In a supposed retaliation for a Union raid on Osceola, Missouri, Lt. Col. William C. Quantrill led a force of about 300 to 400 partisans in an attack on the city of Lawrence, Kansas. His men killed civilians-men and boys-and destroyed many of the buildings. He held the town several hours and then withdrew. The "Lawrence Massacre" was, perhaps, the extreme example of the vicious Kansas-Missouri border warfare.
