5.0 out of 5 stars
JAYHAWKERS: THE CIVIL WAR BRIGADE OF JAMES HENRY LANE, July 29, 2010
This review is from: Jayhawkers: The Civil War Brigade of James Henry Lane (Hardcover)
JAYHAWKERS: THE CIVIL WAR BRIGADE OF JAMES HENRY LANE
BRYCE BENEDICT
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 2009
HARDOVER, $32.95, 352 PAGES, PHOTOGRAPHS, TERMINOLGY, NOTES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX, APPENDICES, MAP
James "Jim" Henry Lane, aka "The Grim Chieftan" and "Bloody Jim" was a controversial U.S. Senator, Kansas patisan, and Union general during the War Between the States. Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana on 22 June 1814. He grew up to study law in his father's office and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1840. During the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), he served with the 3rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Buena Vista in February, 1847. Lane then went back to Indiana and raised the 5th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment that would later perform occupation duties in Mexico City. Afterwards, he returned back to Indiana and followed in his father's footsteps in politics and became Indiana's Lieutenant Governor in 1849. In 1853, he was elected as a congressman. The following year, he cast his vote for the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and in 1855 moved to Lawrence, Kansas Territory, where he would soon gain notoriety as the leader of the "Jayhawkers" in the "Free-State" movement. The term "Jayhawker" originated in Kansas, and according to some authorities, it came into use in the late 1840s. The name was inspired primarily by the predatory habits of the hawk, but it implied, too, the noisy, mischievous nature of the jay. The combination became the "jayhawk," a bird unknown to ornithology. The name was widely accepted in Kansas by the late 1850s, when anti-slavery advocates intent on defending Kansas Territory against pro-slavery "border ruffians" from Missouri adopted it. Kansans liked the tough image it conveyed during those bloody days of pre-War Between the States violence, and they continued to use it once the war began. Missourians applied the name to Kansans, too, but negatively. They thought it fit the destructive raiders who plundered and destroyed their property before and during the war. Lane organized the defense of Lawrence during the so-called "Wakarusa War" in December, 1855, which became a turning point in his career. Up until this time, Lane had been fairly conservative, but as the strife of the Kansas-Missouri Border War increased, he became more and more controversial, due to his speeches, ruthlessness, and tactics. Though he is often described as quarrelsome, belligerent, and unbalanced-often committing acts that were every bit as atrocious as those of the Missouri Bushwackers, he was dynamic speaker with charismatic leadership abilities that won him much support among those supporting the anti-slavery cause in Kansas during the time. He was elected as one of Kansas' first U.S. Senators in 1861 and in April, 1861, along with the Clay Guards, Lane and his "Frontier Guard" (composed of citizens from Kansas and Illinois) were tasked with defending the White House and the newly sworn-in President Lincoln. Lane was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in December, 1861, and organized Lane's Brigade or the Kansas Brigade, comprised of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Kanses Volunteers. He was also responsible for forming the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers (later to be redesignated the 79th U.S. Colored Troops) who are credited with being the first Black American regiment to fight in combat with white soldiers during the War Between the States. Lane's Brigade fought at the Battle of Wilson's Creek as well as other engagements in Missouri. Upon receiving information that there was a hidden cache of Confederate arms in the town of Osceola, Missouri, Lane and his brigade advanced to the town. They found no arms or ammunition and in a frenzy burned the town causing $1,000,000.00 worth of damage (including Union citizens' property). Lane and his brigade were severely criticized by General Henry Halleck, Commander of the Department of the Missouri, who believed that the attacks of both Lane and Colonel Charles Jennison, would in time turn thousands against the Union. He also stated that a few more raids like Osceola would turn Missouri against the Union. So the Lane Brigade was de-activated but Lane himself continued to serve up until the end of the War Between the States. He was re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 1865 but lost support among his supporters because he supported the Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson. He soon became despondent and was accused of abandoning his fellow Radical Republicans as well as rumors of financial irregularities. On July 1, 1866, he shot himself in the head and died ten days later. He was later buried in Lawrence, Kansas. In the first book length study of Lane and his brigade, author Bryce Benedict's well-researched and well-written account sheds new light on one of the weakest spots in the literature on The War Between the States. His book has taken a major step to fill that gap.
Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida
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