The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family

The Union's War Against Women & Children

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2005-08-07

Synopsis: John Weaver argues that the Union Army, under leaders like Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan, and Ewing, deliberately waged war against innocent women and children during the Civil War, violating biblical principles. He details the arrest, imprisonment, and murder of Southern women and children, culminating in the deliberate collapse of a Kansas City prison that killed five women and maimed others. This atrocity, he claims, directly provoked Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas. Weaver applies these historical events to warn that governments can become corrupt and target Christians, and that the war against women and children continues today through abortion and euthanasia.

[John Weaver] If you open your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 11, the message is entitled, The Union's War Against Women and Children. Now, not only does this have a great historical truth and significance, I believe by the time we get to the end, you will also see that it has some practical applications for today. I just want to read two verses out of the book of Proverbs, and these verses, of course, relate to women. Proverbs 11 and verse 16, the Bible says a gracious woman retained honor and strong men retained riches. But note if you would, a gracious woman retained honor. Then if you look in Proverbs 12 and verse 4. Proverbs 12 verse 4, a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.

[John Weaver] But she that maketh ashamed is as rotten as to his bones. Now go back to the first half of that verse. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband. That is, she's very highly prized, very valuable, very dear. And the Word of God tells us that a gracious woman is one that always retains honor. Let me begin by saying that August the 13th, some say August the 14th, one day, either way, does not matter. But August 13, 1863 is a date that will live in infamy. Because on that date, innocent and harmless women and children were murdered by the federal forces under the command of General Thomas Ewing.

[John Weaver] Now, a biblical principle that is very plainly and clearly taught in the scriptures is this. that you do not make war upon citizens or civilians, and especially women and children. If you would turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. 1 Samuel chapter 15. You will remember when God sent King Saul to make war against the Amalekites. I want you to note what he did and what he said in 1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 6. King Saul comes to the Kenites who happen to be in the way.

[John Weaver] And here's what he said to them. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from the Amalekites. So God had sent King Saul against the Amalekites. He had not sent him against the Kenites. So Saul rightly, and I might also say righteously and justly, told the Kenites, since you're not involved in this war, you're citizens, you're civilians, you just get out of the way because we certainly do not want you to be harmed in any way whatsoever. So here's a principle then, you do not make war upon those who are not involved in the war and especially women and children.

[John Weaver] Now if you will turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 20, let me show you a second principle that is enunciated in the scripture. Both of these principles are vitally important because they will also demonstrate the fact that The Union violated these principles over and over. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 20 and verses 19 and 20. Deuteronomy 20 is the great passage on war, by the way. And notice if you would, verse 19. Look what God says. Deuteronomy 20 verse 19.

[John Weaver] When thou shalt besiege a city a long time in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them. For thou mayst eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down, for the tree of the field is a man's life to employ them in the siege. Only the trees which thou knowest that they cannot be trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down, and thou shalt build boy works against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued." Now God said, look, when you're making war and it turns out to be a long siege, you cannot cut down the trees that bear fruit from which men eat. He said, if you're going to use trees in a siege, you use trees that are not fruit bearing or trees that are not edible. Now, what God is saying is simply this. You do not make war against creation. You make war against sinners.

[John Weaver] So here are two principles. You don't make war against innocent women and children or civilians, and you don't make war against God's creation. Well, neither President Lincoln, Generals Sherman, Sheridan, or Ewing believed in either principle. Everything that both Sheridan and Sherman did to innocent men, women, and children was known and approved of by Abraham Lincoln. And may I remind you, please, that General Ewing was brother-in-law to General Sherman. Evidently, these men had the same attitudes towards war and also towards Southerner, because they believed that the Southerners should be exterminated.

[John Weaver] It was William Tecumseh Sherman, the man who left a 60-mile wide, 300-mile long path of death and desolation across Georgia and up through South Carolina, who wrote, listen to his words, Look to the south, and you who went with us through that land can best say if they have not been fearfully punished. Mourning is in every household. Desolation written in broad characters across the whole face of their country. Cities in ashes. Fields laid waste. Their commerce gone.

[John Weaver] their system of labor annihilated and destroyed, ruin and poverty and disease everywhere, and now pestilence adding to the very cap sheath of their stack of misery." He is saying, I destroyed literally everything in my path, and he did. In a report dated October 7, 1863, General Sheridan wrote to General Grant and said this, Listen, this is unbelievable. I have destroyed over 2,000 barns filled with wheat, hay, and farming implements. Over 70 mills filled with flour and wheat. And I've driven in front of the army over 4,000 head of stock and have killed in addition to the troops not less than 3,000 sheep.

[John Weaver] Tomorrow I will continue the destruction down to Fisher's Mill. When this is complete, The valley from Winchester to Stanton, 92 miles, will have but little in it for man or beast." In Virginia. It was Sheridan who said that he wanted to make the Shenandoah Valley so desolate that if a crow flew over he'd have to carry his own provisions. And that's exactly what he was doing. Sheridan's troops burned crops and killed thousands of cattle and sheep just to be killing them, just so they would not be used by Southerners, and then burn down homes and turn women and children out in the freezing snow with just the clothes they had on their back.

[John Weaver] It was General William Tecumseh Sherman on January the 31st, 1864 who said, please listen, the government of the United States has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war. to take their lives, their homes, their land, their everything. War is simply unrestrained by the Constitution. To the persistent secessionists, why get this mercy? And the quicker he or she is disposed of, the better. Did you hear him say that the government has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war?

[John Weaver] It doesn't matter who they kill. It doesn't matter whose property they confiscate. It's the right of government.

[John Weaver] Now, this war was not just simply applied against soldiers, but it was applied against women and children. Now, if you think I'm making that up, listen to what General Sherman wrote on June the 21st, 1864, to Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. He said, quote, there is a class of people, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order. Stanton replied, your letter of the 21st of June has just reached me and meets my approval. What did Sherman just say? There's a class of people, men, women, and children, who must be killed or banished before you can have any hope for peace and order. Stanton says, I approve of your plans. Now, war against the civilians started far earlier than 1864. But the above is just simply proof that the war on women and children was indeed part of the Union scheme.

[John Weaver] Neither womanhood nor childhood was held sacred to the federal soldiers. In fact, before I finish this message, you're going to see a clear demonstration of that reality.

[John Weaver] Now, in Missouri, if care packages of food or clothing were sent to sons, brothers, or husbands in the Confederate Army, Many of those who were sending those gifts were arrested for giving care and comfort to the enemy. In other words, many of the Missourian civilians were thrown in prison, including pregnant women and small children upon such charges. One of the prisons they were thrown into was the Gratiot prison in St. Louis, Missouri. We were talking about the name of this prison before surface, and evidently it's a French word, so G-R-A-T-I-O-T would be Gratiot, but Brother Henry and I said a true southerner would just say Gratiot.

[John Weaver] You know, however you pronounce it, there it is. But women and children were thrown into this prison in St. Louis. Now listen, during the War of Northern Aggression, Grafio Street Military Prison was operated in St. Louis, Missouri by the Union Army. This was a unique prison in that it was not only used to hold Confederate prisoners of war, but spies, guerrillas, civilians suspected of disloyalty, and even federal soldiers who were accused of crimes and misbehavior. The names of 212 women and children are among the list of prisoners. 212, just in this one prison. The most severe punishment usually for the women was banishment, however, a number of them were sent to the penitentiary in Jefferson City for extended confinement, or to the prison in Alton, Illinois. The women often had children with them and at least some of them were carrying small babies. In fact, usually the male names right under the names of the women would be the names of the young children that were there with their mothers.

[John Weaver] One newly arrived female prisoner wrote on February the 7th, 1864, Great heavens, my blood boils. Women in this hole of filth and blasphemy. I could scarcely believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. Mrs. Mitchell, who is here with a little daughter, five or six years old, she is charged with smuggling goods through to the Confederates. The northern armies move, making deserts in their tracks, and a loving woman is imprisoned for stretching out her hand to the needy. Other ladies are here besides Mrs. Mitchell, but I have not learned their names.

[John Weaver] Do you realize that the wife of Mr. J.A. Coombs, her name was Fanny, was arrested and put in prison for arranging what you and I would call a charitable event. In the eyes of the Union officers, it was designed to help suffering Confederates. Therefore, she was arrested for simply being disloyal. A multitude of women and children were arrested and imprisoned merely because they had husbands, fathers, or brothers, or sons in the Confederate Army. The mentality of disrespecting and dishonoring women and children was one that was prevalent in the Northern Army. One Union general who was particularly loathed and despised by God-fearing people in the North and in the South was Benjamin Butler. I've told you before that Benjamin Butler had two nicknames. One of them was Beast Butler because he was a beast.

[John Weaver] And the other was Spoons Butler, because he was a thief and he constantly and consistently stole silverware. And so he got the nickname Spoons. Butler was the Union commander in charge of New Orleans, Louisiana. And like I say, he was a notorious thief. But General Butler was demanding honor and respect, yet he and his troops were living dishonorably and disrespectfully. So the women, particularly of New Orleans, shunned Butler and shunned his troops. Therefore, General Butler issued the infamous Order No. 26.

[John Weaver] Now listen carefully, because it was this order that really infuriated the South. Here's his infamous Order No. 26. As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women calling themselves ladies of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter, when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town, plying her avocation."

[John Weaver] Let me spell that out for you. Any woman who did not treat the conquerors courteously was to be treated as a prostitute. Listen to this. Here are some of the contemptuous acts that were listed by General Butler that showed that the women of New Orleans should be treated as a prostitute. Number one, they were showing contempt, he said, when they left streetcars when Union soldiers boarded them.

[John Weaver] You didn't want to ride with them, so you got off, or maybe you were at your stop. But if a woman got off when a soldier got on, she was treating the soldier disrespectfully, walking across the street rather than passing Union soldiers, singing Dixie in public, and turning their backs when Union soldiers walked by. Those were discourteous and contemptuous reasons, according to General Butler, that a woman was to be treated as a prostitute. When the mayor of New Orleans, John Monroe, protested this order, General Butler had him arrested.

[John Weaver] There was indeed outrage all over the South. What General Ewing and General Butler and other northern generals failed to take into account was the Southern regard for women. Let me just put it to you very bluntly. Southerners have historically been very protective of their wives, their daughters and their sisters. And by the way, this is a biblical principle. Let me enunciate it for you. First Peter, chapter three and verse seven.

[John Weaver] I can quote it, but if you want to look at it, that's fine. Here's what God says. Likewise, you husbands dwell with them, that is with the wives. Dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as to the weaker vessel, and in being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered." Now, what did God say to the husbands to give honor unto the wife? You know what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 1?

[John Weaver] And this is regards to all men. The Bible says that we are to treat the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity. What's he saying? You're to have respect and honor for the older women and the younger women as well. In 1st Timothy chapter 5 and verse 3, we're commanded to honor women or to honor widows that are widows indeed. What is God saying? There is a place for respect and honor, especially when it comes to women. And God expects us to. Treat them honorably, courteously and respectfully now.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles. I can quote this, but I want you to see this in Proverbs chapter 6. Because if one wishes to raise the wrath of a godly man, there's an easy way to do it. What is the easy way to raise the wrath of a godly man? Here it is. Simply harass, molest, or torment his wife, daughters, or grandchildren. That's simple enough. Look what God says in Proverbs chapter six, and let's begin reading their verse thirty two. Proverbs six, verse thirty two, now look. God says, but who so committed adultery with a woman lack of understanding, he that doeth it destroyed his own soul.

[John Weaver] Now watch a wound and dishonor shall he get. And his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy, is the rage of a man, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though thou givest him many gifts."

[John Weaver] Now, it is true on this particular passage, God singles out the wives. But God says the man who molests and commits adultery with another man's What does it say? Jealousy is the rage of a man, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance, he will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content though thou givest him many, many gifts. In other words, what God is saying is this.

[John Weaver] There is a righteous anger. There is a righteous rage that cannot be pacified. It is a righteous rage and a righteous anger that cries out for justice. Union officers did not understand that any action towards Southern women only infuriated and enraged Southerners more and made them more effective fighters. I could give you so many scriptures, one of them is children's children is the glory of an old man. I've often told people, if you mess with my girls, I could chew you up and spit you out. But if you mess with my grandchildren, There's no telling what I could think of doing to you. I mean, why? Because children's children are the glory of an old man.

[John Weaver] And God is saying, once again, here is something that will raise the righteous air and the righteous wrath of any man who knows anything about biblical principles and biblical truth. And yet, Union General Blunt wrote to Colonel Benjamin F. Parker and he said this, listen, Here's the Union General. He writes, I have instructed the officers in command of troops in the border counties of Missouri that every rebel or rebel sympathizer who gives aid directly or indirectly shall be destroyed or expelled from the military district.

[John Weaver] These instructions will not exempt females from the rule. Therefore, all persons known to be in arms against the federal authorities of this district will be summarily put to death when captured. The only constitutional right that will be granted them will be the right to make the choice of the quality of rope with which they will be hanged." What did he say? This order, or these instructions, will not exempt females.

[John Weaver] We'll kill the women like we killed the men. It mattered the women were not in arms against the federal government. He said the only constitutional right they have would be the right to decide the quality of rope with which they will be hanged.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to contrast General Blunt's attitude with that of Quantrell. Everyone in this room has heard of William Clark Quantrell. Quantrell has always been portrayed as a bloodthirsty villain who never tired of killing. One of these days I want to bring a message on the life of Cointreau. Cointreau was quite a scholar. He was a teacher, by the way, and he became a guerrilla because of the offenses that had been done toward him, his family, his property. But I want you to compare General Blount's orders with the orders of William Clark Quantrell. Quantrell said, and this was his order, quote, if I find any man insulting a woman, I'll hang him from the first limb I come to, end quote.

[John Weaver] Then again, he said this. There was one offense for which he would have a man shot very quickly. What is it? Abusing a woman. He says, no matter how much a woman may abuse you, take her abuse. Let her talk and scold, but say nothing to her in resentment. We're fighting men, not women. No provocation will excuse an insult or backtalk to a woman. Consequently, no member of Quantrell's band was ever accused of insulting women. He said, I'll have him shot or I'll have him hanged.

[John Weaver] from the first limb I come to. Federal soldiers had no such coat of honor. In the spring of 1862, Mattie Brinker and a number of other southern girls were seized by federal soldiers and they were used as human shields while they searched for the Confederate guerrillas.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to remember this because I'm going to come back to this in just a moment, but Captain Henry Fletcher sent 14 men, 14 soldiers, to capture the Anderson girls. There were only three of them. I'll tell you their names and ages in just a moment. But he sent 14 men to capture the Anderson girls. When he got there, there was a boy there, about 12 to 14, and pretty soon one of the soldiers noticed the boy was missing.

[John Weaver] And they assumed that he had gone to get the gorillas. And they assumed rightly. So they quickly snatched up the Anderson girls and put them on the lead horses in front of the Federal soldiers. And sure enough, when they came to a brick wall, three gorillas jumped over the wall and started firing in the air. And they had to fire in the air to keep from hitting the girls. One of them, unloaded a double-barrel shotgun full of buckshot, but over the heads to keep from hitting the girls. Consequently, they could do nothing since the girls were being used as shields, and then the guerrillas had to jump back over the fence and make their escape because there were only three of them and fourteen of the soldiers. No one was hurt in the melee.

[John Weaver] However, the officer in charge of the fourteen men, Patrick Reddington, reported that if any of his men had been hit, he would have ordered the girls shot on the spot. Union General Thomas Ewing, remember now he's General Sherman's brother-in-law, was assigned to command what was known as the District of the Border. And the task he was facing was really almost impossible because he was trying to stop Quantrell's men and a number of the other raiders. Let me just stop and tell you this. You cannot help but have the utmost respect for the bravery of these men. Do you realize that about 4,000 Confederate guerrillas kept at bay 60,000 Union officers? You say, how in the world could 4,000 keep at bay 60,000 Union officers or soldiers? Let me tell you how. Because first of all, it was hit and run.

[John Weaver] It was indeed guerrilla tactics. But most of these guerrillas had six pistols. All of them had four. Most of them had six. They had two on their hips. They had shoulder holsters. And then they had an extra two. on their saddles. So you got six pistols. Six on six, 36. That's 36 shots. Then they had a carbine, single-shot carbines, slung over their shoulders. And here's what they would do. When they would meet, say, say there's only 50 guerrillas, and yet they meet a force of 400 federal soldiers. They would line up, exchange single shots with their carbines. Federal soldiers did not carry sidearms. And once you shot your single-shot carbine, then you had to reload it. Once those Federal soldiers started reloading, they would spur their horses and at breakneck speed run right in the middle of all those soldiers, pull out those pistols, and just start killing everyone they saw. When those were empty, they grabbed two more. When those were empty, they grabbed two more. You figure each man shooting 36 shots.

