Civil War one fifty

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War & the Missouri-Kansas border region's unique place in the bloody four-year conflict.

The stories
Letters
Generations
Photos
Battlefield Tour
Timeline
Glossary

Faces of the Civil War

William "Bloody Bill" Anderson lived up to name by scalping victims; including unarmed soldiers on Centralia train.

Maj. Gen. Blunt’s, a fierce fighter but banished to Indian chasing after the Baxter Springs debacle, saw his career saved at the Westport battle.

Gen. John Clark studied law with Col. John Philips, then fought him tooth and nail at Byram’s Ford before being pushed south in retreat.

Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis won at Pea Ridge and Westport, but lost his son, murdered after surrendering to guerrillas at Baxter Springs.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing (left) issued Order No. 11 in 1863, emptying Missouri counties after William Quantrill (right) killed up to 200 men and boy in Lawrence. Ewing went on to Washington to defend Lincoln assassination plotters; Quantrill to Kentucky and a bullet in the spine.

Col. Charles "Doc" Jennison’s harsh jayhawking ways terrified Missourians, but got him kicked out of the army in the end.

Maj. A.V.E. Johnson (right), school teacher and would-be-avenger of the Centralia massacre, promptly led his men into a worse slaughter just outside of town. The story goes that he got his bullet in the head from Jesse James (left), a boy of 17 who was one of Anderson’s best men.

Margaret Watts Hays lost her husband, Upton, to the war, her home to jayhawkers, her Westport farm to Order No. 11.

Maj. Gen. John Marmaduke survived Shiloh, but got pushed off Byram’s Ford and then captured in the Mine Creek rout.

Lt. William Mathews, once Underground Railroad engineer, became one of nation’s first black officers leading his race to war.

Gen. John McNeil, “Butcher of Palmyra,” lost nerve at south crossing on Blue River, letting Price’s army escape being bagged after Westport fight.

Col. John Philips, later a lawyer for Frank James in murder trial, led his Missourians across Byram’s Ford, then to smashing Mine Creek win.

Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, once cavalry chief in East before exiled to Missouri, was nearly as aggressive as he was abrasive.

Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, "Ol’ Pap," took last shot in fall of 1864 to regain Missouri, only to see army crushed on Mine Creek, Kan.

Gen. Jo Shelby, hemp magnate who led wiry veterans of the Iron Brigade, was the best cavalry commander this side of Mississippi.

Gen. M. Jeff Thompson got off Union prison boat in Charleston, S.C., just in time to join Price, lead Iron Brigade at Brush Creek.