- James H. Lane (politician)
Infobox Senator
name=James Henry Lane
width=200px
jr/sr and state=Junior Senator,Kansas
party=Republican
term=April 4 ,1861 –July 11 ,1866
preceded="(none)"
succeeded=Edmund G. Ross
date of birth=birth date|1814|6|22|mf=y
place of birth=Lawrenceburg, Indiana , U.S.
date of death=death date and age|1866|7|11|1814|6|22|mf=y
place of death=Leavenworth, Kansas , U.S.
spouse=Mary E. Lane
religion=
footnotes=James Henry Lane also known as Jim Lane (
June 22 ,1814 –July 11 ,1866 ) was aUnited States Senator, a Union general and partisan in theAmerican Civil War . Lane was born inLawrenceburg, Indiana , where he practiced law when he was admitted to the bar in 1840. He moved to theKansas Territory in 1855. He immediately became involved in theabolitionist movement in Kansas. He was often called the leader of "Jayhawkers " abolitionist movement in Kansas.He was a U.S. congressman from
Indiana (1853-1855) where he voted for theKansas-Nebraska Act . But he abandoned that stance when he moved to theKansas Territory in 1855. He was elected to the Senate from the state ofKansas in 1861, and reelected in 1865. During that time he presided over theTopeka convention.Lane was to lead Jayhawkers in a battle against pro-Southern general
Sterling Price in theBattle of Dry Wood Creek as Price began an offensive to clear out abolitionists in Kansas at the beginning of the Civil War. Lane lost the battle but stayed behind and attacked pro-South pockets in Missouri behind Price. Lane's raids culminated in theSacking of Osceola , in which Lane's forces killed at least nine men, then pillaged, looted, and then burned the town; these events inspired the novel "Gone to Texas" byForrest Carter , which was the basis for the 1976Clint Eastwood movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales ".During the Civil War, he also led the "Kansas brigade" in western Missouri and raised one of the first black regiments in the Union Army.
Lane was the real target of the event that became the sack of Lawrence on August 21, 1863. He escaped the raid by racing through a cornfield in his nightshirt.
Lane had survived many hardships in his life, including fighting in the
Mexican-American War and the Civil War. But he shot himself onJuly 1 ,1866 inLeavenworth, Kansas . Lane was allegedly deranged, depressed, had been charged with abandoning his fellow Radical Republicans and had been accused of financial irregularities. He died ten days later nearLeavenworth, Kansas , a result of the self-inflicted gunshot.Legacy
The following places were named in honor of the late senator:
*
Lane University
*Lane, Kansas
*Lane County, Kansas ee also
* List of American Civil War generals
References
*CongBio|L000061 Retrieved on
2008-02-19
*findagrave|10284 Retrieved on2008-02-19
* [http://www.territorialkansasonline.org/cgiwrap/imlskto/index.php?SCREEN=bio_sketches/lane_james James H. Lane at Territorial Kansas Online]
* [http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/lane.htm James H. Lane at PBS: New Prespectives on The West]
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/215/000050065/ James H. Lane at NNDB]
* [http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=159&subjectID=2 James H. Lane at Mr. Lincoln's White House]
* [http://bullrunnings.wordpress.com/2006/11/30/senator-jim-at-bull-run/ Senator Jim at Bull Run]
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