[John Weaver] And by that time, most of the soldiers were either dead or gone down the road two or three miles trying to get away from them. So he had a task on his hand, and he realized that, man, how in the world can I contain these men? They're fierce. They don't give in. They don't care whether they live or they die, and you can understand why in just a few minutes. All they're interested in is killing federal soldiers.

[John Weaver] Well, what he did was this. General Ewing then, in order to try to contain these Confederates, started arresting their women, their wives, their mothers, their sisters. Initially, he was going to charge them with sheltering Union enemies. But you remember it was during this time he also issued General Orders number 10. Listen to what he issued this order. All persons who shall knowingly harbor, conceal, aid, or abet by furnishing food, clothing, information, protection, or any assistance whatever to any emissary, confederate officer, or soldier, partisan ranger, bushwhacker, robber, thief, shall be promptly executed. So it didn't matter if it's a 10-year-old girl or a 20-year-old woman or a 60-year-old mother, he said, if they give any information, if they provide any food, any shelter, any medical supplies, they shall be promptly executed. So what Ewing did then, he sat around and arrested all these women and children and he put them there in Kansas City temporarily and he was going to charge them and let them have a trial on pro-Confederate activities.

[John Weaver] Now, to show you the mentality of the people of Kansas, The Kansas City Daily Journal of Commerce printed an editorial supporting General Ewing's arrest of women and children. Here's what the paper said. It is an utter impossibility to rid the country of these pestilent outlaws, partisan rangers, Confederate soldiers, so long as their families remain. One of the greatest difficulties the military authorities have to encounter is the constant and correct information which the families of the bushwhackers give of every movement the troops make. With the aid of these spies dotted all over the country and living in perfect security, a hundred bushwhackers may define the utmost efforts of five hundred soldiers to exterminate them. Let me stop.

[John Weaver] By the way, the term bushwhacker originally referred to the Jayhawkers, and it is improperly applied to the gorilla. A gorilla was not necessarily a bushwhacker, but that's what they're calling. And so they're saying, with the gorilla's families around here supporting them, why, no wonder we can't do anything about it. And so the way to get rid of the gorillas is we just simply get rid of their families.

[John Weaver] Harrison Trow said, and I'm quoting, that a body of federal soldiers, listen to this, this is amazing, that a body of federal soldiers especially enrolled and uniformed to persecute women and prey upon non-combatants gathered up in a half-a-day's raid a number of demonstrative Southern girls whose only sin had been extravagant talk and pro-Confederate cheering. They were taken to Kansas City and imprisoned in a dilapidated tenement close to a steep place on a bank. Now listen, here's a body of soldiers, especially enrolled in uniform. Why? To go out and arrest women and children. Now some of these women that they arrested at first were taken and imprisoned in the Union Hotel. And of course a lot of these women were relatives of Quantrell's men. And so once they got Quantrell's men's relatives there, they then separated them from the other women that they had arrested.

[John Weaver] Some of those that they separated, and I'll mention them later, were Charity McCorkle Kerr, Nanny Harris McCorkle. Their husbands were Nathan Kerr and Jabez McCorkle, who rode with Quantrell. And then 18-year-old Nanny McCorkle's cousins happened to be the Younger brothers by marriage. Cole, Jim, Bob Younger, etc. You remember I told you that Captain Henry Flesher sent 14 soldiers to arrest the Anderson girls? There were only three of them. There was 16-year-old Mary Anderson. Her 14-year-old sister, Josephine, and her 10-year-old sister, Martha. These girls, the Anderson sisters, were the sisters of one of Quantrell's noted lieutenants, Bill Anderson. Does anybody remember the nickname that Bill Anderson acquired? Bloody Bill. You're going to find out why he acquired that nickname shortly.

[John Weaver] Listen carefully, because I'm going to probably save this for several months in the future, but also arrested were Susan Crawford Vandiver and Arminia Crawford Selvey, names that you're probably going to hear in a sermon in the future when I preach on the exploits and death of Riley Crawford. There were a number of other young women who were arrested with these ladies.

[John Weaver] Now, George Calum Bingham was also a Union general. He and General Ewing did not get along. In fact, Bingham thought Ewing was wicked and arrogant and only had his own interest in his political ambitions in mind. And so here's what General George Kalen Bingham wrote concerning the arrest of these women. He says, these females were arrested and confined under the pretext of holding them as hostages for the good behavior of their brothers, husbands, or relatives who were supposed to be in sympathy with or actually engaged in the Confederate cause. In other words, what General Bingham is saying is there was really no lawful or legal reason for these women to be arrested. Really what they were trying to do was control these men by controlling their women.

[John Weaver] Now, at first these women were imprisoned at the Union Hotel, which was located at the southeast corner of 6th and Main Street. But because it was considered too crowded, these women who were related to Quantrell's men, were moved to the old building, the Mechanics Bank at Delaware and Commercial, which was infested with rats and vermin of all kinds and deemed unfit for human habitation, and the women were only moved after the guards complained. In fact, here's what Maddy Likens, who was there and described the condition, she said this, As a place of imprisonment for such in this city, an old dilapidated brick building on the levee was taken possession of by the military authorities and set apart as a prison for rebel women. After the building had been occupied as such for some time, it became infested with rats and vermin of all kinds as to render it unfit for human beings to live in.

[John Weaver] Even the health of the guards who had access to the river for bathing suffered so much from the stench and torture of the vermin as to lead them to appeal to headquarters for a change of location. So what the women who got them to change, it was the guards. The guards couldn't take it. They eventually moved these women to a building in the metropolitan block of McGee's addition known as Longhorn Tavern.

[John Weaver] Now, remember General Thomas Ewing. He is the commander of the District of the Border. And so what does General Thomas Ewing do? He confiscates a building without notifying the owner, and he makes this building a women's prison in July of 1863. In fact, he later acknowledges that in a letter. He said this, and I'm quoting, this certifies that a certain house in McGee's addition to Kansas City, Missouri, known as Number 13 Metropolitan Block, was occupied as a prison by my order from some day in the latter part of July 1863 until the 13th day of August last when it fell. Now, interestingly enough, the building that was confiscated without notification of the owner, was owned by General George Calum Bingham, the old nemesis of General Ewing. General Bingham opposed General Ewing's infamous Order No. 11. That order is the one that demanded that all Southerners either go to a federal outpost or get out of the state, get out of Missouri. Bingham had acquired this building through the estate of Robert Thomas, who had died in 1859.

[John Weaver] Thomas had been married to the daughter of George Caleb Bingham. George Caleb Bingham was also a famous artist. He had gone to this building, had it remodeled, added a third floor at the expense of about $1,800 to use as an art studio. Afterwards, He was selected as treasurer for the state of Missouri and he moved then from Kansas City to Jefferson City. So the building then was abandoned or vacant, I should say, for about a year and a half until General Ewing comes along and he confiscates this building without even telling General Bingham, hey, I'm using your building.

[John Weaver] We're going to make a women's prison out of it. He just took possession without asking or informing General Bingham.

[John Weaver] Now, the women, as you can imagine, were treated quite horribly in their prison. They were kept on the second and third floor of this three-story building under guard. Harrison Trow reports that their food was flung at them at certain intervals, and brutal guards sang rival songs and used indecent language in their presence. You say, Brother Weaver, I can't imagine someone doing that. Well, it gets a whole lot worse. And when you find out what they did, you can certainly understand why they would sing ribald songs and use indecent language, these women.

[John Weaver] And if you doubt their inhumane and wicked treatment, you need to consider the fact that Charity McCorkle Kerr was in bed ill with a fever because of improper diet and exposure. Others who were there in that Building were also not doing well, but they were still at least trying to minister to those who were sickest and 10 year old Martha Anderson now listen 10 year old Martha Anderson the day before had angered the guards and Therefore they chained a 12 pound ball to her ankle How dangerous can a 10 year old girl be But in retaliation, they chained a 12-pound ball to her ankle.

[John Weaver] Now, it is almost impossible, and I want you to listen to this because I'm going to make an application toward the end. It is almost impossible for us who are alive today to conceive of the hatred, ill will, and vindictiveness that the Yankee abolitionists had for the Southern people. And the mere fact that women and children were involved did not abate their hatred. Neither did the fact that the women and children were harmless and innocent civilians seem to matter to the soldiers at all. The very fact that they were Southern was sufficient for the soldiers. The soldiers in the adjoining house, which was used as a guardhouse, examine the structure and saw that the structure could be very easily destroyed. And so the soldiers then purposefully and deliberately set about to weaken the structure and cause it to collapse.

[John Weaver] They gained access to the Thomas building and removed the brick pillars that held up the floor joints of the first floor. Afterwards, they removed several sleepers, thus weakening the wall. The building began to show signs of collapse. Actually, what you have was three buildings together. The women and children were kept in the middle building. They understood that when one went down, it's going to probably pull at least one more down on top of it. They began to weaken it, and they knew that it was going to fall. The grocers on the first floor of the next building began to see the dust falling, cracks in the wall. They knew danger was imminent, so they began moving their goods out. They were not going to lose all their merchandise. The women saw the same signs. And they, too, said that the building was unsafe and that they asked to be removed to another building.

[John Weaver] Well, two reports of the condition of the building reached General Ewing, and he sent his hand-selected inspectors to inspect the building. And on two separate occasions, his inspectors came back and said the building was safe and there was nothing to worry about. There are many people who believe that it was General Ewing himself who gave the order for this building to be undermined. Later on that day when the women were being given their dinner, Captain Parker requested that Thomas Barber, a soldier in his company, accompany him and they too were going to inspect the building.

[John Weaver] But what the soldiers had done was this. They had gotten it pretty well where they knew the building would collapse almost instantly. And so they waited until the guard who was guarding the women had gone for water. They did not know, of course, Captain Parker and Barbara was now up on the third floor. They thought the building was pretty well vacant. And as they began their last-ditch effort to really cause the building to collapse. Captain Parker and Mr. Barber saw the signs coming, and they fled the building, and they hollered to the women that the building was going to collapse. And just as the soldiers got out, the building did indeed collapse with the women in it, with the children in it.

[John Weaver] All but five of the ladies escaped with their lives. They were all injured emotionally, mentally, physically. But those who were killed instantly were Susan Crawford Vandiver, Arminia Crawford Selvey, Josephine Anderson, and Charity McCorkle Kerr.

[John Weaver] Now, Mrs. Wilson also was injured, and she died later from her injury. But the rest of the women were just simply injured. Ten-year-old Martha Anderson, who could not flee due to the 12-pound ball that was chained to her ankle, was brutally crushed. She lived, but her legs were mangled beyond all hope. She also sustained a number of other injuries. So here's a little 10-year-old girl who could not flee because of that 12-pound ball. Her legs are crushed. She sustains other injuries. Josephine Anderson, another sister of Bill Anderson, was buried in the ruins. Listen to this.

[John Weaver] For a short time, everyone heard the screams and cries of Josephine begging anyone to please remove the bricks from off her head. And then shortly, there was silence. Here were five women killed all the others horribly injured. The Federals at first tried to blame the collapse on the women. They said the women did it because they were down in the basement trying to dig a tunnel and escape. Have you ever wondered how women could dig a tunnel in the basement when they're under guard on the second and third floor? Someone else said, well, you know, a windstorm just happened to come up and cause the building to collapse.

[John Weaver] Since the building was bordered on each side by another building, and since you don't have windstorms in Kansas in August, that certainly is not a very plausible explanation. And then someone comes along and says, well, the building collapsed due to its age. I mean, it was an old, dilapidated building. Oh, is that so? Well, I'll have you know the building was actually built in 1857. It was only six years old, and a year and a half earlier, It had already been added upon, and shortly after the collapse, several affidavits were taken from numerous persons, all stating that the building was in excellent condition before the building was occupied as a United States military prison for females.

[John Weaver] General George Caleb Bingham, who owned the building, filed a claim against the government demanding $5,000 for damages that he insisted were caused by the intentional undermining of the building by the troops intent on murdering the women. General Bingham blamed General Ewing and said so, and said so openly. In fact, he wrote an article for the Washington Sentinel and he said this concerning the collapse of that building. He said the building fell with a force with the force of a mountain avalanche upon the ruins of the adjoining buildings, thus producing a scene of horror in which the death groans and shrinks of mangled women, which fiends could only contemplate without a shudder.

[John Weaver] In vain had they, upon their first discovery of the danger, begged in piteous accents to be released. Their earnest appeals were to hearts as callous as that of the general by whose authority they were confined. While their prison walls were trembling, its doors remained closed, and they were allowed no hope for release except through the portals of a horrible death into that eternity where, and the great day which is to right all wrongs, they will stand as witnesses against the human monster who, to promote his selfish aspirations,

[John Weaver] could cruelly plan, with satanic coolness, the desolation of a large district of country and the utter ruin of its defenseless inhabitants. that the death of these poor women crushed beneath the ruins of their prison was a deliberately planned murder, all the facts connected therewith sufficiently established." Here is George Caleb Bingham saying, General Ewing did it. The soldiers did it. Moreover, federal soldiers happened to be staying at the Duke boarding house, which was owned by Mrs. B.F. Duke. Mrs. Duke overheard the soldiers talking about their progress undermining the building and it would probably fall on that day. In a rage, she went to Union headquarters and demanded the women be released.

[John Weaver] Her demands fell on deaf ears. And several hours later, the building collapsed. Incidentally, without the federal soldiers knowing it, Mrs. Duke was a cousin to Bill Anderson. So Bill Anderson got a first-hand account of what actually really happened. There were numerous affidavits that supported the fact that the building was maliciously and deliberately destroyed. The builders The eyewitnesses and citizens all testified to the fact that the building was in good shape and well built when General Ewing confiscated it. A federal surgeon appeared upon the scene of the collapsed building. And someone had mentioned in passing, I wonder how many soldiers are buried under those ruins? To which the federal surgeon replied, None.

[John Weaver] They all knew what was going to happen and when it was going to happen. And he was right. There was not one federal soldier found among the ruins. The very fact that there was never an inquiry instituted by General Ewing is evident in the fact that it was premeditated and delivered. No soldier was ever arrested ever tried or ever punished. The collapse of the building at 1425 Grand Kansas City, Missouri on August 13, 1863 was nothing less than malignant butchery, savagery, and a premeditated war against women and children. Now listen carefully. When the news of the collapse reach the families of the dead and injured, what do you suppose their attitude was? They went wild. You see, it's one thing to make war on men. It's another thing to make war on women and children, especially when those women and children are innocent, helpless, and unarmed. John McCorkle at the gravesites of these girls said this, listen carefully.

[John Weaver] Now you're going to understand a little bit of history. This foul murder was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas. What? You remember how Quantrell and his men went into Lawrence, Kansas? What's McCorkle saying? This foul murder, that is the murder of these women and children, was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas. We could stand no more. Imagine, he said, if you can, my feelings.

[John Weaver] A sister, a love sister, foully murdered, and the wit of a dead brother seriously hurt by a set of men to whom the name assassins, murderers, and cutthroats would be a compliment. People abuse us, but by God, did we not have enough to make us desperate and thirst for revenge? We tried to fight like soldiers. but were declared outlaws, hunted under a black flag, and murdered like beasts.

[John Weaver] The homes of our friends burned. Our aged sires who dared sympathize with us had been either hung or shot in the presence of their families and all their furniture and provisions loaded in wagons and with our livestock taken to the state of Kansas. This beautiful farming country of Jackson County, Cass County, and Johnson County were once worse than desert, and on every hillside stood long blackened chimneys, sad sentinels, and monuments to the memory of our once happy homes. And these outrages had been done by Kansas troops, calling themselves soldiers, but a disgrace to the name of soldier. And now our innocent and beautiful girls had been murdered in the most foul, brutal, savage, and damnable manner. The raid on Lawrence, Kansas was in direct response to the murder of these Southern women and children. However, unlike the Federals, the Southern men only kill men. When they raided Lawrence, Kansas, Quantrell and his men had a list of nearly 180 men who were to be killed. They were jayhawkers, soldiers, thieves, murderers.

[John Weaver] And they were especially trying to capture Jim Lane, who was one of the leading jayhawkers. But by the way, he escaped by running out of his house in his nightshirt and hiding in a cornfield. James C. Edwards wrote a short poem on the Lawrence Raid, and certainly this poem would reveal the feelings of most of the men. Listen to it. It's only a couple of stanzas. Men at war never war with women, but women of the South they take to an ancient cell which killed as it fell with the aid of the Union's weight.

[John Weaver] We're going to ride and track you down. We're going to burn Lawrence to the ground." And when they arrived at Lawrence, Quantrell said to his men, now listen to this quote, when they arrived at Lawrence to do their killing, Quantrell said to his men, This is the home of Jim Lane and Jennison. Remember that in hunting us, they gave us no quarter. Shoot every soldier you see, but in no way harm a woman or a child." Frank Smith recalled later that Quantrell shouted again, molest no women and children, kill every man in federal uniform.

