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. [6] Kansas was at the time embroiled in an ideological conflict regarding its admission to the Union as slave or free, and both pro-slavery activists and abolitionists had moved there in attempts to influence its ultimate status. While on public display, a local photographer documented his death. 100, in April 1863, set a national policy, outlining guerrillas and their treatment. Born about 1839 in Kentucky, the family early moved to Missouri, where William grew up near the town of Huntsville in Randolph County. 3. Anderson was described as "nearly six feet tall, of rather swarthy complexion and had long, black hair, inclined to curl. Unexpectedly, his men were able to capture a passenger train, the first time Confederate guerrillas had done so. After the war, several guerrillas, such as Frank and Jesse James, continued their violent behaviors, becoming infamous outlaws. In 1857, the family moved to Kansas and William worked for a time . 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. Anderson was known for his brutality towards Union soldiers, and pro Union partisans, who were called Jayhawkers. [44] They proceeded to pillage and burn many buildings, killing almost every man they found, but taking care not to shoot women. The attacks prompted the Kansas City Daily Journal of Commerce to declare that rebels had taken over the area. Brown had devoted significant attention to the border area, Anderson led raids in Cooper County and Johnson County, Missouri, robbing local residents. While on public display, a local photographer documented his death. Todd rested his men in July to allow them to prepare for a Confederate invasion of Missouri. [156] Jim Anderson moved to Sherman, Texas, with his two sisters. [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. 100% heavyweight Gildan brand cotton t-shirt. [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. However, he was quickly released owing to a problem with the warrant, and fled to Agnes City, fearing he would be lynched. Again, everyone can have an opinion about that statement. [59] It is likely that this incident angered Anderson, who then took 20 men to visit the town of Sherman. ; Battle of Albany Civil War Marker near Orrick, Mo. 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. Similarly, Jesse James' brother Frank became . [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. Location. One of the leading authorities on the Civil War in the western theater, Albert Edward Castel earned his B.A. . "Bloody" Bill Anderson (1840-1864), the most prolific mass murderer on the American frontier. [66][67] In the letters, Anderson took an arrogant and threatening yet playful tone, boasting of his attacks. [50], They departed earlier in the year than they had planned, owing to increased Union pressure. He sees Anderson as obsessed with, and greatly enjoying, the ability to inflict fear and suffering in his victims, and suggests he suffered from the most severe type of sadistic personality disorder. They soon arrived at the small town of Centralia and proceeded to loot it, robbing people and searching the town for valuables. [28] Castel and Goodrich speculated that this raid may have given Quantrill the idea of launching an attack deep in Kansas, as it demonstrated that the state's border was poorly defended and that guerrillas could travel deep into the state's interior before Union forces were alerted. [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. William T. Anderson was one of the most notorious Confederate guerrillas of the Civil War. Missouri's southern sympathizers hated Union Brig. Marker is on the Ray County Courthouse grounds. A wide-brimmed slouch hat was the headgear of choice. The Confederate guerilla died in battle on October 26, 1864. Around the same time, William T. Anderson fatally shot a member of the Kaw tribe outside Council Grove; he claimed that the man had tried to rob him. 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. 2. [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. The Union troops took his body to Richmond, Mo. For the American Revolutionary War loyalist, see, Anderson's middle name is unknown. [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. Gen. Thomas Ewing issued General Orders No. [99][100] As the guerrillas robbed the stagecoach passengers, a train arrived. Anderson and his companion "took a negro girl of 12 or 13 years old into . 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. One one hand, they were useful, serving to tie down Union forces. Pioneer Cemetery. Captains will be held responsible for the good conduct and efficiency of their men and will report to these headquarters from time to time. Anderson's bushwhacking marked him as a dangerous man and eventually led the Union to imprison his sisters. 11, an evacuation order that evicted almost 20,000 people from four counties in rural western Missouri and burned many of their homes. [144] Four other guerrillas were killed in the attack. Bloody Bill Anderson - Etsy Check out our bloody bill anderson selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Community & Conflict website entry (Submitted on October 1, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.) 