In the month of August, 1856, a company of so-called Territorial
Militia established themselves at Hickory Point, Jefferson county,
about twenty miles north of Lawrence, and proceeded to make raids on
the Free State settlements. In one of these raids they pillaged the
village of Grasshopper Falls, robbing the stores of their contents.
Gen. Lane and Captains Harvey and Bickerton determined to attack and
dislodge these marauders. But on the 11th of September Gov. Geary,
having arrived at Lecompton, issued a proclamation ordering all armed
bands of men, whether known as Territorial Militia or Free State
Guerrillas, to disperse and retire to their homes. Gen. Lane
determined at once to leave the Territory, and sent a message to that
effect to Capt. Harvey, who had arranged to unite his command with
that of Gen. Lane in an attack on Hickory Point; but the messenger
failed to meet Harvey, who made the attack alone and captured these
robbers. But Harvey's men were in their turn taken prisoners by a
company of United States troops and were conveyed to Lecompton and
kept during the winter as treason prisoners. But while the Free State
forces were thus being scattered, disbanded and taken prisoners, by
virtue of Gov. Geary's proclamation, an army of 3,000 men had been
enlisted in Missouri and along the border towns, and were marching
to destroy Lawrence and wipe out the Free State settlements. Delilah
bound Samson with cords, then said, "The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson"; and so these "Law and Order" leaders saw the Free State
forces dispersed by the Governor's proclamation, and then thought to
bring on the helpless settlements the whole power of this Missouri
invasion. But we will let Mr. Geary's private secretary tell the story
in his own way:
But the most reprehensible character in the drama being
enacted was the Secretary of the Territory, then acting
Governor. More than three weeks after Gov. Geary had
received his commission and Secretary Woodson had every
reason to believe that he was on his way to the Territory,
that weak-minded, if not criminally defective, officer
issued the following proclamation:
WHEREAS, Satisfactory evidence exists that the Territory
of Kansas is infested with large bodies of armed men:
Now, therefore, I, Daniel Woodson, Acting Governor of the
Territory of Kansas, do issue my proclamation declaring
the said Territory to be in a state of open insurrection
and rebellion, and I do hereby call upon all law-abiding
citizens of the Territory to rally to the support of the
country and its laws.
Not satisfied with the proclamation, which of itself was
sufficiently mischievous, he wrote private letters to
parties in Missouri calling for men, money and munitions
of war. This proclamation and these letters called
together thousands of men, mostly from Missouri, with
passions inflamed to the highest degree, and whose only
thought was wholesale slaughter and destruction.
It was the fixed purpose of Secretary Woodson to keep Gov.
Geary in ignorance of the extensive preparations that were
being made to attack and destroy the Free State
settlements. As yet the Governor had not seen Woodson's
proclamation. Governor Geary issued the follow-orders:
ADJT. GEN. H. J. STRICKLER:--You will proceed without a
moment's delay to disarm and disband the present organized
militia of the Territory.
Notwithstanding the positive character of these orders
they were utterly disregarded. Suspecting that treachery
was somewhere at work he forthwith dispatched confidential
messengers on the road to Westport to ascertain, if
possible, what operations were going forward in that
vicinity.
Messengers were constantly arriving from Lawrence bringing
intelligence that a large army from Missouri was encamped
on the Wakarusa River and was hourly expected to attack
the town. As these men were styled Territorial Militia and
were called into service by the late acting Governor
Woodson, Gov. Geary commanded that officer to take with
him Adjutant-General Strickler with an escort of United
States troops and disband, in accordance with the
proclamation issued, the forces that had so unwisely been
assembled. Woodson and Strickler left Lecompton in the
afternoon, and reached the Missouri camp early in the
evening.
Here Woodson found it impossible to accomplish the object
of his mission. No attention or respect was paid to him by
those having command of the forces. The army he had
gathered refused to acknowledge his authority. He had
raised a storm, the elements of which he was powerless to
control; neither could the officers be assembled to
receive the Governor's orders from the Adjutant-General.
The militia had resolved not to disband, the officers
refused to listen to the reading of the proclamation--they
were determined upon accomplishing the bloody work they
had entered the Territory to perform. Nothing but the
destruction of Lawrence and the other Free State towns,
the massacre of the Free State residents, and the
appropriation of their lands and other property, could
satisfy them.
