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William T. Anderson

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William T. Anderson
Anderson, c. summer 1864
NicknameBloody Bill
Born1840
Hopkins County, Kentucky
DiedOctober 26, 1864(1864-10-26) (aged 23–24)
Albany, Missouri
Buried atPioneer Cemetery
Richmond, Missouri
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Service/branchPartisan rangers
Years of service1863–64
RankCaptain
UnitQuantrill's Raiders
Battles/wars

William T. Anderson[a] (1840 – October 26, 1864), also known as "Bloody Bill" Anderson, was one of the deadliest and most famous pro-Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War. Anderson led a group of volunteer rangers who attacked Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas.

Early life

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William T. Anderson was born in 1840 in Hopkins County, Kentucky, to William C. and Martha Anderson.[1] His siblings were Jim, Ellis, Mary Ellen, Josephine and Janie.[2] His schoolmates remembered him as a well-behaved, quiet child. [1] During his childhood, Anderson's family moved to Huntsville, Missouri, where his father got a job on a farm, and the family became well-respected.[3] In 1857, they moved to the Kansas Territory, going southwest on the Santa Fe Trail and settling 13 miles (21 km) east of Council Grove.[4]

The Anderson family supported slavery, though they did not own slaves. They moved to Kansas most likely for economic rather than political reasons.[5]

  1. Anderson's middle name is unknown. Wood speculates that it was "Thomas", his grandfather's name. (Wood 2003, p. 157)

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Wood 2003, p. 1.
  2. Castel & Goodrich 1998, p. 11.
  3. Wood 2003, pp. 1 & 3.
  4. Wood 2003, p. 3; Castel & Goodrich 1998, p. 11.
  5. Wood 2003, p. 4.