[Iris7]

Been digging around looking for Missouri war materials, Redlegs, guerrillas, all of that stuff. Found one short piece I liked on the last days of William Quantrill, and that was all.

I think any biographer has to have sympathy with his subject to do any sort of justice to his enterprise. I find no sympathy, generally, in the materials I found about the Missouri affair. Everything was very partisan, vile evil this or that, psychopathic killers all of them, mother rapers, father rapers, and crazy as John Wayne Gacey.

Find this interesting. Also, the Northern sympathizers are the more virulent.

The sort of violence done in Missouri, and in other places, is very much par for the human course. Too much fear makes too much anger makes folks bloody minded. When a person knows he will be killed soon he often figures to take a few of his killers with him. Just how things are.

Plenty of tragedy in that war. Plenty enough for anyone. More than enough for me.

[SAMWolf]

The WBTS gave an "excuse" to some people to perpetrate their evil. Both sides had their share of butchers and murderers who used the war as a cover for their acts. Both governments for the most part turned a blind eye to it too.

[KC_Conspirator]

Find this interesting. Also, the Northern sympathizers are the more virulent.

I disagree with this. Most of what you say is right about the whole thing being very sordid. I may be reading the post wrong - you may be speaking about the feelings at the time of the Civil War.

However, as a person from MO and have travelled quite a bit throughout the state, I have found that the people who care about this stuff today are still angry. Many are bigots, pure and simple. These same people vote democrat and live in rural areas of MO.

[stand watie]

see #35,37 & 40.

there are 2 sides to every story.

as my mother (the family genealogist) says, "Little Thunder" was either a dashing southron partisan freedom-fighter & HERO OR a damned rebel & bloody-handed outlaw. it just depends on which side you favor.

free dixie,sw