Lawrence Massacre

Other Names: Quantrill's Raid

Location: Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas

Campaign: Quantrill's Raid into Kansas (1863)

Date: August 21, 1863

Principal Commanders: No Union commander [US]; Lt. Col. William C. Quantrill [CS]

Forces Engaged: No Union troops [US]; Quantrill's Raiders and other guerrillas [CS]

Casualties and losses: 204 total (US 164; CS 40)

Result(s): Confederate victory

Brief Description:

In a supposed retaliation for a Union raid on Osceola, Missouri, Lt. Col. William C. Quantrill led a force of about 300 to 400 partisans in an attack on the city of Lawrence, Kansas. His men killed civilians-men and boys-and destroyed many of the buildings. He held the town several hours and then withdrew. The "Lawrence Massacre" was, perhaps, the extreme example of the vicious Kansas-Missouri border warfare. Once the confederates withdrew to the southeast, Lane led a small group of survivors of the massacre in pursuit of Quantrill's men and was joined by a force of about 200 U.S. Army cavalrymen, commanded by Major Preston B. Plumb. They overtook the raiders south of the town of Brooklyn, Kansas.