14. From Guerrilla Bands to Criminal Gangs
The part of Missouri where Jesse James (1847 – 1882) was born had strong Southern sympathies. So during the Civil War, he joined Confederate guerrillas led by men such as “Bloody Bill” Anderson and William Quantrill. They committed many atrocities during the conflict, in which Jesse and his elder brother Frank took part. Jesse was wounded twice, the second occurring at war’s end, when he was shot in the chest by Union cavalry while trying to surrender.
After recovering from his wound, Jesse and his brother Frank joined a gang led by one of their former guerrilla commanders. In 1866, they robbed a bank in Liberty, Missouri, that entailed the death of an innocent bystander. A few months later, they killed a jailer while freeing imprisoned fellow gang members. During an 1867 bank robbery, the gang killed the mayor of Richmond, Missouri, along with two others.
