The Lawrence massacre (also known as Quantrill's raid) is an attack during the American Civil War (1861–65) by the Quantrill's Raiders, a Confederate guerilla group led by William Quantrill, on the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas
The attack on August 21, 1863, targets Lawrence due to the town's long support of abolition and its reputation as a center for the Jayhawkers, which are free-state militia and vigilante groups known for attacking plantations in pro-slavery Missouri's western counties.
