Capt George Todd

archieclement

Colonel
Joined
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Location
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A stone mason by trade, George Todd was born in Montreal Canada in 1839. In 1849 Todd's family moved to Missouri and settled in the Kansas City area. At the beginning of the civil war, George Todd and his father were bridge and railroad contractors. The blue eyed, auburn haired, light complexioned Todd joined the Missouri State Guard shortly after the beginning of the war, fighting at Carthage, Wilson's Creek, and Lexington. Upon the expiration of his terms of service to the guard, Todd joined Quantrill's band in late Dec 61 or early Jan 1862, and was elected the units 3rd LT. Before long, Todd became Quantrill's right hand man and earned a reputation as fierce fighter

While a member of Quantrill's band , Todd fought at several engagements, including Independence (Aug 11th 1862) where he used sledgehammers to free two men from jail, at Westport (June 17th 1863) Todd and Quantrill lead the charge that broke the Federals, Lawrence Raid where he lead the assault on the Eldridge Hotel and later covered Quantrill's retreat, at Baxter Springs (Oct 6 1863) Todd's men lead the attack on Fort Blair, At Fayette where he served under Bloody Bill Anderson, and at Centralia Todd led the charge on AVE Johnston's federals.

One former guerrilla recorded that when not in battle Todd was mild mannered and quiet, while Andrew Walker called Todd a tyrant. Clarifying Walker also recorded Todd was overbearing among his own men, quick tempered, and bent on having things his own way. Not as popular as Quantrill, Todd proved to be a formidable fighter and as a brave man as ever went into battle. In combat Frank Smith recalled that Todd knew no fighting but to charge. Quantrill did the planning, Todd did the executing. John Edwards called Todd Quantrill's "thunderbolt" while William Gregg labelled Todd "a maniac in battle". Wounded nine times during the war, George Todd had few equals among the guerrillas.

On Oct 20 1864 George Todd now a Captain and commanding Quantrill's old band, joined his fortunes with General Sterling Price during his 64 Missouri raid, and the following day Todd was gravely wounded, shot in the neck, while leading a charge against the 2nd CO Cav REGT, Todd's men carried him to Independence where he died two hours later.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10273/george-w.-todd
 
I know nothing of this man, but feel compelled to point out he should not be confused with Captain George Todd of the 1st Texas Infantry, John Bell Hood's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. Hood's Captain Todd was by all accounts a helluva fighter and an honorable one at that. Hate to see him confused with Quantrill & Company.

Carry on.
 
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Archie, I was just thinking about Todd this afternoon and wondering if there was anything new about him online. I did a Google search and found your thread. I missed it when I checked into the forum this morning.

I've always wondered about Todd's motivation. Your post offers some clues. If he had lived in Missouri since about age 10, then it's easy to see how he might have grown up in a circle of friends from older Missouri families with pro-slavery leanings. If that is correct, it's easy to see how he might have joined the State Guard with his friends. After that, I can easily imagine that, like McCorckle and so many others, he went to the bush rather than joining the Missouri Enrolled Militia.

I'm curious where you found this background information on him. I've long known that he was a Canadian and a bridge mason with his father, but I could never figure out how he got embroiled in our war. As I said, your post offers some good clues.
 
Its from Banasik's Cavaliers of the Brush 2003 Camp Pope, Banasiks work relies heavily on a series of 12 letters published in the Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph in Houston Texas during the war, evidently from a reporter who visited them in winter camp. , also lists Noted Guerrillas-Edwards, Gregg manuscripts, three years with Quantrill-Barton, Encyclopedia of Quantrill's Guerrillas-Lankford, Branded as rebel-Hale, Recollections of Quantrill's Guerrillas-Eakin, Second Colorado's-Williams, and We Rode with Quantrill-Hale as sources for Todd bio

Banasiks book also includes some post war interviews with Frank James
 
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Hello @archieclement, @Patrick H & all...I am a newbie to the forum. I hope you enjoy this posting and that it sheds some more light on your questions.

