bloody bill anderson guns

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. Anderson led a band of volunteer partisan raiders who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas. A wide-brimmed slouch hat was the headgear of choice. 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. [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. [127] Although many of them wished to execute this Union hostage, Anderson refused to allow it. 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. Add to your list and mine, Bloody Bill Anderson for he was a ruthless, vicious killer. [159] Three biographies of Anderson were written after 1975. Community & Conflict website entry (Submitted on October 1, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.) The Bushwhacker in Missouri. The trip was not successful and he returned to Missouri without the shipment, saying his horses had disappeared with the cargo. At the end of P.R. He was killed in a Union ambush near Richmond, MO. from Wichita State University and his Ph.D. in History and Political Science from the University of Chicago. The Federal command in St. Louis, Mo. ), Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History, Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., September 17, 2020. Their familiarity with the landscape enabled them to appear and disappear into the woods like ghosts. They had hoped to attack a train, but its conductor learned of their presence and turned back before reaching the town. Rains, son of rebel Gen. The most infamous order came in response to a brutal guerilla attack on Lawrence, Kan. Anderson was hit by a bullet behind an ear, likely killing him instantly. Desperate to put a stop to Anderson's bloodshed, the Union Army eventually raised a small militia to hunt him down. As soon as the company attains the strength required by law it will proceed to elect the other officers to which it is entitled. Anderson subsequently returned to Missouri as the leader of his own group of raiders and became the most feared guerrilla in the state, robbing and killing a large number of Union soldiers and civilian sympathizers. declared martial law in August 1861, giving Union forces broad powers to suppress those who resisted Union control. A Note on Sources It is said that "Bloody Bill" Anderson carried six to eight revolvers with him at any point. The next day, the 4th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry pursued them, but Anderson launched an ambush that killed seven Union soldiers. Doing some quick math on the number of men who rode with Quantrill, numbers around 700 ( those who can be named), maybe more. [151] In 1908, Cole Younger, a former guerrilla who served under Quantrill, reburied Anderson's body in the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Richmond, Missouri. They chased the men who had attacked them, killing one and mutilating his body. The Man Who Killed Quantrill. [146] The corpse was photographed and displayed at a local courthouse for public viewing, along with Anderson's possessions. [142] Anderson and his men charged the Union forces, killing five or six of them, but turned back under heavy fire. Anderson was told to recapture him and gave chase, but he was unable to locate his former commander and stopped at a creek. [9][d] On June 28, 1860, William's mother, Martha Anderson, died after being struck by lightning. [58], A short time later, one of Anderson's men was accused of stealing from one of Quantrill's men. [157], After the war, information about Anderson initially spread through memoirs of Civil War combatants and works by amateur historians. 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. The guerrillas blocked the railroad, forcing the train to stop. His dark good looks brought him to the attention . There, his men briefly engaged a group of guerrillas loyal to Quantrill, but no one was injured in the confrontation. [66][67] In the letters, Anderson took an arrogant and threatening yet playful tone, boasting of his attacks. In June and July, Anderson took part in several raids that killed Union soldiers, in Westport, Kansas City and Lafayette County, Missouri. Answer: Coffeyville. 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. His family had been living in Council Grove, Territory of Kansas at the start of the war. . [143] Only Anderson and one other man, the son of a Confederate general, continued to charge after the others had retreated. 11. After the war, several guerrillas, such as Frank and Jesse James, continued their violent behaviors, becoming infamous outlaws. [30] The first reference to Anderson in Official Records of the American Civil War concerns his activities at this time, describing him as the captain of a band of guerrillas. Their families and other local Confederate sympathizers supplied them with shelter, food, medical care and tactical information about Union activities. [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). "Bloody Bill" redirects here. In response, Union militias developed hand signals to verify that approaching men in Union uniforms were not guerrillas. . [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. (, Although Wood states that Baker's group sought to join the Confederate army, Castel and Goodrich write that the group planned to conduct ", In his 2003 history of Civil War Missouri, Bruce Nichols stated that Reed led the gang until mid-July 1863. All such organizations will be reported to their headquarters as soon as practicable. [111] Anderson then led a charge up the hill. Bloody Bill Anderson was a character