[John Weaver] And that's what they did. They did not shoot women and children as portrayed by the TV. They killed men. Did they burn it? Yes, they burned it. Do you know why? Because the battle cry that day was this, remember the women, remember Osceola. Jim Lane had gone into Osceola, Missouri. Osceola, Missouri had over 800 buildings in it. When he left, only three were standing. He burned them all to the ground.

[John Weaver] Now, let's make some applications. I want you to think about these. First of all, I want you to see that Galatians 6, 7, and 8 is true in every area and in every respect. What does Galatians 6, 7, and 8 teach? Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth the flesh shall the flesh reap corruption. He that soweth the Spirit shall the Spirit reap life everlasting. What did He say? Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever you sow, that's what you're going to reap. Sooner or later, folks, listen to me, we're going to get back exactly what we dish out. And if we dish out rape and murder and pillage and plunder and hatred and ill will, that's coming back home to us. If we dish out gentleness and charity and graciousness and kindness and civility, that'll come home to us.

[John Weaver] Do you realize General Thomas Ewing, and by the way, he had great political aspirations, which were ruined by General Bingham, thankfully, but General Ewing calls the deaths of countless federal soldiers. After Bill Anderson's sister Josephine was killed, little Martha crushed and mangled, never ever to recover, he said he would kill every federal that he ever found. The saying that Quantrell will occasionally spare a prisoner, bloody Bill, Never. He carried his silk handkerchief with him, and when he was dead, it had 56 knots in it from 56 soldiers that he had killed.

[John Weaver] Listen, we don't reap what we sow, but we reap more than we sow. You can plant one grain of corn And you might get a cornstalk with three to four years. When you act wickedly and do wrongly, you never know. Who all will be suffering for your wickedness. And for your ungodliness. Here's a second application. If you find it difficult to believe that the government would commit such a heinous act in 1863, You're certainly not prepared to live in the 21st century. A government that considers its citizens as expendable and does not seek to protect them will use, abuse, and misuse them in any way it sees fit.

[John Weaver] It will view them as existing for the benefit of the state and a sheep to be sheared at the whim of the elite. Are you listening? It will not hesitate to use its citizens and soldiers as guinea pigs and cannon fodder. It will act as God deciding who lives and who dies through wars, famine, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.

[John Weaver] Thirdly, a parallel now exists, I believe, in what has just been taught and what is going on today in our world. You think of the New World Order, the One Worlders, the politically correct crowd. Here's my question. Are we Bible believing, Bible preaching, Bible-obeying Christians and their good graces? And the answer is no. We as Bible-believing Christians are considered intolerant, fanatical, uncooperative, right-wingers, and expendable. Someone objects and says, oh, but Brother Weaver, don't you understand there are a lot of professing Christians even in Washington, D.C.? Yes, I concur. But there's a big difference between professing and possessing.

[John Weaver] You've got to remember that fronts, facades, cover, and deception are the rule in politics. If you want to discern who a genuine Christian is in Atlanta or Washington, don't listen to what they say. Watch how they act. Watch how they live. Watch their legislation. What's the old saying? I can't hear what you're saying because of the way that you're acting. I have never ceased to be amazed at how so many could profess to be so Christian and yet pass such ungodly, unbiblical, unconstitutional legislation. It blows my mind. But I got news for you.

[John Weaver] Just as surely as the Southerners incurred the hatred of the government in the 1860s, you're going to find the more and more corrupt government becomes, the more and more we Christians all over will incur the wrath of a corrupt government. Why? Because we want justice and we want what's right and holy and godly and they don't. The war against women and children has never stopped. It is still going on today. That's what abortion is. That's what euthanasia is. That's what infanticide is. That's what a lot of the vaccination programs are about. Sterilization programs. The war still continues. And it's still right against wrong. God against Satan.

[John Weaver] truth against error, and holiness and righteousness against disobedience and rebellion. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful for your word and for your truth. And Lord, we're so thankful that you have told us that we're to walk differently. We're not to walk the way the other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. but we're to walk biblically and scripturally and righteously. We pray, Father, for your grace and your mercy and your help in our lives.

[John Weaver] Teach us to do thy will. Make us holy. Give us understanding. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.

The Union's War Against Women & Children

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	8110517044
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2005-08-07
Dictation Name
Book	Book 027: The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order — Chapter 4
Source Timed Segments	82

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Biblical Principles

Weaver introduces the topic and reads Proverbs 11:16 and 12:4 on gracious and virtuous women. He states that August 13, 1863, is a date of infamy due to the murder of women and children by federal forces. He then establishes two biblical principles: do not make war on civilians, especially women and children (1 Samuel 15:6), and do not destroy fruit-bearing trees in war (Deuteronomy 20:19-20).

If you open your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 11, the message is entitled, "The Union's War Against Women and Children." Now, not only does this have a great historical truth and significance, I believe by the time we get to the end, you will also see that it has some practical applications for today. I just want to read two verses out of the book of Proverbs, and these verses, of course, relate to women. Proverbs 11 and verse 16, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 11:16

"A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches."

But note if you would,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 11:16

"A gracious woman retaineth honour."

Then if you look in Proverbs 12 and verse 4. Proverbs 12 verse 4, "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband." "But she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness to his bones." Now go back to the first half of that verse. "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband." That is, she's very highly prized, very valuable, very dear. And the Word of God tells us that a gracious woman is one that always retains honor. Let me begin by saying that August the 13th, some say August the 14th, one day, either way, does not matter. But August 13, 1863 is a date that will live in infamy. Because on that date, innocent and harmless women and children were murdered by the federal forces under the command of General Thomas Ewing.

Now, a biblical principle that is very plainly and clearly taught in the scriptures is this: that you do not make war upon citizens or civilians, and especially women and children. If you would turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. 1 Samuel chapter 15. You will remember when God sent King Saul to make war against the Amalekites. I want you to note what he did and what he said in 1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 6. King Saul comes to the Kenites who happen to be in the way. And here's what he said to them.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:6

"And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites."

So God had sent King Saul against the Amalekites. He had not sent him against the Kenites. So Saul rightly, and I might also say righteously and justly, told the Kenites, since you're not involved in this war, you're citizens, you're civilians, you just get out of the way because we certainly do not want you to be harmed in any way whatsoever. So here's a principle then, you do not make war upon those who are not involved in the war and especially women and children.

Now if you will turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 20, let me show you a second principle that is enunciated in the scripture. Both of these principles are vitally important because they will also demonstrate the fact that The Union violated these principles over and over. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 20 and verses 19 and 20. Deuteronomy 20 is the great passage on war, by the way. And notice if you would, verse 19. Look what God says. Deuteronomy 20 verse 19.

"When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued." Now God said, look, when you're making war and it turns out to be a long siege, you cannot cut down the trees that bear fruit from which men eat. He said, if you're going to use trees in a siege, you use trees that are not fruit bearing or trees that are not edible. Now, what God is saying is simply this. You do not make war against creation. You make war against sinners.

So here are two principles. You don't make war against innocent women and children or civilians, and you don't make war against God's creation. Well, neither President Lincoln, Generals Sherman, Sheridan, or Ewing believed in either principle. Everything that both Sheridan and Sherman did to innocent men, women, and children was known and approved of by Abraham Lincoln. And may I remind you, please, that General Ewing was brother-in-law to General Sherman. Evidently, these men had the same attitudes towards war and also towards Southerners, because they believed that the Southerners should be exterminated.

Union Leaders' Disregard for Biblical Principles

Weaver asserts that Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan, and Ewing rejected these principles. He quotes Sherman and Sheridan describing their total war tactics, including destroying crops, livestock, and homes, and Sherman's statement that the government has any rights in war, including taking lives. He cites Sherman's letter to Stanton advocating killing or banishing women and children, which Stanton approved.

It was William Tecumseh Sherman, the man who left a 60-mile wide, 300-mile long path of death and desolation across Georgia and up through South Carolina, who wrote, listen to his words, "Look to the south, and you who went with us through that land can best say if they have not been fearfully punished. Mourning is in every household. Desolation written in broad characters across the whole face of their country. Cities in ashes. Fields laid waste. Their commerce gone. their system of labor annihilated and destroyed, ruin and poverty and disease everywhere, and now pestilence adding to the very cap sheaf of their stack of misery." He is saying, I destroyed literally everything in my path, and he did. In a report dated October 7, 1863, General Sheridan wrote to General Grant and said this, Listen, this is unbelievable. "I have destroyed over 2,000 barns filled with wheat, hay, and farming implements. Over 70 mills filled with flour and wheat. And I've driven in front of the army over 4,000 head of stock and have killed in addition to the troops not less than 3,000 sheep.

Tomorrow I will continue the destruction down to Fisher's Mill. When this is complete, The valley from Winchester to Staunton, 92 miles, will have but little in it for man or beast." In Virginia. It was Sheridan who said that he wanted to make the Shenandoah Valley so desolate that if a crow flew over he'd have to carry his own provisions. And that's exactly what he was doing. Sheridan's troops burned crops and killed thousands of cattle and sheep just to be killing them, just so they would not be used by Southerners, and then burn down homes and turn women and children out in the freezing snow with just the clothes they had on their back. It was General William Tecumseh Sherman on January the 31st, 1864 who said, please listen, "the government of the United States has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war—to take their lives, their homes, their land, their everything. War is simply unrestrained by the Constitution. To the persistent secessionists, why get this mercy? And the quicker he or she is disposed of, the better." Did you hear him say that the government has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war?

It doesn't matter who they kill. It doesn't matter whose property they confiscate. It's the right of government. Now, this war was not just simply applied against soldiers, but it was applied against women and children. Now, if you think I'm making that up, listen to what General Sherman wrote on June the 21st, 1864, to Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. He said, quote, "there is a class of people, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order." Stanton replied, "your letter of the 21st of June has just reached me and meets my approval." What did Sherman just say? There's a class of people, men, women, and children, who must be killed or banished before you can have any hope for peace and order. Stanton says, I approve of your plans. Now, war against the civilians started far earlier than 1864. But the above is just simply proof that the war on women and children was indeed part of the Union scheme.

Imprisonment of Women and Children in Missouri

Weaver describes how women and children were arrested for sending care packages to Confederate soldiers or for disloyalty, and imprisoned in Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis. He notes that 212 women and children were listed as prisoners there, and reads a letter from a female prisoner describing the filthy conditions.

Now, in Missouri, if care packages of food or clothing were sent to sons, brothers, or husbands in the Confederate Army, many of those who were sending those gifts were arrested for giving care and comfort to the enemy. In other words, many of the Missourian civilians were thrown in prison, including pregnant women and small children upon such charges. One of the prisons they were thrown into was the Gratiot prison in St. Louis, Missouri. We were talking about the name of this prison before service, and evidently it's a French word, so G-R-A-T-I-O-T would be Gratiot, but Brother Henry and I said a true southerner would just say Gratiot. You know, however you pronounce it, there it is. But women and children were thrown into this prison in St. Louis. Now listen, during the War of Northern Aggression, Gratiot Street Military Prison was operated in St. Louis, Missouri by the Union Army. This was a unique prison in that it was not only used to hold Confederate prisoners of war, but spies, guerrillas, civilians suspected of disloyalty, and even federal soldiers who were accused of crimes and misbehavior. The names of 212 women and children are among the list of prisoners. 212, just in this one prison. The most severe punishment usually for the women was banishment, however, a number of them were sent to the penitentiary in Jefferson City for extended confinement, or to the prison in Alton, Illinois. The women often had children with them and at least some of them were carrying small babies. In fact, usually the male names right under the names of the women would be the names of the young children that were there with their mothers.

One newly arrived female prisoner wrote on February the 7th, 1864, "Great heavens, my blood boils. Women in this hole of filth and blasphemy. I could scarcely believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. Mrs. Mitchell, who is here with a little daughter, five or six years old, she is charged with smuggling goods through to the Confederates. The northern armies move, making deserts in their tracks, and a loving woman is imprisoned for stretching out her hand to the needy. Other ladies are here besides Mrs. Mitchell, but I have not learned their names."

Do you realize that the wife of Mr. J.A. Coombs, her name was Fanny, was arrested and put in prison for arranging what you and I would call a charitable event. In the eyes of the Union officers, it was designed to help suffering Confederates. Therefore, she was arrested for simply being disloyal. A multitude of women and children were arrested and imprisoned merely because they had husbands, fathers, or brothers, or sons in the Confederate Army. The mentality of disrespecting and dishonoring women and children was one that was prevalent in the Northern Army. One Union general who was particularly loathed and despised by God-fearing people in the North and in the South was Benjamin Butler. I've told you before that Benjamin Butler had two nicknames. One of them was Beast Butler because he was a beast.

General Butler's Infamous Order No. 28

Weaver recounts General Benjamin Butler's Order No. 28 in New Orleans, which declared that any woman showing contempt to Union soldiers would be treated as a prostitute. He lists contemptuous acts like leaving streetcars or singing Dixie, and notes the mayor's arrest for protesting.

And the other was Spoons Butler, because he was a thief and he constantly and consistently stole silverware. And so he got the nickname Spoons. Butler was the Union commander in charge of New Orleans, Louisiana. And like I say, he was a notorious thief. But General Butler was demanding honor and respect, yet he and his troops were living dishonorably and disrespectfully. So the women, particularly of New Orleans, shunned Butler and shunned his troops. Therefore, General Butler issued the infamous Order No. 26.

Now listen carefully, because it was this order that really infuriated the South. Here's his infamous Order No. 26. "As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women calling themselves ladies of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter, when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town, plying her avocation." Let me spell that out for you. Any woman who did not treat the conquerors courteously was to be treated as a prostitute. Listen to this. Here are some of the contemptuous acts that were listed by General Butler that showed that the women of New Orleans should be treated as a prostitute. Number one, they were showing contempt, he said, when they left streetcars when Union soldiers boarded them.

You didn't want to ride with them, so you got off, or maybe you were at your stop. But if a woman got off when a soldier got on, she was treating the soldier disrespectfully, walking across the street rather than passing Union soldiers, singing Dixie in public, and turning their backs when Union soldiers walked by. Those were discourteous and contemptuous reasons, according to General Butler, that a woman was to be treated as a prostitute. When the mayor of New Orleans, John Monroe, protested this order, General Butler had him arrested.

There was indeed outrage all over the South. What General Ewing and General Butler and other northern generals failed to take into account was the Southern regard for women. Let me just put it to you very bluntly. Southerners have historically been very protective of their wives, their daughters and their sisters. And by the way, this is a biblical principle. Let me enunciate it for you. First Peter, chapter three and verse seven.

Southern Regard for Women and Biblical Basis

Weaver explains the Southern protective attitude toward women, grounding it in 1 Peter 3:7, 1 Timothy 5:1-3, and Proverbs 6:32-35, which speak of honoring women and the righteous rage of a jealous husband. He argues that Union actions only enraged Southern men.

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 5:1-3

I can quote it, but if you want to look at it, that's fine. Here's what God says. "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them," that is with the wives. "Dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." Now, what did God say to the husbands? To give honour unto the wife. You know what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 1? And this is regards to all men. The Bible says that we are to treat the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity. What's he saying? You're to have respect and honor for the older women and the younger women as well. In 1st Timothy chapter 5 and verse 3, we're commanded to honor women or to honor widows that are widows indeed. What is God saying? There is a place for respect and honor, especially when it comes to women. And God expects us to treat them honorably, courteously and respectfully now.

I want you to look in your Bibles. I can quote this, but I want you to see this in Proverbs chapter 6. Because if one wishes to raise the wrath of a godly man, there's an easy way to do it. What is the easy way to raise the wrath of a godly man? Here it is. Simply harass, molest, or torment his wife, daughters, or grandchildren. That's simple enough. Look what God says in Proverbs chapter six, and let's begin reading there verse thirty two. Proverbs six, verse thirty two, now look. God says, "But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul."

Now watch. "A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts."

Now, it is true on this particular passage, God singles out the wives. But God says the man who molests and commits adultery with another man's— What does it say? "Jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance, he will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." In other words, what God is saying is this. There is a righteous anger. There is a righteous rage that cannot be pacified. It is a righteous rage and a righteous anger that cries out for justice. Union officers did not understand that any action towards Southern women only infuriated and enraged Southerners more and made them more effective fighters. I could give you so many scriptures, one of them is "children's children are the crown of old men." I've often told people, if you mess with my girls, I could chew you up and spit you out. But if you mess with my grandchildren, there's no telling what I could think of doing to you. I mean, why? Because children's children are the glory of an old man.

Contrast Between Union and Quantrill's Treatment of Women

Weaver contrasts General Blunt's order to kill women with Quantrill's strict orders to protect women. He notes Quantrill's command that any man insulting a woman would be hanged, and that his men never insulted women. He also describes federal soldiers using girls as human shields.

