Last week’s suggestion to celebrate Samuel P. Cox rather than outlaws Frank & Jesse James evidently hit a chord. Several readers have commented, and I’m left wondering just how many of us recall the details of the ambush of guerrilla Confederate “Bloody Bill” Anderson.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Just to keep things straight, Cox accepted credit for killing Bloody Bill during a Civil War battle even though there is some question about who fired the fatal shot. Jesse James vowed revenge, saying he would shoot Cox on sight. During the bank robbery in Gallatin in 1869, James mistook Capt. John Sheets for Cox while attempting to make good on his boast. And the rest, as they say, is history.
But what happened during the ambush of Bloody Bill Anderson?
Although Samuel P. Cox is widely remembered as “Major Cox” today, Cox held the rank of Lt. Colonel by this time of the Civil War in 1864. He commanded the 33rd Missouri Enrolled Militia (MEM), taking the lead of 150 men at Hamilton, MO. Cox received orders from Gen. James Craig to kill Confederate guerrilla Capt. Wm. “Bloody Bill” Anderson.
On Oct. 24, 1864, this militia camped at Knoxville in response to reports of guerrilla activity at nearby Millville. They are enjoined with about 150 men of the 51st MEM, commanded by Major John Grimes. Advance guards of the 51st surprise guerrilla fighters at Millville while the guerrillas were having horses shoed by a blacksmith. The guerrillas disperse.
The night before the ambush, a heroine emerges. At a farm about three miles northwest of Albany in Ray County, Mary I. Rowland saddles her horse in the rain and rides past the guerrilla camp without detection. She then finds Cox’s militia encampment in the river bottoms south of Richmond. At first Cox is suspicious. But when local men vouch for Ms. Rowland, noting that her three sons enlisted in the Union army, Cox believes what she reveals about the number of guerrilla fighters gathered and where they are camped.
On Oct. 27 Cox moves his troops into position. Cox instructs his men to count off by fours, so that every fourth man holds the reins of horses while dismounted militia conceal themselves in the timber along the Albany road.
Cox’s plan is to draw Capt. Anderson into a trap where his militia can shoot with effect from three different directions. His plan assumes the guerrillas will flee if they sense they are losing the battle. He assembles his troops with revolvers to be in pursuit while directing soldiers on the ground to withhold their fire until his command.
Lt. James Baker rides with 10 mounted militia to lure Capt. Anderson into the trap. The plan is to charge into the guerrilla camp and fire a volley, then retreat at a gallop on the Albany Road with Anderson’s guerrillas in pursuit.
The plan works. When Lt. Baker’s cavalry runs through the Union battle line the dismounted horses are startled and many horses scatter into the brush. Only two Union men of the 33rd MEM are on horseback in the fighting that ensues – Cox and a bugler, Adolph Vogel.
As foreseen by Cox, Capt. Anderson and his guerrillas make a break to flee eastward toward Carroll County when they realize they are surrounded by Federal troops. Many of the guerrillas are new recruits who aren’t yet armed and unable to help during the fight. There is little Capt. Anderson can do but organize one group under Capt. Hendley, another under Clell Miller, and a middle group which he will lead to charge through the Union battle line in hopes of escape.
The Confederates’ charge covers about 600 yards. Anderson takes the lead, his horse about 25 yards ahead of the others until they approach to within about 100 yards of Union soldiers. A volley slows the guerrillas as several riders are shot, but the charge almost immediately resumes.
At the battle line Capt. Anderson is struck in the head by two bullets and falls from his horse. A guerrilla next to Anderson also falls from his horse, but scrambles into the brush. Anderson’s men realize he is wounded or dead and a frantic effort to retrieve his body fails.
The day following the battle, militia searching for horses which stampeded during the fight located the gray mare ridden by Capt. Anderson. This horse was found on the farm of W.T. Brown west of Richmond; saddlebags were still intact behind the saddle.
Numerous people confirmed the body to be Anderson. A Richmond dentist, Dr. Robert B. Kare, was called to photograph the infamous guerrilla Confederate. The bugler for the 33rd Regiment, Adolph Vogel, assisted in positioning the corpse in a chair for the photo.
At the time of his death, Anderson was wearing a white hat with a single feather plume. He wore a tan topcoat and matching pants. His undershirt was of high quality. His top shirt was nicely embroidered. His left ring finger was severed and the ring removed. A gold watch and a silver watch were in his pockets along with gold amounting to $323. He carried Union currency totaling $273 and Confederate money amounting to $18.
Photos of Anderson and his wife, a short letter from her, and a lock of her hair were in a pocket band. Orders from Gen. Sterling Price and a receipt from Presley Garvis were also on his person.
Capt. Anderson was buried in the corner of the Potter’s Cemetery, five blocks away from the Ray County courthouse. Head and foot boards were erected to mark the spot. Flowers left on the grave were later trampled by militia soldiers on horseback.
NOTE: Albany, the location of the ambush of Bloody Bill Anderson during the Civil War, is not to be confused with Albany, the county seat of Gentry County. Albany in Ray County was an unincorporated community laid out in 1854. It was later called Ada; a post office was established at Ada in 1864 and remained in operation until 1873. The location of Anderson’s ambush was just northeast of today’s town of Orrick, north of Hwy. 210. The Albany Road leads north from today’s Route T, eventually connecting with Woods Road. This area is southwest of Richmond, the county seat of Ray County.