Topics in Kansas History: War

Like people everywhere, Kansas men, women, and children have suffered and died as a result of the country's all too frequent involvement in war. The ancestors of the state's citizens served in and were affected by the nation's earliest conflicts, including the Revolution and the War of 1812. Some served in the Mexican War before making Kansas their home in the 1850s and 1860s.

Many Kansans also felt the impact of America's bloody sectional conflict before the war broke out in April 1861. The state was born during a time when the slogan "Bleeding Kansas" aroused the passions of people nationwide.

In fact, as the nation divided on the issue of slavery, Kansas became the stage for the opening acts of a national drama. Born on the eve of America's tragic Civil War, Kansas and most of its citizens enthusiastically, or at least dutifully, did their part in that war and the ones that followed.

Kansas had only 30,000 men between the ages of 18 and 45 when the Civil War began in April 1861. Nevertheless, the state ultimately provided nineteen regiments and four artillery batteries in response to President Lincoln's calls for troops. All told, these units suffered nearly 8,500 casualties and sustained the highest mortality rate of any state in the Union-- over 61 percent.

Many Kansas troops saw considerable action along the Missouri border and on the Indian frontier. But they also served in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. The 1st and 2nd Kansas Regiments got into the war quickly, taking part in the Battle of Wilson's Creek in August of 1861.

William Quantrill, a notorious "irregular" confederate officer, was born in Canal Dover, Ohio, in 1837. He moved to Lykins (now Miami) County, Kansas, in 1857, where he taught for one term in a country school. Some mystery still surrounds Quantrill's early years in Kansas, but with the outbreak of war in 1861, he chose the life of a "bushwacker" and carried on guerrilla warfare in the name of the Confederacy.

Quantrill led his "irregular" troops on many raids prior to his death in 1865, but the most notorious came on August 21, 1863. During the early morning hours, the raiders stormed into Lawrence. When they left, 150 people had been killed and over 200 buildings destroyed.

Blacks played an important role in the war that ultimately led to the abolition of slavery. Two Negro regiments and one artillery battery were raised in Kansas. Many of these recruits came over from Missouri.

Confederate invasions of Kansas were feared and rumored throughout the war. But fear was intense in the fall of 1864 when General Sterling Price led his army to the state's doorstep near Kansas City. With the help of several Kansas militia units, the Union army defeated the rebel force on the Big Blue River and Price had to retreat south along the Missouri border. During this flight, Price's army crossed into Kansas on its way to Fort Scott. In Linn County, just east of Mound City, the pursuing Union army caught up with the invaders. The short but decisive battle that followed proved to be the only clash between regular forces of the North and South to take place on Kansas soil during the entire war. The Battle of Mine Creek resulted in another Union victory and ended Price's plan to attack Fort Scott.

The painting, the Battle of the Big Blue, was done by Samuel J. Reader, a Kansas artist and participant in the event.

Like many prominent and not so prominent Kansans, Preston Plumb of Emporia entered the military in defense of the Union which his state had just joined. He mustered into Company C, 11th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in August 1862 as a second lieutenant, but quickly received promotions to captain and then major. After three full years of very active duty, Plumb was mustered out with the regiment in September 1865 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After moving to Kansas in 1854, Montgomery immediately became embroiled in the territorial struggles of "Bleeding Kansas." An avid free- stater, Montgomery organized the "Self-Protective Company" to protect local free-state residents and harass area proslavers. A leader of the notorious "Jayhawkers," Montgomery and his men countered the equally brutal actions of the "Border Ruffians." During the Civil War, he served as colonel of the Second South Carolina Negro Regiment and fought in the East and South.

James Blunt, a Leavenworth physician, won considerable recognition for his exploits as a combat officer during the Civil War. He led troops in numerous battles with Confederate forces in Missouri and Arkansas, and engineered several victories in Indian Territory. His success ultimately led to his promotion to the rank of major general.

One of the state's first U. S. senators (1861- 1866), James Lane, also had an active military career during the Civil War. He organized the "Frontier Guard" to protect Washington's executive mansion in April 1861 and later led "Lane's Brigade" which became notorious along the Kansas-Missouri border.

"Mother" Bickerdyke, who moved to Kansas after the Civil War, was representative of many women who contributed to the war effort in a variety of ways. She was a trained nurse with considerable medical skill and volunteered her services to the Union army. Countless northern soldiers benefited from the medical attention "Mother" Bickerdyke helped to organize and administer.

During the years following the war, former Union soldiers and sailors organized the Grand Army of the Republic. By the 1880s, this veterans organization was influencial socially and politically in Kansas and throughout the country. Membership in the Kansas Department of the GAR was bolstered by the thousands of vets who moved their families from eastern and midwestern states during the 1870s and 1880s.

With several hundred thousand members nation- wide, the GAR became a powerful lobby for the interests of its membership. In addition to gaining favorable pension legislation, the Grand Army sought federal and state assistance in the establishment and operation of homes and hospitals for veterans and their relatives. With federal support, the GAR founded an old soldiers' home at Leavenworth in 1884. In 1890, a state soldiers' home at Fort Dodge and an orphanage in Atchison were opened.

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