lawrence, kansas, a thrifty town located on the kaw river, was selected by quantrell as the place upon which to wreak a long-pent-up vengeance. sitting around the camp fire on the night of august 18th, 1863, the chief of the black banner held a consultation with frank and jesse james, the younger boys, the shepherd brothers, and others of his most daring followers, as to the next advisable move upon a place which would furnish the best inducements for their peculiar mode of war. there was a concert of opinion that lawrence was the most available place. the point having been selected, quantrell did not neglect to inform his followers of the danger such an undertaking involved; that their road would be infested with militia, the forces of which would be daily augmented when the first intimation of the purposes of the guerrillas should be made known; that it would be ceaseless fighting and countless hardships, and many would be left upon the prairies to fester in the sun. he then called his command to arms and acquainted every man with[pg 16] the decision in the following speech: "fellow soldiers, a consultation just held with several of my comrades has resulted in a decision that we break camp to-morrow and take up a line of march for lawrence, kansas; that we attack that town and, if pressed too hard, lay it in ashes. this undertaking, let me assure you, is hazardous in the extreme. the territory through which we must pass is full of enemies, and the entire way will be beset by well armed men through whom it will be necessary for us to carve our way. i know full well that there is not a man in my command who fears a foe; that no braver force ever existed than it is my honor to lead, but you have never encountered danger so great as we will have to meet on our way to lawrence; therefore let me say to you, without doubting in the least your heroism, if there are any in my command who would prefer not to stake their lives in such a dangerous attempt, let them step outside the ranks."
at the conclusion of quantrell's remarks a shout went up from every man, "on to lawrence!" not a face blanched, but on the other hand there was but one desire, to lay waste the city on the kaw.
on the following day the order was given to "mount," and with that dreadfully black flag streaming over their heads the command, two hundred strong, turned their faces to the west. as they crossed the kansas line at the small town of aubrey,[pg 17] in johnson county, quantrell compelled three men, whom he found sitting in front of a small store kept by john beeson, to accompany him as guides. the command passed through johnson county midway between olathe and spring hill, and through the northern part of franklin county. when they reached cole creek, eight miles from lawrence, the three guides were taken into a clump of thick woods and shot by jesse and frank james. one of the party, an elderly man, begged piteously to be spared, reminding his executioners that he had never done them any wrong, but his prayers for mercy ended in the death rattle as a bullet went crashing through his neck.
quantrell had been agreeably mistaken concerning the resistance he expected to encounter. not a foe had yet appeared, but he never permitted a person to pass him alive. no less than twenty-five persons whom he met in the highway, after getting into kansas, had been shot, and yet he avoided the public roads as much as possible.
early in the morning of august 21st quantrell and his band came in sight of the fated town. the sun was just straggling above the undulations of the prairie and the people of the place were beginning to resume the duties of a newly-born day. with a cry which froze the blood of every one in the town who heard it, quantrell and his two hundred followers descended upon the place with pistol, sword and firebrand.