This is from my own research I did. Cpt Todd's father, also George, was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada with his spouse, Margerit (also born in Scotland). They were residing in the region of Montréal (they lived on Notre Dame St). Cpt Todd also had a 3 years younger sister, also named Margerit. According to Canadian and US censii, Cpt Todd was born in 1839. Kansas City census states he was 20 years old on Jun 1840. The rumor is he was born in October 1839, as it was documented he was killed just prior to his birthday. Based on personality descriptions you provided @archieclement, he was probably born Oct 24-Oct 31 as these personality descriptions sound very much like Scorpio personality traits. This is a big stretch and probably just my imagination but good fun, nonetheless!

There is a good compendium of resources available here: http://www.canteymyerscollection.com
This is an alleged site that documents the Cantley/Meyrs collections of memorabilia from the Ks/Mo border wars period. Meyrs claims to have ridden under the command of Cpt Todd and was given his personal effect and photographs posthumously to maintain for posterity. I have found nothing to discredit this site and I think it provides the best wealth of knowledge about this period, which seems so scantly documented.

I searched censii documentation on familysearch.org. Below please see attached photos from the Cantley/Meyrs collection of Cpt Todd. I attached them full size because the thumbnails were impossible to see.

Captain Geo. Todd (l) & W.C. Quantrill (r)
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Todd (far l) and other guerillas. The site provides the name.

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Group photo, Geo Todd far R corner
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This photo is referenced as having been taking in 1858. It's perhaps the clearest, earliest Todd photo.
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Another dual sitting, Todd (L)

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An individual sitting...very contemplative. He is not a smiler, is he?

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This photo is credited as being Cpt Todd, but I'm not sold and I'll tell you why. The mouth is wrong, Todd has a straighter, thinner lip profile and very distinct marionette lines. This man does not. Also, Cpt Todd has incredibly blue eyes - incredibly - so much so they do not hardly show up in the B&W photos. This man's eyes are too dark even with bad lighting. Also, while Cpt Todd has a noticeable wave to his hair, it leans more to the straighter side. I can be wrong....could just be the angle?

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And to make things even more interesting because I could NOT stop researching...this is a picture of his father, George Sr.

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Below is the Canadian census. The resolution is terrible, blame Familysearch.org! I added darker black lines so you can see the name in the index.

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Kansas City 1840 census

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Hello @archieclement, @Patrick H & all...I am a newbie to the forum. I hope you enjoy this posting and that it sheds some more light on your questions.

This is from my own research I did. Cpt Todd's father, also George, was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada with his spouse, Margerit (also born in Scotland). They were residing in the region of Montréal (they lived on Notre Dame St). Cpt Todd also had a 3 years younger sister, also named Margerit. According to Canadian and US censii, Cpt Todd was born in 1839. Kansas City census states he was 20 years old on Jun 1840. The rumor is he was born in October 1839, as it was documented he was killed just prior to his birthday. Based on personality descriptions you provided @archieclement, he was probably born Oct 24-Oct 31 as these personality descriptions sound very much like Scorpio personality traits. This is a big stretch and probably just my imagination but good fun, nonetheless!

There is a good compendium of resources available here: http://www.canteymyerscollection.com
This is an alleged site that documents the Cantley/Meyrs collections of memorabilia from the Ks/Mo border wars period. Meyrs claims to have ridden under the command of Cpt Todd and was given his personal effect and photographs posthumously to maintain for posterity. I have found nothing to discredit this site and I think it provides the best wealth of knowledge about this period, which seems so scantly documented.

I searched censii documentation on familysearch.org. Below please see attached photos from the Cantley/Meyrs collection of Cpt Todd. I attached them full size because the thumbnails were impossible to see.

Captain Geo. Todd (l) & W.C. Quantrill (r)
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Todd (far l) and other guerillas. The site provides the name.

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Group photo, Geo Todd far R corner
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This photo is referenced as having been taking in 1858. It's perhaps the clearest, earliest Todd photo.
View attachment 202295

Another dual sitting, Todd (L)

View attachment 202296

An individual sitting...very contemplative. He is not a smiler, is he?

