Among all the men who have periled their lives in defence of the Union, none have had more at stake, or strong reason for being truly loyal to their government, than the citizens of Kansas. Living in the immediate vicinity of a vindictive and relentless foe, who hold against them an old grudge and through whose hearts hatred has percolated until they have become hard as adamant; a foe that had earned for themselves and gloried in the title of “Border Ruffians,” and who would take advantage of the license to villainy that the present turbulent state of affairs gave them to inflict every species of cruelty that the most depraved mind could conceive of; these men had the highest incentives to loyalty, to ridding the country of an organized band of traitors steeped to the eyes in double-dyed villainy. Their homes, their families, their Government, all that their hearts held dear, were at stake, and when occasion presented, they fought as men who have risked all on the result.
Among the bravest of the number was Col. Jennison, whose fault – his only fault – was uncompromising hostility to Border Ruffianism and the institution upon which it feeds, viz: slavery. Col. Jennison is a slender, delicate man, a physician; he immigrated from New York with his little family, to whom he was devotedly attached, a wife and an only child, accustomed as himself to all the delicacies of city life, to the wilds of Kansas. What tempted him, a man of cultivated mind, to leave the refinements to which he had been accustomed and bring his tenderly-reared wife, a hot-house plant, to meet the rough winds and rougher people of the Western prairies, we know not; but it is a question that men all around us can ask of themselves, and their reply may suit the case of this gentleman.
We have no account of Dr. Jennison pursuing other than a quiet life, until one day a troop of Boarder Ruffians passed his little domicil on their way to organize a provisional government for Kansas. Attracted by so many persons passing, his wife and child stepped to the door to look upon the cavalcade, and there, upon their own doorstep, they were both shot dead by those ruthless villains. Is it any wonder when Dr. Jennison returned home and saw the idols of his household thus butchered, that the hot blood coursed impetuously through his veins and he vowed hostility forever to Border Ruffianism? Yet, because he has since harassed these scoundrels at every opportunity, and sought to overthrow their beloved institution of slavery, the Democrat of this city calls him “the most heartless villain that every cursed the border.” Our neighbor is ignorant of the antecedents of Col. Jennison, or he never could utter so calumnious and libelous expressions. He has gleaned his knowledge from pro-slavery sheets, or he never would be guilty of such language toward one who has passed through the experience of Col. Jennison. That he is bitterly opposed to Border Ruffianism and an avowed abolitionist, we admit, and heaven knows he has good reason to be, but that he is a heartless villain, is as false calumny as ever was uttered. The very quotation that the Democrat makes from the covert secession sheet, the St. Louis Republican, shows that the man, so far from being heartless, is possessed of tender sensibilities, notwithstanding the terrible ordeal through which he has passed.
Col. Jennison has resigned his command and since been arrested, for what reason no one knows, further than that the officer who arrested him, Gen. Sturgis, is a man of drunken habits and suspected loyalty. He is no doubt, the victim of the dirty malice of the pro-slavery Generals – Sturgis, Denver and Mitchell. The noble and gallant Colonel, we are happy to hear, has been released on giving bonds, and now stands ready to meet his accusers face to face and show them he has done no wrong. Perhaps, as our neighbor of the Democrat says that “his crimes are legion,” he may be able to put his finger upon a single crime, just one, that ever Col. Jennison committed.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Monday Morning, April 28, 1862, p. 2
Among the bravest of the number was Col. Jennison, whose fault – his only fault – was uncompromising hostility to Border Ruffianism and the institution upon which it feeds, viz: slavery. Col. Jennison is a slender, delicate man, a physician; he immigrated from New York with his little family, to whom he was devotedly attached, a wife and an only child, accustomed as himself to all the delicacies of city life, to the wilds of Kansas. What tempted him, a man of cultivated mind, to leave the refinements to which he had been accustomed and bring his tenderly-reared wife, a hot-house plant, to meet the rough winds and rougher people of the Western prairies, we know not; but it is a question that men all around us can ask of themselves, and their reply may suit the case of this gentleman.
We have no account of Dr. Jennison pursuing other than a quiet life, until one day a troop of Boarder Ruffians passed his little domicil on their way to organize a provisional government for Kansas. Attracted by so many persons passing, his wife and child stepped to the door to look upon the cavalcade, and there, upon their own doorstep, they were both shot dead by those ruthless villains. Is it any wonder when Dr. Jennison returned home and saw the idols of his household thus butchered, that the hot blood coursed impetuously through his veins and he vowed hostility forever to Border Ruffianism? Yet, because he has since harassed these scoundrels at every opportunity, and sought to overthrow their beloved institution of slavery, the Democrat of this city calls him “the most heartless villain that every cursed the border.” Our neighbor is ignorant of the antecedents of Col. Jennison, or he never could utter so calumnious and libelous expressions. He has gleaned his knowledge from pro-slavery sheets, or he never would be guilty of such language toward one who has passed through the experience of Col. Jennison. That he is bitterly opposed to Border Ruffianism and an avowed abolitionist, we admit, and heaven knows he has good reason to be, but that he is a heartless villain, is as false calumny as ever was uttered. The very quotation that the Democrat makes from the covert secession sheet, the St. Louis Republican, shows that the man, so far from being heartless, is possessed of tender sensibilities, notwithstanding the terrible ordeal through which he has passed.
Col. Jennison has resigned his command and since been arrested, for what reason no one knows, further than that the officer who arrested him, Gen. Sturgis, is a man of drunken habits and suspected loyalty. He is no doubt, the victim of the dirty malice of the pro-slavery Generals – Sturgis, Denver and Mitchell. The noble and gallant Colonel, we are happy to hear, has been released on giving bonds, and now stands ready to meet his accusers face to face and show them he has done no wrong. Perhaps, as our neighbor of the Democrat says that “his crimes are legion,” he may be able to put his finger upon a single crime, just one, that ever Col. Jennison committed.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Monday Morning, April 28, 1862, p. 2
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