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Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border
written by Donald L. Gilmore
Studio : Pelican Publishing Company
by Pelican Publishing Company
Publisher : Pelican Publishing Company
Released : 2005-11-15
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781589803299
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 14 reviews)
List Price : $29.95
Our Price : $19.65
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Book Description |
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During the Civil War, the western front was the scene of some of that conflict’s bloodiest and most barbaric encounters as Union raiders and Confederate guerrillas pursued each other from farm to farm with equal disregard for civilian casualties. Historical accounts of these events overwhelmingly favor the victorious Union standpoint, characterizing the Southern fighters as wanton, unprincipled savages. But in fact, as the author, himself a descendant of Union soldiers, discovered, the bushwhackers’ violent reactions were understandable, given the reign of terror they endured as a result of Lincoln’s total war in the West. In reexamining many of the long-held historical assumptions about this period, Gilmore discusses President Lincoln’s utmost desire to keep Missouri in the Union by any and all means. As early as 1858, Kansan and Union troops carried out unbridled confiscation or destruction of Missouri private property, until the state became known as "the burnt region." These outrages escalated to include martial law throughout Missouri and finally the infamous General Orders Number 11 of September 1863 in which Union general Thomas Ewing, Federal commander of the region, ordered the deportation of the entire population of the border counties. It is no wonder that, faced with the loss of their farms and their livelihoods, Missourians struck back with equal force. |
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Awesome Book |
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I think every person who was born and raised in Kansas and Missouri should be required to read this book. Lots of history in it and very inspiring to know how these states history affects us all. |
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Solid and entertaining |
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While it does assume you know a fair bit about the Civil War period in America (I didn't), this is a good solid bit of history. Good to see someone challenge the previous historical versions of Quantrill and his raiders. |
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Rubbish |
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Donald L. Gilmore's book is unadulterated rubbish. It is revisionist history at it's worst. His absurd exhortation that the Missouri guerrillas "were not ordinary men but members of the elite class of western Missouri," is utter nonsense. Perhaps what he meant to say was some of the guerrillas came from elite families. Quantrill, Anderson, and Todd certainly did not spring from the upper crust of society. Those Missouri guerrillas who did in fact come from elite families probably had more in common with Vice President Dick Cheney than with Quantrill. Like the VP during the Vietnam War, the elite guerrillas seem to have had "other priorities." I would think, that if they really cared about the war effort, they would have signed up for the Confederate Army. When a real Missouri elite, General Sterling Price, met Anderson for the first time, he was shocked and dismayed, and promptly sent Anderson away. Like most real Missouri aristocrats, Price wanted to maintain as much distance as possible from these reprobates. Gilmore's work ranks with those who would have us believe there were legions of Black Confederates and that the South was right. Simply stated, Gilmore's book does a great injustice to history. |
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Book Review from the Military Review, the U.S. Army's professional journal |
[...]
CIVIL WAR ON THE MISSOURI-KANSAS BORDER, Donald L. Gilmore, Pelican Press, Gretna, LA, 2006, 376, $[...].
Donald L. Gilmore has written a vivid, enlightening account of events along the Kansas/Missouri border from 1854 to 1865. He discusses the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Compromises of 1820 and 1850, and other problems that led to the border conflict. This was a time that challenged men's souls as they experienced life and death in "Bloody Kansas" and in western Missouri's "Burnt District," and Gilmore describes it well.
Gilmore breaks new ground by offering a version of the border war from mostly the Missouri point of view. In doing so, he provides an in-depth study of why good men do bad things. The book highlights infamous Kansans such as John Brown, James Montgomery, Daniel Anthony (brother of Susan B. Anthony), James Lane, Charles Jennison, and the "Red Legs" whose solution to problems were to terrorize, murder, pillage, and burn (a practice otherwise known as jayhawking). Many of the Red Legs' actions (not unlike the exploits of Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun) would be considered war crimes today.
The book discusses law-of-war violations in Missouri, such as scalpings, the severing of extremities, executions of prisoners of war, illegal use of civilians on the battlefield, robberies, the burning of homes and businesses, and the round-up and confinement of insurgent families. According to Gilmore, these events help explain why William "Bill" Quantrill transitioned from a school teacher to a bushwhacker, and how he overcame his moral scruples to raid Olathe, Paola, and Lawrence--the latter resulting in the massacre of every townsman from 16 to 60.
Quantrill wasn't the worst of the lot: Many of his men considered his actions insufficient to stop the Union plague in Missouri and took it upon themselves to fix the problem. One Quantrill apostate, "Bloody Bill" Anderson, earned his nickname in 1864 by wiping out a 115-man Union force and by massacring 24 unarmed Union soldiers during a train robbery. Anderson's father had been killed by abolitionists, and in 1863 some of Anderson's sisters were killed and the others maimed in a make-shift Union prison. He was already a killer, but these events made Anderson psychotic. Frank and Jesse James, who were part of Anderson's party, learned devious lessons from him for their postwar careers as bandits.
Gilmore also provides insights into insurgency and counterinsurgency operations before and during the Civil War. The book discusses the tactics, techniques, and procedures of seasoned Civil War insurgents, the experiences they had and the lessons they learned during the first 2 years of the war, and how they developed into seasoned, hard-edged raiders.
In sum, Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border is a captivating account of western life during the violent years prior to and during the Civil War. A thorough, well-researched study of the realities of life during a particularly volatile time, it should appeal to scholars and laymen alike.
--MAJ Jeffrey Wingo, USA, Retired, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
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An apologist for the secessionists... |
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Gilmore's book rightly covers the time period before 1861, as well as after, and he notes that history is written by the victors. But instead of offering a more balanced view of both sides of the border war, he becomes an apologist for the secessionists and rides the pendulum in swinging too far the other way. Of course, since I live in Lawrence, Kansas, I have a hard time feeling sorry for Quantrill! Gilmore's references to other conflicts in history don't always work, either. Instead of comparing Missouri bushwackers to U.S. troops in Vietnam, he should have referenced the VC and NVA. Gilmore's own ancestors may have worn blue, but he sees everything through gray eyes. This actually obvious in the title of the book, since it says the Missouri-Kansas border, instead of the more common and alphabetical Kansas-Missouri. Which came first - the border ruffians or the Jayhawkers? |
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