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. They drew the Union troops to the top of a hill; a group of guerrillas led by Anderson had been stationed at the bottom and other guerrillas hid nearby. Desperate to put a stop to Anderson's bloodshed, the Union Army eventually raised a small militia to hunt him down. [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. [146] The corpse was photographed and displayed at a local courthouse for public viewing, along with Anderson's possessions. Missouri's southern sympathizers hated Union Brig. [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. He favored swift execution of captured guerrillas. In 1908, the ex-guerrillas and former outlaws Jim Cummins and Cole Younger arranged for a funeral service at Anderson's gravesite. Although Union supporters viewed him as incorrigibly evil, Confederate supporters in Missouri saw his actions as justifiable. [98] They found a large supply of whiskey and all began drinking. Posted on 19th March 2021. The Man Who Killed Quantrill. Confederate leaders were unsure about guerrillas. Many bushwhackers wore a distinctive shirt, such as this one on T.F. En route, some guerrillas robbed a Union supporter, but Anderson knew the man and reimbursed him. 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. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Settlements & Settlers War, US Civil. He was, however, impressed by the effectiveness of Anderson's attacks. Biographer Larry Wood claimed that Anderson's sisters aided the guerrillas by gathering information inside Union-controlled territory. At least 40 members of the 17th Illinois Cavalry and the Missouri State Militia were in town and took shelter in a fort. My 1888 Luscomb #b. Their families and other local Confederate sympathizers supplied them with shelter, food, medical care and tactical information about Union activities. Answer: He mistook the cashier for Samuel P Cox, the killer of 'Bloody Bill' Anderson. [167], In a study of 19th-century warfare, historian James Reid posited that Anderson suffered from delusional paranoia, which exacerbated his aggressive, sadistic personality. The act sanctioned guerrilla activities against the Union army while attempting to gain some measure of control over the guerrillas. Anderson's men mutilated the bodies, earning the guerrillas the description of "incarnate fiends" from the Columbia Missouri Statesman. [26] In early 1863, William and Jim Anderson traveled to Jackson County, Missouri, to join him. [68] The letters were given to Union generals and were not published for 20 years. The Missouri Partisan Ranger Act , On July 17, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas Hindman issued the Missouri Partisan Ranger Act. Union troops set his body up for public viewing and photos at the Richmond, Missouri courthouse. Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. [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". [124] Anderson watched the fire from nearby bluffs. . [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. [155] As the Confederacy collapsed, most of Anderson's men joined Quantrill's forces or traveled to Texas. [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. A State Divided: The Civil War in Missouri. Anderson was hit by a bullet behind an ear, likely killing him instantly. Anderson participated in Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863. William Anderson was initially given a chilly reception from other raiders, who perceived him to be brash and overconfident. [Map inset] Nearby Civil War attractions include Pioneer Cemetery and Ray County Museum in Richmond, Mo. [8] After settling there, the Anderson family became friends with A.I. [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. Marker is on Thornton Street north of Main Street (State Highway 10), on the left when traveling north. The guerrillas gathered at the Blackwater River in Johnson County, Missouri. [81], On July 23, 1864, Anderson led 65 men to Renick, Missouri, robbing stores and tearing down telegraph wires on the way. After the robbery, the group was intercepted by a United States Marshal accompanied by a large posse,[28] about 150 miles (240km) from the KansasMissouri border. [130] Price was disgusted that Anderson used scalps to decorate his horse, and would not speak with him until he removed them. [163], Historians have been mixed in their appraisal of Anderson. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The order was intended to undermine the guerrillas' support network in Missouri. [76] Anderson was selective, turning away all but the fiercest applicants, as he sought fighters similar to himself. [140][139] He left the area with 150 men. Date Posted: 8/12/2009 1:51:23 PM. 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. [25] Quantrill was at the time the most prominent guerrilla leader in the KansasMissouri area. [115] The attack led to a near-complete halt in rail traffic in the area and a dramatic increase in Union rail security. Other nearby markers. A lack of Confederate military presence in Missouri led Southern sympathizers to form guerrilla groups to harass Union soldiers and pro-Union citizens. [9][d] On June 28, 1860, William's mother, Martha Anderson, died after being struck by lightning. 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. [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. Richeson, Richerson, Richardson originally from Taylor County, Kentucky. 