[75] As Anderson's profile increased, he was able to recruit more guerrillas. He was, however, impressed by the effectiveness of Anderson's attacks. He favored swift execution of captured guerrillas. [41], Arriving in Lawrence on August 21, the guerrillas immediately killed a number of Union Army recruits and one of Anderson's men took their flag. You may have your own list of heartless maniacal killers. 11, but guerrilla activity continued throughout the war in other regions of the state. William T. Anderson (1839 - October 26, 1864), better known as "Bloody Bill," was one of the deadliest and most brutal pro-Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War.Anderson led a band of Missouri Partisan rangers* that targeted Union loyalists and Federal soldiers in Missouri and Kansas. [152] In 1967, a memorial stone was placed at the grave. Missouri - A State Divided: The Civil War in Missouri, Partisan Warfare in the American Civil War, Forces of Change and the Enduring Ozark Frontier: The Civil War. Topics and series. Quantrill expelled him and warned him not to come back, and the man was fatally shot by some of Quantrill's men when he attempted to return. They acquired arms where they could, including taking what was left behind on the battlefield. [154] Most Confederate guerrillas had lost heart by then, owing to a cold winter and the simultaneous failure of General Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri, which ensured the state would remain securely under Union control for the rest of the war. The Death of William Anderson , On Oct. 27, 1864, about 300 men of the Enrolled Missouri Militia, led by Union Lt. Col. Samuel P. Cox, ambushed Anderson and his guerrilla force in Ray County's Albany, Mo. [64] The next day, in southeast Jackson County, Anderson's group ambushed a wagon train carrying members of the Union 1st Northeast Missouri Cavalry, killing nine. [144] Four other guerrillas were killed in the attack. In what became known as the Centralia Massacre, Anderson's bushwhackers killed 24 unarmed Union soldiers on the train and set an ambush later that day which killed over a hundred Union militiamen. These regiments were composed of troops from out of state, who sometimes mistreated local residents, further motivating the guerrillas and their supporters. [29] In the resulting skirmish, several raiders were captured or killed and the rest of the guerrillas, including Anderson, split into small groups to return to Missouri. A short time later, another six of Anderson's men were ambushed and killed by Union troops;[90] after learning of these events, Anderson was outraged and left the area to seek revenge. In September 1864, Anderson led a raid on the town of Centralia, Missouri. Anderson reached a Confederate Army camp; although he hoped to kill some injured Union prisoners there, he was prevented from doing so by camp doctors. 100, in April 1863, set a national policy, outlining guerrillas and their treatment. The Dalton gang, cousins of the Younger brothers and imitators of the James gang, met their end at a bloody dual bank robbery in this Kansas town. They later fought under "Bloody Bill" Anderson . [132], Anderson traveled 70 miles (110km) east with 80 men to New Florence, Missouri. . In response, Union militias developed hand signals to verify that approaching men in Union uniforms were not guerrillas. Local citizens demanded possession of the corpse. After Bill Anderson's death in Richmond, Missouri on October 27, 1864 his brother Jim Anderson gathered together their surviving sisters, Mollie and Mattie and took them to Sherman, Texas. However, he was quickly released owing to a problem with the warrant, and fled to Agnes City, fearing he would be lynched. Its frame and grip initially matched the Navy in size, but Colt later lengthened the grip to absorb. After camping near New Hope Church in Fort Henry about. The next day, the elder Anderson traveled to the Council Grove courthouse with a gun, intending to force Baker to withdraw the warrant. several of Anderson's men were cut down immediately & Anderson & 2 more continued but just a short distance when they were cut down. By August 1864, they were regularly scalping the men they killed. Union troops used horses to drag Anderson's body through the streets around the Ray County Courthouse. Plot [ edit] Cocaine dealer, Darrell, leads a cop on a chase through the desert. As a general rule, bushwhackers would attack quickly and withdraw if they began receiving serious casualties. Bloody Bill Anderson. Some bands of guerrillas, like William Quantrill's, had 400 or more members, but most were much smaller. In October of 