, 1863-08-28
BURNING OF LAWRENCE.
KANSAS.

BURNING OF LAsvRE1CE,
KANSAS.
A Tale OF Horrors-T11e FfendI4fa Out
Fages b5 the Guerilla SepoF@-
mas<Aere Of Citizens.Ap-
incldcnts.
from the Lca7cnwo1th Bulletin. Aug. "a
STATEMENT OF wA KgtPF.
Ne publish the following sta .ement written
ior The Bul2etin by Dir. Kempf, an attache Of
the Provost Marshal's office, at Lawrence. It
MAS written hurriedly; giving simply plain
facts as witnessed bJ him. His escape from
otT YettssisaV va The stst Of August. abont 1a
O'Clock. tie citizens Of Lawrence were sur
prIted to heara body Of cavalry ride rapidly
towards the Kansas river. As soon MS the
hrst oF these men reached the river By Massa-
chu5etts street and the st1eets east and west
of It, theF raised shout which was repeated
down the streets Us 1ag II "as posslole 70
rushed into the streets to ascertaiu the cause.
MANY of The citizens were then shot down.
Witt the uu1ckuess of lightning the news
spread over town that the accureed QuantEel,
With his bnshwhackers, Vas IN town. ,The
surprise vas so compete 1aat ~ ~as ,nttesly
1TDhEEf0lE N%*AeA
thinr whatever for their defense. The few
who hernical1Y ran out with their guns were
nntcllv murdered, as were, In fAct, all who
showed themselves during the first half hour.
The bills above and the woods below the
town were well guarded by guerillas, 80 that
nntsk,rfs of town to make their escape.
Eyerytbirg was done by command, or well
nndeTstood beforehand by these murderers.
After they had spread over toWn they COM
mcpced to plumber In the most deliberate
manner conceivable. Every store was broken
from tic inside. The drst thi0g they Looked
offer Was the safe, then everything else Of
yaluc. Every safe WAS bursted open when
they could not get the key but they were 80
:, Il informed about everything, that they
It, in several instances, to the private resi-
dcnces Of persons, demanding tho keys f. for
zens think they took three hundred Thousand
dollars in cash aloug With them. It would
seem they took more. They had been in
town some time before they commenced
burning the buildings.
The ln1nates Of the Eldridgc House wera
ronsea up By Somebody violently bsattng the
gong. Most OF them soon assembled In the
hail, and 1t was found th1t not an arm WAS ia
the houee. Capt. Banks told them the best
thing they could do was to surrender, aud
this being agreed upon, took a white sheet
and waved it from the balcony. This WAS
greeted BY 4 universal shout from tho guerll.
ias. The commander Of the bush whackcrs
around the house asked Cast B.: "Do you
surrender this houses" ave do, and hope
YOU will treat our women and children with
oecency." To this the rebels agreed, and
Capt. b. asked for Col. Quautrel. .Quantrel
was sent for and soon came. He asked Capt.
B. whether he Was Federal officer, md belng
! prswc1ed In the affirmative assured Capt. B.
xro,,19 MI frnnt a3 f1rfaonn
should not be molested. They we're all
searched and everything valuable taken away
from tlmm-eyen the fngesrings Of men and
women. The whole house was ransacked and
everything valuable taken out By tho eucril-
| los. The prisoners wero marched over to the
Whitney House and there guarded.
Ry tiia time most Of the i,lunder had been
secuted on horses driven together from all
parts of the town. The safes had a1l been
broken open. sollc blewn up BY powder, 9th.
| erB deliberately chjseled open. They picked
out the horses, only retalaibg the best, and
| iiilyicg tho poorer ones off.
At about seven o'clock they set dre to the
| court house. We heard several explosions,
| which, at distance, would have been taken
I for canGon shots. We heard some persona
coming down the street, commanding their
| Fl. nds to burn the stores and we soon heard
the cracking Of thu fire, and sav most OF the
buildings Gust and vest Of us wrapped in
| udIUE6s AZ tul tUutH NC cuu4u LUZ EYE IRON
| the houses ~c were In.
| During m1 this time citizens were being
| Murdered everywhere. Germans aud ne,
groes, when caught, were shot Immediately.
