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Centralia Massacre and Battle

THE PRELUDE TO BATTLE

By 1864, most of the major Civil War battles between the regular military forces of the Confederacy and the Union had been fought in the state of Missouri. Confederate units were now located in states to the south of Missouri and other than an occasional soiree into the state, the conflict now consisted of skirmishes between guerrilla forces, with loose attachment to the Confederacy establishment, and the federal forces who were attempting to maintain tranquillity in this state.

The guerrilla units were mostly young men from the western counties of the state who had seen considerable action and experienced family and property destructions from the continual border warfare with the "jayhawkers" from Kansas and Federal retaliations to their home communities.

A key target of the guerrillas was the North Missouri Railroad which ran from St. Louis to Macon where it joined the cross state Hannibal to St. Joseph railroad. An almost continual series of guerrilla raids on the bridges and tracks of the North Missouri Railroad were carried out to hamper the movement of Federal troops and supplies. It was part of this campaign that brought a large force of guerrilla bands to Centralia during the late summer of 1864. In mid-August of 1864, a combined Federal military force encircled a bushwhacker camp near Dripping Springs, north of Columbia Four guerrillas were killed and several more wounded or taken captive during this skirmish.

A band of guerrillas, under the command of G. W. "Wash" Bryson, on September 7, 1864, stopped a freight train two miles east of Centralia and took off several Federal soldiers and 40 horses, just what the bushwhackers needed for their raids. After threatening to shoot the prisoners, they were released after a few days.

A bushwhacker force under the command of Bloody Bill Anderson had attempted to route Federal Troops stationed in Fayette in mid September but were repelled by heavily armed and well entrenched Federal militia.

On September 23, 1864, a Federal wagon train in route to Rocheport from Sturgeon was ambushed at Goslins's Lane by guerrillas led by George and Thomas Todd. Eleven of the Federal troops were killed and over 18,000 rounds of ammunition captured. This ambush would lead to what has become the most infamous activities in Boone County, the Centralia Massacre and the Battle Of Centralia.

The Todds and their band, joined up with the large bushwhacker force headed by Bil1 Anderson. The forces of Anderson and the Todds rendezvoused in northern Boone County with the intent of holding up a North Missouri railroad mail train.

THE CENTRALIA MASSACRE

On the morning of September 27, some 30 to 50 bushwhackers, some dressed in captured Union uniforms, under the leadership of Anderson rode into the village of Centralia whose population was less than 100 persons.While waiting for the train, they terrorized local civilians, robbing and burning stores and killing a civilian who had attempted to defend a young woman. The stage from Columbia came in to the community and they robbed the passengers. One of the stage passengers was Congressman James S. Rollins, a prominent Boone County citizen who has been identified as the "father of the University of Missouri for his role in locating the University in Columbia. Rollins and the other state passengers, which included Boone County Sheriff James Waugh, gave fictitious names and identities to the bandits. The stage coach robbery was interrupted when they heard a train whistle, coming from the east. This was a passenger train that had left St. Charles earlier that morning.

The train crew saw the guerrilla band as they approached Centralia and decided to run through Centralia at top speed, but Anderson's men had placed a barricade of railroad ties across the track and forced the train to stop. In searching the train they found 23 unarmed Union soldiers who were on furlough headed to their homes in Northwest Missouri and Southwest Iowa. The civilian passengers were robbed of all valuables. The soldiers were taken from the train, and ordered to disrobe. After isolating one of the soldiers, Sergeant Tom Goodman, the other 22 soldiers were shot and killed on the spot, witnessed by the horrified Centralia residents and train passengers. One German civilian on the train who was wearing military clothing was also killed, as he could not speak English to tell the bushwhackers of his civilian status.

Sgt. Goodman was spared, taken hostage by the Anderson guerrillas, and lived to write of the whole incident in a book after the conclusion of the Civil War.

The guerrillas set fire to the Centralia depot, sacked and set fire to the train and then sent it on its way, west, with no crew aboard, to later crash and be destroyed.

