Bloody Dawn: The Story of the Lawrence Massacre

by Thomas Goodrich

On August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led 400 Confederate irregulars to a rise on the outskirts of Lawrence, Kansas.  For two years, the 3,000 inhabitants of this prosperous frontier community had managed to escape the Civil War which raged in the East.  At Quantrill’s command, the horrors of that war were brought directly into their homes.  The attack began at dawn.  When it was over, more than 150 townsmen were dead and most of the settlement burned to the ground. In Bloody Dawn , Thomas Goodrich considers why this remote settlement was signaled out to receive such brutal treatment.  He also describes the retribution that soon followed, which in many ways surpassed the significance of the Lawrence Massacre itself.  The story that unfolds reveals an event unlike anything our nation has experienced before or since.

Genres: Civil War, History, Nonfiction, American, American History

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of the Lawrence, Kansas massacre of 1863. The only thing I did not like about this Kindle edition was that it seemed to skip parts of the book. When I went to each chapter listed, it seemed to be all there...so maybe there was just a glitch in how the book moved to the next page.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in Kansas History, especially around the Civil War time period.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book if you are into American history. The story of the border wars between Kansas and Missouri. Pretty much ground zero for the beginning of the Civil War. It is very well written and an unusually unbiased account of North vs South. A lot of the books tend to to take that Good Guy(North) vs. Bad Guy(South) approach. This book shows that both sides committed acts of cruelty and unnecessary murder and destruction. The Kansas jayhawks and red legs raiding, burning and killing innocents just as viciously the Missouri bushwacker guerrillas. This is a great book that will give many people a clearer idea of how things truly went down between North and South.

[Raewyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An historical account of the Lawrence, Kansas massacre that left a town burned, plundered and its remaining people haunted. While many Kansans have long forgotten the name "Quantrill", I have since learned it. Quantrill was a name that struck fear into the hearts of many Kansans, and no doubt others in surrounding areas. He was the headpiece that brought Lawrence to its knees.

This book is an insightful read into the times of the Civil War era and how Kansas and Missouri were once pitted against each other in a way that would seem totally alien and unfathomable today. Recommended for those interested in Midwestern Civil War era history.

[Moxie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spend a lot of time in Lawrence and, as any Jayhawker will tell you, the reason KU and Mizzou have such a hatred of each other is because "They burned our town." This is a well-researched work about Quantrill's raid from Missouri, across the Kansas border, to the heart of abolitionist country in Lawrence.

[Robert Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as I know, the only book about the Lawrence Massacre, when Confederate guerillas under William Quantrill attacked Lawrence, Kansas, in 1863, burning the town and killing over 150 men and boys. Includes many first-person accounts by survivors.