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William Quantrill

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (July 31, 1837-June 6, 1865)
    Born in Dover, Ohio
    Former schoolteacher
    Confederate guerrilla leader during the US Civil War
    Sacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas (August 21, 1863)
    Died in a Union ambush in Kentucky

Why he might be annoying:

    He went to the Utah Territory with the US Army (1858), but left to become a professional gambler.
    He came from a Northern, pro-Union family but fought for the Confederates.
    During the raid on Lawrence, over 180 men and boys 'old enough to carry a rifle' were killed, many dragged out of their homes to be shot in front of their families.
    Civil War historian James McPherson called him a 'pathological killer.'
    His Raiders were a training ground for Wild West outlaws Frank and Jesse James and Cole and Jim Younger.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Unlike most of his fellow guerrillas, he remained neat, well dressed and clean-shaven.
    Unlike his occasional ally Bloody Bill Anderson, he never scalped his victims.
    His mastery of tactics enabled him to frequently defeat much larger Union forces.
    The William Clarke Quantrill Society suggests that tales of his bloodthirstiness were exaggerations by Northern propagandists.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 22 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 39 Votes: 56.41% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 67 Votes: 67.16% Annoying