Battle of Franklin

By Chris Rein, Combat Studies Institute, Army University

John M. Schofield served as the senior Union Army officer in Missouri during part of the war, as both commander of the Army of the Frontier and the Department of Missouri. His service was checkered but generally effective; he was accused of being too lenient with Confederate bushwhackers even though he had effectively opposed them in battle and supported General Order No. 11, which ordered the depopulation of a portion of the border. He went on to a very successful postwar career, culminating in service as the commanding general of the Army from 1888 to 1895.

Franklin, Kansas

As one of the three proslavery strongholds in Douglas County, Kansas, the town of Franklin emerged as a target of Lawrence Free-Staters who were angered at the Sacking of Lawrence in 1856.

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