This refers to the battling and "massacre" at and around Centralia, MO.
"Bloody Bill" Anderson's force of bushwhackers attacked the town of Centralia
in the morning and stopped the train coming into town. On board were 24
Union soldiers who had been mustered out or were on leave and were largely
unarmed. Also in town was U.S. Representative James S. Rollins, who had come
in on a stage which Anderson's men had robbed in the a.m., but Rollins had not
been recognized. Anderson asked the soldiers if there were any officers and
Sergeant Thomas Goodman identified himself. Goodman was taken aside, and the
remainder of the soldiers were killed (Goodman was taken along when Anderson
left town and escaped three days later). (Should have mentioned before, this
actually took place on Sept 26!) After leaving Centralia, Anderson's men
ran across a force of 140 Federals from Paris, MO, under Major AVE (or AEV)
Johnson (or Johnston - sources vary) (39th MO Inf). Anderson's force retreated
south across the North MO RR line.
On the 27th, Johnson's force caught up with Anderson between Paris and
Mexico; the unmounted Federals were returned to Paris, and the horse soldiers
pursued Anderson's band for a couple of hours. Johnson ran into an ambush
about 1 1/2 mi southeast of Centralia (the attack on Centralia may have
taken place on the 27th with the ambush occurring after - again, the various
sources differ in details, and I have not yet checked all of the primary
sources). In the rush of Anderson's attack, all but three of the Federals
were killed (57), including Major Johnson (reported by some to have been
killed by Jesse James, but this is in some doubt). Three of the rebels were
killed. Anderson's men then pursued the garrison left by Johnson at Centralia
back toward Sturgeon; only 18 Federals reached safety (that night, a few of
the wounded Federals escaped in the underbrush under cover of darkness). In
the fighting, 146 Federals and 6 to 8 of the rebels were killed. Anderson
then returned to the site of the ambush, and Dave Pool walked the length
of the skirmish line on the bodies of the killed Federals without touching
the ground. (It was not uncommon for various of Anderson's men to scalp or
otherwise mutilate the bodies of Federal soldiers after the fighting.)
On the 28th, after assuring that all Federals still lying wounded on
the field were killed, Anderson's force turned south toward St. Louis to
join with Gen. Sterling Price's army advancing from Arkansas.
There has been considerable controversy over whether a black flag was
actually flown in this or a number of other battles. It was common for
orders of no quarter to be given which at various times covered single
battles, districts, or the whole state of MO. This seems never to have
been sustained for long, but often was in retaliation for what was or what
was perceived to be an atrocity by the other side. Anderson's no-quarter
stance is thought to have been initiated when several women, being held in
Kansas City for aiding the enemy, were killed when the building in which
they were housed collapsed. One was Anderson's sister, and at least one
other was related by marriage; one of the women injured was also
Anderson's sister.
John Porter