August 21, 1863… Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas.

William Clarke Quantrill, the outstanding Missouri guerilla fighter during the Civil War, and a captain in the Confederate army, was associated with the state less then 5 years, from 1860 until shortly before his death in Kentucky in 1865. Some have rated him one of the ablest and most daring cavalry officers in either the Union or Confederate forces. Quantrill led the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas August 21, 1863, and more then any other event on the Missouri-Kansas border during the war, this raid aroused feeling in the North.

In preparing for the raid, Quantrill gathered together about 310 men on the Blackwater River in Johnson County, Missouri, about 9 miles east of Lone Jack. August 19 he led his company west. South of the Blue River the guerillas met Colonel John Holt with about 104 men who joined the party. At the head of the central branch of the Grand River, about 4 miles from the Kansas border, another group of 50 men joined them. About 6 p.m., August 20, Quantrill and his men crossed the Missouri boundary into the southwest corner of Johnson County, Kansas. Eleven hours later, just a little after daybreak, the guerillas attacked the free-soil stronghold of Lawrence. It is indicative of Quantrill's skill that on his march west he out-maneuvered small Union companies stationed at intervals of about 15 miles for a 90-mile stretch along the Kansas border.

With the town unaware of their approach, Quantrill and his men galloped into Lawrence and began pillaging. Between 150 and 200 buildings were burned, and property damages have been estimated as high as $1,500,000. The number killed has been estimated from 143 to 216, while the invaders are reported to have had one man killed and 2 wounded.

After destroying the town, Quantrill and his men retreated to the southeast. Union troops pursued, but succeeded merely in harassing the guerillas. The impotency of the northerners has been attributed to the fact that many were raw troops who did not how to attack, that were too few troops, and their horses were over-fatigued. Quantrill broke his band into small gangs of 10 to 20 men immediately after entering Missouri, and hardly a day passed that these groups did not have a skirmish with small Union scouting parties.

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