THE CENTRALIA BATTLE

Word of the massacre quickly spread. A unit of the Thirty-ninth Missouri Infantry was in the vicinity, searching for the guerrilla bands an were dispatched to Centralia. The troops, under Major A. V. E. Johnston, were largely new recruits, riding farm horses and armed with Enfield muskets, a heavy muzzle-loading gun.

Air photo showing approximate size of Centralia, Mo. at time of Civil War and location of Massacre and Battle location.

Upon arriving in Centralia the frightened citizens told the Union troops at the band of Bloody Bill Anderson numbered less an 10 men and had moved to the southeast from Centralia. Ignoring warnings from some Centralians that there were more bushwackers bivouacked south of town, the Federal Infantry followed the guerrilla trail, expecting to find a relatively small force as had been described to them. About three miles southeast of Centralia, they became entangled in a guerrilla ambush.

Air photo showing disposition of various guerrilla forces around Centralia Battlefield. Initially Anderson's group lead Johnston's group into the field and then they turned and engaged Johnston along with all the other guerilla bands hidden in the trees.

The inexperienced Federal troops, with their single shot riles followed the traditional warfare practice of advancing on foot, leaving their horses tended by a few soldiers. They marched into a three-sided formation of several hundred hidden guerrillas, each armed with several Colt revolvers, and within minutes, the Union troops were nearly annihilated. The few soldiers that were not killed on the first guerrilla vollies, ran back to their horses, but the guerrillas with their faster horses, overtook the fleeing troops and within the hour, over 120 soldiers were killed. Some nearly reached the sanctuary of Sturgeon some ten miles from the battle- ground, before the guerrillas completed the rout.

Three of the guerrillas were reported killed in the battle. Among the guerrillas in action on that date were Frank James and his younger brother, Jesse. Historical accounts challenge whether Jesse James was a part of the Battle of Centralia, but later year lectures by Frank James, seem to confirm his participation. Some accounts credit Jesse James as the slayer of Major Johnston, commander of the ill-fated Union troops. Cole Younger was also listed as a member of the guerrilla force.

Additional Sources:

centralia.missouri.org/massacre
www.bigcountry.de
www.geocities.com/mosouthron/partisans
www.cityofrichmondmo.org
www.mmcwrt.org

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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 16:
1075 Ordericus Vitalis French monk/historian/poet
1497 Philipp Melanchthon Germany, Protestant reformer (Augsburgse Confessie)
1620 Frederick William Great Elector, founder of Brandenburg-Prussia
1698 Pierre Bouguer French mathematician (heliometer)
1788 Juan van Halen Dutch/Spanish officer/adventurer
1807 Lysander Cutler Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1866
1812 Henry Wilson (R) 18th Vice-President (1873-75)
1813 Joseph Reid Anderson Brigadier General (Confederate Army) died in 1892
1822 James Patton Anderson Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1872
1823 Brigadier General John D Imboden organized 1st Virginia Partisan Rangers
1832 Camille Armand Jules Marie de Polignac Major General (Confederate Army)
1852 Charles Taze Russell founded Jehovah's Witnesses
1866 Johann Strauss Austria, composer (Waltz King)
1884 Robert Flaherty Michigan, father of documentary film (Nanook of the North)
1903 Edgar Bergen Chicago IL, ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy)
1904 George F Kennan Milwaukee WI, US ambassador (to Moscow)
1912 Machito "Frank Grillo" Florida, bandleader (created salsa music)
1926 John Schlesinger London England, film director (Midnight Cowboy, Darling)
1934 Austin "Ted" Taylor US gospel/R&B-singer (Be Ever Wonderful)
1935 Sonny Bono Detroit MI, singer (Sonny & Cher, Mayor-R-Palm Springs CA)
1942 Kim Chong-Il [Yura], President of North-Korea/savior of the Korean people/Dear Leader/Stud Muffin/Snappy Dresser (1994- )
1957 LeVar Burton Landstuhl Germany, (Roots, Star Trek Next Generation)
1959 John P McEnroe tennis player (US Open 1979-81, 84 Wimbledon 1981, 83, 84)
1998 Mr Jefferson Virginia, 1st cloned calf
2335 Geordi La Forge character on Star Trek Next Generation

