Union soldiers, in Westport, Kansas City and Lafayette County, Missouri. The first reference to Anderson in Official Records of the American Civil War concerns his activities at this time, describing him as the captain of a band of guerrillas. He commanded 30–40 men, one of whom was Archie Clement, an 18-year-old with a predilection for torture and mutilation who was loyal only to Anderson. By late July, Anderson led groups of guerrillas on raids and was often pursued by Union volunteer cavalry. Anderson was under Quantrill's command, but independently organized some attacks. Quantrill's Raiders had an extensive support network in Missouri that provided them with numerous hiding places. Biographer Larry Wood claimed that Anderson's sisters aided the guerrillas by gathering information inside Union-controlled territory. In August 1863, however, Union General Thomas Ewing, Jr. attempted to thwart the guerrillas by arresting their female relatives, and Anderson's sisters were confined in a three-story building on Grand Avenue in Kansas City with a number of other girls. While they were confined, the building collapsed, killing one of Anderson's sisters. In the aftermath, rumors that the building had been intentionally sabotaged by Union soldiers spread quickly; Anderson was convinced it had been a deliberate act. Biographer Larry Wood wrote that Anderson's motivation shifted after the death of his sister, arguing that killing then became his focus, and an enjoyable act. Castel and Goodrich maintain that by then killing had become more than a means to an end for Anderson: it became an end in itself. Lawrence Massacre Although Quantrill had considered the idea of a raid on the pro-Union stronghold that was the town of Lawrence, Kansas before the building collapsed in Kansas City, the deaths convinced the guerrillas to make a bold strike. Quantrill attained near-unanimous consent to travel into Union territory to strike Lawrence. The guerrillas gathered at the Blackwater River in Johnson County, Missouri. Anderson was placed in charge of 40 men, of which he was perhaps the angriest and most motivated—his fellow guerrillas considered him one of the deadliest fighters there. On August 19, the group, which proved to be the most guerrillas under one commander in the war, began the trip to Lawrence. En route, some guerrillas robbed a Union supporter, but Anderson knew the man and reimbursed him. Arriving in Lawrence on August 21, the guerrillas immediately killed a number of Union Army recruits and one of Anderson's