Before the Civil War began, Missouri and Kansas were already at war— Uncover the local impact of a national crisis as pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces collided along the border at Drop-In History: Border War. The event begins with a self-guided portion where guests can move through the historic Alexander Majors House Museums interacting with presenters and read a one day only mini-exhibit about the border war along the Missouri-Kansas Border. Then at 6:30 p.m. sit down for a talk about a ragtag group of Kansas militants known as the “Red Legs” by Paul A. Thomas and Matt M. Matthews.
Talk description: During the American Civil War, a ragtag group of Kansas militants known as the “Red Legs” prowled the Kansas-Missouri border. But though they were ostensibly pro-Union in allegiance, these combatants were really more of an ad hoc terrorist organization that sought to profit off the war by robbing and stealing in the name of the Union. Led by Captain George H. Hoyt (perhaps better known as the abolitionist lawyers who served as a counsel for the defense in Virginia v. John Brown) and, from the shadows, the notorious Jayhawker, Charles “Doc” Jennison, the Red Legs ran wild along the Kansas-Missouri border from 1862-63. During their brief reign of terror, any man who crossed their path—be they a loyalist or a rebel—was a potential target. Indeed, the damage the Red Legs inflicted was severe, and their abuses were one of the reasons that Quantrill is said to have sacked the city of Lawrence in August of 1863. In this talk, Paul A. Thomas and Matt M. Matthews will unravel many of the Red Legs’ mysteries as they reveal who these men were and why they did what they did.
Paul A. Thomas is Thomas is a library specialist at the University of Kansas with a doctoral degree in library and information management from Emporia State University. He has long been fascinated with the history of Kansas during the territorial and Civil War periods. His first book, Haunted Lawrence (2017), focused on the paranormal folklore surrounding Lawrence, Kansas.
Matt M. Matthews is a former military historian with the U.S. Army’s Combat Studies Institute (CSI) and a former U.S. Army senior military analyst. Matthews is the author of several CSI Press publications, and he has also coauthored numerous scholarly articles on the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi region.
This free event is the fifth of Wornall/Majors House Museums six free events for America 250 funded by The Missouri Humanities Council.