Mr. Adams, who accompanied Secretary Woodson to the
Missouri camp, dispatched the following:
LAWRENCE, 12 o'clock Midnight, Sept. 14, 1856. To His
EXCELLENCY, GOV. GEARY:
SIR:--_Secretary Woodson thought you had better come to
the camp of the militia as soon as you can_. THEODORE
ADAMS.
Before this dispatch reached Lecompton the Governor had
departed with three hundred United States mounted troops
and a battery of light artillery, and arrived in Lawrence
early in the morning, where he found matters precisely as
described. Skillfully stationing his troops outside the
town, in commanding positions, to prevent a collision
between the invading forces from Missouri and the
citizens, he entered Lawrence alone, and there he beheld a
sight which would have aroused the manhood of the most
stolid mortal. About three hundred persons Were found in
arms, determined to sell their lives at the dearest price
to their ruffian enemies. Among these were many women, and
children of both sexes, armed with guns and otherwise
accoutered for battle. They had been goaded to this by the
courage of despair.
Gov. Geary addressed the armed citizens of Lawrence, and
when he assured them of his and the law's protection they
offered to deposit their arms at his feet and return to
their respective habitations. He bade them go to their
homes in confidence, and to carry their arms with them, as
the constitution guarantees that right, but to use them
only in the last resort to protect their lives and
property and the chastity of their females.
Early in the morning of the 15th, having left the troops
to protect the town, the Governor proceeded alone to the
camp of the invading forces, then within three miles and
drawn up in line of battle. Before reaching Franklin, he
met the advance guard, and upon inquiring who they were
and what were their objects, received for answer that they
were the Territorial Militia, and called into service by
the Governor of Kansas, and that they were marching to
wipe out Lawrence and every Abolitionist in the country.
Mr. Geary informed them that he was now Governor of
Kansas, and Commander-in-chief of the Territorial Militia,
and ordered the officer in command to countermarch his
troops back to the main line, and conduct him to the
center, which order, after some hesitation, was
reluctantly obeyed.
The red face of the rising sun was just peering over the
top of Blue Mound, as the Governor, with his strange
escort of three hundred mounted men, with red shirts and
odd-shaped hats, descended upon the Wakarusa plain, where
in battle array were ranged at least three thousand armed
and desperate men. They were not dressed in the usual
habiliments of soldiers, but in every imaginable costume
that could be obtained in the western region. Most of them
were mounted, and manifested an unmistakable disposition
to be at their bloody work. In the back-ground stood at
least three hundred army tents and as many wagons, while
here and there a cannon was planted ready to aid in the
anticipated destruction. Among the banners floated black
flags, to indicate the design that neither age, sex nor
condition would be spared in the slaughter that was to
ensue.
In passing along the lines murmurs of discontent and
savage threats of assassination fell upon the Governor's
ears, but heedless of these and regardless, in fact, of
everything but a desire to avert the terrible calamity
that was impending, he fearlessly proceeded to the
quarters of their leader.
This threatening army was under the command of John W.
Reed, then and now a member of the Missouri Legislature,
assisted by ex-Senator Atchison, Gen. B. F. Stringfellow,
Gen. L. A. Maclean, Gen. J. W. Whitfield, Gen. George W.
Clarke, Gens. William A. Heiskell, Wm. H. Richardson and
F. A. Marshal, Col. H. T. Titus, Capt. Frederick Emory and
others.
Gov. Geary at once summoned the officers together, and
addressed them at length and with great feeling. He
depicted in a forcible manner the improper position they
occupied and the untold horrors that would result from a
consummation of their cruel designs; that if they
persisted in their mad career the entire Union would be
involved in a civil war, and thousands and tens of
thousands of innocent lives be sacrificed. To Atchison he
particularly addressed himself, telling him that when he
last saw him he was acting as Vice-President of the nation
and President of the most dignified body of men in the
world, the Senate of the United States, but now with
sorrow and pain he saw him leading on to a civil and
disastrous war an army of men with uncontrollable
passions, and determined upon wholesale slaughter and
destruction. He concluded his remarks by directing
attention to his proclamation, and ordered the army to be
disbanded and dispersed. Some of the more judicious of the
officers were not only willing but anxious to obey this
order, while others, resolved upon mischief, yielded a
reluctant assent.