Order No. 11 Historical Marker: Forced Evacuation and Burning of Bates County

This historical marker was erected in 2014 by the Bates County Historical Society to share the history of General Order No. 11, which was issued during the Civil War in response to atrocities committed by pro-Confederate guerillas in Kansas. While it is true that some families in this area were supporting the guerillas who sacked Lawrence and attacked other Kansas residents, the order included a presumption of guilt and was enforced quickly leading to a forced mass evacuation from homes and farms. United States troops sometimes burned homes of suspected pro-Confederate guerillas, often with little evidence, and this action had a profound and devastating impact on residents of several counties along the western border in Missouri. The history shared by this marker is also commemorated in the Burnt District Monument which features a stone chimney, often the only thing left after the military evicted a family from their home. The marker is located next to several markers and monuments related to military history, including a recent monument honoring African American soldiers from Kansas and Missouri who served the United States Army during the Civil War. Among the many honors of those soldiers was a defeat of a pro-Confederate militia in Bates County on October, 29, 1862, over two months prior to the official order accepting African American men into separate units of the United States Army.

On August 23rd, 1863, Brigadier General Thomas Ewing issued General Order No. 11 in response to the guerrilla warfare that had been occurring along the Missouri-Kansas border during the early years of the Civil War. The order was issued following famous Missouri guerrilla William Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas which was likely in response to the collapse of the jail where his sister was locked up that resulted in her death.

All persons living in Jackson, Cass, Bates, and Vernon County were required to evacuate the area if they were unable to prove their loyalty to the Union. Those evacuated had to relocate to Kansas or within a mile of Union posts located in Independence, Harrisonville, Hickman Mills, and Pleasant Hill. The entire population of Bates County was evacuated. The Union army looted the abandoned property and set farmsteads on fire so that guerrillas and their families couldn’t return to the area. The destruction caused witnesses to refer to Bates and Cass County as “The Burnt District.” Following the order, most families relocated to other places within Missouri and returned home after the war. Others left Missouri entirely and never returned.

Order No. 11 is remembered as a controversial order, and was considered such by contemporaries of the era. One of its most famous critics was Missouri painter George Caleb Bingham. Bingham expressed his criticism of the order to General Ewing with the following statement: “If you persist in executing that order, I will make you infamous with pen and brush as far as I am able.” In response to the order being issued, he painted “Martial Law,” a painting that depicts the residents of the four counties affected being forced off their land at the hands of Union soldiers.

Order No. 11, The Historical Marker Database. Accessed September 6th, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=74091.

Neely, Jeremy. "General Order No. 11" Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865. The Kansas City Public Library. Accessed Tuesday, September 6, 2022 - 15:43 at https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/general-order-no-11

General Order No. 11, Cass County Public Library. Accessed September 6th, 2022. https://www.casscolibrary.org/casscountyhistory/panel13/.