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. [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. Born in Randolph County, Missouri in 1839, William T. Anderson would, by his death on October 26, 1864, be known and feared throughout the Unionas "Bloody Bill" Anderson, a barbaric, pro-Confederateguerilla leader in the American Civil War. [1] There he robbed travelers and killed several Union soldiers. . The guerrillas were only able to shoot the Union horses before reinforcements arrived; three of Anderson's men were killed in the confrontation. . From the town, they saw a group of about 120 guerrillas and pursued them. Anderson led a band of volunteer partisan raiders who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas. Wood believes that these stories are inaccurate, citing a lack of documentary evidence. 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. [101] Anderson's men quickly took control of the train, which included 23 off-duty, unarmed Union soldiers as passengers. Anderson was fatally shot twice in the back of the head. Union troops used horses to drag Anderson's body through the streets around the Ray County Courthouse. Guerrilla Tactics Two hesitated coming down the steps. On June 12, 1864, Anderson and 50 of his men engaged 15 members of the Missouri State Militia, killing and robbing 12. He then ordered and conducted the massacre soldiers. [149] Some of them cut off one of his fingers to steal a ring. [27], In May 1863, Anderson joined members of Quantrill's Raiders on a foray near Council Grove, Kansas,[27] in which they robbed a store 15 miles (24km) west of the town. 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. "The war brought on hate and strife and killing around here. This would effectively put Bloody Bill on the list of about 450 confederate guerrillas who rode into Lawrence on that fateful day. ; and Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in Higginsville, Mo. The defeat resulted in the deaths of five guerrillas but only two Union soldiers, further maddening Anderson. [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. ; Battle of Albany Civil War Marker near Orrick, Mo. Reid draws a parallel between the bashi-bazouks of the Ottoman Army and Anderson's guerrillas, arguing that they behaved similarly.[168]. Violence Was No Stranger (1993). Anderson himself was killed a month later in battle. On August 30, Anderson and his men attacked a steamboat on the Missouri River, killing the captain and gaining control of the boat. [126] The Union soldier held captive at Centralia was impressed with the control Anderson exercised over his men. Union troops used horses to drag Anderson's body through the streets around the Ray County Courthouse. The U.S. Government provided a veteran's tombstone for Anderson's grave in 1967. . He was buried in a nearby fieldafter a soldier cut off one of his fingers to steal a ring. After a brief gunfight, Baker and his brother-in-law fled into the store's basement. They buried him in an unmarked grave in Richmond's Pioneer Cemetery. On July 17, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas Hindman issued the Missouri Partisan Ranger Act. If they were Bill's, he would have had 7 pistols on his person which to me is a little hard to believe. [5] The Anderson family supported slavery, though they did not own slaves. 17 reviews The first-ever biography of the perpetrator of the Centralia and Baxter Springs Massacres, as well as innumerable atrocities during the Civil War in the West. [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. These regiments were composed of troops from out of state, who sometimes mistreated local residents, further motivating the guerrillas and their supporters. They murdered my family when I was a schoolboy and I was launched into a life of shooting, reprisals and rough-riding." There are other examples as well, such as . [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. His gun changed a few times, semi, handgun, revolver . 1. So . 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. 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. He was killed in a Union ambush near Richmond, MO. , Cole Younger, 1913. Cox's bugler gathered up 6 pistols around the body. It is said that "Bloody Bill" Anderson carried six to eight revolvers with him at any point. [122] In the aftermath of the massacre, Union soldiers committed several revenge killings of Confederate-sympathizing civilians. [46] They left town at 9:00am after a company of Union soldiers approached the town. He took a leading role in the Lawrence Massacre and later took part in the Battle of Baxter Springs, both in 1863. Serving in the US Marine Corps in WW II, he earned a battlefield commission and decorations for valor at Guadalcanal. [75] As Anderson's profile increased, he was able to recruit more guerrillas. They opposed the Union army in Missouri for a variety of reasons. Anderson's horse, saddle & 2 pistols were presented later to a general. so there couldn't have been that many to obtain from citizens. (. (, 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. Get A Copy Kindle Unlimited $0.00 Amazon Stores William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson (circa 1838 - October 26, 1864) was a pro-Confederate guerrilla leader in the American Civil War. [14] However, the group was attacked by the Union's 6th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in Vernon County, Missouri;[e] the cavalry likely assumed they were Confederate guerrillas. [125], Anderson visited Confederate sympathizers as he traveled, some of whom viewed him as a hero for fighting the Union, whom they deeply hated. Not long after her driver left to find help, three rambunctious New Jersey cavalrymen, all white, approached Brooks, demanding her money. Touch for map. [65], On July 6, a Confederate sympathizer brought Anderson newspapers containing articles about him.