played by John Russell in the 1976 film 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' directed by Clint Eastwood. Unexpectedly, his men were able to capture a passenger train, the first time Confederate guerrillas had done so. There he met Baker, who temporarily placated him by providing a lawyer. [46] They left town at 9:00am after a company of Union soldiers approached the town. An unusual event made a guerrilla out of William Anderson. On the western Missouri border, especially, much of the hardships experienced by these families could be traced to the violence of the 1850s Kansas Missouri Border War. These "guerrilla shirts" were pullovers with a deep v-neckline and four large pockets. In 1857, the family moved to Kansas and William worked for a time . Although he learned that Union General Egbert B. William "Bloody Bill" Anderson . [76] Anderson was selective, turning away all but the fiercest applicants, as he sought fighters similar to himself. [86], On August 13, Anderson and his men traveled through Ray County, Missouri, to the Missouri River, where they engaged Union militia. "An unusual event made a guerrilla out of William Anderson. Marker is on Thornton Street north of Main Street (State Highway 10), on the left when traveling north. [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 argument is not that some of the members carried multiple sidearms but certainly not every member did. Many bushwhackers wore a distinctive shirt, such as this one on T.F. 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 . It was Anderson's greatest victory, surpassing Lawrence and Baxter Springs in brutality and the number of casualties. [167], In a study of 19th-century warfare, historian James Reid posited that Anderson suffered from delusional paranoia, which exacerbated his aggressive, sadistic personality. Usually a wife, sister, mother or sweetheart used ribbons, shells and needlework to create the ellaborately [sic] decorated shirts. Even then, reloading the powder & ball would have been almost as fast as changing out the cylinder. The Missouri Partisan Ranger Act Gen. Thomas C. Hindman was the head of the Confederate Army's Trans Mississippi Department in Little Rock, Ark. A lot of the federal troops in Missouri were Infantry & only the officer's would have pistols. Anderson's bushwhacking marked him as a dangerous man and eventually led the Union to imprison his sisters. Browning James A. John Nichols, a bushwacker who operated in Johnson and Pettis Counties in 1862-1863, prior to his execution in Jefferson City, Missouri, October 30, 1863 Anderson led a band that targeted Union loyalists and Federal soldiers in Missouri and Kansas. Powered by Tetra-WebBBS 6.21 / TetraBB PRO 0.30 2006-2012 tetrabb.com. Todd rested his men in July to allow them to prepare for a Confederate invasion of Missouri. [60][61][62] They told General Cooper that Quantrill was responsible for the death of a Confederate officer; the general had Quantrill arrested. There is no evidence to support that assumption. In late 1863, while Quantrill's Raiders spent the winter in Sherman, Texas, animosity developed between Anderson and Quantrill. Details on John (b. He thought the cashier was an informant. [119], Anderson left the Centralia area on September 27, pursued for the first time by Union forces equipped with artillery. [13], Upon his return to Kansas, Anderson continued horse trafficking, but ranchers in the area soon became aware of his operations. 100% heavyweight Gildan brand cotton t-shirt. Born in the late 1830s, In one of the passenger cars they found 23 unarmed Union soldiers on furlough and headed home on leave. Anderson is loosely portrayed by Jim Caviezel as Black John Ambrose in the 1999 Ang Lee film Ride With The Devil. William and Jim Anderson then traveled southwest of Kansas City, robbing travelers to support themselves. Bloody Bill's Guns Bill Langley had used a number of different guns during his career as a killer. 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. From the town, they saw a group of about 120 guerrillas and pursued them. Bushwhacker activities in Missouri increased as a response to Federal occupation and increasingly brutal attacks and raids by Kansas soldiers, or jayhawkers. The Wild West Extravaganza is a history podcast that delves into the fascinating and often tumultuous world of the American Old West. The guerrillas, however, quickly learned the signals, and local citizens became wary of Union troops, fearing that they were disguised guerrillas. On July 17, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas Hindman issued the Missouri Partisan Ranger Act. [123] They burned Rocheport to the ground on October 2; the town was under close scrutiny by Union forces, owing to the number of Confederate sympathizers there, but General Fisk maintained that the fire was accidental. Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers. The guerrillas then attacked Allen, Missouri. Date Posted: 8/12/2009 1:51:23 PM. [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. ; Battle of Albany Civil War Marker near Orrick, Mo. The younger Anderson buried his father[17] and was subsequently arrested for assisting Griffith. For instance, you could play Jesse James-an American outlaw who was also a confederate soldier under Bloody Bill Anderson's leadership. [15] The Anderson brothers escaped, but Baker was captured and spent four months in prison before returning to Kansas, professing loyalty to the Union. He was, however, impressed by the effectiveness of Anderson's attacks. [130] Price was disgusted that Anderson used scalps to decorate his horse, and would not speak with him until he removed them. [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. 