THE ENGLISH WESTERNERS' SOCIETY
SEPTEMBER 2009 BOOK REVIEW
This review first appeared in the Tally Sheet (Summer 2007, Volume 53, Number 3)
OTHER NOTED GUERRILLAS OF THE CIVIL WAR IN MISSOURI
By Larry Wood. Hickory Press, Joplin, Missouri. 2007. Maps. Illustrations. Bibliography. Footnotes. Soft cover. 302pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-9702829-2-7. $19.95
Larry Wood has written two books of an associated nature to this present volume: The Civil War on the Lower Kansas-Missouri Border and The Civil War Story of Bloody Bill Anderson. There are numerous other books dealing with Anderson, and likewise Quantrill, but Larry Wood writes here on other less wellknown guerrillas who were active in Missouri during the Civil War: William Marchbanks; Henry Taylor; Tom Livingston; John Clem; Colonel Benjamin Parker; Joe Hart; Mart Rider; Jim Jackson; Clifton Holtzclaw; Jim Anderson (Bill’s brother); John Thraikill; Silas Gordon; John Rucker and James Pulliam; the Bolins; and Sam Hildebrand. There also chapters on the rise of guerrilla warfare in Missouri and who the Missouri guerrillas were.
In each case there are copious footnotes, taken mainly, but not only, from the Oficial Records; other sources being local county histories and record files, contemporary newspapers, and other books on the topic. Researchers will know how difficult it sometimes comes to track down the ‘real story’ on the characters they are interested in; and this is true in this book. The death of Jim Anderson, for example, said to have taken place in Sherman, Texas, supposedly at the hands of James gang member, George Shepherd. Larry Wood could find no evidence of this event, outside of what had been written by Buel, not always the best of sources. Similarly, much of what we know about Sam Hildebrand came from Sam’s autobiography but this has been shown to be full of inaccuracies – and Wood avoids using it.
In conclusion, this book is recommended to any member interested in the Missouri guerrillas, adding, as it will, much to their knowledge of the subject.
Robert J. Wybrow
Copyright © 2009 English Westerners' Society