James W. Erwin

Civil War literature frequently focuses on the dashing Confederate guerillas and cavalry who took the war to the Unionists. “Guerrilla Hunters In Civil War Missouri” is the story of the soldiers and militia who hunted and put them down. Their story is inescapably linked to the antecedent tales of Bloody Kansas and Dred Scott’s litigation which provides the introduction to this volume. It was these turmoils that divided the partisans that fought through Missouri’s Civil War. Missouri’s Civil War was probably unique in that, after Union dominance of Missouri was established in 1861-1862, its war degenerated into hit and run raids and, in contemporary parlance, terrorist attacks that extracted vengeance, forced Unionist vigilance and provided a cover for criminal activity that produced a most uncivil war.

This work conveys the story of the War in Missouri through a stream of episodes that provide insights into the nature of that War. The supplementing photos put faces with the names and the maps are very helpful in geographically positioning the actions.

Author James W. Erwin, past president of the St. Louis Civil War Roundtable, has produced an edifying book through extensive research. I recommend it to anyone interested in Civil War Missouri or the general topic of irregular Civil War warfare.… (altro)