The Lawrence Massacre by R. Cordley in 1865

Lawrence Massacre

Their progress from here was quite rapid but cautious. Every now and then they checked up their horses as if fearful to proceed. They were seen approaching by several persons in the outskirts of the town, but in the dimness of the morning and the distance, they were supposed to be Union troops. They passed on in a body till they came to the high ground facing Main street, when the command was given, "Rush on to the town!" Instantly they rushed forward with the yell of demons. The attack was perfectly planned. Every man knew his place. Detachments scattered to every section of the town, and it was done with such promptness and speed that before people could gather the meaning of their first yell, every part of the town was full of them. They flowed into every street. Eleven rushed up to Mount Oread, from which all the roads leading into town could be seen for several miles out. These were to keep watch of the country round about, least the people should gather and come in on them unawares.

Lane's Fort atop Mount Oread, Harper's Weekly, June, 1857.

Another and larger squad, struck for the west part of the town, while the main body, by two or three converging streets, made for the hotel. They first came upon a group of recruits for the Kansas Fourteenth. On these they fired as they passed killing seventeen out of twenty-two. This attack did not in the least check the speed of the general advance. A few turned aside to run down and shoot fugitive soldiers, but the company rushed on at the command, "To the hotel!" which could be heard all over the town. In all the bloody scenes which followed, nothing equaled, in wildness and terror, that which now presented itself. The horsemanship of the guerrillas was perfect. They rode with that ease and abandon which are acquired only by a life spent in the saddle amid desperate scenes. Their horses scarcely seemed to touch the ground, and the riders, sat with bodies and arms perfectly free, with revolvers on full cock, shooting at every house and man they passed, and yelling like demons at every bound. On each side of this stream of fire, as it poured toward the street, were men falling dead and wounded, and women and children half dressed, running and screaming, some trying to escape from danger and some rushing to the side of their murdered friends.

The Capture Of The Hotel

They dashed along the main street, shooting at every straggler on the sidewalk, and into almost every window. They halted in front of the Eldridge House. The firing had ceased and all was quiet for a few minutes. They evidently expected resistance here, and sat gazing at the windows above them, apparently in fearful suspense. In a few moments, Captain Banks, Provost Marshal of the State, opened a window and displayed a white flag, and called for Quantrill. Quantrill rode forward, and Banks, as Provost Marshal, surrendered the house, stipulating the safety of its inmates. At this moment the big gong in the hotel began to sound through the house to arouse the sleepers. At this the whole column fell back, evidently thinking this the signal for an attack from the hotel. In a few moments, meeting with no resistance, they pressed forward again, and commenced the work of plunder and destruction. They ransacked the hotel, robbing the rooms and their inmates. These inmates they gathered together at the head of the stairs, and when the plundering was done, marched them across the street on to Winthrop street under a guard. When they had proceeded a little distance, a ruffian rode up, and ordered a young man out of the ranks, and fired two shots at him, but with no effect.

The Eldridge House was rebuilt, pictured here in 1867. It continues to stand today.

One of the guards at once interposed, and threatened to kill the ruffian if one of the prisoners was molested. Quantrill then rode up and told them the City Hotel, on the river bank, would be protected, because he had boarded there some years ago and had been well treated. He ordered the prisoners to go there, and stay in, and they would be safe. The prisoners were as obedient to orders as any of Quantrill's own men and lost no time in gaining the house of refuge. This treatment of the prisoners of the Eldridge House shows that they expected resistance from that point, and were relieved by the offer of surrender. They not only promised protection, but were as good as their word. Other hotels received no such favors, and had no such experience of rebel honor.

At the Johnson House they shot at all that showed themselves, and the prisoners that were finally taken and marched off, were shot a few rods of the house, some of them among the fires of the burning buildings. Such was the common fate of those who surrendered themselves as prisoners, Mr. R. C. Dix was one of these. His house was the nest door to the Johnson House, and being fired at in his own house, he escaped to the Johnson House. All the men were ordered to surrender. "all we want," said a rebel, "is for the men to give themselves up, and we will spare them and burn the house." Mr. Dix and other gave themselves up. They marched them towards town, and when they had gone about two hundred feet, the guards shot them all, one after another. Mr. Hampson, one of the number, fell wounded, and lay as if dead till he could escape unseen. A brother of Mr. Dix remained in the shop, and was shot four times through the window, and fell almost helpless. The building was burning over his head, and he was compelled to drag himself out into the next building, which fortunately was not burned. The air was so still that one building did not catch from another.

The Carnage - "Hell Let Loose"

After the Eldridge House surrendered, and all fears of resistance were removed, the ruffians scattered in small gangs to all parts of the town in search of plunder and blood. The order was "to burn every house, and kill every man." Almost every house was visited and robbed, and the men found in them killed or left, according to the character or whim of the captors. Some of these seemed completely brutalized, while others showed some signs of remaining humanity. One lady said that as gang after gang came to her house, she always met them herself, and tried to get them talking. If she only got them to talking, she could get at what little humanity was left in them. those ladies who faced them boldly, fared the best.

It is doubtful whether the world has ever witnessed such a scene of horror -- certainly not outside the annals of savage warfare. History gives no parallel, where an equal number of such desperate men, so heavily armed, were let perfectly loose in an unsuspecting community. The carnage was much worse from the fact that the citizens could not believe that men could be such fiends. No one expected an indiscriminate slaughter. When it was known that the town was in their possession, everybody expected they would rob and burn the tow, kill all military men they could find, and a few marked characters. But few expected a wholesale murder. Many who could have escaped, therefore, remained and were slain. For this reason the colored people fared better than the whites. They new the men which slavery had made, and they ran to the bush at the first alarm.

A gentleman who was concealed where he could see the whole , said the scene presented was the most perfect realization of the slang phrase, "Hell let loose," that ever could be imagined. Most of the men had the look of wild beasts, they dressed roughly and swore terribly. They were mostly armed with a carbine and with from two to six revolvers strapped around them.

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