And God is saying, once again, here is something that will raise the righteous ire and the righteous wrath of any man who knows anything about biblical principles and biblical truth. And yet, Union General Blunt wrote to Colonel Benjamin F. Parker and he said this, listen, Here's the Union General. He writes, "I have instructed the officers in command of troops in the border counties of Missouri that every rebel or rebel sympathizer who gives aid directly or indirectly shall be destroyed or expelled from the military district. These instructions will not exempt females from the rule. Therefore, all persons known to be in arms against the federal authorities of this district will be summarily put to death when captured. The only constitutional right that will be granted them will be the right to make the choice of the quality of rope with which they will be hanged." What did he say? This order, or these instructions, will not exempt females.

We'll kill the women like we killed the men. It mattered not the women were not in arms against the federal government. He said the only constitutional right they have would be the right to decide the quality of rope with which they will be hanged. Now, I want to contrast General Blunt's attitude with that of Quantrill. Everyone in this room has heard of William Clark Quantrill. Quantrill has always been portrayed as a bloodthirsty villain who never tired of killing. One of these days I want to bring a message on the life of Quantrill. Quantrill was quite a scholar. He was a teacher, by the way, and he became a guerrilla because of the offenses that had been done toward him, his family, his property. But I want you to compare General Blunt's orders with the orders of William Clark Quantrill. Quantrill said, and this was his order, quote, "if I find any man insulting a woman, I'll hang him from the first limb I come to," end quote.

Then again, he said this. There was one offense for which he would have a man shot very quickly. What is it? Abusing a woman. He says, "no matter how much a woman may abuse you, take her abuse. Let her talk and scold, but say nothing to her in resentment. We're fighting men, not women. No provocation will excuse an insult or backtalk to a woman." Consequently, no member of Quantrill's band was ever accused of insulting women. He said, I'll have him shot or I'll have him hanged.

from the first limb I come to. Federal soldiers had no such code of honor. In the spring of 1862, Mattie Brinker and a number of other southern girls were seized by federal soldiers and they were used as human shields while they searched for the Confederate guerrillas. Now, I want you to remember this because I'm going to come back to this in just a moment, but Captain Henry Fletcher sent 14 men, 14 soldiers, to capture the Anderson girls. There were only three of them. I'll tell you their names and ages in just a moment. But he sent 14 men to capture the Anderson girls. When he got there, there was a boy there, about 12 to 14, and pretty soon one of the soldiers noticed the boy was missing.

And they assumed that he had gone to get the guerrillas. And they assumed rightly. So they quickly snatched up the Anderson girls and put them on the lead horses in front of the Federal soldiers. And sure enough, when they came to a brick wall, three guerrillas jumped over the wall and started firing in the air. And they had to fire in the air to keep from hitting the girls. One of them unloaded a double-barrel shotgun full of buckshot, but over the heads to keep from hitting the girls. Consequently, they could do nothing since the girls were being used as shields, and then the guerrillas had to jump back over the fence and make their escape because there were only three of them and fourteen of the soldiers. No one was hurt in the melee.

Arrest and Imprisonment of Quantrill's Female Relatives

Weaver details General Ewing's strategy to arrest the wives, mothers, and sisters of Quantrill's men, including the Anderson sisters (Mary, Josephine, and Martha) and others. He reads Ewing's General Order No. 10 threatening execution for aiding guerrillas, and a newspaper editorial supporting the arrests.

However, the officer in charge of the fourteen men, Patrick Reddington, reported that if any of his men had been hit, he would have ordered the girls shot on the spot. Union General Thomas Ewing, remember now he's General Sherman's brother-in-law, was assigned to command what was known as the District of the Border. And the task he was facing was really almost impossible because he was trying to stop Quantrill's men and a number of the other raiders. Let me just stop and tell you this. You cannot help but have the utmost respect for the bravery of these men. Do you realize that about 4,000 Confederate guerrillas kept at bay 60,000 Union officers? You say, how in the world could 4,000 keep at bay 60,000 Union officers or soldiers? Let me tell you how. Because first of all, it was hit and run.

It was indeed guerrilla tactics. But most of these guerrillas had six pistols. All of them had four. Most of them had six. They had two on their hips. They had shoulder holsters. And then they had an extra two on their saddles. So you got six pistols. Six times six, 36. That's 36 shots. Then they had a carbine, single-shot carbines, slung over their shoulders. And here's what they would do. When they would meet, say, say there's only 50 guerrillas, and yet they meet a force of 400 federal soldiers. They would line up, exchange single shots with their carbines. Federal soldiers did not carry sidearms. And once you shot your single-shot carbine, then you had to reload it. Once those Federal soldiers started reloading, they would spur their horses and at breakneck speed run right in the middle of all those soldiers, pull out those pistols, and just start killing everyone they saw. When those were empty, they grabbed two more. When those were empty, they grabbed two more. You figure each man shooting 36 shots.

And by that time, most of the soldiers were either dead or gone down the road two or three miles trying to get away from them. So he had a task on his hand, and he realized that, man, how in the world can I contain these men? They're fierce. They don't give in. They don't care whether they live or they die, and you can understand why in just a few minutes. All they're interested in is killing federal soldiers. Well, what he did was this. General Ewing then, in order to try to contain these Confederates, started arresting their women, their wives, their mothers, their sisters. Initially, he was going to charge them with sheltering Union enemies. But you remember it was during this time he also issued General Orders number 10. Listen to what he issued this order. "All persons who shall knowingly harbor, conceal, aid, or abet by furnishing food, clothing, information, protection, or any assistance whatever to any emissary, confederate officer, or soldier, partisan ranger, bushwhacker, robber, thief, shall be promptly executed." So it didn't matter if it's a 10-year-old girl or a 20-year-old woman or a 60-year-old mother, he said, if they give any information, if they provide any food, any shelter, any medical supplies, they shall be promptly executed. So what Ewing did then, he sat around and arrested all these women and children and he put them there in Kansas City temporarily and he was going to charge them and let them have a trial on pro-Confederate activities.

Now, to show you the mentality of the people of Kansas, The Kansas City Daily Journal of Commerce printed an editorial supporting General Ewing's arrest of women and children. Here's what the paper said. "It is an utter impossibility to rid the country of these pestilent outlaws, partisan rangers, Confederate soldiers, so long as their families remain. One of the greatest difficulties the military authorities have to encounter is the constant and correct information which the families of the bushwhackers give of every movement the troops make. With the aid of these spies dotted all over the country and living in perfect security, a hundred bushwhackers may defy the utmost efforts of five hundred soldiers to exterminate them." Let me stop. By the way, the term bushwhacker originally referred to the Jayhawkers, and it is improperly applied to the guerrilla. A guerrilla was not necessarily a bushwhacker, but that's what they're calling. And so they're saying, with the guerrillas' families around here supporting them, why, no wonder we can't do anything about it. And so the way to get rid of the guerrillas is we just simply get rid of their families.

Harrison Trow said, and I'm quoting, that "a body of federal soldiers, listen to this, this is amazing, that a body of federal soldiers especially enrolled and uniformed to persecute women and prey upon non-combatants gathered up in a half-a-day's raid a number of demonstrative Southern girls whose only sin had been extravagant talk and pro-Confederate cheering. They were taken to Kansas City and imprisoned in a dilapidated tenement close to a steep place on a bank." Now listen, here's a body of soldiers, especially enrolled and uniformed. Why? To go out and arrest women and children. Now some of these women that they arrested at first were taken and imprisoned in the Union Hotel. And of course a lot of these women were relatives of Quantrill's men. And so once they got Quantrill's men's relatives there, they then separated them from the other women that they had arrested.

Conditions in the Women's Prison and Deliberate Collapse

Weaver describes the women's move to a dilapidated building owned by General Bingham, the inhumane conditions, and the chaining of 10-year-old Martha Anderson. He asserts that soldiers deliberately weakened the building's structure, and despite warnings, General Ewing's inspectors declared it safe. On August 13, 1863, the building collapsed, killing five women and injuring others.

Some of those that they separated, and I'll mention them later, were Charity McCorkle Kerr, Nanny Harris McCorkle. Their husbands were Nathan Kerr and Jabez McCorkle, who rode with Quantrill. And then 18-year-old Nanny McCorkle's cousins happened to be the Younger brothers by marriage. Cole, Jim, Bob Younger, etc. You remember I told you that Captain Henry Fletcher sent 14 soldiers to arrest the Anderson girls? There were only three of them. There was 16-year-old Mary Anderson. Her 14-year-old sister, Josephine, and her 10-year-old sister, Martha. These girls, the Anderson sisters, were the sisters of one of Quantrill's noted lieutenants, Bill Anderson. Does anybody remember the nickname that Bill Anderson acquired? Bloody Bill. You're going to find out why he acquired that nickname shortly.

Listen carefully, because I'm going to probably save this for several months in the future, but also arrested were Susan Crawford Vandiver and Arminia Crawford Selvey, names that you're probably going to hear in a sermon in the future when I preach on the exploits and death of Riley Crawford. There were a number of other young women who were arrested with these ladies. Now, George Caleb Bingham was also a Union general. He and General Ewing did not get along. In fact, Bingham thought Ewing was wicked and arrogant and only had his own interest in his political ambitions in mind. And so here's what General George Caleb Bingham wrote concerning the arrest of these women. He says, "these females were arrested and confined under the pretext of holding them as hostages for the good behavior of their brothers, husbands, or relatives who were supposed to be in sympathy with or actually engaged in the Confederate cause." In other words, what General Bingham is saying is there was really no lawful or legal reason for these women to be arrested. Really what they were trying to do was control these men by controlling their women.

Now, at first these women were imprisoned at the Union Hotel, which was located at the southeast corner of 6th and Main Street. But because it was considered too crowded, these women who were related to Quantrill's men were moved to the old building, the Mechanics Bank at Delaware and Commercial, which was infested with rats and vermin of all kinds and deemed unfit for human habitation, and the women were only moved after the guards complained. In fact, here's what Maddy Likens, who was there and described the condition, she said this, "As a place of imprisonment for such in this city, an old dilapidated brick building on the levee was taken possession of by the military authorities and set apart as a prison for rebel women. After the building had been occupied as such for some time, it became infested with rats and vermin of all kinds as to render it unfit for human beings to live in.

Even the health of the guards who had access to the river for bathing suffered so much from the stench and torture of the vermin as to lead them to appeal to headquarters for a change of location." So what the women who got them to change, it was the guards. The guards couldn't take it. They eventually moved these women to a building in the metropolitan block of McGee's addition known as Longhorn Tavern. Now, remember General Thomas Ewing. He is the commander of the District of the Border. And so what does General Thomas Ewing do? He confiscates a building without notifying the owner, and he makes this building a women's prison in July of 1863. In fact, he later acknowledges that in a letter. He said this, and I'm quoting, "this certifies that a certain house in McGee's addition to Kansas City, Missouri, known as Number 13 Metropolitan Block, was occupied as a prison by my order from some day in the latter part of July 1863 until the 13th day of August last when it fell." Now, interestingly enough, the building that was confiscated without notification of the owner, was owned by General George Caleb Bingham, the old nemesis of General Ewing. General Bingham opposed General Ewing's infamous Order No. 11. That order is the one that demanded that all Southerners either go to a federal outpost or get out of the state, get out of Missouri. Bingham had acquired this building through the estate of Robert Thomas, who had died in 1859.

Thomas had been married to the daughter of George Caleb Bingham. George Caleb Bingham was also a famous artist. He had gone to this building, had it remodeled, added a third floor at the expense of about $1,800 to use as an art studio. Afterwards, he was selected as treasurer for the state of Missouri and he moved then from Kansas City to Jefferson City. So the building then was abandoned or vacant, I should say, for about a year and a half until General Ewing comes along and he confiscates this building without even telling General Bingham, hey, I'm using your building. We're going to make a women's prison out of it. He just took possession without asking or informing General Bingham.

Now, the women, as you can imagine, were treated quite horribly in their prison. They were kept on the second and third floor of this three-story building under guard. Harrison Trow reports that their food was flung at them at certain intervals, and brutal guards sang rival songs and used indecent language in their presence. You say, Brother Weaver, I can't imagine someone doing that. Well, it gets a whole lot worse. And when you find out what they did, you can certainly understand why they would sing ribald songs and use indecent language, these women. And if you doubt their inhumane and wicked treatment, you need to consider the fact that Charity McCorkle Kerr was in bed ill with a fever because of improper diet and exposure. Others who were there in that building were also not doing well, but they were still at least trying to minister to those who were sickest. And 10 year old Martha Anderson, now listen, 10 year old Martha Anderson the day before had angered the guards and therefore they chained a 12 pound ball to her ankle. How dangerous can a 10 year old girl be? But in retaliation, they chained a 12-pound ball to her ankle.

Now, it is almost impossible, and I want you to listen to this because I'm going to make an application toward the end. It is almost impossible for us who are alive today to conceive of the hatred, ill will, and vindictiveness that the Yankee abolitionists had for the Southern people. And the mere fact that women and children were involved did not abate their hatred. Neither did the fact that the women and children were harmless and innocent civilians seem to matter to the soldiers at all. The very fact that they were Southern was sufficient for the soldiers. The soldiers in the adjoining house, which was used as a guardhouse, examine the structure and saw that the structure could be very easily destroyed. And so the soldiers then purposefully and deliberately set about to weaken the structure and cause it to collapse.

They gained access to the Thomas building and removed the brick pillars that held up the floor joists of the first floor. Afterwards, they removed several sleepers, thus weakening the wall. The building began to show signs of collapse. Actually, what you have was three buildings together. The women and children were kept in the middle building. They understood that when one went down, it's going to probably pull at least one more down on top of it. They began to weaken it, and they knew that it was going to fall. The grocers on the first floor of the next building began to see the dust falling, cracks in the wall. They knew danger was imminent, so they began moving their goods out. They were not going to lose all their merchandise. The women saw the same signs. And they, too, said that the building was unsafe and that they asked to be removed to another building.

Well, two reports of the condition of the building reached General Ewing, and he sent his hand-selected inspectors to inspect the building. And on two separate occasions, his inspectors came back and said the building was safe and there was nothing to worry about. There are many people who believe that it was General Ewing himself who gave the order for this building to be undermined. Later on that day when the women were being given their dinner, Captain Parker requested that Thomas Barber, a soldier in his company, accompany him and they too were going to inspect the building.

But what the soldiers had done was this. They had gotten it pretty well where they knew the building would collapse almost instantly. And so they waited until the guard who was guarding the women had gone for water. They did not know, of course, Captain Parker and Barber was now up on the third floor. They thought the building was pretty well vacant. And as they began their last-ditch effort to really cause the building to collapse, Captain Parker and Mr. Barber saw the signs coming, and they fled the building, and they hollered to the women that the building was going to collapse. And just as the soldiers got out, the building did indeed collapse with the women in it, with the children in it.

All but five of the ladies escaped with their lives. They were all injured emotionally, mentally, physically. But those who were killed instantly were Susan Crawford Vandiver, Arminia Crawford Selvey, Josephine Anderson, and Charity McCorkle Kerr. Now, Mrs. Wilson also was injured, and she died later from her injury. But the rest of the women were just simply injured. Ten-year-old Martha Anderson, who could not flee due to the 12-pound ball that was chained to her ankle, was brutally crushed. She lived, but her legs were mangled beyond all hope. She also sustained a number of other injuries. So here's a little 10-year-old girl who could not flee because of that 12-pound ball. Her legs are crushed. She sustains other injuries. Josephine Anderson, another sister of Bill Anderson, was buried in the ruins. Listen to this.

Aftermath and Blame for the Collapse

Weaver recounts the immediate aftermath, including Josephine Anderson's cries for help. He dismisses Union excuses (tunneling, wind, age) and cites General Bingham's affidavit and article blaming Ewing for premeditated murder. He notes that no soldiers were punished.

For a short time, everyone heard the screams and cries of Josephine begging anyone to please remove the bricks from off her head. And then shortly, there was silence. Here were five women killed, all the others horribly injured. The Federals at first tried to blame the collapse on the women. They said the women did it because they were down in the basement trying to dig a tunnel and escape. Have you ever wondered how women could dig a tunnel in the basement when they're under guard on the second and third floor? Someone else said, well, you know, a windstorm just happened to come up and cause the building to collapse.

Since the building was bordered on each side by another building, and since you don't have windstorms in Kansas in August, that certainly is not a very plausible explanation. And then someone comes along and says, well, the building collapsed due to its age. I mean, it was an old, dilapidated building. Oh, is that so? Well, I'll have you know the building was actually built in 1857. It was only six years old, and a year and a half earlier, it had already been added upon, and shortly after the collapse, several affidavits were taken from numerous persons, all stating that the building was in excellent condition before the building was occupied as a United States military prison for females. General George Caleb Bingham, who owned the building, filed a claim against the government demanding $5,000 for damages that he insisted were caused by the intentional undermining of the building by the troops intent on murdering the women. General Bingham blamed General Ewing and said so, and said so openly. In fact, he wrote an article for the Washington Sentinel and he said this concerning the collapse of that building. He said "the building fell with the force of a mountain avalanche upon the ruins of the adjoining buildings, thus producing a scene of horror in which the death groans and shrieks of mangled women, which fiends could only contemplate without a shudder."

