Jennison’s Jayhawkers:
A Civil War Calvary Regiment and Its Commander
Nowhere was the American Civil War more brutal than along the Missouri Kansas border. Citizens of these two states had been burning, pillaging and murdering each other for years before 1861. Their mutual hatred was deep and personal.
Jennison’s Jayhawkers tells the story of Charles Jennison and the Seventh Kansas Calvary. Jennison was a scoundrel and opportunist who saw the war as a chance to wreak vengeance on Missourians and to enhance his personal wealth with the proceeds of their looted property. Under Jennison, the Seventh’s reputation was so despicable that the Federal Command sought to move them as far as possible away from the Missouri border. Later, under more competent and reputable leaders, the Seventh Kansas redeemed itself as a disciplined, effective and sought after fighting force. Not so, Jennison. He continued to profit from horses and other property stolen from Missouri and was eventually dishonorably discharged from his service because of atrocities committed in Arkansas and Missouri by the Fifteenth Kansas while it was under his command.
Jennison’s Jayhawkers may be for the hard core Civil War buff. It is very detailed, drawing on a lot of original material. But it is not a difficult read and offers fascinating picture of the border wars and of daily life in a cavalry regiment.
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Comments: 4
Interesting bit of history. I didn't know about this guy but have always heard of Quantrill's Raiders.
Quantrill’s raiders were originally formed as a self defense force against the Jayhawkers. There is no excuse for murdering 150 men and boys, but Lawrence was a hotbed of abolitionist and Jayhawker activity. Many of its homes were furnished with items stolen from Missouri. A lot of people on the Missouri side of the border felt Lawrence had it coming.
To be fair and balanced, the Bushwhackers were doing the same thing to union loyalists in Missouri and Kansas. Simply being German in western Missouri was enough to get you killed.
Man, as bad as these times are I'm glad that I wasn't around back then.
The sparsely inhabited frontier areas were largely lawless, swept by undisciplined rebel and Federal militias. Most of that activity was payback for crimes committed by the other side and correspondingly bloody. Missouri was without doubt the worst and most lawless theater of the war with revenge killings after the war going on for decades.