View attachment 202297

This photo is credited as being Cpt Todd, but I'm not sold and I'll tell you why. The mouth is wrong, Todd has a straighter, thinner lip profile and very distinct marionette lines. This man does not. Also, Cpt Todd has incredibly blue eyes - incredibly - so much so they do not hardly show up in the B&W photos. This man's eyes are too dark even with bad lighting. Also, while Cpt Todd has a noticeable wave to his hair, it leans more to the straighter side. I can be wrong....could just be the angle?

View attachment 202301

And to make things even more interesting because I could NOT stop researching...this is a picture of his father, George Sr.

View attachment 202298

Below is the Canadian census. The resolution is terrible, blame Familysearch.org! I added darker black lines so you can see the name in the index.

View attachment 202299

Kansas City 1840 census

View attachment 202300
Thank you for the post. It contains some information that is new to me. The Cantey-Myers site is well known to most of those interested in Quantrill's men. It, too, contains some fascinating things, but you must approach the site with eyes wide open. I am certain a number of their photos are mis-attributed, as you have already discovered. Also, they are total apologists for the Q. men and that filters the information they post. But it's an interesting site and your post just prompted me to click into it for the first time in quite a while. I believe they've added a number of images since my last visit. Thanks again for your post. Todd is somewhat of an enigma to me. McCorckle seems to have admired him, judging from the way he wrote of Todd's death and burial.
 
Thank you for the post. It contains some information that is new to me. The Cantey-Myers site is well known to most of those interested in Quantrill's men. It, too, contains some fascinating things, but you must approach the site with eyes wide open. I am certain a number of their photos are mis-attributed, as you have already discovered. Also, they are total apologists for the Q. men and that filters the information they post. But it's an interesting site and your post just prompted me to click into it for the first time in quite a while. I believe they've added a number of images since my last visit. Thanks again for your post. Todd is somewhat of an enigma to me. McCorckle seems to have admired him, judging from the way he wrote of Todd's death and burial.
I was at least trying to put a timeline together regarding his youth and family, which is not an easy feat. I'm sure eyes on the ground would surpass the internet searching. As usual, online databases are not the most detailed. Is there a record of the McCorkle article somewhere?

It's interesting to note misattributes of photos. Sometimes, I think we forget that we are dealing with a homogenous group of people all sharing most of the same background - Irish, Scottish, German or are related to each other by marriage. It's easy to mistake a nose, or a mouth shape, or eye color!

My money is still on Eddie Redmayne as George Todd if the movie is ever made :smile:
 
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A Cantey-Meyrs photo with un-named R side subject. I'll speculate with greater than > 85% certainty it's George Todd. The eye color is correct, hair and ears look correct. Still clean shaven - which is another reason I doubted that one photo above. I never saw a picture where he had facial hair. Also, bridge of the nose to eyebrows and eyebrows are correct. The slope of his shoulders also match to the credited 1859 photo. Probably this is also an early photo 1859/1860-ish.

I read somewhere recently, and I don't have the source reference off hand - but I need more credible primary sources from this author - that Todd joined Quantrill to grind a major axe.

Sometime around 1860, while he was actually enlisted with the Missouri State Guard (Union), his father was asked to build some sort of bridge foundation for the Union Army, which his father refused to do. Why...??? Anyhow, seems that was not the correct answer and he was put in prison on a bread/water ration and became incapacitated to the point people had to come to prison to feed him. Some time after, George came back from wherever he was deployed and was also imprisoned. Why...?? Long story short, Todd gave up his Union affiliations and joined with Quantrill. This explains all his Union parapheranalia.

I doubt highly he was a pro-slavery as no one ever mentioned that the Todds owned slaves. He came from a free country (Canada) and, therefore, I would speculate not native to the idea of slavery nor his family. The family maybe had only a good 10 years in the US and immigrated through from St. Louis. Missouri was always a bit mixed with slavery, and they just didn't have the history or connections to other deep South states (like the James' in KY) to convince me of any pro-slavery motivations. Also, it seems all the sons and George A. Todd (father) - even his grandfather, Alexander Todd - were all civil engineers and mason workers. It's just not a job that requires slave labor. It was mason work as related to building bridges, which would require a certain level of education and apprenticeship and would not be able to be completed by slave labor.

