"150 years later, Quantrill's raid on Lawrence still stirs deep emotions-on both sides"

[Rowdyboy]

http://www.kansas.com/2013/08/17/2948867/150-years-later-quantrills-raid.html

Generations of Kansans have been taught that thieving, bloodthirsty Missourians ripped Lawrence men from their families in the early morning hours of Aug. 21, 1863, and shot them in the dusty streets of Lawrence.

Yet, generations of Missourians have also been taught how thieving, vengeful Kansans displaced families, shot men and scorched the earth of four Missouri counties bordering Kansas.

Tom Rafiner, a Missouri historian, is a descendant of two families who were displaced – first by James Lane’s Kansas brigade, which marched over 600 miles in western Missouri plundering and burning farms; and later by Union military Order No. 11, which ordered the evacuation of the four Missouri counties.

“I think the bloodshed that occurred in Lawrence was catastrophic,” Rafiner said. “The fact that Lawrence was attacked isn’t surprising. It was in retaliation for what Lane did to Missouri, and Lane lived in Lawrence. If people wanted to know what would be the most likely place for Missouri raiders to attack, it would be Lawrence.