After a robbery near Council Grove in May 1863, Quantrill’s men were ambushed by federal troops and forced to split up. In Missouri William and Jim Anderson formed a gang with Bill Reed, robbing and attacking Union soldiers, before joining Quantrill’s ranks in early 1863. On July 2, 1862, William murdered Baker, burned his home, and fled to Missouri.Īnderson’s sisters, having operated as Confederate spies, were arrested by Union authorities under the command of the hated Union General Thomas Ewing Jr. When William sought to have the warrant suspended, a quarrel ensued in which Baker shot and killed the Anderson patriarch. After being captured, Baker distanced himself from the Anderson family, issuing a warrant for the arrest of William’s brother, Griffith. In late 1861, he and Baker attempted to join the Confederate Army, but they were attacked by the 6th Kansas Cavalry in Vernon County, Missouri. The outbreak of the Civil War saw an increased demand for horses, and Anderson began stealing horses and selling them along the Santa Fe Trail. Baker, the family personally experienced the “Bleeding Kansas” conflict over slavery that had embroiled the territory.īy 1860 Anderson had become a property owner and went into the freight shipping business with his father and began horse trading. Besides befriending a local proslavery judge, I. Despite not owning any slaves, the Andersons were deeply proslavery. His family moved to Huntsville, Missouri, as a child, and in 1857 the Andersons moved again, to Kansas, and settled near Council Grove. Like fellow Confederate irregulars William Clarke Quantrill and Jesse James, segments of Anderson’s life are shrouded in doubt, giving rise to a romantic guerrilla mythology.Īnderson was born sometime between 18 in Hopkins County, Kentucky, to William C. 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. Anderson was one of the most notorious Confederate guerrillas of the Civil War. Final resting place: Pioneer Cemetery, Richmond, Missouri.Cause of death: Killed by Union soldiers in the Battle of Albany.Date of death: Octo(some sources state October 26 see Bloody Bill Anderson, p.Claim to fame: Confederate guerrilla Captain of Quantrill's Raiders, 1863-1864.Place of birth: Hopkins County, Kentucky.Date of birth: sources range from 1837 to 1839.
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