By September, 1864, the Civil War had been carrying on for nearly three and a half years. In Missouri, however, it had been more like a decade of conflict. At this point, anger and revenge were the driving motivators for many of its combatants. Perhaps nowhere is this as evident as in the events that played out in Centralia, Missouri - events that left more than 150 Union men dead, many of them also mutilated. Some historians say much of what Confederate-aligned guerillas did that day was murder.
Based on historical accounts, newspaper articles, and interviews with historians, host Michael Lear looks at the Battle of Centralia and the Massacre of Centralia - two distinct events - on September 27, 1864. This includes interviews with local historian Jack Chance; reporter and historian Rudi Keller (Missouri Independent, formerly Columbia Daily Tribune); author and historian Larry Wood; and Professor Aaron Sheehan-Dean with the Department of History at Louisiana State University.
You can listen to the interviews with Keller, Wood, and Sheehan-Dean, which were posted as bonus material to go with this episode.
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