These biographical and historical sketches are highlights of Missouri history. Many sketches are from Missouri, Day by Day , published by the State Historical Society of Missouri in 1942. Links are to related primary sources at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection on the four campuses of the University of Missouri system.
Previous sketches are also available.
William Clarke Quantrill, the outstanding Missouri guerilla fighter during the Civil War, and a captain in the Confederate army, was associated with the state less then 5 years, from 1860 until shortly before his death in Kentucky in 1865. Some have rated him one of the ablest and most daring cavalry officers in either the Union or Confederate forces. In preparing for the raid, Quantrill gathered together about 310 men on the Blackwater River in Johnson County, Missouri, about 9 miles east of Lone Jack. August 19 he led his company west. South of the Blue River the guerillas met Colonel John Holt with about 104 men who joined the party.