Quantrill's Bushwhackers: A Case Study in Partisan Warfare

Abstract

QUANTRILL'S BUSHWHACKERS: A Case Study in Partisan Warfare Albert Castel The successes achieved by Communist partisans in Asia and elsewhere , die realization diat die United States must learn to cope witii such enemies, and die belief held by some diat nuclear weapons make conventional military tactics unfeasible, have combined to produce an upsurge of interest in guerrilla warfare. Popular magazines and professional military journals alike have been featuring articles on guerrilla operations, and recently a number of books on the subject have been published as well. Most of diese writings naturally concentrate on modern developments, and only a few deal with historical examples. Yet the past, if properly utilized, can be instructive to the present. Nor is it necessary to look to otiier lands for source materials . Our own nation's history provides a splendid case study in partisan warfare—QuantrilTs bushwhackers. The Civil War brought into being many guerrilla leaders, but die most famous of them all, with the possible exception of John S. Mosby, was William Clarke Quantrill, sometimes called "die bloodiest man in American History." For nearly four years Quantrill and his men waged a constant and generally successful campaign against die Federal forces in western Missouri and along die Kansas border. In so doing they tied down thousands of Union troops, who could have been used witii greater strategic advantage elsewhere, and kept a large portion of Missouri a Confederate stronghold long after die main battlefront had moved far to the soutii. And not only did tìiey defy all efforts of die Federals to suppress diem, but more tìian once defeated large enemy forces in pitched batties. Thus at Baxter Springs, Kansas, on October 7, 1863, diey exterminated a one-hundred-man Union cavalry detachment, and on September 27, 1864, at Centralia, Missouri, diey did die same to 150 mounted infantry.1 Their most sensational exploit, and die one which is usually associated witii Quantrill's name, was die bloody Lawrence massacre of !Albert Castel, William Clarke QuantrilL- His Life and Times (New York, 1962), pp. 149-154, 187-193. Unless otherwise indicated all data and quotations appearing in Ulis article ara from Ulis work. 40 August 21, 1863. On this occasion Quantrill took 450 bushwhackers (probably die largest such force ever assembled during the Civil War) forty miles into Kansas, surprised and burned Lawrence (a town of about four tìiousand), and brutally murdered over 180 of its male inhabitants. He tiien led his men safely back to Missouri, altiiough hotly pursued by strong forces of vengeance-diirsting Federal soldiers.2 The skill and daring he displayed on this raid so impressed die historian Lloyd Lewis diat he declared Quantrill the equal of Nadian Bedford Forrest as a cavalry leader.3 The Unionists were outraged and dismayed by Quantrill's victories. In particular, diey found it difficult to understand why it was diat die diousands of Federal troops and militia stationed in Kansas and Missouri were unable to defeat or even check him. One exasperated editor asked; Is there not, among all our lieutenants, Captains, Majors, Colonels, and Generals, one single man of wit, address, shrewdness, and vim enough to devise some means of clearing out die miserable bushwhackers who are keeping the border in constant turmoil? Must we give it up [sic] that one bushwhacker is more than a match for ten soldiers? There is a screw, and pretty big one, loose somewhere. . . .4 The editor's outburst is a good example not only of die frustration tiiat guerrillas can cause among their enemies, but also of the lack of comprehension that most people have of die nature of partisan warfare. For Quantrill's success was due to otìier tilings besides 'loose screws" and an absence of "vim" in the Union military. It was based, instead, on tìiose factors tiiat have come to be recognized as die essentials for all effective guerrilla operations. As listed by that modem-day master of partisan war, Mao Tse-tung, these are:5 1.A climate of public opinion adverse to die government: "guerrillas must swim like fish in die sea of die people." 2.A tough, hard nucleus of rebels ready to...