Quantrill's Raiders

Quantrill's Raiders were Confederate guerrillas who followed and fought under William Clark Quantrill, an Ohio schoolteacher who relocated to Kansas, and who transformed himself and his men into militant murderers of abolitionists. Raiders included in their number Jesse James, his brother Frank, and Cole Younger along with his brothers, who after the war formed an outlaw band known as the James-Younger Gang, robbing trains and banks throughout the southern and midwestern United States. Quantrill himself did not survive the war, being shot by a Union guerilla in June, 1865.

Related Topics:
Confederate - Guerrilla - William Clark Quantrill - Ohio - Kansas - Abolitionists - Jesse James - Frank - Cole Younger - James-Younger Gang

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Some people view Quantrill and his men as avengers, paying back Union brutalities in kind. Others believe that they were cold-blooded killers. They targeted Union troops and civilian Union sympathizers alike.

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Driven by their pro-slavery beliefs, they committed unprecedented atrocities—climaxing in the killing of 200 unarmed men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas, an event known as the Lawrence Massacre.

Related Topics:
Lawrence, Kansas - Lawrence Massacre

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