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Bushwhacker facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Bloody-bill-anderson
Notorious Confederate bushwhacker Bloody Bill Anderson
Bushwhackers
Three bushwackers; including Dave Pool at center.

Bushwhacking was a kind of guerrilla warfare. It happened a lot during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other wars in which there were big areas of disagreeable land and few governmental resources to control them. This was very common in rural areas during the Civil War where there were disagreements between those who liked the Union and Confederacy in the war. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers. The term "bushwhacking" is still in use today to describe ambushes done with the goal of attrition.

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Images for kids

  • John Nichols prior to his execution in Jefferson City Missouri October 30, 1863

    John Nichols, a bushwacker who operated in Johnson and Pettis Counties in 1862–1863, prior to his execution in Jefferson City, Missouri, October 30, 1863

  • Back Home, April 1865, by Tom Lea, Pleasant Hill Post Office Mural

    Thomas C. Lea III depicted the devastation brought down upon the Missouri countryside by the Civil War

  • Jesse James (approx. 16 yrs. of age). Missouri bushwhacker riding with Bloody Bill Anderson

    Jesse James, approx. 16 years of age

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Bushwhacker Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.