"In vain had they, upon their first discovery of the danger, begged in piteous accents to be released. Their earnest appeals were to hearts as callous as that of the general by whose authority they were confined. While their prison walls were trembling, its doors remained closed, and they were allowed no hope for release except through the portals of a horrible death into that eternity where, in the great day which is to right all wrongs, they will stand as witnesses against the human monster who, to promote his selfish aspirations, could cruelly plan, with satanic coolness, the desolation of a large district of country and the utter ruin of its defenseless inhabitants. That the death of these poor women crushed beneath the ruins of their prison was a deliberately planned murder, all the facts connected therewith sufficiently established." Here is George Caleb Bingham saying, General Ewing did it. The soldiers did it. Moreover, federal soldiers happened to be staying at the Duke boarding house, which was owned by Mrs. B.F. Duke. Mrs. Duke overheard the soldiers talking about their progress undermining the building and it would probably fall on that day. In a rage, she went to Union headquarters and demanded the women be released.

Her demands fell on deaf ears. And several hours later, the building collapsed. Incidentally, without the federal soldiers knowing it, Mrs. Duke was a cousin to Bill Anderson. So Bill Anderson got a first-hand account of what actually really happened. There were numerous affidavits that supported the fact that the building was maliciously and deliberately destroyed. The builders, the eyewitnesses and citizens all testified to the fact that the building was in good shape and well built when General Ewing confiscated it. A federal surgeon appeared upon the scene of the collapsed building. And someone had mentioned in passing, "I wonder how many soldiers are buried under those ruins?" To which the federal surgeon replied, "None."

They all knew what was going to happen and when it was going to happen. And he was right. There was not one federal soldier found among the ruins. The very fact that there was never an inquiry instituted by General Ewing is evident in the fact that it was premeditated and deliberate. No soldier was ever arrested, ever tried, or ever punished. The collapse of the building at 1425 Grand, Kansas City, Missouri on August 13, 1863 was nothing less than malignant butchery, savagery, and a premeditated war against women and children. Now listen carefully. When the news of the collapse reached the families of the dead and injured, what do you suppose their attitude was? They went wild. You see, it's one thing to make war on men. It's another thing to make war on women and children, especially when those women and children are innocent, helpless, and unarmed. John McCorkle at the gravesites of these girls said this, listen carefully.

Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence as Retaliation

Weaver quotes John McCorkle stating the prison collapse directly caused the Lawrence raid. He reads a poem and Quantrill's orders to kill only men in uniform and not harm women or children. He explains the raid targeted jayhawkers and was in retaliation for Osceola's burning.

Now you're going to understand a little bit of history. "This foul murder was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas." What? You remember how Quantrill and his men went into Lawrence, Kansas? What's McCorkle saying? "This foul murder," that is the murder of these women and children, "was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas. We could stand no more. Imagine," he said, "if you can, my feelings.

A sister, a loved sister, foully murdered, and the wife of a dead brother seriously hurt by a set of men to whom the name assassins, murderers, and cutthroats would be a compliment. People abuse us, but by God, did we not have enough to make us desperate and thirst for revenge? We tried to fight like soldiers, but were declared outlaws, hunted under a black flag, and murdered like beasts. The homes of our friends burned. Our aged sires who dared sympathize with us had been either hung or shot in the presence of their families and all their furniture and provisions loaded in wagons and with our livestock taken to the state of Kansas. This beautiful farming country of Jackson County, Cass County, and Johnson County were once worse than desert, and on every hillside stood long blackened chimneys, sad sentinels, and monuments to the memory of our once happy homes. And these outrages had been done by Kansas troops, calling themselves soldiers, but a disgrace to the name of soldier. And now our innocent and beautiful girls had been murdered in the most foul, brutal, savage, and damnable manner." The raid on Lawrence, Kansas was in direct response to the murder of these Southern women and children. However, unlike the Federals, the Southern men only killed men. When they raided Lawrence, Kansas, Quantrill and his men had a list of nearly 180 men who were to be killed. They were jayhawkers, soldiers, thieves, murderers.

And they were especially trying to capture Jim Lane, who was one of the leading jayhawkers. But by the way, he escaped by running out of his house in his nightshirt and hiding in a cornfield. James C. Edwards wrote a short poem on the Lawrence Raid, and certainly this poem would reveal the feelings of most of the men. Listen to it. It's only a couple of stanzas. "Men at war never war with women, but women of the South they take to an ancient cell which killed as it fell with the aid of the Union's weight.

We're going to ride and track you down. We're going to burn Lawrence to the ground." And when they arrived at Lawrence, Quantrill said to his men, now listen to this quote, when they arrived at Lawrence to do their killing, Quantrill said to his men, "This is the home of Jim Lane and Jennison. Remember that in hunting us, they gave us no quarter. Shoot every soldier you see, but in no way harm a woman or a child." Frank Smith recalled later that Quantrill shouted again, "molest no women and children, kill every man in federal uniform." And that's what they did. They did not shoot women and children as portrayed by the TV. They killed men. Did they burn it? Yes, they burned it. Do you know why? Because the battle cry that day was this, "remember the women, remember Osceola." Jim Lane had gone into Osceola, Missouri. Osceola, Missouri had over 800 buildings in it. When he left, only three were standing. He burned them all to the ground.

Now, let's make some applications. I want you to think about these. First of all, I want you to see that Galatians 6, 7, and 8 is true in every area and in every respect. What does Galatians 6, 7, and 8 teach? "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." What did He say? Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever you sow, that's what you're going to reap. Sooner or later, folks, listen to me, we're going to get back exactly what we dish out. And if we dish out rape and murder and pillage and plunder and hatred and ill will, that's coming back home to us. If we dish out gentleness and charity and graciousness and kindness and civility, that'll come home to us.

Applications for Today

Weaver applies Galatians 6:7-8, warning that we reap what we sow. He argues that if the government committed such acts in 1863, we should not be surprised by 21st-century government corruption. He warns that Bible-believing Christians are viewed as expendable, and that the war against women and children continues through abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization.

Do you realize General Thomas Ewing, and by the way, he had great political aspirations, which were ruined by General Bingham, thankfully, but General Ewing caused the deaths of countless federal soldiers. After Bill Anderson's sister Josephine was killed, little Martha crushed and mangled, never ever to recover, he said he would kill every federal that he ever found. The saying that Quantrill will occasionally spare a prisoner, bloody Bill, never. He carried his silk handkerchief with him, and when he was dead, it had 56 knots in it from 56 soldiers that he had killed. Listen, we don't reap what we sow, but we reap more than we sow. You can plant one grain of corn and you might get a cornstalk with three to four ears. When you act wickedly and do wrongly, you never know who all will be suffering for your wickedness and for your ungodliness. Here's a second application. If you find it difficult to believe that the government would commit such a heinous act in 1863, you're certainly not prepared to live in the 21st century. A government that considers its citizens as expendable and does not seek to protect them will use, abuse, and misuse them in any way it sees fit.

It will view them as existing for the benefit of the state and a sheep to be sheared at the whim of the elite. Are you listening? It will not hesitate to use its citizens and soldiers as guinea pigs and cannon fodder. It will act as God deciding who lives and who dies through wars, famine, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. Thirdly, a parallel now exists, I believe, in what has just been taught and what is going on today in our world. You think of the New World Order, the One Worlders, the politically correct crowd. Here's my question. Are we Bible believing, Bible preaching, Bible-obeying Christians in their good graces? And the answer is no. We as Bible-believing Christians are considered intolerant, fanatical, uncooperative, right-wingers, and expendable. Someone objects and says, oh, but Brother Weaver, don't you understand there are a lot of professing Christians even in Washington, D.C.? Yes, I concur. But there's a big difference between professing and possessing.

You've got to remember that fronts, facades, cover, and deception are the rule in politics. If you want to discern who a genuine Christian is in Atlanta or Washington, don't listen to what they say. Watch how they act. Watch how they live. Watch their legislation. What's the old saying? I can't hear what you're saying because of the way that you're acting. I have never ceased to be amazed at how so many could profess to be so Christian and yet pass such ungodly, unbiblical, unconstitutional legislation. It blows my mind. But I got news for you.

Just as surely as the Southerners incurred the hatred of the government in the 1860s, you're going to find the more and more corrupt government becomes, the more and more we Christians all over will incur the wrath of a corrupt government. Why? Because we want justice and we want what's right and holy and godly and they don't. The war against women and children has never stopped. It is still going on today. That's what abortion is. That's what euthanasia is. That's what infanticide is. That's what a lot of the vaccination programs are about. Sterilization programs. The war still continues. And it's still right against wrong. God against Satan.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Biblical Prohibition Against War on Civilians

Summary: Scripture commands that war should not target innocent civilians, especially women and children, and should not destroy fruit-bearing trees.

Evidence: Weaver cites 1 Samuel 15:6 (Saul sparing the Kenites) and Deuteronomy 20:19-20 (not cutting down fruit trees) as principles violated by the Union.

Union Atrocities Against Southern Women and Children

Summary: The Union Army, with approval from high command, deliberately imprisoned, abused, and murdered Southern women and children as a war tactic.

Evidence: Weaver details the Gratiot Street Prison, Butler's Order No. 28, Ewing's arrests, and the deliberate building collapse that killed five women.

Southern Chivalry and Biblical Honor of Women

Summary: Southern men held a biblical view of honoring and protecting women, which contrasted sharply with Union brutality and fueled righteous vengeance.

Evidence: Weaver quotes 1 Peter 3:7, 1 Timothy 5:1-3, Proverbs 6:32-35, and contrasts Quantrill's orders to protect women with Union orders to kill them.

Divine Retribution and the Law of Sowing and Reaping

Summary: God's principle that we reap what we sow is evident in the Union's suffering after their atrocities, as seen in the Lawrence raid and Bloody Bill Anderson's vengeance.

Evidence: Weaver applies Galatians 6:7-8, noting that Ewing's actions led to countless federal deaths, and quotes McCorkle on the Lawrence raid as direct retaliation.

Government Corruption and Persecution of Christians

Summary: A government that views citizens as expendable will eventually target Bible-believing Christians, who are seen as intolerant and uncooperative.

Evidence: Weaver warns that if the 1863 government could commit such acts, modern government can do the same, and that Christians are already viewed as expendable right-wingers.

The Ongoing War Against Women and Children

Summary: The war against women and children continues today through abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, and sterilization programs.

Evidence: Weaver explicitly states, 'The war against women and children has never stopped. It is still going on today. That's what abortion is. That's what euthanasia is.'

Key Arguments

The Union violated clear biblical commands by targeting civilians.

Summary: Weaver argues that the Bible explicitly forbids making war on non-combatants and on creation, yet Union generals systematically did both.

Evidence: He cites 1 Samuel 15:6 and Deuteronomy 20:19-20, then states Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan, and Ewing 'did not believe in either principle.'

Union leaders openly advocated extermination of Southerners.

Summary: Weaver provides quotes from Sherman and Sheridan showing they intended to destroy everything and everyone, including women and children, to end the war.

Evidence: Sherman's quote: 'there is a class of people, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order,' approved by Stanton.

The imprisonment and murder of women was a deliberate Union strategy.

Summary: Weaver contends that General Ewing arrested female relatives of guerrillas to control the men, and that the prison collapse was a premeditated murder.

Evidence: He quotes General Bingham: 'these females were arrested... as hostages for the good behavior of their brothers, husbands, or relatives' and describes the soldiers undermining the building.

The Lawrence raid was a direct and justified response to the murder of women.

Summary: Weaver argues that Quantrill's raid was not unprovoked violence but retaliation for the prison collapse, and that the raiders only killed men.

Evidence: He quotes John McCorkle: 'This foul murder was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas' and Quantrill's order: 'molest no women and children, kill every man in federal uniform.'

Historical government atrocities foreshadow modern persecution of Christians.

Summary: Weaver argues that just as the 1863 government targeted Southerners, a corrupt modern government will target Bible-believing Christians as expendable.

Evidence: He states, 'If you find it difficult to believe that the government would commit such a heinous act in 1863, you're certainly not prepared to live in the 21st century.'

Scripture References

Proverbs 11:16

Context: Weaver reads this verse to introduce the topic of gracious women retaining honor.

Proverbs 12:4

Context: Weaver reads this verse to emphasize that a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.

1 Samuel 15:6

Context: Weaver cites Saul's warning to the Kenites to depart before attacking the Amalekites as a principle of not making war on civilians.

Deuteronomy 20:19-20

Context: Weaver reads this passage to show that God commanded not to destroy fruit-bearing trees in war, illustrating the principle of not making war against creation.

1 Peter 3:7

Context: Weaver quotes this verse to establish the biblical command for husbands to honor their wives as the weaker vessel.

1 Timothy 5:1-3

Context: Weaver references these verses to show that men are to treat older women as mothers and younger women as sisters with purity, and to honor widows.

Proverbs 6:32-35

Context: Weaver reads this passage to illustrate the righteous rage of a man whose wife is violated, applying it to Southern men's reaction to Union atrocities.

Galatians 6:7-8

Context: Weaver quotes this passage to apply the principle of sowing and reaping to the Union's actions and their consequences.

Historical References

General Thomas Ewing

Context: Union commander of the District of the Border, brother-in-law to Sherman, issued General Order No. 10 and No. 11, and is blamed for the prison collapse.

General William Tecumseh Sherman

Context: Union general known for his 'March to the Sea,' advocated killing or banishing women and children, and stated the government has unlimited rights in war.

General Philip Sheridan

Context: Union general who destroyed the Shenandoah Valley, boasting of killing thousands of livestock and burning barns and mills.

General Benjamin Butler

Context: Union commander in New Orleans, issued Order No. 28 declaring that women showing contempt would be treated as prostitutes.

Gratiot Street Military Prison

Context: Union prison in St. Louis that held 212 women and children, often in filthy conditions, for suspected disloyalty.

William Clark Quantrill

Context: Confederate guerrilla leader whose female relatives were imprisoned; he ordered his men to protect women and led the Lawrence raid in retaliation.

Anderson sisters (Mary, Josephine, Martha)

Context: Sisters of 'Bloody Bill' Anderson; Josephine was killed and Martha was maimed in the prison collapse, fueling Bill Anderson's vengeance.

General George Caleb Bingham

Context: Union general and artist who owned the building used as a prison; he blamed Ewing for the deliberate collapse and filed a claim against the government.

Lawrence, Kansas Raid (August 21, 1863)

Context: Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, killing about 180 men, was a direct response to the prison collapse; raiders were ordered to spare women and children.

Osceola, Missouri

Context: Town burned by Jim Lane, leaving only three of 800 buildings standing; used as a rallying cry during the Lawrence raid.

Important Quotes

there is a class of people, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order.

Significance: Sherman's explicit advocacy for targeting women and children, approved by Secretary Stanton, demonstrating Union policy.

As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women calling themselves ladies of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter, when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town, plying her avocation.

Significance: Butler's infamous Order No. 28, which declared that women showing disrespect would be treated as prostitutes, inflaming Southern sentiment.

if I find any man insulting a woman, I'll hang him from the first limb I come to

Significance: Quantrill's strict order protecting women, contrasting sharply with Union generals' attitudes.

This foul murder was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas.

Significance: John McCorkle's statement directly linking the prison collapse to the Lawrence raid as retaliation.

molest no women and children, kill every man in federal uniform.

Significance: Quantrill's order during the Lawrence raid, emphasizing that only men in uniform were targeted, not women or children.

The war against women and children has never stopped. It is still going on today. That's what abortion is. That's what euthanasia is. That's what infanticide is.

Significance: Weaver's application that the historical war on women and children continues in modern forms like abortion.

Discussion Questions

How do the biblical principles in 1 Samuel 15:6 and Deuteronomy 20:19-20 apply to modern warfare and government actions?

Context: Weaver uses these passages to argue against targeting civilians and destroying resources; discussion could explore their relevance today.

In what ways did the Union's treatment of Southern women and children violate the biblical commands to honor women found in 1 Peter 3:7 and 1 Timothy 5?

Context: Weaver contrasts Union actions with these verses; discussion could examine how Christians should respond when government violates these principles.

How should Christians balance the call for justice with the command to love enemies, especially in light of the righteous rage described in Proverbs 6:32-35?

Context: Weaver describes the Southern men's rage as biblically justified; discussion could explore the limits of righteous anger and vengeance.

What lessons can we learn from the prison collapse about the dangers of government power unchecked by moral and biblical restraints?

Context: Weaver argues the collapse was a deliberate murder by the state; discussion could apply this to modern government overreach.

How does the principle of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7-8) manifest in the historical events described, and how should it inform our personal and national conduct?

Context: Weaver applies this verse to the Union's suffering after their atrocities; discussion could consider contemporary examples.

In what ways are Bible-believing Christians today viewed as 'expendable' by secular government, and how should we respond?

Context: Weaver warns that Christians are seen as intolerant and right-wing; discussion could explore practical responses to cultural marginalization.

