Earlier guerrilla activity by confederates, especially in the Western theater and the trans-Mississippi, had done much to alienate the formerly sympathetic population. Many of the confederate partisan rangers were simply criminals who stole from friend and foe alike.
the redlegs,CO volunteers,jayhawkers, KS militia & the loudoun county rangers were ALL CRIMINALS.
MOST of those boys preyed on BOTH/ALL sides. their only TRUE motivation was PROFIT, looting & rapine of the HELPLESS. (for example, on the day of the cavalry raid on Lawrence,KS, "doc" jennison, who styled himself a captain of the US volunteer cavalry, escaped being killed because he was away from Lawrence raiding unionist farms in KS! NOTE: see the book INSIDE WAR for more details.)
free dixie,sw