Spoils of War (12/03/06)
"Spoils of War" refers to any property or territory that is taken by force and captured during war. In the Civil War, this was also called "contraband property" and was usually turned over to the Quartermaster Department to be repaired, issued or sold at a public auction to raise funds for the war effort. ...

Missouri pacification? (11/19/06)
On Nov. 20, 1863, General Orders No. 20 was signed for Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr. and issued at the Headquarters of the Union "District of the Border" in Kansas City, Missouri. General Ewing is to this day considered by many Missourians to have been a "Demon" and the "Devil Incarnate" because he was the Union officer who signed and issued the infamous Order No. ...

Fox and hounds (11/05/06)
Throughout the Civil War in Missouri, the "Union Hounds" were always pursuing the "Confederate Foxes" in an attempt to eradicate the enemy guerrillas and bushwhackers. The "Blue Bellies" never completely succeeded in this mission, but many famous or infamous Confederate guerrillas were killed. ...

'War is Butchery' (10/15/06)
On Oct. 15, 1864, while Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis was concerned with defending "Kansas" against an invasion by the Confederate Campaign in Missouri he responded to a letter from a civilian U.S. Attorney in Denver, Colorado. During the Civil War, the Colorado Territory was part of the Department of Kansas that was commanded by General Curtis. ...

No Man's Land (08/27/06)
On Aug. 25, 1863, four days after the very successful destruction of Lawrence, the Abolitionist Capitol of Kansas, Order No. 11 was signed by Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Ewing and issued in the Union Military District of the Border as an immediate severe reprisal to Quantrill's Raid. ...

Terror at dawn; Lawrence in ashes (08/20/06)
"Lawrence, August 21, 1863: 5 p.m.[To: Brigadier General T. Ewing, Comdg.: District of the Border,Kansas City, Mo.] General: I have, with regret, to report that Quantrill, alias Charley Hart, reached this town about 4:30 this morning; burned the town; slaughtered in cold blood about 60 citizens; then left by Blanton Bridge and by the way of the town of Brooklyn. ...

The Land of Misery (08/13/06)
In the spring and summer of 1863 the "Guerrilla War" in Missouri and Kansas accelerated and numerous atrocities were committed by "Kansas Redlegs" and "Missouri Bushwhackers." The Union soldiers called Missouri the "Land of Misery" and believed that it and it's citizens were the enemy that should be conquered and occupied. Missouri was never completely conquered or occupied and it's citizens of the "Southern Persuasion" remained defiant and their spirit unbroken (some to this very day!)...

A Forgotten War (07/30/06)
Warfare on the plains of Central and Western Kansas during the Civil War has almost been totally ignored in the history books. This is the "forgotten war" of the Civil War and is documented in the "Official Records of the War of the Rebellion." This conflict was not between Union and Confederate forces, -- it was waged by the Union Army against the Kiowa, Arapahoe and Comanche Indians of the plains. ...

A Den of Thieves (07/23/06)
Throughout the Civil War, bands of Redlegs, Bushwhackers and outlaws would often use a "Public House" (tavern, inn or store) as a rendezvous point in Kansas and Missouri. One of the most notorious "Redleg" gathering places was the "Six-Mile House" that was a combination of a tavern and inn, which was located six miles from the town of Wyandotte on the Leavenworth Road. ...

Bushwhackers 'Armed to the Teeth' (07/16/06)
Very often, during the Civil War irregular forces such as partisan rangers, guerrillas, bushwhackers and redlegs were armed with better weapons than the opposing Union or Confederate soldiers. This was not unusual because members of the irregular forces could individually purchase better weapons on the open market, take them from prisoners or dead enemy soldiers, rob or steal them from civilians. ...

Scoundrels and scalawags (07/09/06)
In Fort Scott In the summer of 1862, the town of Fort Scott, Kan., was not the huge Union military complex that it would become from 1863-'65. There was a small Union garrison in Fort Scott, because most of the troops that had been stationed at and around the town in the spring of 1862 were participating in the "Indian Expedition" which was the first Union attempt to re-occupy the Indian Territory (present Oklahoma)...

War takes no holiday (07/02/06)
During the Civil War, the "war" did not normally stop for holidays. Union Troops on campaign or in the field on "seek and destroy missions" continued to carry the war to the enemy no matter what the day was. However, troops in "garrison" away from combat areas could and did celebrate holidays that included "Independence Day" or the...

Bushwhacker on borrowed time (04/30/06)
Throughout the Civil War the "Union" pursuit, capture and execution of "Missouri Bushwhackers," "Kansas Jayhawkers and Redlegs" and "Outlaws" in both states was relentless and deadly with instant death as the immediate result. However, occasionally one of these individuals was not executed immediately and lived for a few days on "Borrowed Time." There was normally no rhyme or reason for this, it just happened; and the following example is of a "Bushwhacker" who lived for a few extra days and then was probably executed.. ...

Missouri Jayhawkers? (03/26/06)
Currently, most general histories of the Civil War on the Kansas-Missouri Border state that the "Jayhawkers" were normally from Kansas and the "Bushwhackers" were from Missouri. However, recent research indicates that there were "Civilian Jayhawkers" living in Missouri who were not loyal to the United States and were attacked, captured and killed by Union soldiers! These "Civilian Jayhawkers" were outlaws who robbed, plundered and murdered both Union and Confederate civilians. ...

Jayhawkers and Bushwhackers, part 2 (03/19/06)
One of the most unknown aspects of the Civil War is the participation of American Indians as soldiers in the Union & Confederate armies. In recent years a number of books have been published about the Confederate Indian soldiers, but very little has been written about the Union Indian soldiers who are the "Forgotten Warriors" of the Civil War. ...

Jayhawkers and Bushwhackers (03/12/06)
Before and after the Civil War Pvt. Hugh L. Thompson of Companies C & H of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment lived near Carl Junction, Missouri. In the 1880s he submitted several articles to the National Tribune which described his experiences living near Carl Junction, Missouri as a young man before he was old enough to enlist in the Union Army. ...

Kansas: 'The Great Soldier State' (02/26/06)
On April 1, 1866, the Grand Army of the Republic was established in Decatur, Ill. By the late 19th Century the GAR became the largest organization of "Union" Civil War Veterans in the United States. During the late 1870s and early 1880s Kansas was known as "The Great Soldier State" because more members of the Grand Army of the Republic moved to and resettled in Kansas than in any other state. ...

Ebony warriors: freedom fighters (02/19/06)
During the past 30 years the role of the African-American Soldier in the Civil War has finally been recognized, studied and published in various books and magazine articles. Approximately 187,000 Black soldiers served in the Volunteer Forces of the Union Army and an additional 20,000 served in the United States Navy. ...

Battlefield Dispatches (01/22/06)
Battlefield Dispatches is a column featuring original documents from the era of "Bleeding Kansas" (1854 --1861) and the "Civil War" (1861--1865) west of the Mississippi River. [Private William F. Nichols served for approximately 18 months, Feb. 13, 1864 -- Sept. 25, 1865.]...

The Battle of the Mules (11/30/99)
At the beginning of September 1861, the town of Fort Scott was seriously threatened by Confederate forces for the first time in the Civil War. On Sunday, Sept. 1, a small engagement occurred a mile or so east of Fort Scott in which a Confederate "Reconnaissance in Force" of approximately 75 mounted troopers captured and absconded with the small herd of 86 Kansas mules. ...