Quantrell continued to direct the movements of the guerrilla bands, but he was rarely engaged in any[Pg 28] of the battles; the active service he delegated to the most strategical and unmerciful members of his command. Bill Anderson, a human tiger in disposition, was placed in charge of the full force when it was decided to move upon Centralia, a small town in Boone county, on the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway. On the 27th of September, one week after the attack on Fayette, the guerrillas, numbering one hundred and fifty men, headed by Anderson and that most ominous of banners, the black flag, with skull and cross-bones, marched upon Centralia, which they took possession of without resistance. After pillaging the place the guerrillas took up their station at the depot and awaited the coming of the train. They had not long to wait, for soon the shrill whistle of the engine, as it came thundering through a cut, drawing five passenger coaches loaded with soldiers and citizen travelers, announced the coming of the prize. The moment the train stopped the dreadful black flag was flung out and with the exchange of a few shots the messengers of death boarded the cars. Everyone on the train was ordered out and made to form in line, after which the thirty-two soldiers were separated from the other passengers and all disarmed. Now the breathless suspense, the terrible forebodings and the anxiety as to the fate that would be meted out to them! Every soldier was shot as unmercifully as if they had been obnoxious beasts or poisonous snakes. The [Pg 29]passengers were relieved of whatever valuables they possessed, after which they were permitted to proceed on their journey.  
In the afternoon of the same day and before the guerrillas had departed from Centralia, a body of Iowa volunteers, one hundred strong, under the command of Major J. H. Johnson, rode into the town and in the space of a few hours the two forces met and engaged in a terrible conflict. Again Jesse James, who was the best pistol shot in the guerrilla service, made a furious dash at Major Johnson and planted a pistol ball almost in the center of the brave Major's forehead. The guerrillas now rushed upon the terrorized volunteers with such resistless impetuosity that they broke in confusion. The fight became a massacre, and but very few of the brave volunteers escaped to convey to anxious friends the dreadful fate that had befallen their comrades. One of the militiamen had a very remarkable escape. Being badly wounded, in the early part of the fight, he remained unconscio............