellency's inter- position in behalf of a suffering people. Your memorialists feel that justice and humanity demand at least this much at their hands. They therefore beg Your Excellency's attention to the facts hereinafter appearing.
For more than two years past our western border has been the theater of strife and bloodshed, and has been overrun by lawless bands of desperadoes, who, with a reckless and unrestrained soldiery, have rioted upon the substance of the people and have wantonly destroyed their property and trampled upon their most sacred rights. Theft,
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
robbery, house-burning, and other crimes have been perpetrated with impunity, and to such an extent has this system of plunder and vandal- ism prevailed that it has impoverished and almost depopulated one of the fairest and most wealthy and prosperous parts of our state, and, unless arrested, it will certainly involve in similar ruin many other sec- tions of the state that have hitherto, in a measure, escaped its ravages.
During the past month theft, robbery, arson, and murder have been of almost daily occurence, and the fearful threat that the border shall be made a desolation, it appears, is about to be executed. During the past fortnight these evils have existed in a most fearful and intensified form, and but little has been done to arrest them. Why they should be allowed your memorialist cannot perceive. They had their origin as far back as the fall of 1861, in the burning of Osceola and other small villages along the border, and from that time to the present they have gradually increased, and the horrible barbarities that have uni- formly attended them have at last become as appalling as those which characterized savage warfare in the early history of this country. The lives of the people and the material wealth of the country have been wantonly and wickedly destroyed in a manner and to an extent that have been hitherto unknown and unheard of among a civilized people. That which cannot be carried away is committed to the flames, . and thus helpless and defenseless women and children are left destitute of food, raiment, or shelter, and without the means of escape from suffering and ruin.
These evils have produced a degree of consternation that language cannot describe, and which none can comprehend save those who have witnessed it; yet it is the natural result of the retaliatory warfare and of the unrestrained lawlessness that have existed in western Missouri for the last two years, which, if not speedily checked, will involve in ruin by far the greater parts of this state and Kansas, and will be pro- ductive of other evils the magnitude of which no one can now estimate. Your memorialists greatly fear that the recent outrages perpetrated in both Missouri and Kansas but faintly foreshadowing the future his- tory of these states if some means cannot be adopted to allay the excite- ment and arrest the lawless violence now prevailing along the border. Whatever may have been the errors of many of our citizens in the beginning of this terrible rebellion, your memorialists entertain no kind of doubt that an overwhelming majority of the masses are now sin- cerely determined to support the Government of the United States
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HEADQUARTERS OF BATES COUNTY RED CROSS.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
and the provisional government of Missouri, nor the least doubt that they, in good faith, accept the ordinance of emancipation adopted by the late convention as a final and complete settlement of the question of slavery in this state. There can be no question of these facts, nor have your memorialists a shadow of a doubt that a firm and just policy in the future conduct of the military affairs of this state will prove more conducive to her peace and to the interests of the Federal Government than any other that can possibly be adopted. It will do more in thirty days, if honestly carried out and rigidly enforced, to restore our state to her wonted condition of peace and prosperity than the system of pillage and burning, now enforced, will accomplish in as many years.
Your memorialists further beg leave to say that one of the most fruitful sources of trouble in western Missouri is the attachment of a part of her territory to the District of the Border. This arrangement, however well intended, your memorialists fear will, while it is con- tinued, occasion incessant trouble, and will greatly hinder the restora- tion of law and order, no matter what policy may be adopted or who may be placed in command. Old animosities existing between the peo- ple of Missouri and Kansas, imbittered and intensified by the recent barbarous acts of a guerrilla band perpetrated upon the citizens of Lawrence, in the latter state, will develop themselves, and will seek gratification in retaliatory acts upon the citizens of the former, although they are, with rare exceptions, as sincerely opposed to those infamous outlaws as the people of Kansas ever have been. But this late and atrocious outrage has furnished a pretext for future and greater and infinitely more unjust acts of retaliation upon our people than any from which they have hitherto suffered.
The following telegram, published in the "Missouri Democrat," of this city, speaks volumes on this point. The statement that there were citizens of Missouri engaged in the raid, except such as have nearly two years been regarded as outlaws, is not worthy of credit. It is made for effect and to palliate acts of retaliation.
(Special dispatch to the "Missouri Democrat.") Leavenworth, August 26
General Lane has returned to Lawrence. A meeting was held on his return. Lane said the citizens had killed 41 of Quantrill's men. Majors Clark and Plumb were denounced. The people of Baldwin dis- puted Quantrill in passing a ford. and say if Plumb had done his duty
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they could have whipped the Rebels. Lane is organizing forces, and says he will go into Missouri on the 9th of September. He left Gen- eral Ewing only on a pledge that Ewing would issue an order directing all the citizens of Jackson, Cass, Bates and part of Vernon counties, except those in Kansas City, Westport, Harrisonville, and Indepen- dence, to leave the county within fifteen days. Ewing has issued the order, and the people of Kansas are going into Missouri to see the order executed. The people have demanded the order issued by the general commanding, and the people will see it executed. They say they will have no more of the Schofield-Ewing orders. Ewing is fright- ened, and in the chase after Quantrill was in a complete quandary. He is looked upon as being a general without a heart and brains. About 50 of the most noted secesh of Platte county have subscribed from $1 to $10 each for the Lawrence fund. By so doing they expect to escape the anticipated devastation of western Missouri.
