General Order No. 11 is the title of a Union Army decree issued during the Civil War on 25 August 1863, forcing the evacuation of rural areas in four counties in western Missouri, Jackson, Cass, Bates, and part of Vernon. The order, issued by Union General Thomas Ewing, affected all rural residents. Those who could prove their loyalty to the Union, or post a large bond, were permitted to stay in the region, but had to leave their farms and move to communities near military outposts. Those who could not do so had to vacate the area altogether. General Thomas Ewing, commander of the Federal District of the Border, issued the order after Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas that occured on August 1, 1863. The Union forces confisticated all stored grain, most livestock, and the contents of smokehouses. Grain in the fields was burned. The people were left homeless and penniless. The soldiers, many from Kansas forces, burned many homes, as well. Some farmers who did not leave were shot on sight. The four county area became desolate, and most of the people never regained their farms. The land was eventually stolen by Union sympathizers or the corrupt Union officers. District of the Border, General Orders, No. 11 Issued on August 25, 1863 1. All persons living in Jackson, Cass, and Bates Counties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this district, except those living within 1 mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman Mills, Pleasant Hill, and Harrisonville, and except those in that part of Kaw Township, Jackson County, north of Brush Creek and west of the Big Blue, are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of residence within fifteen days from the date hereof. Those who, within that time, establish their loyalty to the satisfaction of the commanding officer of the military station nearest their present places of residence will receive from him certificates stating the fact of their loyalty, and the names of the witnesses by whom it can be shown. All who receive such certificates will be permitted to remove to any military station in this district, or to any part of the State of Kansas, except the counties on the eastern border of the State. All others shall remove out of this district. Officers commanding companies and detachments serving in the counties named will see that this paragraph is promptly obeyed. 2. All grain and hay in the field or under shelter in the district from which the inhabitants are required to remove within reach of military stations after the 9 day of September next will be taken to such stations and turned over to the proper officers there, and report of the amount so turned over made to district headquarters, specifying the names of all loyal owners and the amount of such produce taken from them. All grain and hay found in such district after the 9 day of September next not convenient to such stations will be destroyed. 3. The provisions of General Orders, No. 10, from these headquarters will be at once vigorously executed by officers commanding in the parts of the district and at the stations not subject to the operation of Paragraph I of this order, and especially in the towns of Independence, Westport, and Kansas City. 4. Paragraph III, General Orders, No. 10, is revoked as to all who have borne arms against the Government in this district since the 21 day of August, 1863.