Charles R . Jennison Charles R . Jennison also known as " Doc " Jennison ( June 6 , 1834 – June 21 , 1884 ) was a hero of the anti - slavery faction during the Bleeding Kansas Affair and became even more famous as a Union colonel and as leader of Redlegs during the American Civil War . Early life and Bleeding Kansas . Charles R . Jennison was born on June 6 , 1834 in Antwerp , Jefferson County , New York . His family moved to Wisconsin in 1846 where Jennison studied medicine . Marrying at the age of 20 , Dr . Jennison moved to Osawatomie , Kansas in 1858 and to Mound City shortly thereafter . Jennison was considered the most brutal and unscrupulous of the Jayhawkers . Whereas some other prominent leaders of irregulars in the Bleeding Kansas border conflict shared these traits , Jennison was distinguished by his blatant plunder for personal gain . Jennison cooperated with James Montgomery in opposing pro - slavery settlers and irregulars believed to be in league with Border Ruffians . In command of nine men , Jennison " tried " and hanged Russell Hinds near the state line at Mine Creek for the offense of helping to return a fugitive slave to his master in Missouri . Returning a slave was not only legal , but required at the time under the Fugitive Slave Act . Hinds had rejected the standard $ 25 reward , ( $ 515 in 2005 dollars , ) but did accept $ 5 reimbursement for his expenses in transporting the slave , who had agreed to return to his master while awaiting legal emancipation . The acceptance of the reimbursement was enough to convince Jennison to hand down a death sentence . Civil War . Even before the start of hostilities Jennison became a captain of the Mound City Guards on February 19 , 1861 . Although not with Senator James H . Lane ' s Kansas brigade during the Sacking of Osceola , Jennison was associated with it and would soon join the fray after receiving a commission as colonel from Kansas Governor Charles L . Robinson on September 4 . On October 28 , 1861 , Jennison completed the organization and mustering of his 7th Kansas Cavalry . The regiment would become known as " Jennison ' s Jayhawkers . " It immediately took to the field patrolling the Kansas - Missouri border to prevent the secessionist Missouri State Guard under Sterling Price from crossing . Jennisons was a resolute abolitionist ; his sentiments on the matter were the subject of an article in Horace Greeley ' s " New York Daily Tribune " . The article reported Jennison as refusing to allow non - abolitionist soldiers to serve under his command , and asserting that " the slaves of rebels can always find a protection in . . . [ his ] camp , and [ that ] they will be defended to the last man and bullet . " While the regiment was at Leavenworth , Kansas in April 1862 , Jennison , angered over James G . Blunt being named brigadier general in his stead , resigned from the army and turned to banditry as a Redleg . Following the Lawrence Massacre Jennison was once again commissioned a colonel and called into service by Kansas Governor Thomas Carney to raise a regiment that would become the 15th Kansas Cavalry on October 17 , 1863 . Colonel Jennison commanded a mixed brigade of Kansas militia and volunteers resisting Price ' s Raid in October 1864 . However , in December he found himself under arrest as the result of plundering while returning through Missouri after the pursuit of Price . Jennison was court - martialled and convicted on June 23 , 1865 , whereupon he was dishonorably dismissed from the service . Postwar . Jennison was elected to the Kansas Legislature from Leavenworth County in 1865 , re - elected in 1867 , and elected to the Kansas State Senate in 1872 . He died at Leavenworth , Kansas June 21 , 1884 .