General Ewing has returned to Kansas City. Quantrill had with him Sam. Hays, brother of Up. Hays, Dick Yeager, Holt, George Todd, and Younger, with 150 men, on whom they could depend in a fight, with about 150 more of the citizens of Platte, Clay, La Fayette, Jack- son, Cass, and Bates counties, not over 300 in all. One thousand Kan- sas men will be in Missouri this week.
Up to this morning 183 bodies were buried in Lawrence. The remains of 7 more bodies are found. One hundred and eighty-two buildings were burned; 80 of them were brick; 65 of them were on Massachusetts street. There are 85 widows and 240 orphans made by Quantrill's raid. Lane has commenced rebuilding his house. Three men have subscribed $100,000 to rebuild the Free State Hotel, known as the Eldridge Hotel. Several merchants have commenced rebuild- ing. All the laboring men in town will set to work to-morrow to clear off the ruins. In spite of the terrible calamity, the people are in good spirits. All the towns in the state have sent in large sums of money. Even the men burned out on Quantrill's retreat have sent in loads of vegetables, and provisions.
A man was to-day tried in Lawrence, and found guilty of being a spy for Quantrill, and was hung.
The chiefs of the civilized Indians of the Delawares and Sacs and Foxes offered their services to Lane.
Reports just in say the buildings in Cass county, Missouri are on fire. and over 100 of the sympathizers are killed. A fearful retribution no doubt awaits Missouri.
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In view of these facts, your memorialists respectfully, but most earnestly, pray Your Excellency to rescind the order by which a part of Missouri is attached to the District of the Border, and to order that it be reattached to the Central District of Missouri, or to any other district in our state.
All that your memorialists desire in the premises, aside from the change above indicated, is that some tried and faithful officer may be placed in command over the soldiers and people in the counties of the border-some officer whose sense of duty and of love to his country rises far above his political aspirations and party ties and prejudices, and whose sole desire and efforts will be to guard and foster the inter- ests of the Government in that region, and to bring law and order out of the chaos that now prevails.
This is all that the masses of the people desire, and for this your memorialists will ever pray, &c.
A. A. KING. R. C. VAUGHAN. A. COMINGO.
(Indorsement.)
It is not improbable that retaliation for the recent great outrage at Lawrence, in Kansas, may extend to indiscriminate slaughter on the Missouri border, unless averted by very judicious action. I shall be obliged if the General-in-Chief can make any suggestions to General Schofield upon the subject. A. LINCOLN.
August 31, 1863.
Leavenworth, Kansas, August 24, 1863.
Major-General Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo .:
Sir: Disaster has again fallen on our state. Lawrence is in ashes. Millions of property have been destroyed, and, worse yet, nearly 200 lives of our best citizens have been sacrificed. No fiends in human shape could have acted with more savage barbarity than did Quantrill and his band in their last successful raid. I must hold Missouri respon- sible for this fearful, fiendish raid. No body of men large as that com- manded by Quantrill could have gathered together without the people residing in western Missouri knowing everything about it. Such peo- ple cannot be considered loyal, and should not be treated as loyal citi- zens ; for, while they conceal the movements of desperadoes like Quan- trill and his followers, they are in the worst sense of the word their aiders and abettors, and should be held equally guilty.
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There is no way of reaching these armed ruffians while the civilian is permitted to cloak him. There can be no peace in Missouri-there will be utter desolation in Kansas-unless both are made to feel promptly the rigor of military law. The peace of both states and the safety of the Republic demand alike this resolute course of action. I urge upon you, therefor, the adoption of this policy as the only policy which can save both western Missouri and Kansas, for if this policy be not imme- diately adopted, the people themselves, acting upon the common prin- ciple of self-defense, will take the matter in their own hands and avenge their own wrongs. You will not misunderstand me. I do not use, or intend to use, any threats. I tell you only what our people, to a man almost, feel. The excitement over the success of Quantrill is intense -intense all over the state-and I do not see how I can hesitate to demand, or how you can refuse to grant, a court of inquiry by which the cause of that fatal success may be fully investigated and all the facts laid before the public. I go even further : I demand that this court of inquiry shall have power to investigate all matters touching mili- tary wrong-doing in Kansas; and I do this most earnestly to guarantee alike our present and future safety.
As regards arms, we are destitute. There are none at the fort and none in the state. I telegraphed the Secretary of War this fact, asking him to turn over to me here arms in sufficient quantity to meet our wants. He ordered it done, and replied further, that anything the Gov- ernment could do to aid Kansas should be done. This being so, will you not express to me arms for cavalry and infantry sufficient to arm the regiments? I enclose the copy of the dispatch of the Secretary of War to me,* that you may see its purport and understand its spirit.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
THOMAS CARNEY.
Governor. * See p. 170.
Kansas City, Missouri, August 28, 1863.
Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo .:
At the meeting last night, in Leavenworth, Land had a resolution passed proposing a meeting of citizens of Kansas at Paola, on the 8th of September. to search for their stolen property in Missouri. It was intended partly, I think, to scare the people in the border counties into a prompt compliance with my order, and partly for political capital.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
He telegraphed me this morning that they would place themselves under my orders. I have but little doubt I will be able to control mat- ters so as to prevent any considerable acts of retaliation.
The provost-marshal at Leavenworth has been threatened by Anthony to make him (release) control of the ferry and flat boats at Leavenworth for a raid into Platte county, but I do not think he will attempt to carry the threat into execution. Captain Joy will prevent (the crossing) I feel sure. You may rely on my doing everything to prevent a collision with citizens of Kansas; but if one must occur, my soldiers will do their duty.
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