One of the most well-known, and controversial orders given by the Union in Missouri, was General Orders Number 11. It was issued by Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr., on August 26, 1863. It called for the evacuation of all citizens living in Bates, Cass, Jackson, and Vernon Counties, in response to the guerrilla raid on the town of Lawrence, Kansas, by Missouri guerrilla, “Bloody Bill.” The Union men were thirsty for revenge after the raid on Lawrence, and they took General Ewing’s order as a “scorched-earth” policy. Civil War Ph.D., Archeology student, Ann Raab, searched through court documents to find remnants of the aftermath of this order. She found the old county of Bates that was burned down by Union forces in an effort to get revenge on famous guerrilla leader, William Quantrill. Once she excavated the area, and examined the evidence and historical documents, she stated that “whoever did the burning made sure that everything was going to be razed to the ground, and that fits
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He feels that the guerrillas’ efforts and tactics were so “detestable” to any man with morals, that they had no right to complain or retaliate when the Union forces went to extreme measures in order to suppress them. He states that Union losses in Missouri on account of guerrilla warfare, in just one year, would result in several hundred soldier deaths, along with just as many Union sympathizer civilians. Once the Civil War ended, a Missouri state convention met in St. Louis in 1865, and an “Iron-Clad” oath was added to the Missouri constitution. This required civilians to confess their innocence or involvement to eighty-six different acts of rebellion against the state. A. Halley wrote to his daughter that this resulted in the state of Missouri preparing to sell most of the Confederate sympathizer’s land in order to pay for any and all damage they caused to the Union through their acts of
He feels that the guerrillas’ efforts and tactics were so “detestable” to any man with morals, that they had no right to complain or retaliate when the Union forces went to extreme measures in order to suppress them. He states that Union losses in Missouri on account of guerrilla warfare, in just one year, would result in several hundred soldier deaths, along with just as many Union sympathizer civilians. Once the Civil War ended, a Missouri state convention met in St. Louis in 1865, and an “Iron-Clad” oath was added to the Missouri constitution. This required civilians to confess their innocence or involvement to eighty-six different acts of rebellion against the state. A. Halley wrote to his daughter that this resulted in the state of Missouri preparing to sell most of the Confederate sympathizer’s land in order to pay for any and all damage they caused to the Union through their acts of