bloody bill
William "Bloody Bill" Anderson and his Bushwhackers The Kansas/Missouri border wars resulted in some of the bloodiest and violent conflicts prior to and during the Civil War. These conflicts started far before the beginning of the Civil War with the signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which entitled the citizens living in Kansas to determine whether or not they would come into the Union as a slave state or a free state. This decision led to a land rush of people who were bitterly opposed in ideals and moralities which eventually led to many small skirmishes and battles that would foreshadow on a smaller scale the carnage and tragedy of the Civil War. Among one of the families to move into Kansas from Missouri was the Anderson's, and most notably William "Bloody Bill" Anderson. He would later become one of the most notorious men in the U.S. when he and his Bushwhackers would commit the horrific atrocity The Centralia Massacre and win lopsidedly The Centralia War. William Anderson was born in February 1840, he and his family moved from Randal County, Missouri to Council Groves, Kansas when he was 14, William moved with his brother, three sisters, mother and father. His brother
Because I would not fight the people of Missouri, my native State, the Yankees sought my life, but failed to get me. Johnston, were largely new recruits, riding farm horses and armed with Enfield muskets, a heavy muzzle-loading gun. Bill served in the Missouri State Guard for some time up until their withdrawal from Lexington, at this time he returned home. William Anderson's Bushwhacker force had attempted to route Federal Troops stationed in Fayette in mid September but were repelled by a heavily armed and well entrenched Federal militia. Under his orders they set forth on the brutal raid of Lawrence, Kansas, which would further the Missouri legend of William Anderson and it would effectively make it impossible for Missouri guerrillas to return to any kind of a normal life. Bill and his Bushwhackers would be joined by the Todds and their guerrillas. The guerilla leaders accepted such terms and often killed the soldiers they captured. When the no quarter policy seemed to only encourage guerilla activity, the federal commanders began harassing civilians who were suspected of assisting the Confederate cause by aiding the guerillas. He would be remembered in infamy as one of, if not the most barbaric man in Missouri until the end of his life. Further, federal forces began rounding up and imprisoning family members of suspected guerillas. I lived in Kansas when this war commenced. The stage coach robbery was abruptly interrupted when the Bushwhackers heard a train whistle, coming from the east. Louis to Macon where it joined the cross state Hannibal to St.
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Acceptance Essays