How does the historical war against women and children parallel modern issues like abortion and euthanasia, and what is the church's role in addressing them?

Context: Weaver explicitly links the 1863 events to abortion; discussion could focus on pro-life advocacy and support for vulnerable populations.

Applications

Recognize the certainty of divine justice: we reap what we sow.

Summary: Weaver urges believers to understand that actions have consequences, and that wickedness will eventually return upon the perpetrators, as seen in the Union's losses after the prison collapse.

Evidence: He states, 'we're going to get back exactly what we dish out' and applies Galatians 6:7-8 to the historical events.

Be prepared for government corruption and persecution.

Summary: Weaver warns that if the government could commit such acts in 1863, modern believers should not be surprised by similar corruption and should be ready to face hostility as Christians.

Evidence: He says, 'If you find it difficult to believe that the government would commit such a heinous act in 1863, you're certainly not prepared to live in the 21st century.'

Discern genuine Christianity by actions, not words.

Summary: Weaver advises believers to evaluate politicians and leaders by their legislation and conduct, not their professed faith, because 'fronts, facades, cover, and deception are the rule in politics.'

Evidence: He says, 'If you want to discern who a genuine Christian is in Atlanta or Washington, don't listen to what they say. Watch how they act.'

Oppose the modern war against women and children.

Summary: Weaver calls believers to recognize that abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, and sterilization are continuations of the historical war against the vulnerable, and implies a duty to stand against them.

Evidence: He explicitly states, 'The war against women and children has never stopped. It is still going on today. That's what abortion is.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T23:14:51Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T14:21:45Z

