30 - ”No Quarter!” - The Border War Between Kansas and Missouri

About this episode: 

In a conflict that staged over ten thousand fights, Virginia led as a theater of war. The Volunteer State of Tennessee, second. What surprises many is that the third most active theater in the American Civil War was the border state of Missouri, a slave-holding state that remained within the Union. There, the curtain for violence rose long before Confederate forces open-fired on Fort Sumter. Indeed, on any night from 1855 until the summer of 1865, an attack on any town or settlement in Missouri or across the border in Kansas could strike like a bolt of lightning from a clear blue sky. In both states, lingering ill will and vicious fighting erased the line between civilian and soldier, armed violence with Old Testament vengeance and fury. In short, the worst guerilla war in American history. And now, the uncivil border war between Kansas and Missouri.

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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: 

Charles "Doc" Jennison

James Henry Lane

James Montgomery

William Clarke Quantrill

Frank James

Thomas Ewing, Jr.

William "Bloody Bill" Anderson

 

Get The Guide:

Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.

 

Producer: Dan Irving