I reviewed the McCorkle book and it seemed that there was a black man named Rube who was greatly attached to Todd. He was also respected greatly by Todd who went out of his way to protect him from pro-slavery guerillas who were not as amused with this "friendship." McCorkle disparagingly called Rube, Todd's "pet n-----." Todd apparently told anyone who bothered Rube would be shot.

Thank you @Patrick H for telling me about the McCorkle book. I feel my assessment of Todd as a fatalist is relatively good. There is a section where he tells McCorkle he knows (as a fact) he's going to die at the 2nd Battle of Independence and that he wants to make sure he gets a proper burial. It's a shame there are no other good 1st hand personality descriptions.

If anyone reads anything else interesting, please feel free to share :smile:


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Sometime around 1860, while he was actually enlisted with the Missouri State Guard (Union), his father was asked to build some sort of bridge foundation for the Union Army
es3040, The Missouri State Guard was a state-affiliated organization with strong allegiance to the southern cause. I'm not contesting that Todd might have belonged to a Union-affiliated militia, because I simply don't know. But I'm clarifying that the Missouri State Guard was not a Union organization.

Regarding the Federal uniform coats and gear, most of the guerrillas had this sort of equipment. They took it from dead soldiers or captured it before it could collect bullet holes. It was typical for them to disguise themselves in Federal or militia uniforms.

I hope you will be able to locate the material you read on Todd. I'd like to read it, too.
 
Yeah i'm not that familiar with the State Guard to be honest. I didn't get the time to research it as much as I'd have liked to. I read the family did have some superficial relationship with the Union ranks because of their work...and I believe that Todd was maybe one of a handful of the guerillas who had actual military training, which I'm sure was useful :smile:
 
From the 1877 book by John Edwards, "Notable Guerillas or the Warfare of the Border." No references to his information and a lot of it sounds a bit romanticized but is close enough to the time frame to probably present some more first hand evidence even if it isn't sourced. The irony that Edwards uses the term "fatalist," I am not surprised.

Sorry for the large files. Not presented in any particular order.


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A Cantey-Meyrs photo with un-named R side subject. I'll speculate with greater than > 85% certainty it's George Todd. The eye color is correct, hair and ears look correct. Still clean shaven - which is another reason I doubted that one photo above. I never saw a picture where he had facial hair. Also, bridge of the nose to eyebrows and eyebrows are correct. The slope of his shoulders also match to the credited 1859 photo. Probably this is also an early photo 1859/1860-ish.

I read somewhere recently, and I don't have the source reference off hand - but I need more credible primary sources from this author - that Todd joined Quantrill to grind a major axe.

Sometime around 1860, while he was actually enlisted with the Missouri State Guard (Union), his father was asked to build some sort of bridge foundation for the Union Army, which his father refused to do. Why...??? Anyhow, seems that was not the correct answer and he was put in prison on a bread/water ration and became incapacitated to the point people had to come to prison to feed him. Some time after, George came back from wherever he was deployed and was also imprisoned. Why...?? Long story short, Todd gave up his Union affiliations and joined with Quantrill. This explains all his Union parapheranalia.

I doubt highly he was a pro-slavery as no one ever mentioned that the Todds owned slaves. He came from a free country (Canada) and, therefore, I would speculate not native to the idea of slavery nor his family. The family maybe had only a good 10 years in the US and immigrated through from St. Louis. Missouri was always a bit mixed with slavery, and they just didn't have the history or connections to other deep South states (like the James' in KY) to convince me of any pro-slavery motivations. Also, it seems all the sons and George A. Todd (father) - even his grandfather, Alexander Todd - were all civil engineers and mason workers. It's just not a job that requires slave labor. It was mason work as related to building bridges, which would require a certain level of education and apprenticeship and would not be able to be completed by slave labor.

I reviewed the McCorkle book and it seemed that there was a black man named Rube who was greatly attached to Todd. He was also respected greatly by Todd who went out of his way to protect him from pro-slavery guerillas who were not as amused with this "friendship." McCorkle disparagingly called Rube, Todd's "pet n-----." Todd apparently told anyone who bothered Rube would be shot.

Thank you @Patrick H for telling me about the McCorkle book. I feel my assessment of Todd as a fatalist is relatively good. There is a section where he tells McCorkle he knows (as a fact) he's going to die at the 2nd Battle of Independence and that he wants to make sure he gets a proper burial. It's a shame there are no other good 1st hand personality descriptions.