Deaths which occurred on February 16:
0309 Pamphilus van Caesarea Palestinian scholar/martyr, beheaded
0923 Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari Islamic historian, dies at 83
1391 Johannes V Palaeologus Emperor of Byzantium (1341-91), dies
1779 William Boyce English organist/composer (Cathedral Music), dies
1857 Elisha Kent Kane Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at 37
1967 Smiley Burnette cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction), dies at 55
1979 Nematullah Nassiri, Iranian general, head of Savak, was executed.
1986 Howard Da Silva Cleveland OH, actor (Ben Franklin-1776), dies at 76
1996 Brownie McGhee blues guitarist, dies at 81
1996 Edmund G "Pat" Brown politician, dies at 90
2001 Dr. William H. Masters (b.1915), died at age 85 in Tucson, Ariz. (Masters and Johnson)
2002 John W. Gardner (89), founder Common Cause, died

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1968 VOLLMER VALENTINE B.---CLINTONVILLE WI
[08/74 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 MOORE JERRY L.---CLEVELAND NC.
1969 WOGAN WILLIAM M.---GLEN OAKS NY.
1971 HOSKINS CHARLES L.---SHAWNEE MISSION KS.
1971 PATTILLO RALPH N.---HARTSELLE AL.
1972 GALATI RALPH W.---CHESTER PA.
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 LEE ALBERT EUGENE---GALLIPOLIS OH.
1972 SCHWERTFEGER WILLIAM R.---ENID OK
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0374 9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
0600 Pope Gregory the Great decrees saying "God bless You" is the correct response to a sneeze
1349 Jews are expelled from Burgsdorf Switzerland
1559 Pope Paul IV calls for deposition of sovereigns supporting heresy
1659 1st known check (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey)
1742 Earl of Wilmington becomes British premier
1751 Thomas Gray's poem "Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard" was 1st published
1771 Messier presents his original list of 45 M-objects to French Academy
1804 Lieutenant Stephen Decatur raids Tripoli Harbor & burns Navy frigate "Philadelphia" after pirates seized it
1838 Kentucky passes law permitting women to attend school under conditions
1840 American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica
1857 Gallaudet College (National Deaf Mute college) forms (Washington DC)
1862 Ft Donelson captured by General Grant (1,400 confederates surrender) Nathan Bedford Forrest escaped
1864 Battle of Mobile, AL - operations by Union Army
1868 Benevolent & Protective Order of the Elks founded in New York
1878 Silver dollar became US legal tender
1880 American Society of Mechanical Engineers founded, New York NY
1883 "Ladies Home Journal" begins publication
1903 -59º F, Pokegama Dam MN (state record)
1905 1st US Esperanto club organizes in Boston
1909 1st subway car with side doors goes into service (New York NY)
1909 Serbia mobilizes against Austria-Hungary
1917 1st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid
1927 US restores diplomatic relations with Turkey
1932 1st patent issued for a tree, to James Markham for a peach tree
1933 Catholic newspaper Germania warns against Nazis/communists
1937 DuPont Corp patents nylon, developed by employee Wallace H Carothers
1943 -32º F, Falls Village CT (state record)
1943 Sign on Munich facade: "Out with Hitler! Long live freedom!" was posted by the "White Rose" student group. They were caught on 2/18 and beheaded on 2/22.
1943 Red army conquers Kharkov
1945 US forces land on Corregidor, complete conquest on March 3
1945 Venezuela declares war on Nazi-Germany(and that's why Germamy lost)
1946 1st commercially designed helicopter tested, Bridgeport CT
1950 Writers fail to elect anyone to Baseball's Hall of Fame
1951 NYC passes bill prohibiting racism in city-assisted housing
1956 Britain abolishes the death penalty
1959 Fidel Castro named himself Cuba's premier after overthrowing Batista
1960 US nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on underwater round-world trip
1961 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put in orbit, Wallops Island VA
1961 China uses it's 1st nuclear reactor
1963 1st round-trip swim of Strait of Messina, Italy (Mary Revell of US)
1963 Beatles top British rock charts with "Please, Please Me"
1968 Country's 1st 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville AL
1968 Elvis Presley receives gold record for "How Great Thou Art"
1970 Joe Frazier KOs Jimmy Ellis in 5 for undisputed heavyweight boxing crown

