Anderson suggested that they attack Fayette, Missouri, targeting the 9th Missouri Cavalry, which was based at the town. The guerrillas were only able to shoot the Union horses before reinforcements arrived; three of Anderson's men were killed in the confrontation. Posted on 19th March 2021. [113] One Union officer reached Centralia and gave word of the ambush, allowing a few Union soldiers who had remained there to escape. [55] Anderson ignored Quantrill's request to wait until after the war and a dispute erupted, which resulted in Anderson separating his men from Quantrill's band. The Bushwhacker in Missouri. 0:02. Union troops used horses to drag Anderson's body through the streets around the Ray County Courthouse. While on public display, a local photographer documented his death. Topics and series. [136][137] Anderson indicated that he was particularly angry that the man had freed his slaves, then trampled him with a specially trained horse. 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. Anderson was told to recapture him and gave chase, but he was unable to locate his former commander and stopped at a creek. By Glynda July 23, 2006 at 03:01:32. [44] They proceeded to pillage and burn many buildings, killing almost every man they found, but taking care not to shoot women. [142] Anderson and his men charged the Union forces, killing five or six of them, but turned back under heavy fire. Anderson planned to destroy railroad infrastructure in Centralia, Missouri. [107] The guerrillas set the passenger train on fire and derailed an approaching freight train. The rapid rate of fire made the revolver perfect for the quick attacks executed by these men. Often group sizes fluctuated as they came together for larger raids and then broke apart after the raid. He became a skilled bushwhacker, earning the trust of the group's leaders, William Quantrill and George M. Todd. "Bring Lieutenant Coleman to me." [82] In late July, the Union military sent a force of 100 well-equipped soldiers and 650 other men after Anderson. Rains, charged fearlessly through our lines and were both unhorsed close in our rear. Bloody Bill Anderson Name bad men in history, Caligula - Hitler - Charles Manson, more? The most infamous order came in response to a brutal guerilla attack on Lawrence, Kan. Quantrill attained near-unanimous consent to travel 40 miles (64km) into Union territory to strike Lawrence. [153], Archie Clement led the guerrillas after Anderson's death, but the group splintered by mid-November. [128] On October 6, Anderson and his men began travelling to meet General Price in Boonville, Missouri;[124][129] they arrived and met the general on October 11. Born in Kentucky in 1839 before moving to Missouri and eventually living in Kansas when the Civil War started, Bill Anderson soon earned the non de plume "Bloody Bill.". Anderson led a band that targeted Union loyalists and Federal soldiers in Missouri and Kansas. The guerrillas then attacked Allen, Missouri. [58], A short time later, one of Anderson's men was accused of stealing from one of Quantrill's men. Although some men begged him to spare them, he persisted, only relenting when a woman pleaded with him not to torch her house. One way he sought to prove that loyalty was by severing his ties with Anderson's sister Mary, his former lover. In one of the passenger cars they found 23 unarmed Union soldiers on furlough and headed home on leave. [139], Union military leaders assigned Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Cox to kill Anderson, providing him with a group of experienced soldiers. After a brief gunfight, Baker and his brother-in-law fled into the store's basement. [155] As the Confederacy collapsed, most of Anderson's men joined Quantrill's forces or traveled to Texas. On the other hand, the use of tactics like arson, robbery and murder seemed beyond the bounds of honorable combat. Burial. The guerrillas, however, quickly learned the signals, and local citizens became wary of Union troops, fearing that they were disguised guerrillas. [33] In August 1863, however, Union General Thomas Ewing, Jr. attempted to thwart the guerrillas by arresting their female relatives,[34] and Anderson's sisters were confined in a three-story building on Grand Avenue in Kansas City with a number of other girls. [150][h] Flowers were placed at his grave, to the chagrin of Union soldiers. . [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". Get A Copy Kindle Unlimited $0.00 Amazon Stores Depending on which side you asked, these bushwhackers were either heroes or criminals. 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. By the time of his death in 1864 Anderson had become one of the most sought after men in Missouri and had left a trail of blood and hatred across the west and central portions of the state. The Fate of the Bushwhackers , Confederate leaders were unsure about guerrillas. The reason for the bloody raid that left nearly two hundred men dead and caused between $1 million and $1.5 million in damage (in 1863 dollars) is still the subject of speculation. In 1908, the ex-guerrillas and former outlaws Jim Cummins and Cole Younger arranged for a funeral service at Anderson's gravesite. It is in Richmond in Ray County Missouri, "The war brought on hate and strife and killing around here. 2. It was Anderson's greatest victory, surpassing Lawrence and Baxter Springs in brutality and the number of casualties. Gen. Henry Halleck. [62][g] Quantrill was taken into custody but soon escaped. Quantrill and other guerrillas nonetheless sought and sometimes received formal Confederate commissions as partisan rangers. [104] Anderson forced the captured Union soldiers to form a line and announced that he would keep one for a prisoner exchange but would