Guerrilla warfare and the Civil War in Missouri

Missouri "partisan" soldiers at Fort Davidson
in Pilot Knob 2007

Lets take a look at a topic that has been discussed in Missouri for over 150 years - the Civil War in Missouri, and in particular, guerrilla warfare.

The American Civil War is a period that evokes many perceptions. To most people, the first things that usually come to mind are slavery, Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Most people think the war took place solely east of the Mississippi River and was fought mostly in the eastern portion of the United States.

The state of Missouri, however, saw more battles within its borders than any other US state and was only eclipsed by Virginia and Tennessee in total number of battles fought. And while there were major battles that took place in the state involving regular army units from both the Union and Confederate ranks, a large portion of the conflicts that took place were between the everyday citizens of the state.

These men were usually from rural areas and one could argue that they fought not for slavery (the vast majority of these men did not even own slaves) but over areas of land that had little to no governmental control. Some of these men, however, fought for more insidious reasons which included the murdering of innocent people.

These men, called bushwhackers (the term refers to their guerrilla-like tactics of hiding out in "bushy" areas and then ambushing their victims), were, in general, usually part of the irregular military units of both the Union and the Confederacy and since they were not part of the regular army, both governments struggled with how to deal with these bands of men; should they be treated as legitimate military operations or criminal actions.

Many of the bushwhackers in Missouri used a form of guerrilla warfare known as “People’s war” as their primary means of warfare as opposed to standard, military style operations. This usually included neighbor against neighbor fighting to settle grudges and disputes but on rare occasions would consist of these civilians banding together to fight against opposing troops.

The other type of guerrilla warfare used by the bushwhackers was "Partisan warfare". This type of guerrilla warfare differed in that it was comprised of small forces that were in turn controlled and/or organized by a larger military organization. This ultimately led to these groups of "partisan rangers" being perceived as having more "legitimacy" than their bushwhacker brethren.

Here are the stories of a few of these famous (or as some may say infamous) bushwhackers and partisan rangers of Missouri.

William Clarke QuantrillThe "kingpin" of all the guerrilla leaders in Missouri was undoubtedly William Clarke Quantrill. Quantrill led many raids and attacks on known Union towns and against Union soldiers as well as robbing stagecoaches. These actions led Union commanders to brand him an outlaw, even as he apparently secured a captains rank in the Confederate army in charge of partisan rangers.

Quantrill is probably best known for his raid and sacking of Lawrence, Kansas in 1863. Lawrence had strong ties to the Union and was the base for the abolitionists in Kansas. When a makeshift jail collapsed, killing four young women accused of supporting Quantrill's Raiders, Quantrill and his men blamed the collapse on the Union. With the fire fueled Quantrill ordered the attack on Lawrence, and by his orders, his guerrillas killed 183 men and boys "old enough to carry a rifle".

Quantrill met his end in Kentucky when he rode into a Union ambush on May 10, 1865. He was shot in the chest and died on June 6th.

William T. "Bloody Bill" AndersonOne of Quantrill's allies was another notorious guerrilla of note, William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson. Two of William T. Anderson's sisters, Josephine and Mary were in the collapsed jail in Kansas City that fueled the fire for the attack on Lawrence. Josephine was killed and Mary was crippled. Anderson rode with Quantrill's Raiders until a dispute with Quantrill in Texas led Anderson to head his own band of partisans and they headed back to Missouri.

Anderson was known for his savagery and made a habit of not only shooting his prisoners, but also mutilating and scalping them. This was the case on September 27, 1864 during the Centralia Massacre where he killed, mutilated and decapitated almost 150 Union solders.

Anderson met his end when he led a charge against an ambush in Ray County, Missouri. Anderson fell from the saddle after having been shot twice in the head. His remains were taken to Richmond, Missouri where he was put on display, then decapitated, his head stuck on a pole and his body dragged through the streets before being buried in an unmarked grave.

Bill WilsonThe name Bill Wilson is probably one you have never heard of in reference to the Civil War, but his story is probably one of the most interesting and one that could be said is the story of Missourians in the Civil War. Bill Wilson lived in the foothills of the Ozarks in the Phelps county Missouri area. He maintained a neutral stance leading up to and during some of the war. This changed when his wife and children were pulled from their home by Union soldiers and then watched it burn to the ground. Wilson went on a killing spree and enacted his vengeance on anything and anyone even remotely having ties to the Union or with the attack on his family.

Wilson was notorious for being unrivaled when it came to shooting and was also very adept at ambush techniques. The foothills of the Ozarks, and the close family ties there afforded Wilson considerable security. As the war continued Wilson enacted his vengeance and was considered a criminal for his actions by Union commanders and ultimately fled to Texas.

At this point the story of Bill Wilson becomes cloudy, as no one is completely sure what happened to him. Some stories have him joining William Quantrill while he was in Texas. According to the book "Bushwhacker" by George Clinton Arthur, Wilson was shot to death in March 1869 by two Missourians, John Thompson and William O. Blackmore and supposedly covered with brush in a hasty burial.

Both men were tried and hung in Sherman, Texas. No grave or remains have been found to date of Bushwhacker Bill Wilson.

One would be remiss to leave out Jesse James, his brother Frank James and Cole Younger as three of the most recognizable and notorious bushwhackers or partisans in Missouri's history. We will discuss them in a future article. Their eventual notoriety would be a direct result of their respect, admiration and tutelage of their mentors, William Quantrill and Bloody Bill Anderson.