The Civil War role of Jessie James was quite simple actually. He was considered a “Guerrilla”, defined as "one who engages in irregular warfare as a member of an independent unit carrying out acts of harassment and sabotage." It was a concept known and respected by the Saxons of England, by the Spanish in the brutal struggle against the French during the Napoleonic Wars, by the Irish in their innumerable campaigns against the British, and by countless others in the tragic and bloodstained second half of the twentieth century. In May of 1862, the Confederate Congress approved the Partisan Ranger Act which authorized the formation of irregular units designed to wage "hit and run" warfare against the Yankees.
His older brother Frank joined with William Clarke Quantrill, the man destined to become the great guerrilla chieftain of the Trans-Mississippi band of raiders, along with Cole Younger, but Jessie was too young at the time and unwillingly remained at home for a time. He eventually joined and proved himself as a competent “Warrior” as some people considered them. They fought in their own fashion--rarely giving mercy nor expecting any--in a manner separate and distinct from the "civilized" rules of warfare.
Usually armed with revolvers, shotguns, and Bowie knives; and wearing tattered gray or, more frequently, civilian clothes or captured Union blue; and following their own officers, their own flags, and their own definitions of justice, the Southern guerrillas began to strike at the enemy. Unionist "jayhawkers"
After the raid into Kansas in August of 1863, and the burning of Lawrence the band split up. Among the men who followed Quantrill into Lawrence was a young guerrilla named William Anderson. Anderson left Quantrills band and organized his own unit which included seventeen year-old Jesse James. Captain Anderson would soon become known simply as "Bloody Bill"
When the Confederacy began to collapse in the spring of 1865, the guerrillas and partisan rangers of the South still held hope that defeat could be averted. William Clarke Quantrill, accompanied by a small band, crossed the Mississippi and rode into Kentucky hoping, according to some accounts, to strike at the Lincoln-Johnson administration in Washington. He was mortally wounded by Union troops on May 10, 1865 near Louisville. That same day, in Georgia, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union cavalry.
The end had come, but for Southern guerrillas, it was not an acceptable conclusion to a long and bloody struggle. For many who had ridden under the black flag, there was no home to which to return--there was no future. For some, especially in battered Missouri, the gun, still, was the only hope. For some--Frank and Jesse James, the Younger brothers, and others--the war continued.
Hope some of this helps you.
Traveller  | 
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