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On September 27,1864 in Centrailia Audrain, County, Missouri. Confederate Leader William "Bloody Bill" Anderson led his unit which included the James and Cole brothers on a raid. Some of his unit were dressed in captured Union uniforms and were about to destroy railroads. A train with both civilian and Union soldiers was stopped. The soldier were separated from the civilians and killed. Later that day the 39th Missouri Infantry came to town and were also killed. About a 150 Union soliers died at Anderson's hands. Please consult internet links for more information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_Massacre_(Missouri) The Centralia Massacre was an incident during the American Civil War in which twenty-four unarmed Union soldiers were captured and executed at Centralia, Missouri on September 27, 1864 by the pro-Confederate guerrilla leader William T. Anderson. Future outlaw Jesse James was among the guerrillas.
In the ensuing Battle of Centralia, a large detachment of Union mounted infantry attempted to intercept Anderson, but nearly all of them were killed in combat.
Contents [hide] 1 Background 2 The Centralia Massacre 3 Battle of Centralia 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Background[edit] In the fall of 1864, the Confederates, faced with a rapidly deteriorating position, launched an invasion of northern Missouri. It was led by General Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard. The object was to influence the 1864 presidential election by capturing St. Louis and the state capital at Jefferson City. As part of his strategy, Price encouraged guerrilla warfare, especially the disruption of the railroads. "Bloody Bill" Anderson and his guerrilla company were among those who took part.
On September 23, 1864, Anderson engaged in a skirmish in Boone County, Missouri, seven miles east of Rocheport. His men managed to kill eleven Federal soldiers and three black civilian teamsters. The Federals responded the next day by shooting six of Anderson's men who were captured at a home in Rocheport.
That same day, September 24, Anderson attacked the pro-Union town of Fayette, losing thirteen killed and more than thirty wounded. Only one Union soldier had been killed and two wounded.
The Centralia Massacre[edit] At 9:00 a.m. on September 27, Anderson with about 80 guerrillas, some dressed in stolen Union Army uniforms, moved into Centralia to cut the North Missouri Railroad. The guerrillas looted the town and reportedly drank whiskey from stolen boots. Anderson blocked the rail line, and the engineer of an approaching train failed to realize it until too late, since the men he saw were wearing blue uniforms. The guerrillas swarmed over the train. The 125 passengers were divided between civilians and soldiers. A total of 23 Union soldiers were aboard, all on leave after the Battle of Atlanta and heading to their homes in northwest Missouri or southwest Iowa.
The Union soldiers were ordered at gunpoint to strip off their uniforms. Anderson called for an officer. Sergeant Thomas Goodman bravely stepped forward, expecting to be shot and the rest spared. Instead, Anderson's men ignored Goodman and began shooting the others. The bodies were then maimed and scalped. The guerrillas then set fire to the train and sent it running down the tracks toward Sturgeon, Missouri. They torched the depot and rode away from the town. Sergeant Goodman was taken prisoner on Anderson's orders, with the plan that he would be exchanged later for one of Anderson's own men held prisoner by Federal forces. Goodman spent ten days in the captivity of the guerrillas before escaping as they prepared to cross the Missouri River near Rocheport.
Battle of Centralia Part of the American Civil War Date September 27, 1864 Location Centralia, Missouri Result Confederate States victory Belligerents Confederate States of America Confederate States United States United States Commanders and leaders Confederate States of America William T. Anderson United States A.V.E. Johnston † Units involved Bushwhackers 39th Missouri Infantry Regiment Strength 80 mounted guerrillas 155 mounted troops Casualties and losses unknown most likely very few 123 Battle of Centralia[edit] At about 3:00 p.m., Union Major A.V.E. Johnston, with 155 men of the newly formed 39th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Mounted), rode into Centralia. The townspeople warned him that Anderson had at least 80 well-armed men, but Johnston nevertheless led his men in pursuit. The Union soldiers soon encountered the guerrillas, and Johnston decided to fight them on foot. He ordered his men to dismount and form a line of battle (location: 39.17436°N 92.10968°W).[1] He then reportedly called out a challenge. Anderson's men replied by making a mounted charge. Armed with muzzle loading Enfield rifles, the Federal recruits were no match for the guerrillas with their revolvers. Johnston's first volley killed several guerrillas, but then his men were overrun. Most were shot down as they attempted to flee. According to Frank James, his younger brother Jesse fired the shot that killed Major Johnston. Of the 155 Union soldiers, 123 were killed during the battle.
See also[edit] Fort Pillow Massacre, a similar event that occurred five months earlier References[edit] Jump up ^ Battle of Centralia, Centralia, MO - Missouri Historical Markers on Waymarking.com External links[edit]
http://transmississippian.blogspot.com/2012/01/forgotten-39th-misso... SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2012 The Forgotten 39th Missouri Infantry While putting together a blog posting a few weeks ago about the 26th Missouri Infantry (Union), I was startled to read “The 39th Missouri lost 2 officers and 120 men killed in a massacre at Centralia, Mo., September 27, 1864” in William F. Fox’s Regimental Losses in The American Civil War, 1861-1865 (p. 522). What? I flipped toward the front of Fox’s book until I found the table labeled “Maximum Of Regimental Loss In Killed And Died Of Wounds In Particular Engagements.” Obviously the key phrase is particular engagements because Fox did not include the 39th Missouri Infantry in his list. If he had, the 39th Missouri Infantry would have ranked as the Union infantry regiment that had lost the most number of men killed or mortally wounded in a single engagement, nudging aside the 5th New York Infantry that Fox listed as having 117 killed at the battle of Second Manassas. And, as an aside, I can’t help but notice that Fox failed to mention the 79th U. S. Colored Infantry’s loss of 111 killed at the battle of Poison Springs in this same list. Interestingly, he did select the 79th U. S. Colored Infantry [1st Kansas Colored] as one of his 300 fighting regiments so he did know about their casualties at Poison Springs. Unfortunately, I do not know why Fox omitted these two regiments and their losses from this table, and to guess at his thinking would only be speculation. Still, I think that the 39th Missouri Infantry is deserving of more attention. Next time: a look at what happened to the 39th Missouri Infantry at Centralia, Missouri, on September 27, 1864.
List of those killed in the massacre (Incomplete):
- 1st Iowa Cavalry
- Joseph H. Arnold
- Charles G. Carpenter
- George W. Dilley
- Owen P. Gore
- Charles E. Madera,
- Oscar G. Williams
- 1st Missouri Engineers
- Josiah Connor
- Charles T. Hildebiddle
- James C. Mobley
- Valentine T. Peters
- Case Rose
- James B. Thomas
- Further information: civilwarthosesurnames.blogspot.com
A complete list of the members of the 39th Missouri Infantry killed during the Battle of Centralia can be found here: boonehistory.blogspot.com