Centralia Massacre | |
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Location | Centralia, Missouri |
Date | September 27, 1864 9:00 a.m. |
Target | U.S. Army soldiers |
Attack type | Summary executions |
Deaths | 123 |
Perpetrators | Bushwhackers led by William T. Anderson |
No. of participants | ~80 |
The Centralia Massacre was an incident during the American Civil War in which 24 unarmed U.S. Army soldiers were captured and executed in Centralia, Missouri, on September 27, 1864, by a band of men under the command of the notorious Confederate guerrilla leader "Bloody Bill" Anderson. Future outlaw Jesse James was among the guerrillas.
In the ensuing Battle of Centralia a large detachment of U.S. Army mounted infantry attempted to intercept Anderson, but nearly all of them were killed in combat.