execute the rest. Again, were those 2 pistols found on the horse or were there more as Cox's statement was in the plural. Touch for a list and map of all markers in Richmond. Anderson was fatally shot twice in the back of the head. As a general rule, bushwhackers would attack quickly and withdraw if they began receiving serious casualties. These acts were interpreted as tyranny and compelled many Missouri men to become bushwhackers. [66][67] In the letters, Anderson took an arrogant and threatening yet playful tone, boasting of his attacks. Relatives of William T. Anderson , known as "Bloody Bill". He was quite fast with a pair of Colt Dragoons, but he killed Wilson Anderson with a shotgun loaded with birdshot. Residents resented seizure of supplies and the increasingly harsh measures to control them. Smaller bands avoided fights with larger detachments of Union soldiers, preferring to ambush stragglers or loot Union supporters and their property. William T. Anderson was one of the most notorious Confederate guerrillas of the Civil War. Gen. John McNeil, the "Butcher of Palmyra." On July 30, Anderson and his men kidnapped the elderly father of the local Union militia's commanding officer. Bloody Bill Anderson - Lies and Sensationalism. The Union militias sometimes rode slower horses and may have been intimidated by Anderson's reputation. ; and Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in Higginsville, Mo. Bloody Bill's Death Anderson's violent pillages, attacks, and murders came to an end at Albany, Missouri, on October 26th, 1864one month after he carried out a systemic massacre at Centralia, Missouri, on September 27 of 22 unarmed Union troops who had been on their way home on furlough. The next day, the 4th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry pursued them, but Anderson launched an ambush that killed seven Union soldiers. The Missouri Partisan Ranger Act [130] Price was disgusted that Anderson used scalps to decorate his horse, and would not speak with him until he removed them. [23], Missouri had a large Union presence throughout the Civil War, but was also inhabited by many civilians whose sympathies lay with the Confederacy. [158] He was later discussed in biographies of Quantrill, which typically cast Anderson as an inveterate murderer. There were those that came & went and the largest number had to have been the raid on Lawrence. [89] In mid-September, Union soldiers ambushed two of Anderson's parties traveling through Howard County, killing five men in one day. Missouri's southern sympathizers hated Union Brig. The next day, the elder Anderson traveled to the Council Grove courthouse with a gun, intending to force Baker to withdraw the warrant. [146] The corpse was photographed and displayed at a local courthouse for public viewing, along with Anderson's possessions. declared martial law in August 1861, giving Union forces broad powers to suppress those who resisted Union control. Union leaders branded bushwhackers as outlaws, issuing multiple orders to suppress guerilla activities. from Wichita State University and his Ph.D. in History and Political Science from the University of Chicago. Browning James A. The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board - Archive is maintained by Webmaster Anderson, perhaps falsely, implicated Quantrill in a murder, leading to the latter's arrest by Confederate authorities. This may help as far as relatives of Bloody Bill Anderson,who was William T.Anderson born 1839,son of William Anderson and Martha Thomasson. Gen. Thomas Ewing issued General Orders No. William T. Anderson was born around 1840 in Hopkins County, Kentucky, to William C. and Martha Anderson. From Donald Hale's book " They call him Bloody Bill" it stated that Cox had sent a Lt. Baker to act as bait to lure Bill & his troops into an ambush. [Map inset] Nearby Civil War attractions include Pioneer Cemetery and Ray County Museum in Richmond, Mo. Casey, you have me at a slight disadvantage at the moment in that I have to rely on my memory from what I have read. 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. He was buried in a nearby fieldafter a soldier cut off one of his fingers to steal a ring. By the time the war started, Missouri's pro-rebel guerrillas were known as . [132], Anderson traveled 70 miles (110km) east with 80 men to New Florence, Missouri. 1:27. 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. 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. Most fought to protect or revenge their families from what they saw as injustices heaped upon them by the Union army and Union sympathizers. Union troops used horses to drag Anderson's body through the streets around the Ray County Courthouse. At least 40 members of the 17th Illinois Cavalry and the Missouri State Militia were in town and took shelter in a fort. So they couldn't have obtained many from the Infantry. Its frame and grip initially matched the Navy in size, but Colt later lengthened the grip to absorb. Anderson led a band of volunteer partisan raiders who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas. Biographer Larry Wood claimed that Anderson's sisters aided the guerrillas by gathering information inside Union-controlled territory. Anderson was fatally shot twice in the back of the head. [144] Four other guerrillas were killed in the attack. [143] Only Anderson and one other man, the son of a Confederate general, continued to charge after the others had retreated. ; Battle of Albany Civil War Marker near Orrick, Mo. [4] In 1857, they relocated to the Kansas Territory, traveling southwest on the Santa Fe Trail and settling 13 miles (21km) east of Council Grove. From the town, they saw a group of about 120 guerrillas and pursued them. Some, like the veterans attending