Charles W. Quantrell

Chapter 2: INTRODUCTION

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

A firsthand account by a veteran follower describes guerrilla warfare along the Missouri–Kansas border during the Civil War, chronicling raids, ambushes, and pitched engagements led by Charles Quantrell. It traces his rise from early life through violent campaigns, including major assaults, reprisals such as the Lawrence raid, contentious encounters with militia and Jayhawkers, and retaliatory measures like forced depopulation. The narrative records recruits who would later gain notoriety, battlefield tactics, narrow escapes, captures, surrender, and the leader's death, and concludes with the postwar trajectories of companions, blending battle reports, personal reminiscence, and local perspective on a turbulent border conflict.

INTRODUCTION

Captain Harrison Trow, who will be eighty years old this coming October, was with Quantrell during the whole of the conflict from 1861 to 1865, and for the past twenty years I have been at him to give his consent for me to write a true history of the Quantrell Band, until at last he has given it.

This narrative was written just as he told it to me, giving accounts of fights that he participated in, narrow escapes experienced, dilemmas it seemed almost impossible to get out of, and also other battles; the life of the James boys and Youngers as they were with Quantrell during the war, and after the war, when they became outlaws by publicity of the daily newspapers, being accused of things which they never did and which were laid at their feet.

Captain Trow identified Jesse James when the latter was killed at St. Joseph. He also was the last man to surrender in the State of Missouri.

John P. Burch.