I think the article was a mixed one. It started out very good and then degenerated when it went from eye witness accounts/speculation-hypothesis to accusations. Calling Todd a murderer may be justified in the face of the killing he perpetuated on the old man which I myself have related and is fairly well documented. I can't recall one instance of Quantrill actually murdering somebody. Take note that in our last correspondence I referenced "cold-blooded KILLINGS" not murders. Whether even those killings at Lawrence are murders or not depends on your perspective. There is no doubt that even a popular and charismatic leader such as Q could exert only so much control over the troops he had. They were fighters but were unruly by any assessment.
Again, not 100% proof-positive, nor by wild baseless assertions, but by the best evidence as my flawed memory recalls it.
There is little doubt that Quantrill and other groups had spies within Lawrence previous to the raid. It was indeed well-thought out and planned and not a spur-of-the-moment thing. The raid had been talked about and dismissed many times. The Zeitgeist was finally in place to motivate the dangerous ride in order to root out the den of theives that had plagued Missouri and Kansas southrons since well before the war proper. The various camps came together like lightening after the collapse of the jail and the "murder" (in the minds of Anderson, Younger and others) of their helpless ones. It is likely that William Gregg was one of the best-known Quantrillites that infiltrated Lawrence prior to the raid. Likely, Quantrill had spies in Kansas at various locations, throughout the war. His was a military organization, regardless of what others have charged. It was very professional in its organization and execution given the circumstances.
I seem to recall the usual number bandied about as being 300-400 men who attacked Lawrence. 448 seems unusual. William Gregg said that there were over a thousand. I would not shy from the large number due to the totality of destruction wrought and the ineffectiveness of the Union troops who attacked the retreating column.
Many of the men were uneasy about such a long ride in enemy territory and were hesitant even at the last minute, to attack. Some witnesses say Quantrill, upon receiving word from his scouts that all was well, said simply, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I am going to Lawrence." Whereupon he drew his Army Colts and charged off down the hill towards town.
Col. Holt's men were correct in their assumption as many of the men attacked were Yankee troops. Some were in uniform and some were not. A whole contingent was camped at the far end of town near the river and were slaughtered.
There was indeed a carefully prepared death-list, which included Sen. James Lane, also nominally a Kansas Militia General and the man responsible for the sack of Osceola, Missouri in 1861. Lane escaped into a cornfield.
I do not recall Kate King being along on the ride. Nor do I recall any stories of Sally Young-but my memory may fail me. Kate King did ride along with Quantrill, sometimes dressed in rough clothes. Her appearance on the scene was generally associated with Q's decline as a commander and leader in Missouri though. If Sally Young was from Lecompton and actually accompanied the raiders, she may indeed have been an accomplice. The towns in pre-war Kansas were divided into pro-slavery and anti-slavery ones. Lecompton was one of the earliest capitols of Kansas and a pro-slavery mecca. Many pro-slavery people bent to the will of their neighbors and stayed in Kansas, keeping a low profile, even after the majority of their fellows were driven out. She could have come from this stock. Plus, it was unlikely the Missourians, driven by notions of chivalry and the sanctity of womanhood, would have pressed her into service as a guide. So if she was present, there would have been conotations to that presence.
It is pretty much undisputed that Jesse James WAS one of Quantrill's men. He very likely joined AFTER the Lawrence action and wasn't present during it. He was definitely one of Bloody Bill Anderson's men and participated in the massacre of the troops in and around Centralia in September of 1864.
Cole Younger was widely credited with saving many Union men during the raid. Supposedly his taste for revenge had diminished and he joined the regular forces afterwards. The term "war hero" has been much-associated with Cole's name.
Larkin Skaggs was the guerrilla whom Quantrill prevented from harming further the woman in question. She received a broken arm in trying to prevent him from killing her father and has the distinction of being the only woman harmed during the raid. Skaggs was the only Confederate casualty of the raid. He lingered too long in Lawrence in a drunken rage. A Delaware Indian finally killed him and cut his head off. It was displayed in the streets of the ruined town.
The part about Quantrill being a "mass murderer" and especially the link to 9/11 is ignorance, IMO. Certainly if you consider the killings in Lawrence and even subsequently, in Baxter Springs, to be murders, then he is. If you do however, you almost have to admit that many of his counterparts on the Union side, who routinely executed prisoners under the guise and cover of orders, are mass murderers as well. In fact, mass murder must be admitted to have been ordered at the highest levels of the Union command.