the bushwacker reunions under Quantrill's vacant gaze, managed to adjust to post-war life. Cox stated that he went out & took one of Anderson's pistols along with money & a gold watch. They had sworn to be revenged for the death of their father, and made their troubles an excuse for the career of bushwhacking in which they engaged with the Quantrill gang. Marker is at or near this postal address: 100 West Main Street, Richmond MO 64085, United States of America. Local citizens demanded possession of the corpse. [102] This was the first capture of a Union passenger train in the war. While they were confined, the building collapsed, killing one of Anderson's sisters. This is his story. [53], On October 12, Quantrill and his men met General Samuel Cooper at the Canadian River and proceeded to Mineral Springs, Texas, to rest for the winter. Guerrilla Tactics [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 ordered them outside the car and lined up in two files. Bloody Bill Anderson - Etsy Check out our bloody bill anderson selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. And that is the terrible truth of the story of Bloody Bill Anderson. 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. They buried him in an unmarked grave in Richmond's Pioneer Cemetery. [159] Three biographies of Anderson were written after 1975. They tortured him until he was near death and sent word to the man's son in an unsuccessful attempt to lure him into an ambush, before releasing the father with instructions to spread word of his mistreatment. They claimed to be fighting for the Confederacy, but in fact, their murdering and looting benefited only their pocketbooks. You certainly wouldn't do that aboard a horse. [119], Anderson left the Centralia area on September 27, pursued for the first time by Union forces equipped with artillery. so there couldn't have been that many to obtain from citizens. Confederate leaders were unsure about guerrillas. William and Jim Anderson then traveled southwest of Kansas City, robbing travelers to support themselves. Gen. Henry Halleck's General Orders No. However, his gun of choice was said to be the Dance .44 caliber cap and ball revolver. [45] The guerrillas under Anderson's command, notably including Archie Clement and Frank James, killed more than any of the other group. Clad in Union uniforms, the guerrillas generated little suspicion as they approached the town,[92] even though it had received warning of nearby guerrillas. [139][140] Anderson killed several other Union loyalists and some of his men returned to the wealthy resident's house to rape more of his female servants. eHistory website entry (Submitted on October 1, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.) The Civil War was a brutal and savage conflict, but try as I might, I can't think of anyone as bloodthirsty as William T. "Bloody Bill" 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. Eventually, the six-shot revolver became the weapon of choice for the bushwhacker because it was considered better for firing from horseback. Bloody Bill dead. [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. In July of 1864 Anderson moved his operations to Carroll and Randolph Counties. During the American Civil War, the James family sided with the Confederates, and Frank and Jesse James joined a group of guerrillas, or . (, In his biography of Quantrill, historian Duane Schultz counters that General, Some accounts of Anderson's death relate that he was decapitated and his head impaled on a telegraph pole. Marshal, but spoke amicably with an acquaintance he found there. ), Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History, Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., September 17, 2020. Others, like William Anderson, had already entered a dark abyss from which there was no return and no escape except death. [141] On October 26, 1864, he pursued Anderson's group with 150 men and engaged them in a battle called the Skirmish at Albany, Missouri. [85], In early August, Anderson and his men traveled to Clay County. General Orders No. 2, in March 1862, allowed Union troops in Missouri to hang guerillas as robbers and murder[er]s. Future orders followed the same tone. [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. Anderson's horse, saddle & 2 pistols were presented later to a general. The muzzle-loaders required no special ammunition or training and were effective out to about seventy-five or one hundred yards. These "guerrilla shirts" were pullovers with a deep v-neckline and four large pockets. Anthony Edwards as "Goose" in Top Gun (1986) : His family had been living in Council Grove, Territory of Kansas at the start of the war. 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. He protested the execution of guerrillas and their sympathizers, and threatened to attack Lexington, Missouri. The guerrillas heard that the cavalry was approaching,[110] and Anderson sent a party to set an ambush. [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. [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. [20], William and Jim Anderson soon formed a gang with a man named Bill Reed; in February 1863, the Lexington Weekly Union recorded that Reed was the leader of the gang. He was killed in a Union ambush near Richmond, MO. 