Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-08-31
QUANTRELL'sFATE.

Despite the detailed account Of Quan-
TROLLS death given by the Kansas CITY
Tiaaes TIVE weeks ago. a paragraph de-
scribing that noted guerilla rs still living
IS going the rounds Of the press. The Gu
riosity felt concerning his ultimate fate,
and the attempts made 10 persouAte him.
remarkably illustrate the attraction Of mvs-
terry, and the morbid admiration felt by
setnc coarse natures 10 usurp notoriety Cor
decsis of bleod. Soon aifer the cless Of
our civil war. rs the Tmes relates. some
adventurer was bold enough to 90 into the
very midst OF the Confederate colonis,s At
Vera Cruz and claim to be Quantrell but
too many Of them were well acquainted
with the sucrilla's features, and the iui-
postor was soon exposed. Some Of these
colonists removed to Honduras. aud there
they heard that Quantrell had preceded
them: on inspection. this second impostor
turned out to be a swarthy New Orleans
creole. who could scarcely speak English
I The latest revival Of Quautrell is in the
shape of an account by two different '.rc-
liable gentlemen, tha; they met in 1865
at Fort Lyon, New Mexico, and convcrs-
ed with him about his exploits in the war,
and his raid into Kansas in 1868. But.
however vigorous these sham Quan,rells
may be. the real one is very effectually
buried by the Kansas City Times. II
says that two men who attended him in
his last moments. anu saw him buried.
now reside in jackson County. in this
State. Their statement is that he was
mortally wounded in fight with Federal
troops in Kentucky in 1864. and taken
under an assumed name to hospital in
louisville. where he died. Disguised as
civilians. those faithful followers attended
him in the hospital and to the grave. A
mystery has hung about the movements of
Ouantrell after his retreat to Texas. I'M
mediately subsequent to his raid on the
town of Lawrence, in Kansas in 1868 -
The Times says merely that he ''bccame
tired of the war in Missouri" and in 1864
went TO bushwack cast Of the Mississippi,
making his way far up into Kentucky
But from the various accounts brought
home by returning Confcderates, it would
appear that he had very good reasons for
being "tired" Of war in Missouri. The
usual fate of guerilla chiefs with their own
bands pursued him. Quarrcls originating.
il is believed, in the dissatisfaction Of some
of his followers with the distribution Of
the real or supposed spoiis of Lawrence.
led his band 10 select some other leader.
Commanders of regular forces are almost
always hostile TO partisan warfare. as it
reacts injuriously on the discipline of their
own troops, complicates questions of ex-
change Of prisoners and retaliation" and
often seriously intcrfercs with regular mil
itary operations. 1t so happened that
| Quantrelrs massacre Mt Lawrence not only
excited general disgust and horror among
rejecting Confederates, but completely
thwartcd a very daring project ofthe Con
fcderate authorities. The incursion of
Gen. Shelby into Missouri in the Fall Of
1863 was planned on the information, cor.
rect at the time. that Missouri was almost
denuded of available Union troops and
he was expected to be able to maintain
himself for at least fortnight on the Mis-
souri, River and gather in = large number
Of recruits before being forced to return.
ne Lawrence outrage OccaS'oneu sud-
den reunion Of formidable force to pur-
sue Quantrell, and Shelby, unexpectedly
6ndiug himself in the very jaws of it. was
forced TO retreat without accomplishing all
he had aimed. When Quantrell got with
in the Confederate lines he consequently
found himself not very welcome to the au-
thorities, and they consented to his re-
naming in Texas with his band till '.first
grass" of the next Spring. only on condi-
ton that he and his comrades should then
leave. and in their future operations un-
der the black flag should not in any way
claim to be Confederate troops, or ask pro-
lection Of such. Thus practically outlawed
by both sides, and his influence with his
own men impaired. Quantrell had to seek
some other field of operations than Mis-
souri,. Unfamiliar with Kentucky. he was
at disadvantage in exercising his skill
in guerilla warfare. and soon fell into the
hands of the Union forces, ending his
bloody career by death so obscure as to
be now even disputed altogether.