The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-05-12
Frank James, War Memories.

a groupof Confederate soldiers were
Fighting their battles Ger in the
corridor of the Laclede Thursday
afternoon. In the party was Frank
James, who was with Quantrell during
the greater part Of the Civil War.
"Talking about battlcs,' said Colonel
James, ''the most desperate and san
culinary conflict in the history of civ
ilized warfare occurred at Centralia,
Mo. I was in many a bloody engage
ment with Quantrell. Shelby and othor
dashing leaders, but I never witnessed
anything half so terrible as that Cen
tralia fight. There were less than 600
men, all told, engaged, but nearly 300
of them we're killed on the field. A
f%oraging party, consisting of two COM
panies Of cavalry under command of
Captains Bill Anderson and George
Todd, the biggest d%arc-devils in
Quantrell's band, was sent out from
headquarters at Boonville in Septem-
Der, 1864. There were only 225 Of us
in the party. From a Yankee regi-
ment stationed at Paris there was sent
a company of 800 men under Colonel
| johnson to run US back to the south
side of the river. We heard they
were coming with a black flag and pre-
pared to receive them. johnson
boosted to the people at Centralia that
he was going to annihilate us. We
heard of this, too, and thought we
would go into the annihiliation bust
ness ourselves a little. We were am
pushed in a strip of woods just outside
the town. Early n morning John.
sons command came marching out
toward US with a black flag auttering
at its head. We sprang to u horses
and took position in the edge of a
thicket near the road. Some of u
men had not frightened the girths on
their horses as they had been trained
to do by Quantrell when going into
battle, and Captain Todd made them
dismount and remedy the error. The
Yankees saw us doing this, and evil
IDENTIFY concluded that we were going
to fight them on foot. Their entire
command dismounted and poured a
volley into us while We we're remount-
ing. The volley went wide of its
mark, and then we charged on them
like devils. They sent storm after
storm of shricking bullets over our
heads as we we're dashing down on
them. We held our fire until we were
so close that We could see the whites
of their eyes. We we're armed only
with pistols. At the first fire VIC
moved down their front line, and then
the second line turned loose at us. By
this time we were not more than 10
yards apart. On We went with the
fury of the wind. We ran straight
through their line, and so great speed
had our horses gained that We dashed
fully 20 yards beyond the enemy be.
fore we could check our animals and
20 back to see what damage we had
wrought. Two hundred and eighty
five blue coats lay dead in the road
and the Is survivors were scampering
through the brush. Only m of our
men was killed and another who was
wounded died the next day. / don't
believe the annals Of modern war can
show such a rate of mortality as this"
"Speaking Of Quantrell," Colonel
James went on to say, II am reminded
of a story told me about him by Gene
raj Walker, of Alabama, who held a
position in the War Department at
Richmond while General James A.
Seddon was the Confederate Secretary
of War. Secretary Stanton wrote to
Secretary Seldom protesting in the
name of Mr.. Lincoln against the war
fare being carried on by Quantrell:
This was soon after u famous raid
on Lawrence, Kas. Stanton denoun.
ced such warfare as barbaric and said
those engaged in it had placed them
selves beyond the pale of civilization.
In his reply General Seldom acknowl-
edged the full truth of Stanton's
words, but confessed that he was
powerless to check Quantrell depre-
dations or to drive him from the field.
"However," wrote Seddons to Stanton,
"Quantrell is now 300 miles within
your lines, and I turn him over to you,
hoping you will have better success in
dealing with him in the future than
YOU have had in the past"