Franklin Pierce
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CHARLES JENNISON
An ardent abolitionist, Charles Jennison first gained notoriety in the late 1850s as a prominent “Jayhawker”—the moniker assigned to a collection of militant antislavery guerillas in Kansas. At the outset of the Civil War, Jennison organized a small Union force and began waging war on Confederate bushwhackers in Missouri. As ruthless as he was principled, Jennison adopted a “scorched earth” policy of warfare that included razing and looting homesteads that appeared to support Confederate guerillas.
By 1862 Jennison’s attacks had become increasingly indiscriminate—his men were known to rob and gun down Union as well as Confederate sympathizers—and martial law was declared in Kansas. Jennison briefly retired after this controversial period, but he would return to the war in 1863 following William Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas. He served until the end of the conflict, at which point he was court-martialed for plundering and discharged from the army. He left military service with a polarizing reputation but went on to serve for several years in the Kansas state legislature.
An ardent abolitionist, Charles Jennison first gained notoriety in the late 1850s as a prominent “Jayhawker”—the moniker assigned to a collection of militant antislavery guerillas in Kansas. At the outset of the Civil War, Jennison organized a small Union force and began waging war on Confederate bushwhackers in Missouri. As ruthless as he was principled, Jennison adopted a “scorched earth” policy of warfare that included razing and looting homesteads that appeared to support Confederate guerillas.
By 1862 Jennison’s attacks had become increasingly indiscriminate—his men were known to rob and gun down Union as well as Confederate sympathizers—and martial law was declared in Kansas. Jennison briefly retired after this controversial period, but he would return to the war in 1863 following William Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas. He served until the end of the conflict, at which point he was court-martialed for plundering and discharged from the army. He left military service with a polarizing reputation but went on to serve for several years in the Kansas state legislature.
