Two Infamous Guerrillas

[leftyhunter]

I "liked" your post, but I also wanted to thank you for posting it. Too often the story of the guerrilla action that took place in Missouri is just glossed over in most histories of the CW, and can be very biased depending on when the book was written, and the views of the author. It takes some effort in finding a history that is unbiased, but thankfully some new works are coming out that, (in my opinion), treat both sides of the conflict in a fair manner. When ever I find someone who is so adamant in their views about the guerrilla's, my first thought is "what have you read" that leads them to their position? In my case, I was drawn to a more in-depth study of the Missouri guerrilla war because I now live in the area of where it took place. In the most general terms, it was a war of retaliation and revenge, on both sides, at a level that occurred only very rarely in other areas of the country. I think we should be very greatfull for that.

Actually guerrilla warfare was quite common in the Civil War and lots of tit for that retaliation in many states. The COIN conflict in Missouri was intense but no more so then for example in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee , Northern Alabama and South Eastern Florida.
Leftyhunter

 

[Lost Cause]

I didn't learn about Sam until a couple of years ago. He was quite a ruthless fighter, too. He dictated his autobiography and it's in print again, available on paper or Kindle for anyone who is interested. It's a bit self-aggrandizing, but it's a good read.

I have not read his autobiography. His following quote concerning the war seems to sum up the guerrilla conflict:

"I make no apology to mankind for my acts of retaliation; I make no whining appeal to the world for sympathy. I sought revenge and I found it; the key of hell was not suffered to rust in the lock while I was on the war path."

 

[Patrick H]

I don't think it necessarily started for revenge--at least not in western Missouri. However, a lot of the fighting deteriorated to revenge motives pretty soon. In the case of Anderson, if it wasn't revenge before August of 1863, it was afterwards. In the case of Little Archie, I don't know that it was ever revenge motivated. I think the war just gave him a general excuse for killing.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

William "Bloody Bill" Anderson was killed on this day in 1864 during a Federal ambush near Albany, Missouri.

Non-Bloody Bill

 

[jackt62]

I recently read a biography of "Bloody Bill Anderson: The Short Bloody Life of a Civil War Guerrilla" by Albert Castel and Thomas Goodrich. That book was mind boggling as it revealed the type of savage warfare that was being waged in Missouri by Anderson and others that is unfamiliar to most people when they think of the Civil War.

 

[Patrick H]

I recently read a biography of "Bloody Bill Anderson: The Short Bloody Life of a Civil War Guerrilla" by Albert Castel and Thomas Goodrich. That book was mind boggling as it revealed the type of savage warfare that was being waged in Missouri by Anderson and others that is unfamiliar to most people when they think of the Civil War.

That book more or less blew my mind, too. I live in a town where a number of his victims are buried, and in the center of his central Missouri deprivations. I thought I was familiar with everything, but I was still shocked.

 

[Patrick H]

One of the vicious fights discussed in Castel and Goodrich's book is the ambush at Rawlings Lane. Captain Parke and a patrol out of Boonville were hunting for Bill and the boys. They were lured into a dead end lane serving a number of fields owned by the Rawlings family. Accounts differ a bit, but most agree that Little Archie Clements was supposed to lead them completely into the lane. Instead, he a a few boys wheeled their horses and charged into the patrol, completely unnerving Parke, who abandoned his men on the spot and ran for Fayette. The rest of the federals fought a brave and fairly well organized retreat, but not before some of their men were killed in the lane.

A couple of years ago, Buckeye Bill and his lovely wife and I took a short drive to Rawlings Lane. Naomi was generous enough to shoot this picture for me. This is the entrance to Rawlings Lane. You'd never suspect what happened here in August of 1864.

 

[Patrick H]

The bodies of eight victims (some accounts say there were more) were brought to Boonville the next day for burial. Actually, one body (I believe Orderly Sgt. Davis) wasn't found until two days after the fight. The eight men are buried is separate caskets, but in an otherwise common grave in Boonville's Sunset Hills cemetery.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

The Sunset Hills Cemetery is a neat place to visit, Pat. The mass grave site is very sobering.....

Bill

 

[archieclement]

I don't think it necessarily started for revenge--at least not in western Missouri. However, a lot of the fighting deteriorated to revenge motives pretty soon. In the case of Anderson, if it wasn't revenge before August of 1863, it was afterwards. In the case of Little Archie, I don't know that it was ever revenge motivated. I think the war just gave him a general excuse for killing.

