Editing Quantrill's Raiders (section)

==Origins==
{{further|Bleeding Kansas|Missouri in the American Civil War}}
The [[Missouri]]-[[Kansas]] border area was fertile ground for the outbreak of [[guerrilla warfare]] when the Civil War erupted in 1861. The historian Albert Castel wrote:

{{blockquote|For over six years, ever since Kansas was opened up as a territory by [[Stephen A. Douglas]]' [[Kansas-Nebraska Act|Kansas-Nebraska Bill]] of 1854, its prairies had been the stage for an almost incessant series of political conventions, raids, massacres, pitched battles, and atrocities, all part of a fierce conflict between the Free State and pro-slavery forces that had come to Kansas to settle and to battle.<ref>Castel (1997) pp. 1–2</ref>}}

In February 1861, Missouri voters elected delegates to a statewide convention, which rejected secession by a vote of 89–1. Unionists, led by regular US Army commander [[Nathaniel Lyon]] and [[Francis Preston Blair Jr.|Frank Blair]] of the politically-powerful Blair family, fought for political and military control across the state against the increasingly pro-secessionist forces, led by Governor [[Claiborne Jackson]] and future Confederate General [[Sterling Price]]. By June, open warfare occurred between Union forces and troops supporting the Confederacy. [[Guerrilla]] warfare erupted throughout the state and intensified in August after the Union defeat at the [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]].<ref>Nevins (1959) pp. 120–129, 310–316</ref>

One historical work describes the situation in the state after Wilson's Creek:

{{blockquote|Unlike other border areas in Maryland and Kentucky, local conflicts, bushwhacking, sniping, and  guerrilla fighting marked this period of Missouri history. "When regular troops were absent, the improvised war often assumed a deadly guerrilla nature as local citizens took up arms spontaneously against their neighbors. This was a war of stealth and raid without a front, without formal organization, and with almost no division between the civilian and the warrior."<ref>Donald, Baker, and Holt (2001) p. 177. The quote within the larger quote was from Michael Fellman, ''Inside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri during the American Civil War'', (1989) p. 23.</ref>}}

By August 1862, with the Union victory at the [[Battle of Pea Ridge]], Missouri was free of significant regular Confederate troops, but the insurgent violence continued. The most notorious guerrilla force was led by [[William Clarke Quantrill]].