Confederate Outlaw

In the fall of 1865, the United States Army executed Confederate guerrilla Champ Ferguson for his role in murdering fifty-three loyal citizens of Kentucky and Tennessee during the Civil War. Long remembered as the most unforgiving and inglorious warrior of the Confederacy, Ferguson has often been dismissed by historians as a cold-blooded killer. In Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia, biographer Brian D. McKnight demonstrates how such a simple judgment ignores the complexity of this legendary character. In his analysis, McKnight maintains that Ferguson fought the war on personal terms and with an Old Testament mentality regarding the righteousness of his cause. He believed that friends were friends and enemies were enemies—no middle ground existed. As a result, he killed prewar comrades as well as longtime adversaries without regret, all the while knowing that he might one day face his own brother, who served as a Union scout. Ferguson’s continued popularity demonstrates that his bloody legend did not die on the gallows. Widespread rumors endured of his last-minute escape from justice, and over time, the borderland terrorist emerged as a folk hero for many southerners. Numerous authors resurrected and romanticized his story for popular audiences, and even Hollywood used Ferguson’s life to create the composite role played by Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales. McKnight’s study deftly separates the myths from reality and weaves a thoughtful, captivating, and accurate portrait of the Confederacy’s most celebrated guerrilla. An impeccably researched biography, Confederate Outlaw offers an abundance of insight into Ferguson’s wartime motivations, actions, and tactics, and also describes borderland loyalties, guerrilla operations, and military retribution. McKnight concludes that Ferguson, and other irregular warriors operating during the Civil War, saw the conflict as far more of a personal battle than a political one.

This biographical history tells the story of an American family in conflict and four brothers' attempts to regain the prestigious position their family once held. Loaded with never-before-published photos and little-known facts, this probing character study examines the men, the myths, and the legends of the Outlaw Youngers. The Youngers - Bob, Cole, Jim, and John - tested the boundaries of the violent and turbulent post-Civil War society in which they lived. The author investigates events from the Border and Civil Wars, details of the Youngers' attempts at legitimate ranching in Texas, and the frequent and often brutal murders and robberies. Using never-before-published accounts from Jim and Bob Younger, the author presents a new theory regarding the James-Younger gang and the actual Younger involvement - a theory which opposes the one held for over 100 years. She also offers insights into the Northfield robbery and gives reasons why the Youngers' parole was delayed.

In the fall of 1865, the United States Army executed Confederate guerrilla Champ Ferguson for his role in murdering fifty-three loyal citizens of Kentucky and Tennessee during the Civil War. Long remembered as the most unforgiving and inglorious warrior of the Confederacy, Ferguson has often been dismissed by historians as a cold-blooded killer. In Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia, biographer Brian D. McKnight demonstrates how such a simple judgment ignores the complexity of this legendary character. In his analysis, McKnight maintains that Ferguson fought the war on personal terms and with an Old Testament mentality regarding the righteousness of his cause. He believed that friends were friends and enemies were enemies—no middle ground existed. As a result, he killed prewar comrades as well as longtime adversaries without regret, all the while knowing that he might one day face his own brother, who served as a Union scout. Ferguson’s continued popularity demonstrates that his bloody legend did not die on the gallows. Widespread rumors endured of his last-minute escape from justice, and over time, the borderland terrorist emerged as a folk hero for many southerners. Numerous authors resurrected and romanticized his story for popular audiences, and even Hollywood used Ferguson’s life to create the composite role played by Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales. McKnight’s study deftly separates the myths from reality and weaves a thoughtful, captivating, and accurate portrait of the Confederacy’s most celebrated guerrilla. An impeccably researched biography, Confederate Outlaw offers an abundance of insight into Ferguson’s wartime motivations, actions, and tactics, and also describes borderland loyalties, guerrilla operations, and military retribution. McKnight concludes that Ferguson, and other irregular warriors operating during the Civil War, saw the conflict as far more of a personal battle than a political one.

Josey Wales is out for the blood of the pro-Union Jayhawkers who raped & murdered his wife. When Wales refuses to surrender, he begins a life on the run from the law, reluctantly befriending a diverse group of whites & Indians on his quest for revenge and a new life.

The Youngers—Bob, Cole, Jim, and John—tested the boundaries of the violent and turbulent post-Civil War society in which they lived. The author investigates the events from the Border and Civil Wars which forged their characters, their intricate relationships, the innovative train and bank robberies in which they participated, and their decades-long fight for freedom. Brant’s extensive research includes unpublished accounts from family members, the families of their enemies and victims, and hundreds of revealing historical documents. The story of the Youngers as more than the folklore figures they have grown to be demonstrates that often the truth is more fascinating than the fiction.

The Story of Cole Younger by Cole Younger: Step into the Wild West as Cole Younger, a notorious outlaw turned author, shares his gripping life story. From his early days as a Confederate guerrilla to his infamous bank-robbing escapades, Younger offers a firsthand account of the era's lawlessness, the thrill of outlawry, and his eventual redemption. Key Aspects of the Book “The Story of Cole Younger” Chronicles the life and exploits of Cole Younger, a legendary figure of the American West. Provides a unique perspective on the history of the Wild West and the outlaw culture. Explores themes of crime, redemption, and the complex motivations of historical figures. The Story of Cole Younger by Cole Younger: Cole Younger, a notorious outlaw, offers a gripping firsthand account of his life in The Story of Cole Younger. From his early days as a Confederate soldier to his infamous exploits as a member of the James-Younger Gang, Younger's narrative provides a unique perspective on the Wild West. Experience the thrill of train robberies, daring escapes, and the pursuit of justice as Younger's story unfolds with raw honesty and unflinching detail.

In this brilliant biography T. J. Stiles offers a new understanding of the legendary outlaw Jesse James. Although he has often been portrayed as a Robin Hood of the old west, in this ground-breaking work Stiles places James within the context of the bloody conflicts of the Civil War to reveal a much more complicated and significant figure. Raised in a fiercely pro-slavery household in bitterly divided Misssouri, at age sixteen James became a bushwhacker, one of the savage Confederate guerrillas that terrorized the border states. After the end of the war, James continued his campaign of robbery and murder into the brutal era of reconstruction, when his reckless daring, his partisan pronouncements, and his alliance with the sympathetic editor John Newman Edwards placed him squarely at the forefront of the former Confederates’ bid to recapture political power. With meticulous research and vivid accounts of the dramatic adventures of the famous gunman, T. J. Stiles shows how he resembles not the apolitical hero of legend, but rather a figure ready to use violence to command attention for a political cause—in many ways, a forerunner of the modern terrorist.

The year was 1863. For the Confederacy, the Civil War was hanging by a thread . . . and that tread was in gold. Over a thousand miles to the West, the Union was extracting untold wealth from gold mines scattered throughout the Rocky Mountains and shipping it to fund Lincoln's war. In the midst of this turmoil, a daring, young, Rebel captain, Jim Reynolds, was assigned to lead an important mission: to capture the gold fields of the Colorado Territory and redirect the wealth to the failing Confederate treasury. The success of the venture could turn the tide of the war and change the course of history.