Lt. William "Bloody Bill" Tompson ANDERSON^[1]

1840 - 1864  (24 years)

• Name	William "Bloody Bill" Tompson ANDERSON
  Prefix	Lt.
  Nickname	Bloody Bill
  Birth	1840	Hopkins County, Kentucky
  Gender	Male
  Name	William T Anderson  [2]
  Residence	1850	Salt Springs Township, Randolph, Missouri, United States   [2]
  Residence	1860	Agnes, Lyon, Kansas, United States*   [2]
  _FSFTID	G9R3-1XL
  _FSLINK	https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G9R3-1XL
  _UID	30299F1DCF534A8FAE064C833483BD282FAE
  Death	26 Oct 1864	Albany, Missouri
  Burial	Pioneer Cemetery, Richmond, Ray, Missouri   [2]
  Person ID	I594784552	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 Dec 2024

  
  

  Father	William C. ANDERSON,   b. 1820, Kentucky d. 7 May 1862, Allen, Lyon, Kansas, United States (Age 42 years)
  Mother	Martha Jane THOMASSON,   b. Abt 1824, Scott, Kentucky, United States d. 28 Jun 1860, Council Grove, Morris, Kansas, United States (Age ~ 36 years)
  Marriage	1 Dec 1836	Hopkins, Kentucky, United States   [3]
  Alt. Marriage	1838	Lewis, Missouri, United States   [3]
  Family ID	F536733929	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Malinda "Bush" A. SMITH,   b. Feb 1850, Red River, Texas d. Bef Oct 1868, Grayson, Texas (Age ~ 18 years)
  Marriage	3 Mar 1864	Sherman, Grayson, Texas
  Family ID	F536733930	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	16 Dec 2024

  
  

• Notes

  William T. Anderson[a] (c. 1840 – October 26, 1864), known by the nickname "Bloody Bill" Anderson, was a soldier who was one of the deadliest and most notorious Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War. Anderson led a band of volunteer partisan raiders who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas. Raised by a family of Southerners in Kansas, Anderson began to support himself by stealing and selling horses in 1862. After a former friend and secessionist turned Union loyalist judge killed his father, Anderson killed the judge and fled to Missouri.[1] There he robbed travelers and killed several Union soldiers. In early 1863 he joined Quantrill's Raiders, a group of Confederate guerrillas which operated along the Kansas– Missouri border. He became a skilled bushwhacker, earning the trust of the group's leaders, William Quantrill and George M. Todd. Anderson's bushwhacking marked him as a dangerous man and eventually led the Union to imprison his sisters. After a building collapse in the makeshift jail in Kansas City, Missouri killed one sister, and left another permanently maimed, Anderson devoted himself to revenge. He took a leading role in the Lawrence Massacre and later took part in the Battle of Baxter Springs, both in 1863. In late 1863, while Quantrill's Raiders spent the winter in Sherman, Texas, animosity developed between Anderson and Quantrill. Anderson, perhaps falsely, implicated Quantrill in a murder, leading to the latter's arrest by Confederate authorities. Anderson subsequently returned to Missouri as the leader of his own group of raiders and became the most feared guerrilla in the state, robbing and killing a large number of Union soldiers and civilian sympathizers. Although Union supporters viewed him as incorrigibly evil, Confederate supporters in Missouri saw his actions as justifiable. In September 1864, Anderson led a raid on the town of Centralia, Missouri. Unexpectedly, his men were able to capture a passenger train, the first time Confederate guerrillas had done so. In what became known as the Centralia Massacre, Anderson's bushwhackers killed 24 unarmed Union soldiers on the train and set an ambush later that day which killed over a hundred Union soldiers. Anderson himself was killed a month later in battle. Historians have made disparate appraisals of Anderson; some see him as a sadistic, psychopathic killer, while others put his actions into the perspective of the general desperation and lawlessness of the time and the brutalization effect of war. Death: Union military leaders assigned Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Cox to kill Anderson, providing him with a group of experienced soldiers. Soon after Anderson left Glasgow, a local woman saw him and told Cox of his presence.[141] On October 26, 1864, he pursued Anderson's group with 150 men and engaged them in a battle called the Skirmish at Albany, Missouri.[142] Anderson and his men charged the Union forces, killing five or six of them, but turned back under heavy fire.[143] Only Anderson and one other man, the son of a Confederate general, continued to charge after the others had retreated. Anderson was hit by a bullet behind an ear, likely killing him instantly.[144] Four other guerrillas were killed in the attack.[143] The victory made a hero of Cox and led to his promotion.

  
  

• Sources

  [SAuth] compiled by James H Carney, Jim Carney. [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 16 Dec 2024), entry for William "Bloody Bill" Tompson ANDERSON, person ID G9R3-1XL. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 16 Dec 2024), entry for William C. ANDERSON, person ID G9NC-FZ2. (Reliability: 3).