Silas M. Gordon (1835–1888) was an anti-United States Federal government guerrilla who indirectly caused Platte City, Missouri, to be burned twice by forces during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The town of

Gordonville, Texas Gordonville is an unincorporated community in Grayson County, Texas, United States. The community is named for Missouri bushwhacker Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Ame ...

, is named for him. Confederate Silas "Si" Gordon was born in Montgomery County, Kentucky in 1835 and moved with his parents, William and Lucretia (Muir) Gordon, to Platte County, Missouri. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gordon engaged in various guerrilla actions, including kidnapping Union officers in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He was accused of masterminding the September 3

Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy The Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy was a bushwhacker attack on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad during the American Civil War on September 3, 1861, in which the train derailed on a bridge over the Platte River east of St. Joseph, Missouri, ki ...

in which a Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad train derailed on a sabotaged Platte River bridge at

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

. Gordon and 30 to 40 of his followers set up camp in November 1861 by the Platte County Courthouse in Platte City. He was to engage Federal troops in November at Bee Creek, in which two Federals were killed. In December his band briefly captured Weston, Missouri. Gordon stole county records from the courthouse and threatened to kill the district judge if he came to Platte City. Union General

David Hunter David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...

issued an order from neighboring Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the Platte County trustees to either deliver Gordon within 10 days or have the city burned and the slaves in the county freed. In early December Col. James Morgan marched from St. Joseph to Platte City and set fire to the city and courthouse and captured three of Gordon's men on December 16 during the Burning of Platte City. On December 17 Morgan ignored the pleas for leniency from the father of one of the prisoners, a man named Black Triplett. Instead, Morgan took Triplett and prisoner Gabriel Close to the Bee Creek site where the Federals had been killed. Triplett was executed outright and Close was

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...

ted as he fled. The letters "U.S." were scrawled in Triplett's blood on the Bee Creek bridge. Gordon joined the Missouri State Guard under Sterling Price and was in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Battle of Iuka, Second Battle of Corinth, and Battle of Vicksburg. He was reported to have joined guerrilla fighter William Quantrill and Quantrill's Raiders in Texas. He returned to guerrilla activities in Missouri in 1864 around Platte County. In July 1864, Union troops once again burned the city in an attempt to capture him (the courthouse was not to be rebuilt from the first fire until 1867). Gordon returned to Texas and resided in Gordonville until his death in 1888.Find a grave Silas Gordon
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References

External links

History-sites.com biographyHistory-sites.com biography 2History of Gordonville
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Silas 1835 births 1888 deaths People of Missouri in the American Civil War People of Texas in the American Civil War Quantrill's Raiders Missouri State Guard People from Platte City, Missouri People from Grayson County, Texas People from Montgomery County, Kentucky