Many peasous were shot down after they
had been tuken prisoners. aud had been as
cured that they would not be hurt # they
| would surrender. Messrs. Trask and Baker
ana tvo other cftizens were so taken, aud
while being nlarchtd toward the river Us prIs'
ercrs, sf,eT being assured that they would
| rot b. harmed. some Cuezflias asked their
rales. Mr.. Trask gave the names, when
they were Immediately, fired upon, aud all
fur killed on the. spot, except Mr. Baker:
Dix had been rsktu prisoner and his house
set on f3re, when one cf the dends told him il
le would give them bis money he would moi
be killed, otherwise he would. Mr.. Dix went
into the burning house and got thousanG
dollars and handed 1t over. he was told te
ceeded twenty steps when lie was shot deal
from behind. Mr. Hampsou, clerk Of ttt
Provost Marshal, hid q revolver and tried tt
d. fend thc few things be bad saved from ths
Jtfe1ton House. His ~ifc interfered, ant
they told hin. II he would surrender he shoult
be treated as prisoner and be eafu fro1
harm. lie surrendered. aud was imnsdiate1;
rhot from behihd. the ball tnter1ng near thi
epipc ard coming out below the Kidneys Ii
front. The wound IL not considered fataf.
/ In one instance the wife and daughter Of
nsn threw themselves over his body, begin.
f1r bis Life. But one Of the mu1desers deiib
erately thrust his revolver down between tn
two women and killed the man.
Before ten O'Clock the body OF the guerl1!as
left with their plumber, leaving guard ovel
the r,iGoners in town, and fHW stragglers
| TIE few persons wounded were wounded q
this time by the passing dends. In the Garlic
part Of the day most Iersoas were fred a
! FIRM -ytrY near and Killed iN8tNotlY.
OLe Of the first persons out was Colone
Dei,z1er. Mr.. Williamson aud myself helpe'
him carry of the G<ad. The sight that the
US whtn coming ou', I connot describe.
called dark ages, and horrible as they ap
pcared to me, they tsnk Into insignific .nce Il
cumrarleon with what WAS then aompelle'
to witness. Well known citizens Were lynn
In front OF the fIot where their stores Q
residences had been, completely roasted
VIZ thought ut first that they were I'LL nc
groes, Till VIC recognized some Of them. 1
handling the dead tudies, pieces Of rosste
fleel would remain 10 our hands, Soon on
: strength failed us In this horrible and sickeu
ing work. Msny could not help crying lik
i children. Women ind little children wer
ull over town hunting for their husbands an
futhers; AID sud iudced was the scene whe
they did finally tipd them among the corpse
I laid ont for recognition. cannot de:crib
. tie horrors; Language fails me, and the r.
, collection Of The scenes witnessed make
nc tick when I am compelled to repea
. them. -.
The town is = complete ruin. The Who'll
: Of the business part, and a(l good priga.
residences arc burned down. Everything I
: value VAS taken along By the flends. N
: sto1e is left, and It is necessary til 1.-THE goo
. |; people Of LeayenHorth teud provisions In
| mediately. Persons who we're rich yeSserda
ars ro ow'uttcrly destitute.
At THE ELDR1DGE HoUsE.
One of the first places surrounded WAS Ii
Eit1ijge House. 1t seems the guefiila5 d
: 1nanae1 surrender before firing into it Aftt
, a short cons ultatfon, the occu pants conclude
| to surrcEder, nnd white flag {sheet) appea
, | cd from the balcony, which was greeted VIII
: | cheers. Quantrel waa cent for. and made b
appearance On being asked what we're h
: Intentions, he replied "plunder; he final
. | agreed that they should be protected, au
gave item an escort to place Of safety. Tt
2 last named place not being found safe on .
count Ct ip9iscriminate shooting by the me'
/ Quantrel allowed them to so to the Whi
. MY House, kept by Mr. stono. Quantr
said Mr. s orce eayed his life, md he WAS NJ
? the man to forget past favors. As soou l
J the Eldridge Was surrendered, the houl
WIS searched. TIE inmates Of the room
were aroueed f,om their beds, and the
money, jewelry, and other yaluables denau
j ed Of them. Some gentlemen FROM Ohi
l / Who occupied one room, were not as c1pad
t tious as the gueriliaa desired, and they con
, menced firing through the duor. Ono ba
/ took effect IN the calf Of the l.g Of one
!. them. This same man WIS again shot throun