Honestly if Archie's weren't revenge motivated, I'd assume none were. He grew up in Cass and Johnson County right on the border with Kansas so would have experienced the bleeding Kansas period firsthand, down in Jennison raiding country........If having family, neighbors, friends and comrades being victimized don't count, would assume most guerrilla's had no motivation...........Some accounts had Archie having a younger brother killed by jayhawkers, but it was more likely his 12 year old nephew who died aug 1st 1861, the son of his older brother Henry who also became a guerrilla. Archie himself was only 15-16 when he joined.

And hardly surprising there's someone who calls him Capt Anderson.......you do realize there's a SCV camp devoted to him, they generally don't name camps after someone they don't respect..............

 

[Booner]

Honestly if Archie's weren't revenge motivated, I'd assume none were. He grew up in Cass and Johnson County right on the border with Kansas so would have experienced the bleeding Kansas period firsthand, down in Jennison raiding country........If having family, neighbors, friends and comrades being victimized don't count, would assume most guerrilla's had no motivation...........Some accounts had Archie having a younger brother killed by jayhawkers, but it was more likely his 12 year old nephew who died aug 1st 1861, the son of his older brother Henry who also became a guerrilla. Archie himself was only 15-16 when he joined.

And hardly surprising there's someone who calls him Capt Anderson.......you do realize there's a SCV camp devoted to him, they generally don't name camps after someone they don't respect..............

I've been reading a book entitled, "The Ghosts of Guerrilla Memory" by Matthew Christopher Hulbert, and he really drive home the point how the guerrilla's were revenge motivated by the "household war" the Union forces waged on the (mainly southern) families from Missouri. Fathers killed, often in front of their families, homes and farms looted and burned, mothers and children turned out often with nothing but the clothes on their back. If neighbors took them in, they they too were subject to Union retribution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. This is the "Household War" fought in Missouri. Who wouldn't be driven by revenge? And why wouldn't it lead to state-wide terrorism?

 

[archieclement]

I agree completely, it was the overriding motivation of the guerrillas,. was just responding to "In the case of Little Archie, I don't know that it was ever revenge motivated" which seems somewhat ridiculous to me considered where and when he grew up, and his having other family joining with him and the circumstances.

 

[JohnW.]

William Quantrill died after converting to the Catholic faith in hospital and receiving the sacrament of Extreme Unction as far as I know. This detail came up in my thread on the Black Flag. Here is what I posted (#46):

 

[CSA Today]

Honestly if Archie's weren't revenge motivated, I'd assume none were. He grew up in Cass and Johnson County right on the border with Kansas so would have experienced the bleeding Kansas period firsthand, down in Jennison raiding country........If having family, neighbors, friends and comrades being victimized don't count, would assume most guerrilla's had no motivation...........Some accounts had Archie having a younger brother killed by jayhawkers, but it was more likely his 12 year old nephew who died aug 1st 1861, the son of his older brother Henry who also became a guerrilla. Archie himself was only 15-16 when he joined.

And hardly surprising there's someone who calls him Capt Anderson.......you do realize there's a SCV camp devoted to him, they generally don't name camps after someone they don't respect..............

There is a James-Younger SCV Camp in North Carolina.

 

[Waterloo50]

One of the vicious fights discussed in Castel and Goodrich's book is the ambush at Rawlings Lane. Captain Parke and a patrol out of Boonville were hunting for Bill and the boys. They were lured into a dead end lane serving a number of fields owned by the Rawlings family. Accounts differ a bit, but most agree that Little Archie Clements was supposed to lead them completely into the lane. Instead, he a a few boys wheeled their horses and charged into the patrol, completely unnerving Parke, who abandoned his men on the spot and ran for Fayette. The rest of the federals fought a brave and fairly well organized retreat, but not before some of their men were killed in the lane.

A couple of years ago, Buckeye Bill and his lovely wife and I took a short drive to Rawlings Lane. Naomi was generous enough to shoot this picture for me. This is the entrance to Rawlings Lane. You'd never suspect what happened here in August of 1864.

View attachment 163042

I have no idea how I managed to miss this thread, its fascinating and I read every single post in one sitting, the photo of Rawlings Lane has to be one of the most fascinating pictures that I have seen in a while, my imagination ran wild with that photo. I hope this thread picks up again soon, thanks to everyone that posted, its been a really great read.

 

[archieclement]

There is a James-Younger SCV Camp in North Carolina.

Odd it isn't in Missouri, the SUVCW in Missouri have a John McNeil camp, he was responsible for the Palmyra Massacre and later relieved for cowardice.......

 

[War Horse]

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View attachment 57071
Yesterday I went scouting on the guerrilla trail in Lafayette and Ray Counties, Missouri. There were two graves I wanted to see, not for the purpose of honoring these particular men, but out of curiosity. I was in Lexington anyway, and the opportunity was too good to pass up.

