Editing Sacking of Lawrence (section)

==Sack==
[[File:Liberty-canon.jpg|thumb|The "Old Sacramento" cannon captured by U.S. during the [[Mexican–American War]] in 1847 and taken to the [[Liberty Arsenal]]. The cannon was fired by proslavery forces during the Siege of Lawrence.]]
On May 21, 1856, Jones and Donalson neared the town. A large force was stationed on the high ground at [[Mount Oread|Hogback Ridge]], and a cannon was placed to cover and command the area. The house of [[Charles L. Robinson]] (later to become the first governor of Kansas) was taken over as Jones's headquarters. Every road to the town and on the opposite side of the river was guarded by Jones's men, to prevent the free-soilers from fleeing. A number of flags were flown by Jones's men, such as the state banners of [[Flag of Alabama|Alabama]] and [[Flag of South Carolina|South Carolina]], a flag with black and white stripes, and flags bearing pro-slavery, inflammatory inscriptions, such as "Southern Rights" and "[[white supremacy|Supremacy of the White Race]]").<ref name=mon>{{cite book|author=Monaghan, Jay|title=Civil War on the Western Border, 1854{{en dash}}1865|location=[[Lincoln, Nebraska]]|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|year=1984|page=57{{en dash}}58}}</ref>

Shalor Eldridge, proprietor of the Free State Hotel, soon learned of the oncoming forces, and he journeyed out to meet them; he was told by Donalson that the posse would enter into Lawrence and attack if and only if the citizens tried to resist Donalson and Jones's men. Donalson and Eldridge then journeyed to the hotel, where, according to ''The [[New York Times]]'', Eldridge had prepared "an elegant dinner, the best that the fresh and abundant stores in the cellar could afford" (which included "costly wines") so as to placate the marshal and his men.<ref name=nyt/> Eldridge was interviewed by Donalson while the federal agent and his followers ravenously consumed the meal, then left without paying. Shortly afterwards, the marshal dismissed his followers, who were immediately deputized by Jones.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news |title=Razing Hotel that Played Big Part in Kansas Slavery Fight |work=[[New York Times]] |date=March 30, 1924 |page=X17}}</ref> Jones then asked to speak to a representative of the town. [[Samuel C. Pomeroy]] (who, along with Charles Robinson, had led the second group of settlers to the Lawrence city site in 1854) agreed to meet with the sheriff and discuss with him the situation at hand. Jones was clear in what he wanted: for the citizens of Lawrence to surrender all of their weapons. Pomeroy replied that he did not have the power to do this, as it was ultimately up to individual citizens to give up their arms. However, hoping to encourage Jones to leave the city peacefully, Pomeroy agreed to turn over the city's only artillery piece.<ref>{{cite book|author=Litteer, Loren|title='Bleeding Kansas': The Border War in Douglas and Adjacent Counties|location=[[Baldwin City, Kansas]]|publisher=Champion Publishing|year=1987|pages=37}}</ref><ref name=chapter7>{{cite book|author=Cordley, Richard|title=A History of Lawrence Kansas, from the Earliest Settlement to the Close of the Rebellion|publisher=Lawrence Journal Press|location=[[Lawrence, KS]]|year=1895|url=http://www.kancoll.org/books/cordley_history/ch_ch07.htm|chapter=Chapter VII|access-date=October 2, 2017|quote=The only cannon the free-state men possessed had been surrendered at the sacking of Lawrence in May.}}{{dead link|date=December 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> While Jones did seize this cannon, it did not appease him, as Pomeroy had hoped. According to the Lawrence minister [[Richard Cordley]]:

<blockquote>As soon as Jones had possession of the cannon and other arms, he proceeded to carry out his purpose to destroy the Free-State Hotel. He gave the inmates till five o’clock to get out their personal effects. When all was ready he{{#tag:ref|Some sources maintain that it was not Jones who fired the first shot, but rather [[David Rice Atchison]]. However, being inebriated, he aimed the cannon too high, and the shot missed the building.<ref name="scharff"/><ref name=burt>{{cite book |last1=Burt |first1=John |title=Lincoln's Tragic Pragmatism: Lincoln, Douglas, and Moral Conflict |date=2013 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=[[Cambridge, MA]] |isbn=9780674070530}}</ref>|group="nb"}} turned [the posse's very own] cannon upon the hotel and fired. The first ball went completely over the roof, at which all the people cheered, much to the disgust of Jones. The next shot hit the walls but did little damage. After bombarding away with little or no effect till it was becoming monotonous, they attempted to blow up the building with a keg of powder. But this only made a big noise and a big smoke, and did not do much towards demolishing the house. At every failure the citizen spectators along the street set up a shout. At last Jones became desperate, and applied the vulgar torch, and burned the building to the ground. [...] Jones was exultant. His revenge was complete. "This is the happiest moment of my life," he shouted as the walls of the hotel fell. He had made the "fanatics bow to him in the dust." He then dismissed his posse and left.<ref name=chapter6>{{cite book|author=Cordley, Richard|title=A History of Lawrence Kansas, from the Earliest Settlement to the Close of the Rebellion|publisher=Lawrence Journal Press|location=[[Lawrence, KS]]|year=1895|url=http://www.kancoll.org/books/cordley_history/ch_ch06.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021123022858/http://www.kancoll.org/books/cordley_history/ch_ch06.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 23, 2002|chapter=Chapter VI|access-date=October 2, 2017}}</ref></blockquote>

It was the "Old Sacramento" cannon that the pro-slavery forces made use of in their initial attempt to bring down the Free State Hotel. This weapon had been stored at the [[Liberty Arsenal]] until then.<ref name=cannonoffreedm>{{cite journal |last1=Butler |first1=Maria |title=Old Sacramento: Cannon of Crisis, Cannon of Freedom |journal=[[Douglas County, KS|Douglas County Historical Society Newsletter]] |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=2, 4 |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/kansas/Old-Sacramento.pdf}}</ref><ref name="scharff">{{cite book |editor1-last=Scharff |editor1-first=Virginia |title=Empire and Liberty: The Civil War and the West |date=2015 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=[[Oakland, California|Oakland, CA]] |isbn=9780520281264 |pages=58{{en dash}}59}}</ref> The cannon would be recaptured by free-staters on August 12, 1856, during the [[Franklin, Douglas County, Kansas|Second Battle of Franklin]].<ref name=cannonoffreedm/>

While Jones and his men were trying to bring down the hotel, the printing offices of the ''Kansas Free State'' and the ''Herald of Freedom'' newspapers were destroyed. The machinery was smashed, the [[Sort (typesetting)|type]] was thrown in the river, their libraries were thrown out the window, and loose copies were either thrown into the wind to be carried off, or used by Jones's party to set fire to the Free State Hotel.<ref name=mon/><ref name=chapter6/> When the newspapers were obliterated and the hotel had been brought to the ground, Jones's men then looted the half-deserted town.<ref name=mon/><ref name=chapter6/> As they retreated, for good measure they burned Robinson's home on Hogback Ridge.<ref name=chapter6/>

One person—a member of Jones's gang—died during the attack, when he was struck in the head by a collapsing bit of the Free State Hotel.<ref name=burt/><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-law-that-ripped-america-in-two-99723670/ |author=Drake, Ross|title=The Law That Ripped America In Two|journal=[[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian Magazine]]|date=May 1, 2004|access-date=October 2, 2017}}</ref>

After "Old Sacramento" was recaptured,  the free-stater Thomas Bickerton scavenged the lead type from the river and used it to make cannonballs.<ref name=cannonoffreedm/>