1864, Anderson's unit was trapped and outnumbered in Missouri, and 'Bloody Bill' was killed when he charged the Union troops. Among his troops was a well-established group of guerrilla fighters led by William Anderson, who was known by the nickname " Bloody Bill ." Among his guerrillas was a pair of southern Missouri brothers named Frank and Jesse James. [151] In 1908, Cole Younger, a former guerrilla who served under Quantrill, reburied Anderson's body in the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Richmond, Missouri. While on public display, a local photographer documented his death. As a general rule, bushwhackers would attack quickly and withdraw if. . [103], Anderson ordered his men not to harass the women on the train, but the guerrillas robbed all of the men, finding over $9,000 (equivalent to $156,000 in 2021) and taking the soldiers' uniforms. [46] They left town at 9:00am after a company of Union soldiers approached the town. En route, some guerrillas robbed a Union supporter, but Anderson knew the man and reimbursed him. Some local citizens suspected the Anderson family was assisting Griffith and traveled to their house to confront the elder William Anderson. Anderson, William William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson was born in Kentucky in 1839; he migrated with his family from Missouri to the Council Grove, Kansas area before the war. The Missouri act was an offshoot of the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act instituted by Confederate President Jefferson Davis in April 1862. Two Confederate soldiers carrying double-barreled shotguns, a favorite weapon early in the Civil War. [60][61][62] They told General Cooper that Quantrill was responsible for the death of a Confederate officer; the general had Quantrill arrested. [102] This was the first capture of a Union passenger train in the war. "Bring Lieutenant Coleman to me." [57] Quantrill appointed him a first lieutenant, subordinate only to himself and to Todd. [13] Anderson had told a neighbor that he sought to fight for financial reasons rather than out of loyalty to the Confederacy. [32], Quantrill's Raiders had an extensive support network in Missouri that provided them with numerous hiding places. Some, like the veterans attending the bushwacker reunions under Quantrill's vacant gaze, managed to adjust to post-war life. The Federal command in St. Louis, Mo. Powered by Tetra-WebBBS 6.21 / TetraBB PRO 0.30 2006-2012 tetrabb.com. The residents of Lawrence, Kansas, would never forget what happened on August 21, 1863, if indeed they were lucky enough to survive. The younger Anderson buried his father[17] and was subsequently arrested for assisting Griffith. They often used unorthodox tactics to fight Union troops, such as using a small party of horsemen to lure them into an ambush. [62][g] Quantrill was taken into custody but soon escaped. Operating against Unionists in the midst of the guerrilla war in Missouri and Kansas, he was a leading figure in the infamous Lawrence Massacre and the Centralia Massacre, gaining the nickname "Bloody Bill" for the perceived savagery of his exploits. The guerrillas, however, quickly learned the signals, and local citizens became wary of Union troops, fearing that they were disguised guerrillas. Stories about Anderson's brutality during the War were legion. [65], On July 6, a Confederate sympathizer brought Anderson newspapers containing articles about him. Their families and other local Confederate sympathizers supplied them with shelter, food, medical care and tactical information about Union activities. Doing some quick math on the number of men who rode with Quantrill, numbers around 700 ( those who can be named), maybe more. More lies and sensationalized stories have been told of William T. Anderson than any other Civil War Border War guerrilla except those of William Clarke Quantrill himself. Anyway, this has been a very interesting thread & we can agree that we each have an opinion on this matter. Anderson was fatally shot twice in the back of the head. Anderson is loosely portrayed by Jim Caviezel as Black John Ambrose in the 1999 Ang Lee film Ride With The Devil. Soon after Anderson left Glasgow, a local woman saw him and told Cox of his presence. [11] He joined the freight shipping operation for which his father worked and was given a position known as "second boss" for a wagon trip to New Mexico. The Union troops took his body to Richmond, Mo. They used it to attack other boats, bringing river traffic to a virtual halt. Confederate leaders were unsure about guerrillas. Residents. The most infamous order came in response to a brutal guerilla attack on Lawrence, Kan. An unusual event made a guerrilla out of William Anderson. They relied on knowledge of the local terrain for survival. They attacked the fort on October 6, but the 90 Union troops there quickly took refuge inside, suffering minimal losses. 