GENERAL ORDER NO. 2

The Kansas / Missouri Border Wars

Michael Round

July 21, 2009

Union forces held Perry Hoy, and the Confederates wanted him back.  They, too, had a prisoner: Lt. Levi Copeland.  And they were willing to trade.

It was hard enough holding back the southern soldiers from killing Copeland.  He was known for killing a number of Southern sympathizers.

But they wanted Perry Hoy back, and hoped they would get him back.

One evening, Charles Cowherd rode into camp with a newspaper:  the Missouri Republican.  It told the story of Perry Hoy being executed by firing squad at Fort Leavenworth.

The order was given: execute Copeland.

But that wasn't enough.

A promise had been made in answer to the Union General Order No. 2, and they meant to keep that promise.

What was General Order No. 2? 

General Order No. 2 was a "No Quarter Order" issued by Union General Henry Halleck, branding all Partisans outlaws, and subject to immediate execution.

When news hit the Confederate camp of General Order No. 2, a reply was written:  "If you kill one of ours, we will kill 10 of yours".

And William Quantrill meant it.

Yes - that Quantrill.

He and his men headed east across the Missouri border into Kansas.  125 - 150 strong, and out for revenge.

On the way to town, then encountered men newly enlisted in the 12th Kansas division, and killed them.  The bodies of the Judy brothers, John J. and James B., were found on the Millikan Farm, owned by the first woman resident of the town.

Mrs. Emily Millikan had arrived in town with her brother, Dr. J. Whittier, relatives of the great poet John Greenleaf Whittier, with his words on their minds:

"We crossed the prairies, as of old

The Pilgrim crossed the sea,

To make the West, as they the East,

The homestead of the free."

The poem gives hint to the nature of the Border Wars at the time.  They had come from New England - as many had - to populate Kansas with "free staters".  The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 had created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and, most importantly, had implemented the policy of "popular sovereignty", allowing the settlers themselves to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries.

Jayhawkers.  Bushwhackers.  Border Ruffians.  John Brown.  The Raid on Osceola.  Bleeding Kansas.

The Civil War.

The Civil War did not last from 1861 - 1865.  It all started - philosophically and practically - right here - years before the "official" start date of 1861.

Quantrill and his men did kill 10 that day.  They looted the city.  They destroyed the newspaper offices.    They destroyed everything.

September 7, 1862.

1862?  Did you think I was describing the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863 ...

No.  The description above took place nearly one year earlier:  September 7, 1862, right here - in Olathe, Kansas.