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James H. Lane (Senator)
Encyclopedia
James Henry Lane also known as Jim Lane (June 22, 1814 – July 11, 1866) was a partisan during the Bleeding Kansas
period that immediately preceded the American Civil War
. During the war, Lane served as a United States
Senator
and as a general who fought for the Union
. Although reelected as a Senator in 1865, Lane committed suicide
the following year.
, Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
, where he practiced law when he was admitted to the bar in 1840. He was a U.S. congressman
from Indiana
(1853–1855) where he voted for the Kansas-Nebraska Act
.
He moved to the Kansas Territory
in 1855. He immediately became involved in the abolitionist movement in Kansas, and was often called the leader of the Jayhawkers, a leading Free Soil militant group. After the Free Soilers succeeded in getting Kansas admitted to the Union in 1861 as a free state, Lane was elected as one of the new state's first U.S. Senators
, and reelected in 1865. During that time he presided over the Topeka convention.
in the Battle of Dry Wood Creek
as Price began an offensive early in the war to retake Missouri for the pro-Confederate state government that had been deposed by pro-Union forces. Lane lost the battle but stayed behind and attacked pro-South pockets in Missouri behind Price. His raids culminated in the Sacking of Osceola
, in which Lane's forces killed at least nine men, then pillaged, looted, and then burned the town; these events inspired the novel Gone to Texas
by Forrest Carter, which was the basis for the 1976 Clint Eastwood
movie The Outlaw Josey Wales
. Lane was severely criticized for his actions in Osceola, most severely by General Henry Halleck, Commander of the Department of Missouri Of their actions, he would state: "The course pursued by those under Lane and Jennison has turned against us many thousands who were formerly Union men. A few more such raids will make this State unanimous against us." Thus, Lane's Brigade was ended.
On December 18, 1861 Lane was appointed brigadier general
of volunteers. On Mar 21, 1862, his commission was canceled in culmination of an argument over whether a sitting U.S. Senator could concurrently hold the rank of general. However on April 11, 1862 he was reinstated as brigadier general of volunteers with the confirmation of the U.S. Senate. During 1862–1863 he served as recruiting commissioner for the state of Kansas.
On October 27-29, 1862, U.S. Senator Jim Lane recruited the 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored)
who debuted at the Battle of Island Mound. They are the first African-American troops to fight in the war, a year before the 54th Massachusetts. In their first action, 30 of their members defeated 130 mounted Confederate guerrillas.
Lane was the target of the event that became the Lawrence Massacre (or Quantrill's Raid) on August 21, 1863. Confederate guerillas could be heard shouting, "Remember Osceola!" Though Lane was in residence in Lawrence at the time, he was able to escape the attack by racing through a cornfield in his nightshirt.
In 1864 when Sterling Price invaded Missouri, Lane served as a volunteer aide-de-camp
to Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Army of the Border
. Lane was with the victorious Union forces at the battle of Westport
.
. But on July 1, 1866 he shot himself in the head as he jumped from his carriage in Leavenworth, Kansas
. He was allegedly deranged, depressed, had been charged with abandoning his fellow Radical Republicans and had been accused of financial irregularities. He died ten days later near Leavenworth, Kansas
, a result of the self-inflicted gunshot. Edmund G. Ross
was appointed to succeed him in the Senate.
The following places were named in honor of the late senator:
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
period that immediately preceded the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. During the war, Lane served as a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and as a general who fought for the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
. Although reelected as a Senator in 1865, Lane committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
the following year.
Biography
The son of Amos LaneAmos Lane
Amos Lane was a U.S. Representative from Indiana, father of James Henry Lane.Born near Aurora, New York, Lane attended the public schools. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 1808. He moved to Burlington, Kentucky, and practiced law...
, Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Lawrenceburg is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Dearborn County...
, where he practiced law when he was admitted to the bar in 1840. He was a U.S. congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
(1853–1855) where he voted for the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
.
He moved to the Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
in 1855. He immediately became involved in the abolitionist movement in Kansas, and was often called the leader of the Jayhawkers, a leading Free Soil militant group. After the Free Soilers succeeded in getting Kansas admitted to the Union in 1861 as a free state, Lane was elected as one of the new state's first U.S. Senators
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, and reelected in 1865. During that time he presided over the Topeka convention.
