The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-05
like QUANTRELL'S WAY.
.orR TACTICS DISCUSSED BY AN
OLD CONFEDERATE.

4
,.b compared to Guerilla Exploits
IN Missouri During the Civil War.
why the British Regular Troops
,re at n Disadvantage.
From the New York Sun.
,rbe old rebel had just read an account
- the escape of Gen. DeWet, the Boer
leader. from trap which the British had
~ for him and he was gloating over it
the darling exploit of a skilful man.
urbat's the kind of fighting that kept
,he Civil War going long after the South
nod no chance" he said. IT'S just pure
,orye. but it is magnificent, and it makes
-, heart bound for those fellows over
,,ere They are as fine a set of free
s,bters as the world has produced since
onantren and his guerrillas went roam
- through the State of Missouri spread
ne death and destruction in their path
nSv The Beers remind me very much
~ Ouantrell and his band in the methods
NOV employ and in the spirit which
actnates them in their unequal fight.
NOW I'm not going TO put up a de-
serce of Quantrell It's too late for that
sort of thing. There will always be people
ond there will always be people who will
mink they were heroes. The opinion on
mis- point depends largely on what were
the svmpathes of the person passing
judgment at the time of the Civil War.
I'm free to confess that 1 was a South
arner in my views and hence l believe
,bat Ouantrell and his men We're justified
IN most of what they did. But let that
On suppose we make our comparison be-
Tveen the Missouri guerrilas and the
BoSrs now lighting in the field purely
AZ lighters If we do that, I'm sure the
resenlblance will be plain TO all and some
rebt will be thrown on the causes of
Roer success in the face of overwhelm-
Inc odds.
'The Beers ARE lighting for their coun-
nv. They believe implicitly in the justice
of either cause and they are willing to
die for it if they can but win freedom
far their country. They are all born
borsemen. From the days of their child
hood they have been taught to ride and
shoot They have lives active, outdoor
lives and they are hardened to the ex-
ertfous consequent to days and nights in
the saddle. Furthermore. they know every
inch Of the ground over which they are
fybtng, and that is the most important
polnt of all 1t was in this particular that
/ the Missouri guerrillas had an immense
olyantage over their Federal opponents
Then. too, they have the active assistance
and sympathy of practically all the peo-
pe in the country in which they are
fgnting This is an immense advantage.
How great it is was shown by the rem
nlnt of Quantrell's band when, after the
war, they We're pursued by both Federal
and State officers for years and success
fully eluded capture
all horse
back They can move with surprising
i swiftness. and this factor, coupled with
j their Knowledge of the country and their
i sources of information through the friend
ship of the people, maze it possible for
/ them to evade fight except when they
have a fair chance to win This was ex-
aetly what Quantrell did Persons who
have not followed the career of that re-
mark9ble man and his lieutenants, have
/ no idea of the tremendous ODDS against
waich they fought with almost unvary-
i ira success. Leaving out of consideration
the tales of bloodshed, which true or
gIse have been circulated about these
men, and looking at them merely as
fighters without fear. their record is al
4 most beyond belief and really for deeds
Of daring surpasses that of the heroic
Beers There was not so much OF MILL
4 Drv science in what Quantrell did. He
4 was undoabtedly the inferior Of DeWet
a.. leader of large bodies of men. lie
had no aptitude for that sort of thlng.
Il What he loved was a small band of picked
m,u who would follow him to death or
caUture or ignominy, regardless OF con-
s,cuences, to themselves. And that is
4 FIRST the kind of crowd he had around
him. His force rarely exceeded $50 or 2U9
men. They could all ride and shoot They
/ knew no fear. Most of them had a per-
scnal. motive for taking the field, at least
thew said they did, although their enc
mics have insisted that they followed
Quantreu for love of blood-letting and
\-7t
But. as l said before, leaving that out
Of consideration, they were all brave men,
wiling to go anywhere their leader took
them one of their chief merits as hght-
ers was their unerring aim. Like the
Beers. they could hit anything they snot
4 at but they loved close quarters better
4 than the TransvaaIer or the Free slater
In those days the modern rifle was I'M
known. The old-fashioned musket meant
that men could get close enough to-
ccther to make a charge effective ana
/ that is Just what the guerrillas wanted
1 They loved a charge above everything else
4 and one of their charges was thlng 10
4 be remembered forever, if a man on the
opposite size HNeu " nave any AA4N
about it at all Each soldier, when he
went into battle carried with him nve
Or six and sometimes as many as elght
Colts navy revolvers. They were great
heavy things, throwing balls big enough
| tJsteap- a. man to pieces when one or the
missiles hit him. In those days the re-
volyers were five shooters, If | remember
correctly, and they were bad Things 10
monkey with If a man had five OF them
| with him when he went into fight, TINS
would give him a magazine of twenty
i've rounds. The guerrillas were such ex-
pert shots that they could shoot with
either right or left hand and you can
imagine the damage they would do in a
/ very few minutes when turned loose on
/ the enemy The Federal forces were arm
ed in the customary manner. Many of
the infantry regiments which the guer~
nllas attacked were stationed in towns
as garrisons and were none too good as
/ soldiers anyway. What chance had they,
ermed with a lot of old muskets and
on foot against such gang of devils
as QuantrelI would turn loose on them!
None in the world Why those fellows
would ride into a fight or that sort with
the numerical odds against them OF 8 to l
and think it was play. Each rider would
have a pistol in each hand and his relns
IN his teeth With a yell the whole band
would sweep down on the Federals, firing
With both hands, and no soldiers could
stand before them. Time and again, they
did just what DeWet did against the
British the other day and often their
losses would not be more than two or
three men. After a while their reputation