Sacking of Osceola

Sacking of Osceola

The Sacking of Osceola was a Union Jayhawker initiative on September 23, 1861, to push out pro-Southern elements at Osceola, Missouri.

Following Sterling Price's secessionist Missouri State Guard victory over General Nathaniel Lyon's Union army at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Price began initiatives to "clean" out opposition in Kansas and retake the state of Missouri.

James H. Lane organized 1,200 troops to resist the Price invasion into Kansas. Price defeated Lane in the Battle of Dry Wood Creek near Fort Scott, Kansas. Lane retreated and Price continued his offensive further into Missouri to the Siege of Lexington.

With Price preoccupied elsewhere Lane launched an attack behind him. After crossing the Missouri border at Trading Post, Kansas Lane began an offensive on Butler, Missouri, Harrisonville, Missouri, Osceola, Missouri and Clinton, Missouri, which he burned and looted.

The climax of the campaign was in September 1861 at Osceola where Lane's forces murdered at least nine men, then pillaged, looted, and burned the town. According to reports, many of the Kansans got so drunk that when it came time to leave they were unable to march and had to ride in wagons and carriages. They carried off with them a tremendous load of plunder, including as Lane's personal share a piano and a quantity of silk dresses. Lane was eventually to continue on to Kansas City, Missouri on September 29 and was to pursue Price as he retreated south through the state.

Lingering fury concerning Lane's raid stirred hatred that would contribute to Quantrill's infamous raid on Lawrence, Kansas leading to the the depopulation of four counties of western Missouri in General Order No. 11 (1863).

In popular media

The events of the Osceola massacre served as a partial basis for the 1976 movie The Outlaw Josey Wales starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, in which the lead character is a pro-Southern Missouri homesteader who wanted to take vengeance for Lane's raid.

External links

* [http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/casteljayhawking.htm Civilwarstlouis.com history]


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