Home Guard, which greatly hampered, if not completely disabled, the Home Guard's ability to function. By the war's end, very few such units were still in existence. However, some were still active in areas where Union soldiers were less common, although these were mostly bands of thieves preying on the less fortunate. One of the most notorious of these was the Independent Rangers, led by early Old West outlaw Cullen Baker. In late 1864, this band was responsible for what became known as the Massacre of Saline, when they murdered ten unarmed men from Perry County, Arkansas, on the Saline River. In popular culture The film Free State of Jones (2016), starring Matthew McConaughey, portrays the Home Guard in Jones County, Mississippi as taking excessive taxes in goods from the women and children left on yeoman farms. The Confederate Home Guard is featured in a major role in the novel Cold Mountain (1997) by Charles Frazier and the 2003 film adaptation of the same name, written and directed by Anthony Minghella. Both novel and film are presented from the point of view of a Confederate deserter, and the Home Guards hunting him are characterized as villains. In Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind (1936), the Home Guard fights General Sherman's army when it invades Atlanta. The soldiers fight bravely, but lose the battle and many are killed. This characterization was also portrayed in the movie by the same name adapted from the novel, which was a huge success. See also Home Guard (Union) National Guard of the United States Hatfield–McCoy feud Confederate Conscription Acts 1862–1864 References External links Southern Misconceptions, Home Guard Home Guard Portrayal in Cold Mountain, St. Francis University Desertion in the Confederate Army Civil War Desertions William Russell Hickman, b. 1846 Mount Airy, North Carolina d. 1932 Guthrie, Oklahoma. His personal account of serving in the Civil War and avoiding the Home Guard to enlist under the command of General Sherman July 1864 Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Military units and formations of the Confederate States Army 1861 establishments in the Confederate States of America 1865 disestablishments in the Confederate States of America Irregular forces of the American Civil War