Sacking of Lawrence

Sacking of Lawrence
Part of Bleeding Kansas
Ruins of Free State Hotel after the attack
Date May 21, 1856 Location Douglas County, Kansas Result Border ruffian victory Production of Kansas Free State ended; production of Herald of Freedom temporarily halted Free State Hotel and Charles L. Robinson's house destroyed Lawrence looted
Belligerents
Free-Stater	Border ruffians
Commanders and leaders
Samuel C. Pomeroy (de facto)	Samuel J. Jones
Strength
abolitionist civilians	300
Casualties and losses
1 wounded	1 dead

The sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, a town that had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a free state. The incident fueled the irregular conflict in Kansas Territory that later became known as Bleeding Kansas.

The human cost of the attack was low: only one person—a member of the pro-slavery gang—was killed, and his death was accidental. However, Jones and his men halted production of the Free-State newspapers the Kansas Free State and the Herald of Freedom, destroying the presses and offices (with the former ceasing publication altogether and the latter taking months to once again start up). The pro-slavery men also destroyed the Free State Hotel and Charles L. Robinson's house.