Quantrill's Raiders
The Missouri-Kansas border area became fertile ground for guerrilla warfare when the Civil War erupted in 1861. In February 1861, Missouri voters elected delegates to a statewide convention that rejected secession by a vote of 89, 1. Unionists led by regular US Army commander Nathaniel Lyon and Frank Blair fought for control against pro-secessionist forces under Governor Claiborne Jackson. By June, open warfare occurred between Union forces and troops supporting the Confederacy. Guerrilla warfare erupted throughout the state and intensified in August after the Union defeat at the Battle of Wilson's Creek. One historical work describes the situation after Wilson's Creek: by August 1862, with the Union victory at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Missouri was free of significant regular Confederate troops, but insurgent violence continued.
On the 15th of August 1862, Quantrill was granted a field commission as a captain in the Confederate army under the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act. Other officers were elected by the men, and Quantrill often referred to himself as a colonel. Despite legal responsibility assumed by the Confederate government, Quantrill often acted on his own with little concern for policy or orders. He and his men ambushed Union patrols and supply convoys, seized mail, and occasionally struck towns on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri border. Under his direction, Confederate guerrillas perfected military tactics such as disguises, coordinated attacks, planned dispersal using preplanned routes, and technical methods like multiple .36-cal. Colt revolvers for increased firepower. His most notable operation was the Lawrence massacre, a revenge raid on Lawrence, Kansas, in August 1863.
In August 1863, Union authorities imprisoned female members of known guerrillas' families in makeshift jails including the house on Grand Street where local artist George Caleb Bingham kept his studio. The structure collapsed after soldiers enlarged the space by removing supporting beams, maiming and killing several women. Calling for revenge, Quantrill organized a unified partisan raid on Lawrence although evidence suggests planning began before the collapse. Co-ordinating across vast distances, small bands rode across open prairie to rendezvous on Mount Oread in early morning hours. Quantrill's men burned a quarter of the town's buildings and killed at least 150 men and boys. One main target, abolitionist U.S. Sen. Jim Lane, escaped by fleeing into corn fields. The Lawrence raid became the most deadly and infamous operation of Missouri's Confederate guerrillas.
The Confederate leadership withdrew even tacit support from the bushwhackers after the raid. Quantrill led his men behind Confederate lines down to Sherman, Texas, where they wintered during 1863, 1864. Along the way, they attacked Fort Baxter and ambushed near 100 Union troops in the Battle of Baxter Springs. In Texas, they continued to embarrass Confederate command through often-lawless actions. Two of Quantrill's Raiders, the Calhoun Brothers, were killed in a gunfight with Collin County Sheriff Captain James L. Read. Read escaped Quantrill's rage by going into hiding but was lynched by supporters in Tyler, Texas on the 18th of May 1864. Some Confederate officers appreciated effectiveness against Union forces, including General Joseph O. Shelby who rode south into Mexico rather than surrender.
In late winter 1863, Quantrill lost his hold over his men. In early 1864, guerrillas returned from Texas to Missouri in separate bands without Quantrill leading them. The men split into bands commanded by Lieutenants Bloody Bill Anderson and George M. Todd. Quantrill took several loyal troops east toward Kentucky where pro-Union soldiers tracked him. They were cornered in a barn where a shootout resulted in Quantrill being injured in the spine and left unable to move. He died a week later from wounds. Anderson's splinter group operated north of the Missouri River during General Sterling Price raid before he was shot dead north of Orrick. His body was dragged through streets of Richmond, Missouri. Todd died after being shot out of saddle by Union sniper north of Independence, Missouri, a day before Battle of Westport.
Some guerrillas continued under leadership of Archie Clement who kept a group together after war ended. In December 1866, state militiamen killed Clement in Lexington. Several of his men continued as outlaws emerging as James-Younger Gang. Last survivor of Quantrill's Raiders died in 1940. Among Quantrill's men was enslaved man John Noland owned by Francis Asbury Noland with no evidence he received freedom before or during war. First official reunion occurred in 1898 more than 30 years after Quantrill's death. The name Quantrill's Raiders began used during reunions held many years later. Jesse James and Frank formed their own gang conducting robberies for years as continuing insurgency in region.
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Common questions
When was Quantrill granted a field commission as a captain in the Confederate army?
Quantrill received his field commission on the 15th of August 1862 under the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act. He often referred to himself as a colonel despite holding the rank of captain.
What happened during the Lawrence massacre in August 1863?
Quantrill's men burned a quarter of the town's buildings and killed at least 150 men and boys during the raid on Lawrence, Kansas. Abolitionist U.S. Sen. Jim Lane escaped by fleeing into corn fields while Union authorities had previously imprisoned female relatives of guerrillas in a house that collapsed killing several women.
Where did Quantrill lead his men after the Lawrence raid in 1863?
Quantrill led his men behind Confederate lines down to Sherman, Texas where they wintered during 1863 and 1864. They continued to operate from there until late winter 1863 when he lost control over his men.
How did Quantrill die in early 1864?
Union soldiers cornered Quantrill in a barn where a shootout resulted in him being injured in the spine and left unable to move. He died a week later from these wounds while pro-Union troops tracked him east toward Kentucky.
Who succeeded Quantrill as leader of his Raiders after his death in 1864?
Guerrillas returned to Missouri in separate bands commanded by Lieutenants Bloody Bill Anderson and George M. Todd after Quantrill's death. Some guerrillas continued under leadership of Archie Clement who was killed by state militiamen in Lexington on the 2nd of May 1866.
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10 references cited across the entry
- 3bookStark Mad Abolitionists: Lawrence, Kansas, and the Battle over Slavery in the Civil War EraRobert K. Sutton et al. — Skyhorse — 2017
- 5bookSouthern communities : identity, conflict, and memory in the American South2019
- 6bookThe ghosts of guerrilla memory : how bushwhackers became gunslingers in the American westMatthew C. Hulbert — The University of Georgia Press — 2016
- 7bookSearching for black Confederates : the Civil War's most persistent mythKevin M. Levin — 2019
- 8inlineStewart posthumous portrait
- 10webRed Mountain