![]() The general, fearing a reprisal attack against civilians in Missouri, then issued his depopulation order. Northern critics assailed Ewing for failing to stop Quantrill’s raid. Six days later, Anderson’s fellow bushwhacker, William Clarke Quantrill, led a band of more than 400 guerrillas in a surprise attack on Lawrence, Kansas, which resulted in the murder of between 160 and 190 men and boys. Among the five women who died were sisters of the infamous guerrilla William “Bloody Bill” Anderson. A makeshift jail in Kansas City that held several of these women collapsed. In early August, Ewing ordered the arrest, detention, and removal of female kinfolk of known guerrillas. 11 was General Ewing’s response to a recent escalation of tensions and violence in the area, for which he himself was not blameless. The army required that such persons relocate to Kansas or within one mile of its posts at Independence, Hickman Mills, Harrisonville, and Pleasant Hill. The measure likewise spared those who could prove their Unionist loyalties to the satisfaction of local military commanders. Among those excepted were inhabitants of Kansas City, Westport, and Independence, where Union forces maintained greater control. By late summer, frustrated Union officers concluded that order could not be restored without removing the families who sustained the guerrilla resistance.Įxemptions to the policy were limited. Some Missouri women also assisted them as spies. These so-called “ bushwhackers” enjoyed considerable support from Southern sympathizers, who provided them with food, clothing, horses, and shelter. Federal troops struggled to engage and defeat pro-Confederate guerrillas. This policy marked the culmination of the army’s long struggle against guerrilla violence along the Missouri-Kansas border. "All persons living in Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this district, except those living within one mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman's Mills, Pleasant Hill, and Harrisonville, and except those in that part of Kaw Township, Jackson County, north of Brush Creek and west of Big Blue, are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of residence within fifteen days. ![]() The August 25, 1863, orders required that “all persons” living in Jackson, Cass, Bates, and northern Vernon counties “remove from their present places of residence.” 11, exiling several thousand people from their homes in western Missouri. In a controversial attempt to quell guerrilla warfare along the Missouri-Kansas border, Union General Thomas Ewing issued General Order No. ![]() Result: Much of northwestern Missouri emptied of its population property confiscated becomes known as the "Burnt District".Thomas Ewing Jr., commander of the District of the Border Persons Affected: All citizens who could not prove their loyalty to the Union.Locations Affected: Jackson, Cass, Bates, and northern Vernon counties, excluding non-rural areas. ![]()
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