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. In September 1864, Anderson led a raid on the town of Centralia, Missouri. ; Battle of Albany Civil War Marker near Orrick, Mo. On June 12, 1864, Anderson and 50 of his men engaged 15 members of the Missouri State Militia, killing and robbing 12. 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. As a general rule, bushwhackers would attack quickly and withdraw if. Richeson, Richerson, Richardson originally from Taylor County, Kentucky. He favored swift execution of captured guerrillas. The act sanctioned guerrilla activities against the Union army while attempting to gain some measure of control over the guerrillas. Banjo Heritage https://patreon.com/CliftonHicksI learned the words to "Bloody Bill Anderson" from a recording of Alvin Youngblood Hart. (. [110] By mid-afternoon, the 39th Missouri Volunteer Infantry had arrived in Centralia. ; and Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in Higginsville, Mo. [156] Jim Anderson moved to Sherman, Texas, with his two sisters. [23], Missouri had a large Union presence throughout the Civil War, but was also inhabited by many civilians whose sympathies lay with the Confederacy. 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". I. [101] Anderson's men quickly took control of the train, which included 23 off-duty, unarmed Union soldiers as passengers. They often used unorthodox tactics to fight Union troops, such as using a small party of horsemen to lure them into an ambush. 1:27. Biographer Larry Wood claimed that Anderson's sisters aided the guerrillas by gathering information inside Union-controlled territory. If they were Bill's, he would have had 7 pistols on his person which to me is a little hard to believe. [162] He also appears as a character in several films about Jesse James. [24] Confederate General Sterling Price failed to gain control of Missouri in his 1861 offensive and retreated into Arkansas, leaving only partisan rangers and local guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" to challenge Union dominance. [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. [70] On July 15, Anderson and his men entered Huntsville, Missouri and occupied the town's business district. One dating device is the guns; they are all germane to the late 1860s and early 1870s at the . 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. This historical marker was erected by Missouri State Parks. . [16] In May 1862, Judge Baker issued an arrest warrant for Griffith, whom Anderson helped hide. [132], Anderson traveled 70 miles (110km) east with 80 men to New Florence, Missouri. [39] Anderson was placed in charge of 40 men, of which he was perhaps the angriest and most motivatedhis fellow guerrillas considered him one of the deadliest fighters there. [31] By late July, Anderson led groups of guerrillas on raids and was often pursued by Union volunteer cavalry. General Orders No. As Quantrill and Todd became less active, "Bloody Bill" Anderson emerged as the best-known, and most feared, Confederate guerrilla in Missouri. several of Anderson's men were cut down immediately & Anderson & 2 more continued but just a short distance when they were cut down. The rest rushed to obey the orders. Anderson's prodigious talents for bloodshed were such that, by the end of his life in 1864, he'd left a trail of destruction across three states which took just two years to blaze. Again, everyone can have an opinion about that statement. 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 Missouri act was an offshoot of the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act instituted by Confederate President Jefferson Davis in April 1862. He visited the house of a well-known Union sympathizer, the wealthiest resident of the town, brutally beat him, and raped his 12- or 13-year-old black servant. On the other hand, the use of tactics like arson, robbery and murder seemed beyond the bounds of honorable combat. Anderson was fatally shot twice in the back of the head. 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. A wide-brimmed slouch hat was the headgear of choice. Bushwhackers were involved in Price's 1864 Raid, the last official Confederate campaign in Missouri. They also burnt Baker's home and stole two of his horses before returning to Missouri on the Santa Fe Trail. Others, like William Anderson, had already entered a dark abyss from which there was no return and no escape except death. [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. 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. En route, they entered Baxter Springs, Kansas, the site of Fort Blair. [120][121] Anderson evaded the pursuit, leading his men into ravines the Union troops would not enter for fear of ambush. Topics and series. During the American Civil War, the James family sided with the Confederates, and Frank and Jesse James joined a group of guerrillas, or . [8] After settling there, the Anderson family became friends with A.I. The U.S. Government provided a veteran's tombstone for Anderson's grave in 1967. . 3. Guerrilla Tactics On August 10, while traveling through Clay County, Anderson and his men engaged 25 militia members, killing five of them and forcing the rest to flee. Partisan Warfare in the American Civil War. The order was intended to undermine the guerrillas' support network in Missouri. Pioneer Cemetery.

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