3. III. Bloody Bill Anderson Name bad men in history, Caligula - Hitler - Charles Manson, more? Anderson led a band of volunteer partisan raiders who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas. He was killed in a Union ambush near Richmond, MO. . He worked with his brother Jim, their friend Lee Griffith and several accomplices strung along the Santa Fe Trail. They may be found on the 1850 Census of Randolph County,MO. Community & Conflict website entry (Submitted on October 1, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.) I do not claim to be an expert on guerrilla warfare in Missouri but am a student of the war in general. They used any weapon available to them. On August 30, Anderson and his men attacked a steamboat on the Missouri River, killing the captain and gaining control of the boat. Only advantage would have been if you were behind a barrier, in a gun battle. One way he sought to prove that loyalty was by severing his ties with Anderson's sister Mary, his former lover. [37] Castel and Goodrich maintain that by then killing had become more than a means to an end for Anderson: it became an end in itself. ; Battle of Lexington State Historic Site in Lexington, Mo. The Texas Gun Collector article suggested the family had indicated John Shanton owned a farm in Missouri where Frank and Jesse James would hide out. They also targeted strategically important infrastructure like bridges, telegraph lines and railroads. Operating against Unionists in the midst of the guerrilla war in Missouri and Kansas, he was a leading figure in the infamous Lawrence Massacre and the Centralia Massacre, gaining the nickname "Bloody Bill" for the perceived savagery of his exploits. All such organizations will be reported to their headquarters as soon as practicable. [160] Asa Earl Carter's novel The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales (1972) features Anderson as a main character. [35] In the aftermath, rumors that the building had been intentionally sabotaged by Union soldiers spread quickly;[36] Anderson was convinced it had been a deliberate act. Anderson planned to destroy railroad infrastructure in Centralia, Missouri. Two hesitated coming down the steps. Touch for directions. so there couldn't have been that many to obtain from citizens. John Wallace (within shouting distance of this marker); Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan (within shouting distance of this marker); Ray County Bicentennial Memorial (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); 1856 Courthouse Cornice Planter (about 300 feet away). Anderson was told to recapture him and gave chase, but he was unable to locate his former commander and stopped at a creek. [8] After settling there, the Anderson family became friends with A.I. [139], Union military leaders assigned Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Cox to kill Anderson, providing him with a group of experienced soldiers. It was Anderson's greatest victory, surpassing Lawrence and Baxter Springs in brutality and the number of casualties. [133] The group then traveled west, disregarding the mission assigned by General Price[134] in favor of looting. Again, everyone can have an opinion about that statement. . [79] General Clinton B. Fisk ordered his men to find and kill Anderson, but they were thwarted by Anderson's support network and his forces' superior training and arms. Many bushwhackers wore a distinctive shirt, such as this one on T.F. The film follows a group of people trying to survive while stranded in Sunset Valley, a desert ghost town inhabited by the murderous spirit of Confederate war criminal, William T. Anderson and his horde of zombies. A State Divided: The Civil War in Missouri. [18], On July 2, 1862, William and Jim Anderson returned to Council Grove and sent an accomplice to Baker's house claiming to be a traveler seeking supplies. Partisan Warfare in the American Civil War. Anderson was upset by the critical tone of the coverage and sent letters to the publications. [42] The Provost Marshal of Kansas, a Union captain who commanded military police, surrendered to the guerrillas and Anderson took his uniform[43] (guerrillas often wore uniforms stolen from Union soldiers). Cox stated that he went out & took one of Anderson's pistols along with money & a gold watch. Bill and Jim Anderson soon after this drifted off to the Sni Hills, in