1978 1st Computer Bulletin Board System (Ward & Randy's CBBS, Chicago)

1980 Continuous traffic jam extends 176 km north of Lyons, France
1984 Bill Johnson becomes 1st American to win Olympics downhill skiing gold
1985 Livingston Bramble defeats Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini to win WBA champion
1986 Mário Soares (Socialist) elected Portugal's 1st civilian president
1987 John Demjanjuk, accused of being "Ivan the Terrible" trial begins
1988 1st documented combat action by US military advisors in El Salvador
1992 Israeli helicopters attacked a convoy in Sidon, Lebanon, killing Sheik Abbas Musawi, leader of the pro-Iranian group Hezbollah
1997 At age 25, Jeff Gordon is youngest winner in Daytona 500 history
1999 Turkish commandos captured Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya (Kurdish terrorist)
2004 India and Pakistan began historic meetings aimed at preparing for a sustained peace dialogue on Kashmir and other disputes.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Lithuania : Independence Day (1918)
US : Love and Laughter Keeps Us from Getting Dizzy Week (Day 4)
US : Week of Kindness (Day 4)
Do A Grouch A Favor Day

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Elias
Christian : Feast of St Juliana of Nicomedia
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Gregory X, pope (1271-76)

Religious History
1741 English revivalist George Whitefield advised in a letter: 'Use the world, but let it be as though you used it not.'
1801 In Baltimore, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church officially separated from its parent, the Methodist Episcopal Church. The denomination later became part of the AME Church, reconstituted in 1816 under Richard Allen. It held its first national conference in 1821.
1865 English clergyman Sabine Baring-Gould, 31, first published the hymn, "Now the Day is Over." It was based on the text of Prov 3:24: 'When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid...and thy sleep shall be sweet.'
1911 William P. Merrill, 44, first published his hymn, "Rise Up, O Men of God," in the Presbyterian periodical, "The Continent."
1916 Under the leadership of Henrietta Szold, 52, the Hadassah Study Circle at New York's Temple Emanuel reconstituted itself. Szold afterward made this sisterhood of U.S. Jewish women a nationwide Zionist organization. Szold herself headed the group until 1926.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Vegetarianism is harmless enough, though it's apt to give a person wind and self-righteousness."

William "Bloody Bill" Anderson

It's amazing who CW era photos make everybody look like an ax murderer.

Thank you for posting this. I have been told that my Great-great-grandfather John H. Anderson was killed by Bloody Bill Anderson in the Danville, Missouri Raid. Many people,men,women and children were killed and the town was burned.

In my family a story has been handed down, that the James family were friends with my dad's side of the family. Jesse James paid for medical school for my great-grand-father. Some things in life are so strange.

On March 2, 1864, Bloody Bill married Bush Smith, a young girl from Sherman, Texas

Sherman is a whole 20 minutes from here.

Fayette was the last time Quantrill participated in an operation with Anderson and George Todd. It was Anderson who had split Quantrill's band in Texas during the winter of 1863-1864, and Todd who had taken over Quantrill's unit after backing Quantrill down over a card game. Quantrill, with what few followers remained with him,counseled against the Fayette attack precisely because of the strength of the Union blockhouse. Anderson and Todd overruled him. He left shortly after the attack began, and remained inactive for the rest of 1864.

One of the principal killers at Centralia was Little Archie Clements, who was killed shortly after the surrender, an action alluded to in the final scenes of "Ride with the Devil". Another of the murderers at Centralia was allegedly Jesse James. His brother Frank, and his cousin Cole Younger were not present, being with Todd. Both rode with Quantrill into Kentucky in 1865. Frank James, at least, was with Quantril during the attack that mortally wounded him.

Anderson was known for scalping his victims. Many off the Union troops killed at the battle were found to have been scalped. Anderson had human scalps on his horse's bridle when he died.