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. The Myth that Bloody Bill Anderson had survived the war and was living in Brownwood Texas originated in 1924, after a young Brownwood reporter named Henry Clay Fuller spent several hours talking . Some local citizens suspected the Anderson family was assisting Griffith and traveled to their house to confront the elder William Anderson. Anyway, as Baker had achieved his mission & as Anderson & his troops entered the ambush. After a former friend and secessionist turned Union loyalist judge killed his father, Anderson killed the judge and fled to Missouri. Raised by a family of Southerners in Kansas, Anderson began to support himself by stealing and selling horses in 1862. [13] Anderson had told a neighbor that he sought to fight for financial reasons rather than out of loyalty to the Confederacy. Gen. John McNeil, the "Butcher of Palmyra." Bloody Bill was played by John Russell who played Marshall Stockburn in Pale Rider. On July 17, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas Hindman issued the Missouri Partisan Ranger Act. He was, however, impressed by the effectiveness of Anderson's attacks. NPS Ozark Historic Research Study (Submitted on October 1, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In December, 1861, he organized his infamous guerrilla band, which included William "Bloody Bill" Anderson, George Todd, Fletcher Taylor, Cole Younger, and Frank James, to name a few. 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. A low-level conflict had already been raging in the Missouri-Kansas borderlands in the years preceding the outbreak of the Civil War. Again, as I posted earlier, only those that carried the Model 1861 Remington could possibly have availed themselves to this convenience as all the other sidearms took some time to change out the cylinder. Anderson participated in Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863. Erected by Missouri State Parks. If they were caught, Federals considered them criminals not prisoners of war. 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. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman was the head of the Confederate Army's Trans Mississippi Department in Little Rock, Ark. Many bushwhackers wore a distinctive shirt, such as this one on T.F. Anderson was upset by the critical tone of the coverage and sent letters to the publications. At the end of P.R. If they were Bill's, he would have had 7 pistols on his person which to me is a little hard to believe. [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. Marker is on Thornton Street north of Main Street (State Highway 10), on the left when traveling north. Their duty will be to cut off Federal pickets, scouts, foraging parties and trains and to kill pilots and others on gunboats and transports, attacking them day and night and using the greatest vigor in their movements. [70] On July 15, Anderson and his men entered Huntsville, Missouri and occupied the town's business district. William T. Anderson[a] (c. 1840 October 26, 1864), known by the nickname "Bloody Bill" Anderson, was a soldier who was one of the deadliest and most notorious Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War. Fueling this conflict was a dispute over whether Kansas should be a slave-holding state or not. They murdered my family when I was a schoolboy and I was launched into a life of shooting, reprisals and rough-riding." Touch for directions. Note: Click on photos to get larger view. [124] Anderson watched the fire from nearby bluffs. Unexpectedly, his men were able to capture a passenger train, the first time Confederate guerrillas had done so. En route, some guerrillas robbed a Union supporter, but Anderson knew the man and reimbursed him. 11. The Union troops took his body to Richmond, Mo. 4. His gun changed a few times, semi, handgun, revolver . As Quantrill and Todd became less active, "Bloody Bill" Anderson emerged as the best-known, and most feared, Confederate guerrilla in Missouri. Wood believes that these stories are inaccurate, citing a lack of documentary evidence. [96] Although a large group of guerrillas was assembled, their leaders felt there were no promising targets to attack because all of the large towns nearby were heavily guarded. An unusual event made a guerrilla out of William Anderson. Their families and other local Confederate sympathizers supplied them with shelter, food, medical care and tactical information about Union activities. [2] During his childhood, Anderson's family moved to Huntsville, Missouri, where his father found employment on a farm and the family became well-respected. One one hand, they were useful, serving to tie down Union forces. 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. The Federal command in St. Louis, Mo. Usually a wife, sister, mother or sweetheart used ribbons, shells and needlework to create the ellaborately [sic] decorated shirts. and also on the Agnes City Census of Kansas in 1850. [2] His siblings were Jim, Ellis, Mary Ellen, Josephine and Janie. There are other examples as well, such as . Doing some quick math on the number of men who rode with Quantrill, numbers around 700 ( those who can be named), maybe more. Wood describes him as the "bloodiest man in America's deadliest war"[164] and characterizes him as the clearest example of the war's "dehumanizing influence". William T. Anderson (1840 - 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. 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. [74] By August, the St. Joseph Herald, a Missouri newspaper, was describing him as "the Devil". A Note on Sources Cartridge belts standard with up to 18 bullet loops in your [] Anderson's bushwhacking marked him as a dangerous man and eventually led the Union to imprison his sisters. He favored swift execution of captured guerrillas. Anderson and his companion "took a negro girl of 12 or 13 years old into . The defeat resulted in the deaths of five guerrillas but only two Union soldiers, further maddening Anderson. [60][61][62] They told General Cooper that Quantrill was responsible for the death of a Confederate officer; the general had Quantrill arrested.
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