Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1863-09-05
From the Leavonworth Conser vxtivc.
THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE.

Wv aSS"Sy SASCC'Cu iepOit.
W. found Massachusetts, the main
street, one mass Of smouIlering ruins and
crumbl;ng walls, the light from which
cast = slckening glare upon tho little
knots Of excited mcn aud distracted wo.
men, gazing upon the ruins of their once
happy homes, and prosperous business
DULY two business houses were left upon
this street-one known as the Armory
and the other he "old Miller block"
About one hundred and twenty FIVE
houses in all, were burned, aud onl y one
or two escaped Being reusacked, and eve
rythlng OF value carried away Or Destroy
ed Six or eight soldiers canpcd upon
this side Of the river, and WHO fired across
at every rebel who appeared upon the
bank, deferred the towards from destroy
ing some of the houses near TIE ferry, aud
from cutting down the flag pole.
The force Of tho rebels is vnriously
estimated from $50 to 400. Kc!irb!e mar
ties place it at 800. Their every act dur
ing their stay in the city, was charucler-
lied by the most cowardly barbarsm.
They entered the town on the gallon,
firing into every house, and when the oc
SuPuu'o uPpCutCu az Nuc uOuT, lucy were
shot down like dogs. The arms of the
town were in the armory, Of which the
rebels took possession, although they did
not carry them off.
Samuel Jones, blacksmith, was shot
down at his anvl-one Of the ftst victims.
His body still lay there at ten o'clock,
yesterday morning.
Five bodies, burned to crisp, lay near
the ruins o: the E'dridge House. They
could not be recognized.
Eighteen out of twenty-five nrarmed
recruits camped south OF town, were muir.
dered in their tents Their bodies lay in
the CoIored Church when we arrived.
Messrs. Trask, Griswold, Baker ard
Thorp, we're shot down in the yard Of DR..
G. before the eyes Of their families.
Judge Carpenter was wounded in his
yard a"d fell, when his wife and sister
threw themselves upon his body. begging
Tor mercy, but to no avail. The fends
dsmounted, stuck their pistols between
the persons Of his protectors and fired.
Miss Stone, daughter of the proprietor
of the City Hotel, hal diamond ring
stolen from her finger. QnantrIle Obliged
the man to restore it. In revenge for
this, the rufIians afterwards came back
and shot her father before the mothers
eyes. They also tried to kill Miss Stone
Gen. Collamore went into his we'll to
hide, and the bad air killed him. His son
and Pat keefe lost their lives irving to
get the father out. All three Of the bodies
were in the well when We left.
The life of S A. Riggs. District A,tor-
ney, was saved, by the heroism OF his
wife, who seized the bride of the rebels
horse, who attempted to shoot him as be
ran.
Several cases of rcmarkahI. bravery Of
women were related to US. The wife Of
sheriff Brown three successive times put
out the fire kindled to burn the house. -
Her husband was hidden under the floor
The house was saved by this heroine.
The offices Of the Journal, Tribune aad
Republican were, of course, leveled to the
ground. John Sreer, Jr., Of the Tribune.
started for his home ircm he office after
the rebels came in. Mr.. Murdock, II
printer in the Office. tried TO induce him
10 accompany him into we'll near by,
for safety, but he would do nothing bu,
go home to defend The house, w;l:ch he
did and was killed. Mnrdoyh went iuto
well and was saved. \ younger sou Of
John Speer, ST., killed a rebel and left.
Guests at the Eldridse were ordered
out, their rooms pilagel, and some of
the people shot Two men from Oiio
were wounded there and are row in tbs
City. Only the riesence and perempto:y
orders of Qnanlrila prevented tie massa,
ere OF all the occupants after they had
marched out on the street. Tie rebels
were told there was a negro baby still in
the house, bu, they sad. I've will burn
the Cd id little brat up ind :hey
did We saw its charred remains, burn
I'd black as the hearts of its murdcrers.
The books of the County and District
Clerks were burned, but those of the Reg
lister Of Deeds were III the safe, aud are
supposed to have been saved. Every
safe in the city was robbed but Two.
In the E'dridge store, James Eldridse
and James Perrine gave the rebels all the
money in the safe, and were immedia'cty
shot down. This store is in tao " miller
Block, ond was not burned
All the hotels were destroyed exccp.
the City Hotel. The first one set Oh fire
was the Mansion House. where the rcbs
expected to iind large number Of Red
Legs, but there was only one, and he es
capped.
The loss in cash is estimated at $780,
900, and in property and all at $1,000,
600 This is u lo~ enough estimate.
The number Of bodies up to the time
we left was ll3, of which about twenty
were burned so badly as to render recog-
milton impossible. There were large
number of strangers in town, and when
the entire loss is ascertained, we think it
will reach $50 killed. Many were doubt
less killed 10y the rebel pickets in the
brush.
The people have not vet recovered from
the terrible blow sufficiently to appreciate
the full force Of their desola.ion and
when they do recover from the shock,
many more will doubtless be missing.
We have seen battle fields and scenes
OF carnage and blood shed, but have never
witnessed a spectacle SO terrible as tina,
seen among the smouldering ruins of
Lawrence. No fighting, no resistance
but cold FLOODED murder was there.
q