Missouri, where they had relatives. By the time the war started, Missouri's pro-rebel guerrillas were known as . II. On October 2, a group of 450 guerrillas under Quantrill's leadership met at Blackwater River in Jackson County and left for Texas. He thought the cashier was an informant. [117][118] Sutherland saw the massacre as the last battle in the worst phase of the war in Missouri,[119] and Castel and Goodrich described the slaughter as the Civil War's "epitome of savagery". [148] Union soldiers buried Anderson's body in a field near Richmond in a fairly well-built coffin. Details on John (b. A wide-brimmed slouch hat was the headgear of choice. Quantrill and other guerrillas nonetheless sought and sometimes received formal Confederate commissions as partisan rangers. Anderson and his men were in the rear of the charge, but gathered a large amount of plunder from the dead soldiers, irritating some guerrillas from the front line of the charge. He was quite fast with a pair of Colt Dragoons, but he killed Wilson Anderson with a shotgun loaded with birdshot. Anderson's bushwhacking marked him as a dangerous man and eventually led the Union to imprison his sisters. As far as the partisans carrying extra cylinders, that is possibly a misnomer unless, they cannibalize other pistols just for the cylinders & that wouldn't make sense. The Tactical Genius of Bloody Bill Anderson by Sean McLachlan 2/13/2018 His ruthless nature earned his moniker and obscured a flair for strategy. [153], Archie Clement led the guerrillas after Anderson's death, but the group splintered by mid-November. [136][137] Anderson indicated that he was particularly angry that the man had freed his slaves, then trampled him with a specially trained horse. Anderson retreated into the lobby of the town hotel to drink and rest. Note: Click on photos to get larger view. [72] Anderson's men robbed the town's depository, gaining about $40,000 (equivalent to $693,000 in 2021) in the robbery, although Anderson returned some money to the friend he had met at the hotel. Captains will be held responsible for the good conduct and efficiency of their men and will report to these headquarters from time to time. Also see . The tension between the two groups markedly increasedsome feared open warfare would resultbut by the time of the wedding, relations had improved. Although some men begged him to spare them, he persisted, only relenting when a woman pleaded with him not to torch her house. Bloody Bill Anderson Also included in the list was Cole Younger, whose father was killed by the Kansans, and his mother made homeless after watching their house burn to the ground. [83] On August 1, while searching for militia members, Anderson and some of his men stopped at a house full of women and requested food. William T. Anderson (1840 - Oct. 26, 1864) known as "Bloody Bill" Anderson was one of the deadliest and most brutal pro-Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War. [120][121] Anderson evaded the pursuit, leading his men into ravines the Union troops would not enter for fear of ambush. The two were prominent Unionists and hid their identities from the guerrillas. After he returned to Council Grove he began horse trading, taking horses from towns in Kansas, transporting them to Missouri and returning with more horses. The Man Who Killed Quantrill. Todd rested his men in July to allow them to prepare for a Confederate invasion of Missouri. Now that statement is a little murky. The guerrillas blocked the railroad, forcing the train to stop. Other nearby markers. [21][f] William Quantrill, a Confederate guerrilla leader, later claimed to have encountered Reed's company in July and rebuked them for robbing Confederate sympathizers;[22] in their biography of Anderson, Albert Castel and Tom Goodrich speculate that this rebuke may have resulted in a deep resentment of Quantrill by Anderson. [157], After the war, information about Anderson initially spread through memoirs of Civil War combatants and works by amateur historians. Longley's Bloody Bill Anderson Mystery Group on July 13, 2009: " Francis M Richardson was a carpenter as shown in the 1860 Grayson County Texas Census. [86], On August 13, Anderson and his men traveled through Ray County, Missouri, to the Missouri River, where they engaged Union militia. The Bushwhacker in Missouri. Get A Copy Kindle Unlimited $0.00 Amazon Stores Gen. Henry Halleck's General Orders No. Guerrilla Tactics , William Quantrill and William "Bloody Bill" Anderson are well-known bushwhacker leaders in Missouri. Anderson was fatally shot twice in the back of the head. The Missouri Partisan Ranger Act They soon