First, not to condone Connelley's biased writing, but on the other extreme you have John N. Edwards who took the polar opposite painting Quantrill and his like in idolized and romantic terms. Second, as I was told as a young pup-two wrongs don't make a right. Many neutral and pro-Southern families suffered under the Federal's heavy-handed tactics to subdue the insurgency in Missouri, but the majority of them, whether from the "elite" of Missouri or the poor farmer barely making ends meet, didn't turn into criminals which Quantrill did by his premeditated raid upon Lawrence in 1863. That raid served absolutely no military purpose for the Confederacy.

The guerilla war in Missouri and along the Kansas border should be required reading for Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah and all the factions involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Israelis, like the Federals in the 1860s, do not assist there cause by continual airstrikes, etc. which in the end alienates the average, moderate population and provides recruits for the Arab terrorist organizations. The Arab terrorist organizations, Quantrill and others in the 1860s, use of terror against non-military targets (Lawrence) only brings down worse retribution against the same people they proclaim fighting for. This tic for tac gets no where in the end. It didn't work along the Missouri-Kansas border in the 1860s and it isn't working in the Middle East. The war along the Missouri-Kansas border was resolved by military victory in other parts of the United States.

I admit, and classify Quantrill as a guerilla up to the spring of 1863, then he became a thug and terrorist-it was his own doing by conducting the Lawrence raid. There was absolutely no reason for him to lower himself to that level, especially since he wasn't a Missourian who lost property or family under Federal rule. Instead, from reading the 'Devil Knows How to Ride', he failed to make enough money following a conventional, lawful career, fell in with ruffians pre-war and discovered he could make a better living with less effort.

Just because one belongs to the "elite" doesn't provide that same elite the rationalization or excuse to commit crimes. It would be one thing if all members of that social class and economic standing behaved in similiar fashion, but they didn't-most notably General Shelby. Also, during the early part of the Civil War, officers were elected and thus were chosen primarily because they were the biggest names in the community-this does not necessarily translate into military competence.