If anyone reads anything else interesting, please feel free to share :smile:


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There were slaves who were trained as stone cutters. So I would imagine a mason here who even if they didn't own one/some, would have worked with contracted slave labor.
 
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For anyone truly interested, I might have landed on his birthday - Sept 17, 1839. Baptised the next day.

Not 100% confirmed but a good lead and corresponds to the same name, George Appelton Tod (name and spelling) found in Missouri in a marriage record to Hannah Catherine Todd in 1861. This was supposedly his late brother's wife whom he married. Parents are George M[illegible] Tod (builder) and I want to say Margaret Harris, again this is the worst scan I think I've seen. The Quebec census records him with his parents George and Margerit [sic]. I'll go out on a limb and say this is probably credible.

Source: Presbyterian Saint Gabriel birth records, Montréal, Québec.

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The railroad contractors part sounds right as the North Missouri Railroad was being built just before this time. The Hannibal - St. Jo having been completed in 1859, when the two lines of construction met in Chillicothe, Mo., on Feb. 13. So Todd and his father could have easily been working on the NMRR line which ran from St. Charles to Macon (Hudson). One article said the NMRR was finished to Macon in 1859. It had had completed construction in August 1855 from St. Louis to St. Charles, then it ran north, it reached Warrenton in August of 1857 and in May of 1858 to Mexico. It reached Macon (Hudson) in Feb. 1859. So the Todds could have been working on either rail lines or improvements to them.
 
From the Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society 1909-1910:

"I notice in your volume IX Bill Todd's name is frequently quoted, whereas it should read George Todd. I knew him and his family well. They were Scotch people and came to Kansas City from Canada in 1859, as I now re member it. The family consisted of five persons: the father, mother, one daughter and two sons, Tom and George, the latter being the youngest of the family. The father and Tom were practical stonemasons, and worked at the trade, while George, then about eighteen years of age, was a helper. I was assistant city engineer at the time, and when not at work the Todds spent much of their time in my office. They were awarded a contract to construct a sewer in the bottom of a deep ravine across our public square, and during the progress of this work Tom was struck and killed by a stone which rolled down the embankment to the bottom of the ravine. The father and Tom were highly respected, but George was of a sullen, morose dispo sition, having little to say to anyone, and with no close associates, but with out vicious habits as far as I know. Why he took to the “bresh” will always remain a mystery, as he had no knowledge of the issues involved in war, no grievances to redress, no wrongs to avenge nor property interests to protect. One would think from his origin he would have been an enemy of slavery, but the eccentricities of the human family are many, varied and past explaining. At one time it was reported he was at the family resi dence in this city, whereupon a half dozen young men, including myself, banded together to capture him. Accordingly we went to the house about ten o’clock P. M., all well armed, and were met at the door by his mother. We informed her we came to see George, and she at once denounced us in a volume of vitriolic vituperation, declaring “You wretches want to spill the best blood of Scotland, the noblest blood of Scotland”; but unheedful of her scolding we proceeded to search the house, and not finding him, we de scended into the cellar carrying lighted candles, but he was not there. I have since thought it fortunate for the members of that expedition that Todd was absent, otherwise some blood would have been shed and it might not have been the best blood of Scotland. Todd became one of the most savage and bloodthirsty of Quantrill's followers, and was killed October 22, 1864, the day of the battle of the Big Blue.”

A footnote -- NotE 2.- "Tom Todd had married in St. Louis before 1859, as I now remember, an estimable young woman. At the time of his fatal injury he asked his brother George to take good care of her and see that she was protected. Soon after George went with the guerrillas he married her. After his death she again married and removed to California, where she still lives. Morgan T. Mattox, one of Quantrill's men, gave me the information from which I wrote my account of the death of George Todd, printed in my 'Quantrill and the Border Wars.' page 455. On the 24th of March, 1910, Mattox again repeated this story to me, and added that when he went up to Todd he was still quivering in death, and that a volley was fired at him and one other man while they were dragging Todd down into the slough.”—W. E. Connelley.
 
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