Clements was born in Stokes County , North Carolina and brought to Missouri with his family as a toddler . By the beginning of the Civil War , he and his family were recorded as living in Big Creek Township , Cass County , Missouri . A Confederate " bushwhacker " or guerrilla during the Civil War , Clements rose to notoriety in 1864 as a lieutenant of William " Bloody Bill " Anderson . Clements soon became known as Bloody Bill 's most trusted follower — or , in the words of an enemy , " Bill Anderson 's scalper and head devil . " Standing just over five feet tall and weighing about 130 pounds , Clements 's youth and slight stature belied his ferocity . Anderson ( or one of his men ) left this note on the body of a dead Unionist after a particularly vicious skirmish : " You come to hunt bush whackers . Now you are skelpt . Clemyent skelpt you . Wm. Anderson . " Clements took a prominent role in all of the major operations of Anderson 's organization in 1864 , including the Centralia Massacre , in which the guerrillas blocked the tracks of the Northern Missouri Railroad and forced a train to stop . They then robbed the civilian passengers and killed 22 unarmed Union soldiers found on board , who had been returning home on furlough from the Atlanta campaign . Anderson left one Union sergeant alive for a possible prisoner exchange . The guerrillas shot the rest , and scalped and otherwise mutilated the corpses
Centralia Massacre
Centralia Massacre (Missouri)
Archie Clement