Wakarusa War
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The Wakarusa War was a skirmish that took place in Kansas Territory during November and December 1855 as part of the Bleeding Kansas violence. It centered around Lawrence, Kansas.
The events that led to the Wakarusa War began on November 21, 1855, when a Free-Stater named Charles Dow was shot by a pro-slavery settler. Violent reprisals on both sides led to escalating tension. On December 1, 1855 a small army of Missourians, acting under the command of Douglas County, Kansas Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, entered Kansas and laid siege to Lawrence.
During the siege, the main body of the invaders were encamped on the Wakarusa bottoms, some six miles from Lawrence. The invading army numbered at its highest not far from 1,500 men. They were indifferently armed as a whole, although they had broken into the United States Arsenal at Liberty, Missouri and stolen guns, cutlasses and cannon, and such munitions of war as they required.
In Lawrence, John Brown and James Lane had mustered Free-State settlers into a defending army and erected barricades. Fortunately, no attack on Lawrence was made. A treaty of peace quelled the disorder and its provisions were generally accepted. The only fatal casualty occurring during the siege resulted in the death of one of the Free-State men who had come to the defense of Lawrence.
References
- Portions of this text were taken from William G. Cutler's [History of the State of Kansas], first published in 1883.
External links
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