"Bloody Bill" Anderson Killed

Wednesday, October 26, 1864

Tintype photograph of "Bloody Bill" Anderson, taken shortly after his death. Courtesy of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield.

Notorious border ruffian William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson is killed in an ambush set by Union soldiers near Albany, Missouri. Coming just one month after Anderson's brutal massacre of Union soldiers on leave at Centralia, and his subsequent defeat of Union troops who attacked him after the massacre, Anderson's death is a relief to the area's pro-Union population. Anderson's remains are briefly displayed in public in Richmond, Missouri, by celebrating Union soldiers.