Clean Transcript

The Union's War Against Women & Children

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

If you open your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 11, the message is entitled, "The Union's War Against Women and Children." Now, not only does this have a great historical truth and significance, I believe by the time we get to the end, you will also see that it has some practical applications for today. I just want to read two verses out of the book of Proverbs, and these verses, of course, relate to women. Proverbs 11 and verse 16, the Bible says, "A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches." But note if you would, "A gracious woman retaineth honour." Then if you look in Proverbs 12 and verse 4. Proverbs 12 verse 4, "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband."
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"But she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness to his bones." Now go back to the first half of that verse. "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband." That is, she's very highly prized, very valuable, very dear. And the Word of God tells us that a gracious woman is one that always retains honor. Let me begin by saying that August the 13th, some say August the 14th, one day, either way, does not matter. But August 13, 1863 is a date that will live in infamy. Because on that date, innocent and harmless women and children were murdered by the federal forces under the command of General Thomas Ewing.
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Now, a biblical principle that is very plainly and clearly taught in the scriptures is this: that you do not make war upon citizens or civilians, and especially women and children. If you would turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. 1 Samuel chapter 15. You will remember when God sent King Saul to make war against the Amalekites. I want you to note what he did and what he said in 1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 6. King Saul comes to the Kenites who happen to be in the way.
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And here's what he said to them. "And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites." So God had sent King Saul against the Amalekites. He had not sent him against the Kenites. So Saul rightly, and I might also say righteously and justly, told the Kenites, since you're not involved in this war, you're citizens, you're civilians, you just get out of the way because we certainly do not want you to be harmed in any way whatsoever. So here's a principle then, you do not make war upon those who are not involved in the war and especially women and children.
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Now if you will turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 20, let me show you a second principle that is enunciated in the scripture. Both of these principles are vitally important because they will also demonstrate the fact that The Union violated these principles over and over. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 20 and verses 19 and 20. Deuteronomy 20 is the great passage on war, by the way. And notice if you would, verse 19. Look what God says. Deuteronomy 20 verse 19.
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"When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued." Now God said, look, when you're making war and it turns out to be a long siege, you cannot cut down the trees that bear fruit from which men eat. He said, if you're going to use trees in a siege, you use trees that are not fruit bearing or trees that are not edible. Now, what God is saying is simply this. You do not make war against creation. You make war against sinners.
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So here are two principles. You don't make war against innocent women and children or civilians, and you don't make war against God's creation. Well, neither President Lincoln, Generals Sherman, Sheridan, or Ewing believed in either principle. Everything that both Sheridan and Sherman did to innocent men, women, and children was known and approved of by Abraham Lincoln. And may I remind you, please, that General Ewing was brother-in-law to General Sherman. Evidently, these men had the same attitudes towards war and also towards Southerners, because they believed that the Southerners should be exterminated.
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It was William Tecumseh Sherman, the man who left a 60-mile wide, 300-mile long path of death and desolation across Georgia and up through South Carolina, who wrote, listen to his words, "Look to the south, and you who went with us through that land can best say if they have not been fearfully punished. Mourning is in every household. Desolation written in broad characters across the whole face of their country. Cities in ashes. Fields laid waste. Their commerce gone.
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their system of labor annihilated and destroyed, ruin and poverty and disease everywhere, and now pestilence adding to the very cap sheaf of their stack of misery." He is saying, I destroyed literally everything in my path, and he did. In a report dated October 7, 1863, General Sheridan wrote to General Grant and said this, Listen, this is unbelievable. "I have destroyed over 2,000 barns filled with wheat, hay, and farming implements. Over 70 mills filled with flour and wheat. And I've driven in front of the army over 4,000 head of stock and have killed in addition to the troops not less than 3,000 sheep.
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Tomorrow I will continue the destruction down to Fisher's Mill. When this is complete, The valley from Winchester to Staunton, 92 miles, will have but little in it for man or beast." In Virginia. It was Sheridan who said that he wanted to make the Shenandoah Valley so desolate that if a crow flew over he'd have to carry his own provisions. And that's exactly what he was doing. Sheridan's troops burned crops and killed thousands of cattle and sheep just to be killing them, just so they would not be used by Southerners, and then burn down homes and turn women and children out in the freezing snow with just the clothes they had on their back.
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It was General William Tecumseh Sherman on January the 31st, 1864 who said, please listen, "the government of the United States has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war—to take their lives, their homes, their land, their everything. War is simply unrestrained by the Constitution. To the persistent secessionists, why get this mercy? And the quicker he or she is disposed of, the better." Did you hear him say that the government has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war?
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It doesn't matter who they kill. It doesn't matter whose property they confiscate. It's the right of government.
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Now, this war was not just simply applied against soldiers, but it was applied against women and children. Now, if you think I'm making that up, listen to what General Sherman wrote on June the 21st, 1864, to Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. He said, quote, "there is a class of people, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order." Stanton replied, "your letter of the 21st of June has just reached me and meets my approval." What did Sherman just say? There's a class of people, men, women, and children, who must be killed or banished before you can have any hope for peace and order. Stanton says, I approve of your plans. Now, war against the civilians started far earlier than 1864. But the above is just simply proof that the war on women and children was indeed part of the Union scheme.
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Neither womanhood nor childhood was held sacred to the federal soldiers. In fact, before I finish this message, you're going to see a clear demonstration of that reality.
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Now, in Missouri, if care packages of food or clothing were sent to sons, brothers, or husbands in the Confederate Army, many of those who were sending those gifts were arrested for giving care and comfort to the enemy. In other words, many of the Missourian civilians were thrown in prison, including pregnant women and small children upon such charges. One of the prisons they were thrown into was the Gratiot prison in St. Louis, Missouri. We were talking about the name of this prison before service, and evidently it's a French word, so G-R-A-T-I-O-T would be Gratiot, but Brother Henry and I said a true southerner would just say Gratiot.
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You know, however you pronounce it, there it is. But women and children were thrown into this prison in St. Louis. Now listen, during the War of Northern Aggression, Gratiot Street Military Prison was operated in St. Louis, Missouri by the Union Army. This was a unique prison in that it was not only used to hold Confederate prisoners of war, but spies, guerrillas, civilians suspected of disloyalty, and even federal soldiers who were accused of crimes and misbehavior. The names of 212 women and children are among the list of prisoners. 212, just in this one prison. The most severe punishment usually for the women was banishment, however, a number of them were sent to the penitentiary in Jefferson City for extended confinement, or to the prison in Alton, Illinois. The women often had children with them and at least some of them were carrying small babies. In fact, usually the male names right under the names of the women would be the names of the young children that were there with their mothers.
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One newly arrived female prisoner wrote on February the 7th, 1864, "Great heavens, my blood boils. Women in this hole of filth and blasphemy. I could scarcely believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. Mrs. Mitchell, who is here with a little daughter, five or six years old, she is charged with smuggling goods through to the Confederates. The northern armies move, making deserts in their tracks, and a loving woman is imprisoned for stretching out her hand to the needy. Other ladies are here besides Mrs. Mitchell, but I have not learned their names."
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Do you realize that the wife of Mr. J.A. Coombs, her name was Fanny, was arrested and put in prison for arranging what you and I would call a charitable event. In the eyes of the Union officers, it was designed to help suffering Confederates. Therefore, she was arrested for simply being disloyal. A multitude of women and children were arrested and imprisoned merely because they had husbands, fathers, or brothers, or sons in the Confederate Army. The mentality of disrespecting and dishonoring women and children was one that was prevalent in the Northern Army. One Union general who was particularly loathed and despised by God-fearing people in the North and in the South was Benjamin Butler. I've told you before that Benjamin Butler had two nicknames. One of them was Beast Butler because he was a beast.
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And the other was Spoons Butler, because he was a thief and he constantly and consistently stole silverware. And so he got the nickname Spoons. Butler was the Union commander in charge of New Orleans, Louisiana. And like I say, he was a notorious thief. But General Butler was demanding honor and respect, yet he and his troops were living dishonorably and disrespectfully. So the women, particularly of New Orleans, shunned Butler and shunned his troops. Therefore, General Butler issued the infamous Order No. 26.
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Now listen carefully, because it was this order that really infuriated the South. Here's his infamous Order No. 26. "As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women calling themselves ladies of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter, when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town, plying her avocation."
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Let me spell that out for you. Any woman who did not treat the conquerors courteously was to be treated as a prostitute. Listen to this. Here are some of the contemptuous acts that were listed by General Butler that showed that the women of New Orleans should be treated as a prostitute. Number one, they were showing contempt, he said, when they left streetcars when Union soldiers boarded them.
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You didn't want to ride with them, so you got off, or maybe you were at your stop. But if a woman got off when a soldier got on, she was treating the soldier disrespectfully, walking across the street rather than passing Union soldiers, singing Dixie in public, and turning their backs when Union soldiers walked by. Those were discourteous and contemptuous reasons, according to General Butler, that a woman was to be treated as a prostitute. When the mayor of New Orleans, John Monroe, protested this order, General Butler had him arrested.
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There was indeed outrage all over the South. What General Ewing and General Butler and other northern generals failed to take into account was the Southern regard for women. Let me just put it to you very bluntly. Southerners have historically been very protective of their wives, their daughters and their sisters. And by the way, this is a biblical principle. Let me enunciate it for you. First Peter, chapter three and verse seven.
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I can quote it, but if you want to look at it, that's fine. Here's what God says. "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them," that is with the wives. "Dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." Now, what did God say to the husbands? To give honour unto the wife. You know what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 1?
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And this is regards to all men. The Bible says that we are to treat the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity. What's he saying? You're to have respect and honor for the older women and the younger women as well. In 1st Timothy chapter 5 and verse 3, we're commanded to honor women or to honor widows that are widows indeed. What is God saying? There is a place for respect and honor, especially when it comes to women. And God expects us to treat them honorably, courteously and respectfully now.
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I want you to look in your Bibles. I can quote this, but I want you to see this in Proverbs chapter 6. Because if one wishes to raise the wrath of a godly man, there's an easy way to do it. What is the easy way to raise the wrath of a godly man? Here it is. Simply harass, molest, or torment his wife, daughters, or grandchildren. That's simple enough. Look what God says in Proverbs chapter six, and let's begin reading there verse thirty two. Proverbs six, verse thirty two, now look. God says, "But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul."
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Now watch. "A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts."
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Now, it is true on this particular passage, God singles out the wives. But God says the man who molests and commits adultery with another man's— What does it say? "Jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance, he will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." In other words, what God is saying is this.
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There is a righteous anger. There is a righteous rage that cannot be pacified. It is a righteous rage and a righteous anger that cries out for justice. Union officers did not understand that any action towards Southern women only infuriated and enraged Southerners more and made them more effective fighters. I could give you so many scriptures, one of them is "children's children are the crown of old men." I've often told people, if you mess with my girls, I could chew you up and spit you out. But if you mess with my grandchildren, there's no telling what I could think of doing to you. I mean, why? Because children's children are the glory of an old man.
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And God is saying, once again, here is something that will raise the righteous ire and the righteous wrath of any man who knows anything about biblical principles and biblical truth. And yet, Union General Blunt wrote to Colonel Benjamin F. Parker and he said this, listen, Here's the Union General. He writes, "I have instructed the officers in command of troops in the border counties of Missouri that every rebel or rebel sympathizer who gives aid directly or indirectly shall be destroyed or expelled from the military district.
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These instructions will not exempt females from the rule. Therefore, all persons known to be in arms against the federal authorities of this district will be summarily put to death when captured. The only constitutional right that will be granted them will be the right to make the choice of the quality of rope with which they will be hanged." What did he say? This order, or these instructions, will not exempt females.
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We'll kill the women like we killed the men. It mattered not the women were not in arms against the federal government. He said the only constitutional right they have would be the right to decide the quality of rope with which they will be hanged.
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Now, I want to contrast General Blunt's attitude with that of Quantrill. Everyone in this room has heard of William Clark Quantrill. Quantrill has always been portrayed as a bloodthirsty villain who never tired of killing. One of these days I want to bring a message on the life of Quantrill. Quantrill was quite a scholar. He was a teacher, by the way, and he became a guerrilla because of the offenses that had been done toward him, his family, his property. But I want you to compare General Blunt's orders with the orders of William Clark Quantrill. Quantrill said, and this was his order, quote, "if I find any man insulting a woman, I'll hang him from the first limb I come to," end quote.
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Then again, he said this. There was one offense for which he would have a man shot very quickly. What is it? Abusing a woman. He says, "no matter how much a woman may abuse you, take her abuse. Let her talk and scold, but say nothing to her in resentment. We're fighting men, not women. No provocation will excuse an insult or backtalk to a woman." Consequently, no member of Quantrill's band was ever accused of insulting women. He said, I'll have him shot or I'll have him hanged.
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from the first limb I come to. Federal soldiers had no such code of honor. In the spring of 1862, Mattie Brinker and a number of other southern girls were seized by federal soldiers and they were used as human shields while they searched for the Confederate guerrillas.
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Now, I want you to remember this because I'm going to come back to this in just a moment, but Captain Henry Fletcher sent 14 men, 14 soldiers, to capture the Anderson girls. There were only three of them. I'll tell you their names and ages in just a moment. But he sent 14 men to capture the Anderson girls. When he got there, there was a boy there, about 12 to 14, and pretty soon one of the soldiers noticed the boy was missing.
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And they assumed that he had gone to get the guerrillas. And they assumed rightly. So they quickly snatched up the Anderson girls and put them on the lead horses in front of the Federal soldiers. And sure enough, when they came to a brick wall, three guerrillas jumped over the wall and started firing in the air. And they had to fire in the air to keep from hitting the girls. One of them unloaded a double-barrel shotgun full of buckshot, but over the heads to keep from hitting the girls. Consequently, they could do nothing since the girls were being used as shields, and then the guerrillas had to jump back over the fence and make their escape because there were only three of them and fourteen of the soldiers. No one was hurt in the melee.
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However, the officer in charge of the fourteen men, Patrick Reddington, reported that if any of his men had been hit, he would have ordered the girls shot on the spot. Union General Thomas Ewing, remember now he's General Sherman's brother-in-law, was assigned to command what was known as the District of the Border. And the task he was facing was really almost impossible because he was trying to stop Quantrill's men and a number of the other raiders. Let me just stop and tell you this. You cannot help but have the utmost respect for the bravery of these men. Do you realize that about 4,000 Confederate guerrillas kept at bay 60,000 Union officers? You say, how in the world could 4,000 keep at bay 60,000 Union officers or soldiers? Let me tell you how. Because first of all, it was hit and run.
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It was indeed guerrilla tactics. But most of these guerrillas had six pistols. All of them had four. Most of them had six. They had two on their hips. They had shoulder holsters. And then they had an extra two on their saddles. So you got six pistols. Six times six, 36. That's 36 shots. Then they had a carbine, single-shot carbines, slung over their shoulders. And here's what they would do. When they would meet, say, say there's only 50 guerrillas, and yet they meet a force of 400 federal soldiers. They would line up, exchange single shots with their carbines. Federal soldiers did not carry sidearms. And once you shot your single-shot carbine, then you had to reload it. Once those Federal soldiers started reloading, they would spur their horses and at breakneck speed run right in the middle of all those soldiers, pull out those pistols, and just start killing everyone they saw. When those were empty, they grabbed two more. When those were empty, they grabbed two more. You figure each man shooting 36 shots.
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And by that time, most of the soldiers were either dead or gone down the road two or three miles trying to get away from them. So he had a task on his hand, and he realized that, man, how in the world can I contain these men? They're fierce. They don't give in. They don't care whether they live or they die, and you can understand why in just a few minutes. All they're interested in is killing federal soldiers.
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Well, what he did was this. General Ewing then, in order to try to contain these Confederates, started arresting their women, their wives, their mothers, their sisters. Initially, he was going to charge them with sheltering Union enemies. But you remember it was during this time he also issued General Orders number 10. Listen to what he issued this order. "All persons who shall knowingly harbor, conceal, aid, or abet by furnishing food, clothing, information, protection, or any assistance whatever to any emissary, confederate officer, or soldier, partisan ranger, bushwhacker, robber, thief, shall be promptly executed." So it didn't matter if it's a 10-year-old girl or a 20-year-old woman or a 60-year-old mother, he said, if they give any information, if they provide any food, any shelter, any medical supplies, they shall be promptly executed. So what Ewing did then, he sat around and arrested all these women and children and he put them there in Kansas City temporarily and he was going to charge them and let them have a trial on pro-Confederate activities.
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Now, to show you the mentality of the people of Kansas, The Kansas City Daily Journal of Commerce printed an editorial supporting General Ewing's arrest of women and children. Here's what the paper said. "It is an utter impossibility to rid the country of these pestilent outlaws, partisan rangers, Confederate soldiers, so long as their families remain. One of the greatest difficulties the military authorities have to encounter is the constant and correct information which the families of the bushwhackers give of every movement the troops make. With the aid of these spies dotted all over the country and living in perfect security, a hundred bushwhackers may defy the utmost efforts of five hundred soldiers to exterminate them." Let me stop.
#42 | 29:57 to 30:46 | cleaned
By the way, the term bushwhacker originally referred to the Jayhawkers, and it is improperly applied to the guerrilla. A guerrilla was not necessarily a bushwhacker, but that's what they're calling. And so they're saying, with the guerrillas' families around here supporting them, why, no wonder we can't do anything about it. And so the way to get rid of the guerrillas is we just simply get rid of their families.
#43 | 30:47 to 31:12 | cleaned
Harrison Trow said, and I'm quoting, that "a body of federal soldiers, listen to this, this is amazing, that a body of federal soldiers especially enrolled and uniformed to persecute women and prey upon non-combatants gathered up in a half-a-day's raid a number of demonstrative Southern girls whose only sin had been extravagant talk and pro-Confederate cheering. They were taken to Kansas City and imprisoned in a dilapidated tenement close to a steep place on a bank." Now listen, here's a body of soldiers, especially enrolled and uniformed. Why? To go out and arrest women and children. Now some of these women that they arrested at first were taken and imprisoned in the Union Hotel. And of course a lot of these women were relatives of Quantrill's men. And so once they got Quantrill's men's relatives there, they then separated them from the other women that they had arrested.
#44 | 31:12 to 32:19 | cleaned
Some of those that they separated, and I'll mention them later, were Charity McCorkle Kerr, Nanny Harris McCorkle. Their husbands were Nathan Kerr and Jabez McCorkle, who rode with Quantrill. And then 18-year-old Nanny McCorkle's cousins happened to be the Younger brothers by marriage. Cole, Jim, Bob Younger, etc. You remember I told you that Captain Henry Fletcher sent 14 soldiers to arrest the Anderson girls? There were only three of them. There was 16-year-old Mary Anderson. Her 14-year-old sister, Josephine, and her 10-year-old sister, Martha. These girls, the Anderson sisters, were the sisters of one of Quantrill's noted lieutenants, Bill Anderson. Does anybody remember the nickname that Bill Anderson acquired? Bloody Bill. You're going to find out why he acquired that nickname shortly.
#45 | 32:20 to 33:31 | cleaned
Listen carefully, because I'm going to probably save this for several months in the future, but also arrested were Susan Crawford Vandiver and Arminia Crawford Selvey, names that you're probably going to hear in a sermon in the future when I preach on the exploits and death of Riley Crawford. There were a number of other young women who were arrested with these ladies.
#46 | 33:33 to 33:57 | cleaned
Now, George Caleb Bingham was also a Union general. He and General Ewing did not get along. In fact, Bingham thought Ewing was wicked and arrogant and only had his own interest in his political ambitions in mind. And so here's what General George Caleb Bingham wrote concerning the arrest of these women. He says, "these females were arrested and confined under the pretext of holding them as hostages for the good behavior of their brothers, husbands, or relatives who were supposed to be in sympathy with or actually engaged in the Confederate cause." In other words, what General Bingham is saying is there was really no lawful or legal reason for these women to be arrested. Really what they were trying to do was control these men by controlling their women.
#47 | 33:58 to 34:55 | cleaned
Now, at first these women were imprisoned at the Union Hotel, which was located at the southeast corner of 6th and Main Street. But because it was considered too crowded, these women who were related to Quantrill's men were moved to the old building, the Mechanics Bank at Delaware and Commercial, which was infested with rats and vermin of all kinds and deemed unfit for human habitation, and the women were only moved after the guards complained. In fact, here's what Maddy Likens, who was there and described the condition, she said this, "As a place of imprisonment for such in this city, an old dilapidated brick building on the levee was taken possession of by the military authorities and set apart as a prison for rebel women. After the building had been occupied as such for some time, it became infested with rats and vermin of all kinds as to render it unfit for human beings to live in.
#48 | 34:55 to 35:56 | cleaned
Even the health of the guards who had access to the river for bathing suffered so much from the stench and torture of the vermin as to lead them to appeal to headquarters for a change of location." So what the women who got them to change, it was the guards. The guards couldn't take it. They eventually moved these women to a building in the metropolitan block of McGee's addition known as Longhorn Tavern.
#49 | 35:56 to 36:22 | cleaned
Now, remember General Thomas Ewing. He is the commander of the District of the Border. And so what does General Thomas Ewing do? He confiscates a building without notifying the owner, and he makes this building a women's prison in July of 1863. In fact, he later acknowledges that in a letter. He said this, and I'm quoting, "this certifies that a certain house in McGee's addition to Kansas City, Missouri, known as Number 13 Metropolitan Block, was occupied as a prison by my order from some day in the latter part of July 1863 until the 13th day of August last when it fell." Now, interestingly enough, the building that was confiscated without notification of the owner, was owned by General George Caleb Bingham, the old nemesis of General Ewing. General Bingham opposed General Ewing's infamous Order No. 11. That order is the one that demanded that all Southerners either go to a federal outpost or get out of the state, get out of Missouri. Bingham had acquired this building through the estate of Robert Thomas, who had died in 1859.
#50 | 36:22 to 37:59 | cleaned
Thomas had been married to the daughter of George Caleb Bingham. George Caleb Bingham was also a famous artist. He had gone to this building, had it remodeled, added a third floor at the expense of about $1,800 to use as an art studio. Afterwards, he was selected as treasurer for the state of Missouri and he moved then from Kansas City to Jefferson City. So the building then was abandoned or vacant, I should say, for about a year and a half until General Ewing comes along and he confiscates this building without even telling General Bingham, hey, I'm using your building.
#51 | 37:59 to 38:45 | cleaned
We're going to make a women's prison out of it. He just took possession without asking or informing General Bingham.
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Now, the women, as you can imagine, were treated quite horribly in their prison. They were kept on the second and third floor of this three-story building under guard. Harrison Trow reports that their food was flung at them at certain intervals, and brutal guards sang rival songs and used indecent language in their presence. You say, Brother Weaver, I can't imagine someone doing that. Well, it gets a whole lot worse. And when you find out what they did, you can certainly understand why they would sing ribald songs and use indecent language, these women.
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And if you doubt their inhumane and wicked treatment, you need to consider the fact that Charity McCorkle Kerr was in bed ill with a fever because of improper diet and exposure. Others who were there in that building were also not doing well, but they were still at least trying to minister to those who were sickest. And 10 year old Martha Anderson, now listen, 10 year old Martha Anderson the day before had angered the guards and therefore they chained a 12 pound ball to her ankle. How dangerous can a 10 year old girl be? But in retaliation, they chained a 12-pound ball to her ankle.
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Now, it is almost impossible, and I want you to listen to this because I'm going to make an application toward the end. It is almost impossible for us who are alive today to conceive of the hatred, ill will, and vindictiveness that the Yankee abolitionists had for the Southern people. And the mere fact that women and children were involved did not abate their hatred. Neither did the fact that the women and children were harmless and innocent civilians seem to matter to the soldiers at all. The very fact that they were Southern was sufficient for the soldiers. The soldiers in the adjoining house, which was used as a guardhouse, examine the structure and saw that the structure could be very easily destroyed. And so the soldiers then purposefully and deliberately set about to weaken the structure and cause it to collapse.
#55 | 40:24 to 41:38 | cleaned
They gained access to the Thomas building and removed the brick pillars that held up the floor joists of the first floor. Afterwards, they removed several sleepers, thus weakening the wall. The building began to show signs of collapse. Actually, what you have was three buildings together. The women and children were kept in the middle building. They understood that when one went down, it's going to probably pull at least one more down on top of it. They began to weaken it, and they knew that it was going to fall. The grocers on the first floor of the next building began to see the dust falling, cracks in the wall. They knew danger was imminent, so they began moving their goods out. They were not going to lose all their merchandise. The women saw the same signs. And they, too, said that the building was unsafe and that they asked to be removed to another building.
#56 | 41:40 to 42:48 | cleaned
Well, two reports of the condition of the building reached General Ewing, and he sent his hand-selected inspectors to inspect the building. And on two separate occasions, his inspectors came back and said the building was safe and there was nothing to worry about. There are many people who believe that it was General Ewing himself who gave the order for this building to be undermined. Later on that day when the women were being given their dinner, Captain Parker requested that Thomas Barber, a soldier in his company, accompany him and they too were going to inspect the building.
#57 | 42:49 to 43:33 | cleaned
But what the soldiers had done was this. They had gotten it pretty well where they knew the building would collapse almost instantly. And so they waited until the guard who was guarding the women had gone for water. They did not know, of course, Captain Parker and Barber was now up on the third floor. They thought the building was pretty well vacant. And as they began their last-ditch effort to really cause the building to collapse, Captain Parker and Mr. Barber saw the signs coming, and they fled the building, and they hollered to the women that the building was going to collapse. And just as the soldiers got out, the building did indeed collapse with the women in it, with the children in it.
#58 | 43:36 to 44:33 | cleaned
All but five of the ladies escaped with their lives. They were all injured emotionally, mentally, physically. But those who were killed instantly were Susan Crawford Vandiver, Arminia Crawford Selvey, Josephine Anderson, and Charity McCorkle Kerr.
#59 | 44:35 to 44:59 | cleaned
Now, Mrs. Wilson also was injured, and she died later from her injury. But the rest of the women were just simply injured. Ten-year-old Martha Anderson, who could not flee due to the 12-pound ball that was chained to her ankle, was brutally crushed. She lived, but her legs were mangled beyond all hope. She also sustained a number of other injuries. So here's a little 10-year-old girl who could not flee because of that 12-pound ball. Her legs are crushed. She sustains other injuries. Josephine Anderson, another sister of Bill Anderson, was buried in the ruins. Listen to this.
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For a short time, everyone heard the screams and cries of Josephine begging anyone to please remove the bricks from off her head. And then shortly, there was silence. Here were five women killed, all the others horribly injured. The Federals at first tried to blame the collapse on the women. They said the women did it because they were down in the basement trying to dig a tunnel and escape. Have you ever wondered how women could dig a tunnel in the basement when they're under guard on the second and third floor? Someone else said, well, you know, a windstorm just happened to come up and cause the building to collapse.
#61 | 46:05 to 47:01 | cleaned
Since the building was bordered on each side by another building, and since you don't have windstorms in Kansas in August, that certainly is not a very plausible explanation. And then someone comes along and says, well, the building collapsed due to its age. I mean, it was an old, dilapidated building. Oh, is that so? Well, I'll have you know the building was actually built in 1857. It was only six years old, and a year and a half earlier, it had already been added upon, and shortly after the collapse, several affidavits were taken from numerous persons, all stating that the building was in excellent condition before the building was occupied as a United States military prison for females.
#62 | 47:02 to 47:49 | cleaned
General George Caleb Bingham, who owned the building, filed a claim against the government demanding $5,000 for damages that he insisted were caused by the intentional undermining of the building by the troops intent on murdering the women. General Bingham blamed General Ewing and said so, and said so openly. In fact, he wrote an article for the Washington Sentinel and he said this concerning the collapse of that building. He said "the building fell with the force of a mountain avalanche upon the ruins of the adjoining buildings, thus producing a scene of horror in which the death groans and shrieks of mangled women, which fiends could only contemplate without a shudder."
#63 | 47:50 to 48:43 | cleaned
"In vain had they, upon their first discovery of the danger, begged in piteous accents to be released. Their earnest appeals were to hearts as callous as that of the general by whose authority they were confined. While their prison walls were trembling, its doors remained closed, and they were allowed no hope for release except through the portals of a horrible death into that eternity where, in the great day which is to right all wrongs, they will stand as witnesses against the human monster who, to promote his selfish aspirations,
#64 | 48:44 to 49:17 | cleaned
could cruelly plan, with satanic coolness, the desolation of a large district of country and the utter ruin of its defenseless inhabitants. That the death of these poor women crushed beneath the ruins of their prison was a deliberately planned murder, all the facts connected therewith sufficiently established." Here is George Caleb Bingham saying, General Ewing did it. The soldiers did it. Moreover, federal soldiers happened to be staying at the Duke boarding house, which was owned by Mrs. B.F. Duke. Mrs. Duke overheard the soldiers talking about their progress undermining the building and it would probably fall on that day. In a rage, she went to Union headquarters and demanded the women be released.
#65 | 49:18 to 50:14 | cleaned
Her demands fell on deaf ears. And several hours later, the building collapsed. Incidentally, without the federal soldiers knowing it, Mrs. Duke was a cousin to Bill Anderson. So Bill Anderson got a first-hand account of what actually really happened. There were numerous affidavits that supported the fact that the building was maliciously and deliberately destroyed. The builders, the eyewitnesses and citizens all testified to the fact that the building was in good shape and well built when General Ewing confiscated it. A federal surgeon appeared upon the scene of the collapsed building. And someone had mentioned in passing, "I wonder how many soldiers are buried under those ruins?" To which the federal surgeon replied, "None."
#66 | 50:19 to 51:26 | cleaned
They all knew what was going to happen and when it was going to happen. And he was right. There was not one federal soldier found among the ruins. The very fact that there was never an inquiry instituted by General Ewing is evident in the fact that it was premeditated and deliberate. No soldier was ever arrested, ever tried, or ever punished. The collapse of the building at 1425 Grand, Kansas City, Missouri on August 13, 1863 was nothing less than malignant butchery, savagery, and a premeditated war against women and children. Now listen carefully. When the news of the collapse reached the families of the dead and injured, what do you suppose their attitude was? They went wild. You see, it's one thing to make war on men. It's another thing to make war on women and children, especially when those women and children are innocent, helpless, and unarmed. John McCorkle at the gravesites of these girls said this, listen carefully.
#67 | 51:28 to 52:57 | cleaned
Now you're going to understand a little bit of history. "This foul murder was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas." What? You remember how Quantrill and his men went into Lawrence, Kansas? What's McCorkle saying? "This foul murder," that is the murder of these women and children, "was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas. We could stand no more. Imagine," he said, "if you can, my feelings.
#68 | 52:58 to 53:28 | cleaned
A sister, a loved sister, foully murdered, and the wife of a dead brother seriously hurt by a set of men to whom the name assassins, murderers, and cutthroats would be a compliment. People abuse us, but by God, did we not have enough to make us desperate and thirst for revenge? We tried to fight like soldiers, but were declared outlaws, hunted under a black flag, and murdered like beasts.
#69 | 53:29 to 53:55 | cleaned
The homes of our friends burned. Our aged sires who dared sympathize with us had been either hung or shot in the presence of their families and all their furniture and provisions loaded in wagons and with our livestock taken to the state of Kansas. This beautiful farming country of Jackson County, Cass County, and Johnson County were once worse than desert, and on every hillside stood long blackened chimneys, sad sentinels, and monuments to the memory of our once happy homes. And these outrages had been done by Kansas troops, calling themselves soldiers, but a disgrace to the name of soldier. And now our innocent and beautiful girls had been murdered in the most foul, brutal, savage, and damnable manner." The raid on Lawrence, Kansas was in direct response to the murder of these Southern women and children. However, unlike the Federals, the Southern men only killed men. When they raided Lawrence, Kansas, Quantrill and his men had a list of nearly 180 men who were to be killed. They were jayhawkers, soldiers, thieves, murderers.
#70 | 53:56 to 55:14 | cleaned
And they were especially trying to capture Jim Lane, who was one of the leading jayhawkers. But by the way, he escaped by running out of his house in his nightshirt and hiding in a cornfield. James C. Edwards wrote a short poem on the Lawrence Raid, and certainly this poem would reveal the feelings of most of the men. Listen to it. It's only a couple of stanzas. "Men at war never war with women, but women of the South they take to an ancient cell which killed as it fell with the aid of the Union's weight.
#71 | 55:15 to 55:50 | cleaned
We're going to ride and track you down. We're going to burn Lawrence to the ground." And when they arrived at Lawrence, Quantrill said to his men, now listen to this quote, when they arrived at Lawrence to do their killing, Quantrill said to his men, "This is the home of Jim Lane and Jennison. Remember that in hunting us, they gave us no quarter. Shoot every soldier you see, but in no way harm a woman or a child." Frank Smith recalled later that Quantrill shouted again, "molest no women and children, kill every man in federal uniform."
#72 | 55:50 to 56:30 | cleaned
And that's what they did. They did not shoot women and children as portrayed by the TV. They killed men. Did they burn it? Yes, they burned it. Do you know why? Because the battle cry that day was this, "remember the women, remember Osceola." Jim Lane had gone into Osceola, Missouri. Osceola, Missouri had over 800 buildings in it. When he left, only three were standing. He burned them all to the ground.
#73 | 56:33 to 57:05 | cleaned
Now, let's make some applications. I want you to think about these. First of all, I want you to see that Galatians 6, 7, and 8 is true in every area and in every respect. What does Galatians 6, 7, and 8 teach? "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." What did He say? Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever you sow, that's what you're going to reap. Sooner or later, folks, listen to me, we're going to get back exactly what we dish out. And if we dish out rape and murder and pillage and plunder and hatred and ill will, that's coming back home to us. If we dish out gentleness and charity and graciousness and kindness and civility, that'll come home to us.
#74 | 57:09 to 58:14 | cleaned
Do you realize General Thomas Ewing, and by the way, he had great political aspirations, which were ruined by General Bingham, thankfully, but General Ewing caused the deaths of countless federal soldiers. After Bill Anderson's sister Josephine was killed, little Martha crushed and mangled, never ever to recover, he said he would kill every federal that he ever found. The saying that Quantrill will occasionally spare a prisoner, bloody Bill, never. He carried his silk handkerchief with him, and when he was dead, it had 56 knots in it from 56 soldiers that he had killed.
#75 | 58:17 to 59:17 | cleaned
Listen, we don't reap what we sow, but we reap more than we sow. You can plant one grain of corn and you might get a cornstalk with three to four ears. When you act wickedly and do wrongly, you never know who all will be suffering for your wickedness and for your ungodliness. Here's a second application. If you find it difficult to believe that the government would commit such a heinous act in 1863, you're certainly not prepared to live in the 21st century. A government that considers its citizens as expendable and does not seek to protect them will use, abuse, and misuse them in any way it sees fit.
#76 | 59:23 to 1:00:24 | cleaned
It will view them as existing for the benefit of the state and a sheep to be sheared at the whim of the elite. Are you listening? It will not hesitate to use its citizens and soldiers as guinea pigs and cannon fodder. It will act as God deciding who lives and who dies through wars, famine, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.
#77 | 1:00:26 to 1:01:00 | cleaned
Thirdly, a parallel now exists, I believe, in what has just been taught and what is going on today in our world. You think of the New World Order, the One Worlders, the politically correct crowd. Here's my question. Are we Bible believing, Bible preaching, Bible-obeying Christians in their good graces? And the answer is no. We as Bible-believing Christians are considered intolerant, fanatical, uncooperative, right-wingers, and expendable. Someone objects and says, oh, but Brother Weaver, don't you understand there are a lot of professing Christians even in Washington, D.C.? Yes, I concur. But there's a big difference between professing and possessing.
#78 | 1:01:06 to 1:02:10 | cleaned
You've got to remember that fronts, facades, cover, and deception are the rule in politics. If you want to discern who a genuine Christian is in Atlanta or Washington, don't listen to what they say. Watch how they act. Watch how they live. Watch their legislation. What's the old saying? I can't hear what you're saying because of the way that you're acting. I have never ceased to be amazed at how so many could profess to be so Christian and yet pass such ungodly, unbiblical, unconstitutional legislation. It blows my mind. But I got news for you.
#79 | 1:02:12 to 1:03:16 | cleaned
Just as surely as the Southerners incurred the hatred of the government in the 1860s, you're going to find the more and more corrupt government becomes, the more and more we Christians all over will incur the wrath of a corrupt government. Why? Because we want justice and we want what's right and holy and godly and they don't. The war against women and children has never stopped. It is still going on today. That's what abortion is. That's what euthanasia is. That's what infanticide is. That's what a lot of the vaccination programs are about. Sterilization programs. The war still continues. And it's still right against wrong. God against Satan.
#80 | 1:03:19 to 1:04:37 | cleaned
truth against error, and holiness and righteousness against disobedience and rebellion. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful for your word and for your truth. And Lord, we're so thankful that you have told us that we're to walk differently. We're not to walk the way the other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, but we're to walk biblically and scripturally and righteously. We pray, Father, for your grace and your mercy and your help in our lives.
#81 | 1:04:39 to 1:05:16 | cleaned
Teach us to do thy will. Make us holy. Give us understanding. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.
#82 | 1:05:17 to 1:05:28 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T23:14:51Z