The first cemetery was a little tricky to find, but after receiving directions from a local, we got there easily enough. It is the Pioneer Cemetery in Richmond, Missouri and it contains the grave of Wm. "Bloody Bill" Anderson. He was buried here after his body was drug around the courthouse square. His grave is off by itself in a corner, but well marked and easy to find in this very small cemetery. This cemetery is very remarkable for two reasons other than Anderson's grave. Those reasons are so unrelated to this, I will explain them in a separate thread.

The second cemetery is just off Highway 24, fairly near the town of Napoleon, MO. It, too, is an old community cemetery and contains the grave of one of the few guerrillas more infamous than Anderson--Little Archie Clements. A local guide told me that Archie's grave site was known, but was unmarked for decades. He, too, is buried back in a far corner--well separated from the more respectable folks buried there.

I'll confess that I went to Archie's grave with the feeling that I wanted to be sure he is still dead. While standing there, however, my feelings softened very slightly. In spite of my earlier feeling, he became nothing more than a curiosity to me once I was there.

I do note that souvenir hunters have been chipping away at Bill Anderson's stone. It's hard to imagine, but he still has some fans in the area. I know a person who still calls him "CAPTAIN Anderson".

The one and only Bloody Bill Anderson? That's really cool.

 

[mofederal]

I have lived in two towns where McNeil was considered the victor in a Civil War battle. He was no hero to me, and I tend to view him as a man who had no trouble executing people whether they deserved it or not. He had 15 or more parole violators executed in Kirksville, there were those that questioned the executions. There was a question as to whether the soldiers had been previously paroled. He ordered the execution of Lt. Col. Frisby H. McCullough , an act which was questioned by many and generally criticized. He was also responsible for the Palmyra Massacre, a brutal, act in which 10 Confederate prisoners (or southern sympathizers) were executed in revenge for the supposed abduction and murder of a supposed Union loyalist and suspected informer. This act gained him international attention and infamy in American and European newspapers. In later years McNeil felts his acts or actions were the performance of a public duty. Most people called him the "Butcher of Palmyra." He was relieved of duty during the battle of Wesport by Major General Pleasonton for cowardice and failure to attack the enemy.

 

[LtRusell]

One would think guerrillas would not be entitled to VA headstones. What's up with that?

It's not calling their service into question, not even actions. The 2ns Missouri Partisans have been recognized as a military unit. Period.

With the war made on the people of Georgia and South Carolina makes gasping at Missouri Partisans seem like a bit of a joke. It's great for the papers, and the laurels go to the victors. As do the histories.

Call me an apologist for those who fought for home in Missouri, Kansas, and west Tennessee if you must. If you're fighting for home, family, your way of life then the manor in which you fight is a non issue. Odds and fear become paramount.You pit a small group of very young men against a government and army that took special care to go after families, farms, crops and live stock, it's game on.

The Raising of Atlanta and Columbia, as well as the two mile swath through Georgia on the way to Savanna, give little room for saying that the Partisans in Missouri were some sort of insane group wandering around killing people for fun.
Point is I really don't care about the backgrounds of the people involved. Horse theif, parson, or one with a noble and lofty ideal. Either side had more than enough men in under arms who were more than willing to go "above and beyond" to send a message. The tactics used by Quantril & Anderson, the hit and run, have been used since, both by the US and our enemies. Why?

They work.

If you care to we can carry this conversation on in PM as to not upset the apple cart.

I will leave you with though, this from Sherman himself:

"You might as well appeal against a thunderstorm as against these terrible hardships of war. War is cruelty, there is no use trying to reform it; the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."
― William T. Sherman

 

[SWMODave]

The tactics used by Quantril & Anderson, the hit and run, have been used since, both by the US and our enemies. Why? They work.

According to the military, which became much more interested in what transpired in Missouri during the war, after entering Vietnam, and even more so, with the present fight on terrorism, the "tactics" worked - but the" strategy" failed. There are other military studies online but this one looks at Bloody Bill (the thread topic) and the massacre and battle at Centralia.

The Ironic Hindrances of Slaughter
A Case Study in Mission Command and Moral Autonomy
by Lt Colonel Peter D Fromm, US Army Retired

You can read (here)

It's one thing to kill an enemy to protect 'house and home', but its entirely something different to feel a need to take human body parts as trophies. If you want to defend "partisan rangers", you will find the task much easier for groups east of the Mississippi, because the comparisons with the guerilla's in Missouri, from either side, are few and far between.