Archie Clement Archie Clement ( January 1 , 1846 – December 13 , 1866 ) , a . k . a . " Little Arch " , was a pro - Confederate guerrilla leader in the American Civil War , known for his brutality towards Union soldiers and pro - Union civilians in Missouri . Little Archie , the bushwhacker . Clement was born in Stokes County , North Carolina and brought to Missouri with his family as a toddler . By the beginning of the Civil War , he and his family were possibly recorded as living in Big Creek Township , Cass County , Missouri . however the family groups in the cited 1850 and 1860 census are very likely not the same families . A Confederate " bushwhacker " or guerrilla during the Civil War , Clement rose to notoriety in 1864 as a lieutenant of William T . Anderson . Clement soon became known as Bloody Bill ' s most trusted follower — or , in the words of an enemy , " Bill Anderson ' s scalper and head devil . " Standing just over five feet tall and weighing about 130 pounds , Clement ' s youth and slight stature belied his ferocity . Anderson ( or one of his men ) left this note on the body of a dead Unionist after a particularly vicious skirmish ; " You come to hunt bush whackers . Now you are skelpt . Clemyent skelpt you . Wm . Anderson . " Clement took a prominent role in all of the major operations of Anderson ' s organization in 1864 , including the Centralia Massacre , in which the guerrillas blocked the tracks of the Northern Missouri Railroad and forced a train to stop . They then robbed the civilian passengers and killed 22 Union soldiers found on board , returning home on furlough from the Atlanta campaign . Anderson left one Union sergeant alive for a possible prisoner exchange . The guerrillas shot the rest , and scalped and otherwise mutilated the corpses . Following Anderson ' s death in an ambush by Union militia on October 27 , 1864 , Clement took command , continuing to fight into the next year . Following the surrender of General Robert E . Lee ' s army in Virginia , Clement continued to fight , even demanding the surrender of the Missouri town of Lexington . Though some comrades , including Dave Pool , surrendered , Clement and Jesse James remained under arms . On May 15 , 1865 , Clement and James encountered a Union cavalry patrol ; a skirmish ensued in which James was severely wounded . Clement , the outlaw leader . Beginning in 1866 , Clement led his supporters into a new profession : bank robbery , especially of banks associated with Missouri Unionists . On February 13 , a group of gunmen carried out the first daylight , peacetime , armed bank robbery in U . S . history when they held up the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty , Missouri , stealing more than $ 58 , 000 in cash and bonds . The bank was owned and operated by former Union militia officers , who recently had conducted the first Republican Party rally in Clay County ' s history . The state authorities suspected Archie Clement of leading the raid and offered a reward for his capture . In later years , the list of suspects would grow to include Frank James , Cole Younger , John Jarrette , Oliver Shepard , Bud and Donny Pence , Frank Gregg , Bill and James Wilkerson , Joab Perry , Ben Cooper , Red Mankus and Allen Parmer ( who later married Susan James , Frank and Jesse ' s sister ) . During the escape through the streets of Liberty , one of the gang shot dead an innocent bystander named George Wymore . A string of robberies followed , many linked to Clement ' s gang . The hold - up most clearly linked to them was of Alexander Mitchell and Company in Lexington , Missouri , on October 30 , 1866 , in which they stole $ 2 , 000 . Death . As the pivotal election of 1866 approached , political violence flared across Missouri . Much of it was associated with Archie Clement , who harassed the Republican authorities who governed Missouri . On election day in November 1866 , Clement led a group of some 100 former bushwhackers into the town of Lexington . Their gunfire and intimidation led to the defeat of the Republican Party in the election . In response , Governor Thomas C . Fletcher dispatched a platoon of state militia , led by Major Bacon Montgomery . Clement withdrew , only to return on December 13 , 1866 . Seeking to avoid a major battle in the center of town , Montgomery allowed Archie Clement to enroll his men in the state militia ( as a joke , it seems ) ; after the bushwhackers left , Clement went to the bar of the City Hotel for a drink . Seeing his opportunity , Montgomery dispatched a few men to apprehend Clement , who was wanted on a warrant for the Liberty robbery . The major ' s men found Little Arch drinking with an old friend and called out for him to surrender . Clement drew his revolvers and a wild gunfight ensued . Despite having sustained a gunshot wound to the chest , Archie managed to make it outside and onto his horse . Clement rode up the town ' s main street in an effort to escape only to be shot off his horse by a militia detachment stationed at the courthouse . Montgomery and his men approached the fallen bushwhacker , who , though mortally wounded , was trying to cock his revolver with his teeth . One of the soldiers asked , " Arch , you are dying . What do you want me to do with you ? " Clement replied , " I ' ve done what I always said I would do . . . die before I ' d surrender . " Major Montgomery himself later stated of Clement ' s final moments , " I ' ve never met better ' grit ' on the face of the earth . " After Arch Clement ' s death , his organization continued to rob and be pursued by government troops . Out of this group rose Jesse James , who first achieved notoriety three years later .