The Union's War Against Women & Children

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver argues that the Union Army, under leaders like Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan, and Ewing, deliberately waged war against innocent women and children during the Civil War, violating biblical principles. He details the arrest, imprisonment, and murder of Southern women and children, culminating in the deliberate collapse of a Kansas City prison that killed five women and maimed others. This atrocity, he claims, directly provoked Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas. Weaver applies these historical events to warn that governments can become corrupt and target Christians, and that the war against women and children continues today through abortion and euthanasia.

Introduction and Biblical Principles

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 11:16

"A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches."

But note if you would,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 11:16

"A gracious woman retaineth honour."

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:6

"And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites."

Union Leaders' Disregard for Biblical Principles

Imprisonment of Women and Children in Missouri

General Butler's Infamous Order No. 28

Southern Regard for Women and Biblical Basis

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 5:1-3

I can quote it, but if you want to look at it, that's fine. Here's what God says. "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them," that is with the wives. "Dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." Now, what did God say to the husbands? To give honour unto the wife. You know what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 1? And this is regards to all men. The Bible says that we are to treat the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity. What's he saying? You're to have respect and honor for the older women and the younger women as well. In 1st Timothy chapter 5 and verse 3, we're commanded to honor women or to honor widows that are widows indeed. What is God saying? There is a place for respect and honor, especially when it comes to women. And God expects us to treat them honorably, courteously and respectfully now.

Contrast Between Union and Quantrill's Treatment of Women

Arrest and Imprisonment of Quantrill's Female Relatives

Conditions in the Women's Prison and Deliberate Collapse

Aftermath and Blame for the Collapse

Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence as Retaliation

Applications for Today

The Union's War Against Women & Children

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	8110517044
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2005-08-07
Dictation Name
Book	Book 027: The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order — Chapter 4
Source Timed Segments	82

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Biblical Principles: Weaver introduces the topic and reads Proverbs 11:16 and 12:4 on gracious and virtuous women. He states that August 13, 1863, is a date of infamy due to the murder of women and children by federal forces. He then establishes two biblical principles: do not make war on civilians, especially women and children (1 Samuel 15:6), and do not destroy fruit-bearing trees in war (Deuteronomy 20:19-20).
Union Leaders' Disregard for Biblical Principles: Weaver asserts that Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan, and Ewing rejected these principles. He quotes Sherman and Sheridan describing their total war tactics, including destroying crops, livestock, and homes, and Sherman's statement that the government has any rights in war, including taking lives. He cites Sherman's letter to Stanton advocating killing or banishing women and children, which Stanton approved.
Imprisonment of Women and Children in Missouri: Weaver describes how women and children were arrested for sending care packages to Confederate soldiers or for disloyalty, and imprisoned in Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis. He notes that 212 women and children were listed as prisoners there, and reads a letter from a female prisoner describing the filthy conditions.
General Butler's Infamous Order No. 28: Weaver recounts General Benjamin Butler's Order No. 28 in New Orleans, which declared that any woman showing contempt to Union soldiers would be treated as a prostitute. He lists contemptuous acts like leaving streetcars or singing Dixie, and notes the mayor's arrest for protesting.
Southern Regard for Women and Biblical Basis: Weaver explains the Southern protective attitude toward women, grounding it in 1 Peter 3:7, 1 Timothy 5:1-3, and Proverbs 6:32-35, which speak of honoring women and the righteous rage of a jealous husband. He argues that Union actions only enraged Southern men.
Contrast Between Union and Quantrill's Treatment of Women: Weaver contrasts General Blunt's order to kill women with Quantrill's strict orders to protect women. He notes Quantrill's command that any man insulting a woman would be hanged, and that his men never insulted women. He also describes federal soldiers using girls as human shields.
Arrest and Imprisonment of Quantrill's Female Relatives: Weaver details General Ewing's strategy to arrest the wives, mothers, and sisters of Quantrill's men, including the Anderson sisters (Mary, Josephine, and Martha) and others. He reads Ewing's General Order No. 10 threatening execution for aiding guerrillas, and a newspaper editorial supporting the arrests.
Conditions in the Women's Prison and Deliberate Collapse: Weaver describes the women's move to a dilapidated building owned by General Bingham, the inhumane conditions, and the chaining of 10-year-old Martha Anderson. He asserts that soldiers deliberately weakened the building's structure, and despite warnings, General Ewing's inspectors declared it safe. On August 13, 1863, the building collapsed, killing five women and injuring others.
Aftermath and Blame for the Collapse: Weaver recounts the immediate aftermath, including Josephine Anderson's cries for help. He dismisses Union excuses (tunneling, wind, age) and cites General Bingham's affidavit and article blaming Ewing for premeditated murder. He notes that no soldiers were punished.
Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence as Retaliation: Weaver quotes John McCorkle stating the prison collapse directly caused the Lawrence raid. He reads a poem and Quantrill's orders to kill only men in uniform and not harm women or children. He explains the raid targeted jayhawkers and was in retaliation for Osceola's burning.
Applications for Today: Weaver applies Galatians 6:7-8, warning that we reap what we sow. He argues that if the government committed such acts in 1863, we should not be surprised by 21st-century government corruption. He warns that Bible-believing Christians are viewed as expendable, and that the war against women and children continues through abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

The Union violated clear biblical commands by targeting civilians.

Weaver argues that the Bible explicitly forbids making war on non-combatants and on creation, yet Union generals systematically did both.

He cites 1 Samuel 15:6 and Deuteronomy 20:19-20, then states Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan, and Ewing 'did not believe in either principle.'

Union leaders openly advocated extermination of Southerners.

Weaver provides quotes from Sherman and Sheridan showing they intended to destroy everything and everyone, including women and children, to end the war.

Sherman's quote: 'there is a class of people, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order,' approved by Stanton.

The imprisonment and murder of women was a deliberate Union strategy.

Weaver contends that General Ewing arrested female relatives of guerrillas to control the men, and that the prison collapse was a premeditated murder.

He quotes General Bingham: 'these females were arrested... as hostages for the good behavior of their brothers, husbands, or relatives' and describes the soldiers undermining the building.

The Lawrence raid was a direct and justified response to the murder of women.

Weaver argues that Quantrill's raid was not unprovoked violence but retaliation for the prison collapse, and that the raiders only killed men.

He quotes John McCorkle: 'This foul murder was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas' and Quantrill's order: 'molest no women and children, kill every man in federal uniform.'

Historical government atrocities foreshadow modern persecution of Christians.

Weaver argues that just as the 1863 government targeted Southerners, a corrupt modern government will target Bible-believing Christians as expendable.

He states, 'If you find it difficult to believe that the government would commit such a heinous act in 1863, you're certainly not prepared to live in the 21st century.'

Scripture References

Proverbs 11:16: Weaver reads this verse to introduce the topic of gracious women retaining honor.
Proverbs 12:4: Weaver reads this verse to emphasize that a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.
1 Samuel 15:6: Weaver cites Saul's warning to the Kenites to depart before attacking the Amalekites as a principle of not making war on civilians.
Deuteronomy 20:19-20: Weaver reads this passage to show that God commanded not to destroy fruit-bearing trees in war, illustrating the principle of not making war against creation.
1 Peter 3:7: Weaver quotes this verse to establish the biblical command for husbands to honor their wives as the weaker vessel.
1 Timothy 5:1-3: Weaver references these verses to show that men are to treat older women as mothers and younger women as sisters with purity, and to honor widows.
Proverbs 6:32-35: Weaver reads this passage to illustrate the righteous rage of a man whose wife is violated, applying it to Southern men's reaction to Union atrocities.
Galatians 6:7-8: Weaver quotes this passage to apply the principle of sowing and reaping to the Union's actions and their consequences.

Historical References

General Thomas Ewing: Union commander of the District of the Border, brother-in-law to Sherman, issued General Order No. 10 and No. 11, and is blamed for the prison collapse.
General William Tecumseh Sherman: Union general known for his 'March to the Sea,' advocated killing or banishing women and children, and stated the government has unlimited rights in war.
General Philip Sheridan: Union general who destroyed the Shenandoah Valley, boasting of killing thousands of livestock and burning barns and mills.
General Benjamin Butler: Union commander in New Orleans, issued Order No. 28 declaring that women showing contempt would be treated as prostitutes.
Gratiot Street Military Prison: Union prison in St. Louis that held 212 women and children, often in filthy conditions, for suspected disloyalty.
William Clark Quantrill: Confederate guerrilla leader whose female relatives were imprisoned; he ordered his men to protect women and led the Lawrence raid in retaliation.
Anderson sisters (Mary, Josephine, Martha): Sisters of 'Bloody Bill' Anderson; Josephine was killed and Martha was maimed in the prison collapse, fueling Bill Anderson's vengeance.
General George Caleb Bingham: Union general and artist who owned the building used as a prison; he blamed Ewing for the deliberate collapse and filed a claim against the government.
Lawrence, Kansas Raid (August 21, 1863): Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, killing about 180 men, was a direct response to the prison collapse; raiders were ordered to spare women and children.
Osceola, Missouri: Town burned by Jim Lane, leaving only three of 800 buildings standing; used as a rallying cry during the Lawrence raid.

Important Quotes

there is a class of people, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order.

Sherman's explicit advocacy for targeting women and children, approved by Secretary Stanton, demonstrating Union policy.

As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women calling themselves ladies of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter, when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town, plying her avocation.

Butler's infamous Order No. 28, which declared that women showing disrespect would be treated as prostitutes, inflaming Southern sentiment.

if I find any man insulting a woman, I'll hang him from the first limb I come to

Quantrill's strict order protecting women, contrasting sharply with Union generals' attitudes.

This foul murder was the direct cause of the famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas.

John McCorkle's statement directly linking the prison collapse to the Lawrence raid as retaliation.

molest no women and children, kill every man in federal uniform.

Quantrill's order during the Lawrence raid, emphasizing that only men in uniform were targeted, not women or children.

The war against women and children has never stopped. It is still going on today. That's what abortion is. That's what euthanasia is. That's what infanticide is.

Weaver's application that the historical war on women and children continues in modern forms like abortion.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How do the biblical principles in 1 Samuel 15:6 and Deuteronomy 20:19-20 apply to modern warfare and government actions?

[Context]

Weaver uses these passages to argue against targeting civilians and destroying resources; discussion could explore their relevance today.

[Question]

In what ways did the Union's treatment of Southern women and children violate the biblical commands to honor women found in 1 Peter 3:7 and 1 Timothy 5?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts Union actions with these verses; discussion could examine how Christians should respond when government violates these principles.

[Question]

How should Christians balance the call for justice with the command to love enemies, especially in light of the righteous rage described in Proverbs 6:32-35?

[Context]

Weaver describes the Southern men's rage as biblically justified; discussion could explore the limits of righteous anger and vengeance.

[Question]

What lessons can we learn from the prison collapse about the dangers of government power unchecked by moral and biblical restraints?

[Context]

Weaver argues the collapse was a deliberate murder by the state; discussion could apply this to modern government overreach.

[Question]

How does the principle of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7-8) manifest in the historical events described, and how should it inform our personal and national conduct?

[Context]

Weaver applies this verse to the Union's suffering after their atrocities; discussion could consider contemporary examples.

[Question]

In what ways are Bible-believing Christians today viewed as 'expendable' by secular government, and how should we respond?

[Context]

Weaver warns that Christians are seen as intolerant and right-wing; discussion could explore practical responses to cultural marginalization.

[Question]

How does the historical war against women and children parallel modern issues like abortion and euthanasia, and what is the church's role in addressing them?

[Context]

Weaver explicitly links the 1863 events to abortion; discussion could focus on pro-life advocacy and support for vulnerable populations.

Applications

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