Bloody Bill Anderson: The Civil War Guerrilla Who Created Jesse James
William T. Anderson, known as "Bloody Bill," was a Confederate guerrilla fighter who terrorized Missouri and Kansas during the Civil War, becoming one of the most brutal figures in American history. The Centralia Massacre of September 1864 saw Anderson and his men execute 22 unarmed Union soldiers and kill 123 more in the subsequent battle, marking one of the highest casualty rates of the entire war. His guerrilla band included a 16-year-old Jesse James, who witnessed Anderson's systematic violence firsthand.
This is the story of how a frontier horse thief transformed into America's most savage guerrilla commander after his father was burned alive and his sister was killed in a Union prison collapse. Anderson's campaign of scalping, torture, and mass execution wasn't random violence. It was calculated terrorism fueled by personal tragedy and border war hatred. When Union forces finally killed him in October 1864, they decapitated his corpse and displayed his head on a telegraph pole. But Anderson's real legacy wasn't his death. It was the teenager who rode with him, absorbed every brutal lesson, and carried that violence into the outlaw era. Jesse James's first major crime after the war was revenge for Anderson's death. The American outlaw tradition didn't start with bank robberies. It started with Bloody Bill.
#BloodyBillAnderson #CentraliaMassacre #CivilWarHistory #JesseJames #ConfederateGuerrilla #MissouriBorderWar #TrueCrimePodcast
🔔 Subscribe for True Crime Cases multiple times a week
Never miss a story. Subscribe to 10 Minute Murder for bite-sized true crime episodes delivered fresh every week.
Discount codes from show sponsors. Support 10 Minute Murder and save money at the same time:
https://hypernaturalstyle.com/discount/10MMhttps://zivo.life/discount/10MMhttps://bigforkbrands.com/discount/10MMhttps://prepstartsnow.com/discount/10MM📱 Follow for Behind-the-Scenes Content Get exclusive case updates, research photos, and sneak peeks of upcoming episodes:
💬 Have a Case Suggestion? Know a fascinating case that deserves coverage? I love listener suggestions and feature the best ones in upcoming episodes. Email: joe@10minutemurder.com Website:
10minutemurder.com ⭐ Help Grow the True Crime Community
- Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review to help other true crime fans discover the show
- Share: Send this episode to fellow true crime...