arrived at the small town of Centralia and proceeded to loot it, robbing people and searching the town for valuables. When as many as 10 men come together for this purpose they may organize by electing a captain, 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, and will at once commence operation against the enemy without waiting for special instructions. [43] Anderson personally killed 14 people. The Fate of the Bushwhackers His family had been living in Council Grove, Territory of Kansas at the start of the war. If you're a fan of games like Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption or Gameloft's Six-Guns: Gang Showdown, The Wild West is definitely worth checking out. They found the guerrillas' horses decorated with the scalps of Union soldiers. Touch for map. Raised by a family of Southerners in Kansas, Anderson began to support himself by stealing and selling horses in 1862. One dating device is the guns; they are all germane to the late 1860s and early 1870s at the . [94], On September 26, Anderson and his men reached Monroe County, Missouri,[95] and traveled towards Paris, but learned of other nearby guerrillas and rendezvoused with them near Audrain County. The Death of William Anderson [159] Three biographies of Anderson were written after 1975. After a building collapse in the makeshift jail in Kansas City, Missouri, left one of them dead in custody and the other permanently maimed, Anderson devoted himself to revenge. And a lot of the Cavalry didn't have sidearms early in the war. Quick Description: An historic cemetery that lies a little northwest from the town square in Richmond, Missouri has new life and a monument to Mormon pioneers; but, it also contains the gravestone of the notorious civil war guerrilla leader "Bloody Bill" Anderson. William T. Anderson was one of the most notorious Confederate guerrillas of the Civil War. [93] However, a guerrilla fired his weapon before they reached the town, and the cavalry garrisoned in the town quickly withdrew into their fort while civilians hid. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Many bushwhackers wore a distinctive shirt, such as this one on T.F. [54] During the winter, Anderson married Bush Smith, a woman from Sherman, Texas. They had hoped to attack a train, but its conductor learned of their presence and turned back before reaching the town. On July 15, 1864 "Bloody Bill" Anderson returned home. [38], Although Quantrill had considered the idea of a raid on the pro-Union stronghold that was the town of Lawrence, Kansas before the building collapsed in Kansas City, the deaths convinced the guerrillas to make a bold strike. declared martial law in August 1861, giving Union forces broad powers to suppress those who resisted Union control. [7][b] Animosity and violence between the two sides quickly developed in what was called Bleeding Kansas, but there was little unrest in the Council Grove area. On the other hand, the use of tactics like arson, robbery and murder seemed beyond the bounds of honorable combat. Even before Union forces finally shot him down in his final gunfight, the man called Bloody Bill had become equal parts legend and infamous nightmare. However, his gun of choice was said to be the Dance .44 caliber cap and ball revolver. He was buried in a nearby fieldafter a soldier cut off one of his fingers to steal a ring. from Wichita State University and his Ph.D. in History and Political Science from the University of Chicago. They relied on knowledge of the local terrain for survival. This action angered his men, who saw themselves as the protectors of women, but Anderson dismissed their concerns, saying such things were inevitable. [109], Anderson arrived at the guerrilla camp and described the day's events, the brutality of which unsettled Todd. [76] Anderson was selective, turning away all but the fiercest applicants, as he sought fighters similar to himself. [98] They found a large supply of whiskey and all began drinking. As armies march across America from 1861 to 1865, other combatants shot soldiers from ambush and terrorized civilians of opposing loyalties in a fierce guerrilla war. [10], In the late 1850s, Ellis Anderson fled to Iowa after killing a native American. [138] Local residents gathered $5,000, which they gave to Anderson; he then released the man, who died of his injuries in 1866. Anderson led a band that targeted Union loyalists and Federal soldiers in Missouri and Kansas. Anderson ordered them outside the car and lined up in two files. They chased the men who had attacked them, killing one and mutilating his body.
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