A Letter from Rebel Cousin Rachel
In which I share another excerpt from Missouri Daughter that includes a letter to Bailis from his cousin, “Rachel at Rebel Rendezvous,” reflect a bit on how the war tore families apart, and discuss the importance of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and explain the Platte River Bridge disaster, when Confederate guerrillas burned part of the track and caused a train to derail outside of St. Joseph, killing approximately 20 people and injuring 100.
Centralia, Missouri: The Battle of Centralia
In which I explain how later that same day, when Federal troops went after Bloody Bill and his men, 122 of 125 were slaughtered three miles outside of town in the Battle of Centralia, the highest percentage of men killed in a single engagement of the Civil War; I also share photos from the battlefield
Centralia, Missouri - Home of the Traughbers and Site of the Centralia Massacre
In which I describe my visits with both Mike and my parents to Centralia, where my great grandfather, William Francis Traughber, grew up and attended high school, and where 22 Union soldiers and one civilian were killed by William “Bloody Bill” Anderson and his guerrillas on September 27, 1864, in what became known as the Centralia Massacre (and to which, it turns out, I have several family connections - on BOTH sides of the war)