John Sartain
Martial Law

Public Domain

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Images(3)

Engraver John Sartain , PhiladelphiaAmerican, 1808–1897

Artistafter George Caleb Bingham American, 1811–1879

Publisher George C. Bingham & Co.Kansas City and Columbia, Missouri

CultureAmerican

Titles

Martial Law

Date1872

Published inKansas City (possibly), Missouri, United States

Published inColumbia (possibly), Missouri, United States

MediumMezzotint, line and stipple engraving and watercolor on wove paper

DimensionsImage: 21 5/8 × 30 7/8 in. (54.9 × 78.5 cm)
Sheet: 25 3/4 × 35 3/4 in. (65.4 × 90.8 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by "One Great Night in November,1988"

Object numberB.88.28

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionThe 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. It called for the organization of these new territories, allowing the decision of whether to permit slavery to be determined by popular sovereignty. Soon significant violent confrontations arose between pro- and antislavery factions in areas along the Kansas-Missouri border. On August 25, 1863, Union Brigadier General Thomas Ewing issued General Order 11, which mandated the evacuation of four Missouri border counties in an attempt to eliminate support for pro-Confederate guerilla fighters. Implementation of the order was chaotic, with significant looting and destruction by troops and guerillas on both sides.
Provenance[Morgenson Wunderlich Gallery, Chicago]; purchased by MFAH, 1988.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed below image, center: MARTIAL LAW. / as exemplified in the desolation of border counties of Missouri during the enforcement of Military Orders, / issued by Brigadier General Ewing of the Federal Army, from his Head Quarters, Kansas City, August.[t superscript with period [ .] underneath] 25th..[th superscript with two periods [..] underneath], 1863. / Dedicated to the Friends of Civil Liberty, by the Publishers
Inscribed below image, left and right: GENERAL ORDERS No.[o superscript with period[.] underneath]11. HEAD-QUARTERS DISTRICT OF THE BORDER, / KANSAS CITY, MO. AUGUST 25th..[th superscript with two periods [..] underneath] 1863. . . . H. HANNAHS, Adujutant [sic]

[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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