Caught Between Three Fires: Cass County, Mo., Chaos & Order No. 11 1860 - 1865

by Tom A. Rafiner

For 11 years, astride the Missouri-Kansas border, Cass County endured the vortex of our nationâ s most violent confl ict. Citizens struggled between three raging fi res, Secessionism, Unionism, and an undying Border War. Cass Countyâ s uncivil war, intimate, cruel, and total, suffered no man, woman or child to escape loss or injury â their individual stories weave historyâ s fabric. Violent circumstances forged leaders who shaped Missouriâ s political and military history. Caught Between Three Fires, for the fi rst time, reconstructs a lost history, erased by total destruction, Order No. 11, and timeâ s purposeful neglect.

706 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2010

Reviews

[MKF]

This is a massive book with more than 600 pages including the index. Being a library book I have no time to read the whole thing so I read bits and pieces. I have a grandma who's one of the family's from from Cass County and mentioned a few times in this book. It is interesting to read about the history and stories that our ancestors experienced in this one county.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fills in the missing history of our county with a detailed look at the families of Cass County, MO who suffered the terror and loss of civil liberties during the Civil War on the MO/KS border. Puts the war into context, uncovers new facts from previously untapped sources. A great read!

[Mike Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm doing genealogy research on my German family that settled at southern Jackson County MO in 1870. Even though the story is about Cass County, it paints a good picture of the politics, the war years, and aftermath of Order No. 11.

The individual family stories are compelling. Well documented and a must for anyone who wants to better understand the Civil War in western MO.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history of what happened should never be forgotten. It's crazy that order 11 was even issued. I liked how the book throughly explained what happened to Cass, Dayton, & Jackson. Its just kind of sad that the military enforced the orders and people's home were destroyed.

[Ed Childers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely could have used a professional editor. Great information about the Missouri/Kansas border war, but the writing leaves something to be desired.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is more interesting than the average non fiction on the civil war. I am from the county in which this takes place, so it was nice to picture the areas in the book. It does get tedious at times.