Jim Lane (politician)
Jim Lane | |
---|---|
United States Senator from Kansas | |
In office April 4, 1861 – July 11, 1866 | |
Preceded by | seat established |
Succeeded by | Edmund G. Ross |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th district | |
In office March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 | |
Preceded by | Samuel W. Parker |
Succeeded by | William Cumback |
11th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana | |
In office December 5, 1849 – January 10, 1853 | |
Governor | Joseph A. Wright |
Preceded by | Paris C. Dunning |
Succeeded by | Ashbel P. Willard |
Personal details | |
Born | Lawrenceburg, Indiana Territory | June 22, 1814
Died | July 11, 1866 Leavenworth, Kansas | (aged 52)
Political party | Republican |
Other political affiliations | Democratic (before 1856) |
Spouse | Mary E. Lane |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Branch/service | United States Army Union Army |
Years of service | 1846–1848, 1861–1862 |
Rank | Brigadier-General |
Battles/wars | Mexican–American War American Civil War |
Brigadier-General James Henry Lane (June 22, 1814 – July 11, 1866) was an American politician and military officer who was a leader of the Jayhawkers in the Bleeding Kansas period that immediately preceded the American Civil War. During the war itself, Lane served in the United States Senate and as a general officer in the Union Army. Although reelected as a Senator in 1865, Lane died by suicide the next year.
Early life
The son of Amos Lane, Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana,[1] where he practiced law when he was admitted to the state bar during 1840. During the Mexican–American War, he successively commanded the 3rd and 5th Indiana Regiments. He was a U.S. congressman from Indiana (1853–1855) where he voted for the Kansas–Nebraska Act.
He relocated to the
By 1858, Lane had become a member of the Kansas
On June 3, 1858, Lane shot and killed Gaius Jenkins in a land dispute in Lawrence. According to reports Jenkins was coming to get water from a well on the disputed property.[3] Jenkins was reported to have been displaying a revolver. Lane met him with a shotgun. One of the men with Jenkins shot Lane in the leg and Lane returned fire killing Jenkins.[4] Lane was acquitted in the trial, which kept him from participating in the convention drafting of the Wyandotte Constitution, later the official constitution for Kansas.[5]
After the Free Soilers succeeded in getting Kansas admitted to the Union in 1861 as a
Civil War
During the
On December 18, 1861, Lane was appointed brigadier general of volunteers. On March 21, 1862, his commission was canceled in the culmination of an argument over whether a sitting U.S. Senator could concurrently have the rank of General.[8] However, on April 11, 1862, he was reinstated as brigadier general of volunteers with the confirmation of the U.S. Senate. During 1862–1863, he served as recruiting commissioner for the State of Kansas.
On October 27–29, 1862, U.S. Senator Jim Lane recruited the
Lane was the target of the event that became the Lawrence Massacre (or Quantrill's Raid) on August 21, 1863. Confederate guerrillas could be heard shouting, "Remember Osceola!" Though Lane was in residence in Lawrence at the time, he was able to escape the attack by racing through a nearby ravine, hiding in a cornfield for the duration of the attack.[10][11]
In a speech given in 1863, while the 38th United States Congress was debating a bill that would confiscate land from rebelling southerners, Lane said, "I would like to live long enough to see every white man in South Carolina in hell, and the Negroes inheriting their territory. It would not wound my feelings any day to find the dead bodies of rebel sympathizers pierced with bullet holes in every street and alley of Washington. Yes, I would regret this, for I would not like to witness all this waste of powder and lead. I would rather have them hung, and the ropes saved! Let them dangle until their stinking bodies rot and fall to the ground piece by piece."[12][13]
During 1864 when Sterling Price invaded Missouri, Lane served as a volunteer
Personal life
Lane was a
Lane's critics often accused him of lechery, alleging that he committed adultery with prostitutes and mistresses, and that he had made numerous unsuccessful attempts to seduce various married women while living in Lawrence.[16] This has been disputed by Lane's defenders.[17]
Lane's wife, Mary Lane, left Lawrence to return to Indiana in 1856, and filed for a divorce. They were remarried in 1857, after which they both returned to Lawrence.[18]
Lane was a
Death and legacy
On July 1, 1866, Lane shot himself[20] in the head as he jumped from his carriage in Leavenworth, Kansas. He was allegedly deranged, depressed, had been charged with abandoning his fellow Radical Republicans and had been accused of financial irregularities. He died ten days later near Leavenworth, Kansas, a result of the self-inflicted gunshot. Edmund G. Ross was appointed to succeed him in the Senate.
Lane's posthumous legacy has been controversial, both among supporters of the Union as well as those of the Confederacy. The Southern view of Lane has been almost entirely negative,
Much of the criticism directed towards Lane from the Northern side stems from his many disputes with
While many of Lane's pro-Union apologists concede that Lane often made ruthless use of
The following places were named in honor of the late senator:
In popular culture
- Lane appears in Stan Haynes' 2023 historical fiction: 'And Union No More: A Novel' which depicts some of the events of "Bleeding Kansas"
- Jim Lane appears as a character in Wildwood Boys (William Morrow, New York; 2000), a biographical novel of Bloody Bill Anderson by James Carlos Blake.
- Jim Lane is a main character in the new book, "The 116" by James P. Muehlberger.
- Jim Lane and his brigade is mentioned in Colter Wall’s, Wild Bill Hickok from his 2018 album, “Songs of the Plains.”
- In the 1976 film The Outlaw Josey Wales, Senator Jim Lane (portrayed by Frank Schofield) is the general who commissions the reward for the title character (portrayed by Clint Eastwood.)
See also
- List of American Civil War generals (Union)
- List of members of the United States Congress from multiple states
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)
References
- ^ "James Henry Lane". NNB. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ^ "Shooting of Gaius Jenkins".
- ^ "Jim Lane Shoots Gaius Jenkins | Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865".
- ^ "Wyandotte Constitution | Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865".
- ^ The Army of Tennessee p. 31
- ^ James H. Lane - Grim Leader in the Free-State Fight
- ^ Eicher p.338
- ^ Border War Timeline, 1861 - 1865: The Civil War
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 1-58182-359-2.
- JSTOR 25108538– via JSTOR.
- The Abbeville press. 12(5) (Abbeville, S.C.), 05 June 1863. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. Available at: <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042527/1863-06-05/ed-1/seq-1>
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ^ "OBITUARY.; James H. Lane, United States Senator from Kansas". The New York Times. July 4, 1866. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
- ISBN 1-58182-359-2.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ISBN 978-1-58980-445-6.
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Government Printing Office. pp. 180.
External links
- United States Congress. "Jim Lane (id: L000061)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-19
- "Jim Lane". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- James H. Lane at Territorial Kansas Online
- James H. Lane at PBS: New Perspectives on The West
- James H. Lane at Downfall Dictionary
- James H. Lane at Mr. Lincoln's White House Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Senator Jim at Bull Run