"Quantrill's Raiders and Bloody Kansas"- In August of 1863, an armed force of 400 men descended upon the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas and proceeded to systematically destroy it.  Seven years before, Lawrence Kansas was sacked and burned mainly due to its being known as an anti-slavery town. Then, the war in Kansas, an anti-slavery state, and Missouri, a pro-slavery state, had already started, and was to continue at a level of butchery that exceeded anything seen during the Civil War. Sources: Eyewitness account originally published in Gladstone, T.M. The Englishman in Kansas Slavery in the American West (1997) Morrison, Michael A Caste, Albert E. Civil War Kansas:Reaping The Whirlwind, Lawrence, Univ Press of Kansas (1997)   Special Offer: Join Audible.com/1001 and receive a free audio book with your trial membership