Quantrill's Raiders

Ohio-born schoolteacher William C. Quantrill, left the classroom in 1857 at the age of 20 for a career as a gambler and horse thief.  Getting his taste for violence in the Kansas-Missouri border war, Quantrill organized a pro-southern guerrilla band when the Civil War broke out.  After several small battles in Missouri, he was commissioned as a captain by the Confederacy.

In the summer of 1863, at the peak of his power and notoriety, Quantrill led 150 men into Lawrence, Kansas, a place known for abolitionists and hated by southern sympathizing Missourians.  Lawrence was the center of the pro-Union fighters known as "Red Legs."  Quantrill attacked in the early morning of August 21, killing at least 150 soldiers and destroying $1.5 million worth of property (in 1860s dollars).  Following the attack Union General Thomas Ewing ordered the forcible removal of all citizens from the border district, believing that they were aiding and abetting the enemy.

Quantrill's two lieutenants, "Bloody Bill" Anderson, who fastened Union scalps to his horse's bridle, and George Todd, were just a vicious as Quantrill himself.  Among his band of guerrillas were Frank and Jesse James, and Cole Younger who were just getting their first taste of lawlessness.

By wearing captured federal uniforms, Quantrill's band was able to surprise the enemy, as at Baxter Springs, Kansas where they killed 65 of the 100 federal soldiers there.   In early 1865, while on a mission through Kentucky to Washington, DC to assassinate President Lincoln, they were attacked by Union soldiers at Louisville, Kentucky on May 10th.  Quantrill was mortally wounded and his raids were over, at least with him as the leader.

Next time...The Civil War moves Far West
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On November 6, 1854, John Phillip Sousa is born, one of the most popular, prolific and important American composers of all time..."The March King" wrote "Stars and Stripes Forever", "The Liberty Bell" and "The Washington Post", among others.  He was raised in Washington DC during the Civil War and began musical education at the age of 6.  

The Goddess of Chance

The Goddess of Chance, Madame Vestal, was a celebrated female gambler in the Wild West.  She reported moved from Denver to the Black Hills overnight, in what we would call today a trailer, was then known as a
"horse drawn boudoir" on wheels.

Ms. Vestal was linked to a member of Kansas' own Quatrill's Raiders who had quite a passion for violence.  Madame Vestal's man was lynched by the vigilantes, after which Vestal drifted from Las Vegas, Tombstone, and finally to San Francisco where she died, full of whiskey on Skid Row.

After her death it was discovered that Madame Vestal was actually the famed Civil War spy for the Confederacy, trusted agent of General's Forrest and Price - one Belle Siddons.

Next time: Necktie Parties circa 1880