This is a very interesting read, especially for people like myself who live in an area that has some very deep Civil War history that has gone almost completely unnoticed.
I live in the town of Waynesville, and we have a marker here (the picture below) where there was a fort over-looking the Wire Road running from St Louis to Springfield. The town itself was deeply sympathetic to the southern cause and the town was sacked by the Union army in 1862 under the command of Col. Albert Sigel (brother of General Franz Sigel) which ended up occupying the town for the entirety of the war.
Bushwhackers were very prevalent in this area, especially in the areas in between Rolla and Waynesville. These men owned no slaves and normally were law-abiding citizens, but in many an instance they were victimized by Union soldiers, some even having family members killed, which led them to retribution when they normally would have steered clear of involvement from either side. Bill Wilson was a prime example of a man from the Rolla, Missouri area who, up until the start of the war, took no sides and ended up an outlaw due to Union soldiers killing members of his family.
Again, this is a good read and quite descriptive for a normal dispatch.
Link to Battlefield Dispatches: ‘Robbing and Plundering’ Article
