The Lieber Codes Effectiveness in Jackson County, Missouri

Abstract

This thesis is a case study that examines the problems the US Army encountered in the implementation of the Lieber Code in 1863 Jackson County, Missouri. My arguments are largely based on manuscript sources and microfilmed Provost Marshal Cases from the National Archives and Records Administration that document the types of people who were arrested and punished for the crime of supporting the Confederate guerrilla cause. This study shows the policies that the Union military implemented from 1860-1863 before the Lieber Code was issued, and then explores whether the Code changed policy decisions in Jackson County. This study also shows that General Thomas Ewing Jr. and other officers violated the Code in 1863 when he issued a blanket banishment order that included all the people living in the county if they could not prove their loyalty. This order was a punishment for supporting Quantrill’s guerrillas, who had engaged in a devastating raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863. I argue that the Code was used effectively because it rid the Border Region of Quantrill’s guerrilla band during the last two years of the war, but that the Code was violated when he banished all civilians from their homes regardless of their active support for the Confederacy.