Charles Rainsford Jennison also known as "Doc" Jennison (June 6, 1834 – June 21, 1884) was a member of the anti-slavery faction during

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

, a famous Jayhawker, and a member of the Kansas State Senate in the 1870s. He later served as a Union

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and as a leader of Jayhawker militias during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, until being dishonorably discharged for murder and robbery.

Early life and education

Charles R. Jennison was born on June 6, 1834, in Antwerp, New York in Jefferson County. His family moved to Albany,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

in 1846, where Jennison studied medicine. At the age of 20, Jennison married. In 1858, he moved to

Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, Miami County, Kansas, United States, southwest of Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,255. It derives its name as a ...

and to Mound City, Kansas, shortly thereafter. Jennison was considered the most brutal and unscrupulous of the jayhawkers.

Career

Bleeding Kansas

While some other prominent leaders of irregulars in the

border conflict shared these traits, Jennison was distinguished by his blatant plunder for personal gain. Jennison cooperated with James Montgomery in opposing pro-slavery settlers and irregulars believed to be in league with Border Ruffians. In command of nine men, Jennison "tried" and hanged Russell Hinds near the state line at Mine Creek for the offense of helping to return a fugitive slave to his master in Missouri. Returning a slave was not only legal, but required at the time under the Fugitive Slave Act. Hinds had rejected the standard $25 reward ($515 in 2005 dollars), but did accept $5 reimbursement for his expenses in transporting the slave, who had agreed to return to his master while awaiting legal emancipation. The acceptance of the reimbursement was enough to convince Jennison to hand down a death sentence.

Civil War

Prior to the outbreak of the

, Jennison became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Mound City Guards on February 19, 1861.Connelley, William E., ''A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans'', Lewis Publishing Company, 1918, "Charles R. Jennison" Although not with Senator James H. Lane's Kansas brigade during the Sacking of Osceola, Jennison was associated with it and would soon join the fray after receiving a commission as colonel from Kansas Governor Charles L. Robinson on September 4. On October 28, 1861, Jennison completed the organization and mustering of his 7th Kansas Cavalry. The regiment would become known as "Jennison's Jayhawkers." It immediately took to the field patrolling the Kansas-Missouri border to prevent the secessionist under

Sterling Price Sterling Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was an American politician and military officer who was a senior General officers in the Confederate States Army, officer of the Confederate States Army, fighting in both the Weste ...

from crossing. Jennisons was a resolute

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

; his sentiments on the matter were the subject o
an article
in

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...

's '' New York Daily Tribune''. The article reported Jennison as refusing to allow non-abolitionist soldiers to serve under his command, and asserting that "the slaves of outhernerscan always find a protection in... ycamp, and they will be defended to the last man and bullet." While the regiment was at

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. Part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Leavenworth is located on the west bank of the Missouri River, on the site o ...

, in April 1862, Jennison, angered over James G. Blunt being named brigadier general in his stead, resigned from the army and turned to banditry as a Redleg. Following the Lawrence Massacre Jennison was once again commissioned a colonel and called into service by Kansas Governor Thomas Carney. Jennison raised a regiment that would become the 15th Kansas Cavalry on October 17, 1863. In a particularly egregious incident late in the war, Jennison shot and killed 66 year old civilian David Gregg "on the public highway north of Parkville , Platte Co. Mo." on September 15, 1864. Colonel Jennison commanded a mixed brigade of Kansas militia and volunteers resisting Price's Raid in October 1864. However, in December he was arrested as the result of plundering while returning through Missouri after the pursuit of Price. Jennison was court-martialled and convicted on June 23, 1865, whereupon he was dishonorably dismissed from the service.''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume XLI/4, page 874''

Postwar

Jennison was elected to the Kansas Legislature from Leavenworth County in 1865, reelected in 1867, and elected to the Kansas State Senate in 1872.

Death

Jennison died at

on June 21, 1884 at age 50.

References

External links

Civil War St. Louis website, article about Jayhawking by Castel

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20021216230337/http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/sthist/milrec-p14.html#FIFTEENTH_REGIMENT_KANSAS_VOLUNTEER_CAVALRY 15th Regiment Kansas Cavalry from Cutler's ''History of the State of Kansas'']
"White Radicals for Racial Equality: An Intercultural Perspective on the Kansas Free State Struggle, 1854-1864" by, Charles Reitz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennison, Charles R. 1834 births 1884 deaths People from Kansas Territory Irregular forces of the American Civil War People from Antwerp, New York People from Mound City, Kansas Union army colonels