Civil War
During the American Civil War, in addition to his Senate service, Lane raised a brigade of Jayhawkers known as the "Kansas Brigade", or "Lane's Brigade", composed of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Kansas Volunteers. He led this mixed force into action against pro-Southern general Sterling PriceSterling Price
Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...
in the Battle of Dry Wood Creek
Battle of Dry Wood Creek
The Battle of Dry Wood Creek was fought on September 2, 1861 in Vernon County, Missouri during the American Civil War...
as Price began an offensive early in the war to retake Missouri for the pro-Confederate state government that had been deposed by pro-Union forces. Lane lost the battle but stayed behind and attacked pro-South pockets in Missouri behind Price. His raids culminated in the Sacking of Osceola
Sacking of Osceola
The Sacking of Osceola was a Union Jayhawker initiative on September 23, 1861, to push out pro-Southern elements at Osceola, Missouri. It was not authorized by Union military authorities but was the work of an informal group of Kansas pro-Union "Jayhawkers"...
, in which Lane's forces killed at least nine men, then pillaged, looted, and then burned the town; these events inspired the novel Gone to Texas
Gone to Texas
Gone to Texas , was a phrase used by Americans immigrating to Texas in the 19th century often to escape debt incurred during the Panic of 1819...
by Forrest Carter, which was the basis for the 1976 Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
movie The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 American revisionist Western film set during and after the end of the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood , with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Sam Bottoms, and Geraldine Keams.The film was adapted by Sonia Chernus and Philip Kaufman...
. Lane was severely criticized for his actions in Osceola, most severely by General Henry Halleck, Commander of the Department of Missouri Of their actions, he would state: "The course pursued by those under Lane and Jennison has turned against us many thousands who were formerly Union men. A few more such raids will make this State unanimous against us." Thus, Lane's Brigade was ended.
On December 18, 1861 Lane was appointed brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
of volunteers. On Mar 21, 1862, his commission was canceled in culmination of an argument over whether a sitting U.S. Senator could concurrently hold the rank of general. However on April 11, 1862 he was reinstated as brigadier general of volunteers with the confirmation of the U.S. Senate. During 1862–1863 he served as recruiting commissioner for the state of Kansas.
On October 27-29, 1862, U.S. Senator Jim Lane recruited the 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored)
1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored)
The 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:...
who debuted at the Battle of Island Mound. They are the first African-American troops to fight in the war, a year before the 54th Massachusetts. In their first action, 30 of their members defeated 130 mounted Confederate guerrillas.
Lane was the target of the event that became the Lawrence Massacre (or Quantrill's Raid) on August 21, 1863. Confederate guerillas could be heard shouting, "Remember Osceola!" Though Lane was in residence in Lawrence at the time, he was able to escape the attack by racing through a cornfield in his nightshirt.
In 1864 when Sterling Price invaded Missouri, Lane served as a volunteer aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Army of the Border
Army of the Border
The Army of the Border was a Union army during the American Civil War. It was created from units in the Department of Kansas to oppose Sterling Price's Raid in 1864. Samuel R. Curtis was in command of the army throughout its duration.Major General James G...
. Lane was with the victorious Union forces at the battle of Westport
Battle of Westport
The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West," was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General...
.
Death and legacy
Lane had survived many hardships in his life, including fighting in the Mexican-American War and the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. But on July 1, 1866 he shot himself in the head as he jumped from his carriage in Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
. He was allegedly deranged, depressed, had been charged with abandoning his fellow Radical Republicans and had been accused of financial irregularities. He died ten days later near Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, a result of the self-inflicted gunshot. Edmund G. Ross
Edmund G. Ross
Edmund Gibson Ross was a politician who represented the state of Kansas after the American Civil War and was later governor of the New Mexico Territory. His vote against convicting of President Andrew Johnson of "high crimes and misdemeanors" allowed Johnson to stay in office by the margin of one...
was appointed to succeed him in the Senate.
The following places were named in honor of the late senator:
- Lane UniversityLane UniversityLane University was a college located in Lecompton, Kansas. It was founded in 1865 by Rev. Solomon Weaver, the first president, and was named after U.S. Senator James H. Lane. Jim Lane was a main free-state leader, and Lecompton was previously the capital of the opposing pro-slavery faction...
- Lane, KansasLane, KansasLane is a city in Franklin County, Kansas, United States. The population was 256 at the 2000 census.Lane was named after James H. Lane, a leader of the Jayhawkers abolitionist movement, who served as one of the first Senators from Kansas.- Geography :...
- Lane County, KansasLane County, KansasLane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 1,750. The county seat is Dighton, the only city in the county. Lane County was named after James H. Lane who was a leader of the Jayhawker abolitionist movement and served as one of...
See also
- List of American Civil War generals