William Clarke Quantrill

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William Clarke Quantrill The Civil War was filled with heroes and people who were praised. What you don’t often hear about, is the villains or people who are praised by some, but not for good deeds. When you do hear about these people you don’t really hear about their past, you just hear about their gang, there evil deeds, and sometimes, why they did these things. After researching and learning about these people most say they are not heroes. William Clarke Quantrill was one of these people. William Clarke Quantrill was the oldest of twelve children. Not much else is known about William Quantrill’s early years. When he grew up he became a teacher, a gold prospector, a soldier, a gambler and finally, a Confederate Guerilla. During his career as a soldier he joined the Cherokee Regiment and became a spy for the Delaware Indians. While in the Cherokee Regiment, he learned the skills of camouflage and sneak attacks. He also learned the art of raiding and looting. Quantrill is most famous for his Raid on Lawrence Kansas on August 21, 1863. Quantrill was accompanied by over four hundred fifty guerillas and outlaws. Almost all the guerillas carried multiple six-shot revolvers. They robbed the banks and looted almost all the stores in town. Quantrill pulled several men from their homes, took them outside, and murdered them in front of there family. Sometimes if a child was old enough to carry a gun, Quantrill would do the same to them, right in front of their family. This is one of the reasons Quantrill was known as the bloodiest man in America. Only forty guerillas died in that raid. The Lawrence raid was the bloodiest day in Kansas History. There was said to be more than one hundred eighty people dead as a result of the raid. The dead included men and boys thirteen and older. It was believed that all males thirteen and older were slaughtered, except for James H.

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