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252 The American Civil Wareliminating much of the worry of
distinguishing friend from foe. The policy
had little if any effect on the bushwhackers.
What ultimately led to the demise of
guerrilla activities actually stemmed from
their own success. Various partisan activities
had impressed Price, particularly the work of
Quantrill, and when they insisted that
Missourians would rise up in support of the
Confederacy if he raided into the state. Price
jumped at the opportunity. With 12,000
cavalry, half of whom lacked arms, Price
crossed into Missouri in mid-September 1864.
In support of the movement, various
pro-Rebel bushwhackers had attacked isolated
posts, towns, and pockets of soldiers,
massacring troops and civilians, armed and
disarmed alike. Simmering divisions began to
bubble to the surface among guerrilla leaders.
Anderson wanted to attack the fortified
garrison at Fayette; Quantrill opposed it as
too dangerous. When Anderson and his men
suffered a repulse and the loss of 13 men, it
only infuriated them more. A few days
later, they entered Centralia in search of
plunder and news ot Price's whereabouts.
There they pulled 25 unarmed Union
soldiers off the train and executed them.
When some Missouri militiamen stumbled
on the guerrillas, they attacked and suffered
a horrible defeat. Out of an original
147 militiamen, 129 were cut down. The
guerrillas then committed a host of atrocities,
including cutting off the genitals of a living
soldier and placing them in his mouth.
Price, meanwhile, had advanced well into
Missouri. The same day as the Centralia
Massacre, his command attacked Federals
under Ewing at Pilot Knob, suffering heavy
losses in the repulse. As Union
reinforcements arrived in Missouri, Price
pressed westward along the south bank of
the Missouri River, Anderson and his people
met up with them, and Price sent them on a
destructive spree north of the river. Before
October ended, Anderson fell to two
militiamen's balls. They placed his body on
display, then severed his head, and
eventually buried him in an unmarked grave.
As Price's columns pressed toward KansasCity, Union forces closed in on them. With
Curtis to his front and Major-General Alfred
Pleasanton closing from his rear. Price
attempted to beat them in detail. He
attacked Curtis first, and pushed the Union
command back initially, but the Federals
stiffened and launched their own
counterattack. To the rear, Pleasonton drove
back the Rebel cavalry, and Price began his
retreat. Federals continued to press him,
capturing 1,000 men in Kansas. Eventually,
his command limped into Arkansas with
only half of his original 12,000.
Price's raid was the last major Confederate
undertaking west of the Mississippi River.
Guerrilla fighting continued in Missouri,
however, and extended well after the war, as
unreconstructed bands like the Jameses and
Youngers continued to rob and plunder.
Quantrill, having suffered the humiliation of
a rebellion in his ranks, elected to shift his
base of operations to Kentucky. In May, he
was shot in the back and paralyzed by Union
troops. He died almost a month later.The Tullahoma campaign
During the Vicksburg campaign, Halleck and
even Grant pleaded with Rosecrans to
advance. Since early in the war, the idea of
liberating Unionists in East Tennessee had
intrigued Lincoln. Once Grant had crossed
the Mississippi River and engaged
Pemberton's forces, the administration had
even more reason to demand that Rosecrans
attack: Union leaders feared that Bragg's
army would rush reinforcements west to
defeat Grant. If 'Old Rosy,' as his men called
him, would advance on the Confederate
Army of the Tennessee, Bragg would be
compelled to hold on to all he had. In fact,
Johnston did draw troops from Bragg, as well
as units from the Atlantic coastal defense.
Yet Rosecrans would not be rushed. Finally,
after word that Union troops under
Major-General Ambrose P. Burnside would
push toward East Tennessee, the Union Army
of the Cumberland moved out, 169 days
after the Battle of Stones River.