October 26, 1864---The bloody end of "Bloody Bill"

OCTOBER 26, 1864:                   

“Bloody Bill” Anderson is killed in a Union raid on Albany, Missouri. According to reports, the Union commander, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Cox shot Anderson in the head, though whether Anderson was a prisoner or still fighting at the time is unclear. Cox ordered Anderson’s body placed on display. Also on display was a leather lanyard belonging to Anderson that sported 54 knots --- the number of lives he’d personally taken. (In fact, Anderson had been responsible, directly and indirectly, for the loss of hundreds of lives.)

  

“Bloody Bill’s” guerrilla band splintered apart soon after his death, and most of his men became notorious outlaws, including the Younger Brothers and the James Brothers, who often rode together. In 1869, during a bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri, Jesse and Frank James tried to kill Samuel P. Cox in revenge for the death of Anderson, but were unsuccessful.    

Sometime after the war, Cole Younger found the location of “Bloody Bill’s” unmarked grave and had his body reinterred in a churchyard in Richmond, Missouri. 

In a signal occurrence illustrating the deep divisions within Missouri even after the war (and even to this day) an anonymous citizen had a grave marker erected for Anderson, and flowers began to appear regularly on his grave. In 1967, a new grave marker was installed by the town’s historical society. In 1988, a memorial to the “Confederate Partisan Rangers” killed at Albany was erected at the spot where Anderson was killed.

    

       

October 25, 1864---Three battles in Kansas

OCTOBER 25, 1864:                   

The Battle of  Marais des Cygnes; The Battle of Mine Creek; The Battle of Marmiton River:             

As General Sterling Price’s retreating Confederates pass into Kansas they are attacked by Union cavalry three times in one day, in what becomes collectively the largest cavalry battle west of the Mississippi River. 

Although the Confederates outnumber the Federals 7,000 to 2,500, the Union force routs Price’s column in all three engagements, and much of Price’s precious supply train is broken up or recaptured. Federal casualties are about 100 for the day. Confederate casualties are unknown for the battle of  Marais des Cygnes and the battle of Marmiton River, but Price loses 1,200 men at the battle of Mine Creek, leaving him at best with only 5,800 effectives. 

 

October 24, 1864---"Sheriffs persistently refuse to surrender these negroes except upon the payment of the fees in specie . . ."

OCTOBER 24, 1864:                   

The Adjutant General of the State of Texas corresponds with the Governor, Pendleton Murrah, expressing concern about abuses of power by local Sheriffs, who are arresting slaves working for the State and then refusing to release them except for payment of “fines” in gold and silver:

I desire most earnestly to invite your attention to another matter connected with the military administration in this District. Many instances have recently occurred of vexatious arrests and detentions of slaves in government employment. Upon demand being made by officers acting under my orders, Sheriffs persistently refuse to surrender these negroes except upon the payment of the fees in specie[.]

 As the military chest does not contain a dollar in metalic [sic] currency, it is entirely out of my power to comply with the demand. The consequence is that a considerable number of such negroes are held in confinement in the different jails of the State, and I am powerless to procure their liberation, except by the employment of force, which my respect for the laws of the State, even when perverted to the injury of a sacred cause, does not permit me to employ.

Under these circumstances, I have every reason to believe, that your Excellency, whose attention has been already directed to this subject, will recommend to the Legislature now in Session such amendment of the present laws as you may deem necessary.

October 23, 1864---"The Gettysburg of The West"

OCTOBER 23, 1864:                   

The Battle of Westport, Missouri (“The Gettysburg of The West”):          

General Sterling Price C.S.A. has fought his way to the town of Westport (now a neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri). Westport was so named because it functioned as the jumping-off point for most pioneers heading for the frontier. It had replaced Independence in that role c. 1850.

Westport, unlike Lexington and Independence, is heavily defended by Union troops, but Price needs to seize and hold the fords over the Big Blue River in order to move his spoils of war (500 wagons of clothes, weapons and food and 5,000 head of cattle) southward where they can be used to replenish Confederate stocks. 

 

Price orders General Jo Shelby to create a diversion along the river bottom. This “diversion” soon escalates into a major battle. Three Union brigades are facing a smaller number of Confederate troops, but among them is Shelby’s own Iron Brigade under Brigadier General Meriwether Jeff Thompson C.S.A.  Thompson’s men flank the Federals and drive them out of Westport, seemingly carrying the day.

 

Unfortunately, Thompson’s Graybacks expend almost all their ammunition driving off the Bluebellies and before they can be resupplied Federal reinforcements take the field. 

Unwilling to risk another frontal assault against the determined Thompson and his men, the Union troops rely on a flanking maneuver through a locally known gully; a farmer named George Thoman, whose only horse had been appropriated by the Confederates, lends his aid to the Union cause. This Union force hits Shelby’s Iron Brigade hard, but Shelby’s Iron Brigade does not break, it turns to fight. A brutal battle erupts on the wide-open flat prairie.  It seems to last a long time, but Thompson’s force is soon compelled to withdraw into Westport for ammunition. 

Buffalo Bill Cody

Wild Bill Hickock

Jeremiah aka "Liver-Eating" Johnson

While this battle on the prairie rages, Union forces attack Price’s men near the river fords. Confederate resistance is heavy, and the Union commanders are unsure of themselves. One is even arrested in the midst of the fight for not pressing the attack.

Regardless of the trepidation of their commanders, the Union men ultimately chase the Confederates from the fords. Missouri and Arkansas Union brigades lead the charge against Missouri and Arkansas Confederate brigades. Once across the river, Union batteries begin to blast at Price’s positions, which withdraw into an ever smaller pocket inside Westport. The Confederates have but one cannon left, which they fire until its barrel is glowing.

An attempted Confederate counterattack is foiled when the entire Union line moves against Shelby’s Iron Brigade. Realizing that his position is untenable (and having saved most of his wagon train) Price decides to break off the battle. Price is left with only 7,000 men after the battle. The Union, having lost the same 1,500 as Price, boasts 20,500.  Among the Union troops on the field at Westport are Wild Bill Hickock, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Jeremiah Johnson, all of whom survive the battle.

So goes the largest battle west of the Mississippi. Very unlike Gettysburg however, the “Gettysburg of The West” does not end when Price withdraws. He is badly outnumbered and his troops are exhausted; but they remain full of fight. To stave off any more Confederate offensive actions the Union army pursues Price through the Indian Territory and into north Texas, wearing Price’s army down in an extended series of skirmishes that continue for the rest of the month. 

By November 1864, Price is leading just 5,000 battle weary men, with whom he escapes to Mexico at war’s end.