Known infamously as Dick Yeager, Richard Francis Yeager was a significant figure during the tumultuous American Civil War, specifically as a Confederate guerrilla operating under the notorious William Quantrill. His name became synonymous with the brutal Border Wars, marked by a daring raid near Council Grove, Kansas, on May 4, 1863, and his integral role in Quantrill’s devastating raid on Lawrence, Kansas, on August 21, 1863. This article delves into the life and exploits of Richard Francis Yeager, a man whose actions left an indelible mark on the Kansas-Missouri frontier.
Early Life and the Path to Guerrilla Warfare
Born on March 28, 1839, to James Barnes Yeager and Mary Jane Berry Yeager, Richard grew up in a prominent Missouri family. His father was a respected member of the community, serving in the state legislature and as the Jackson County, Missouri, Court presiding judge in 1840. The elder Yeager also operated a thriving freighting business that transported goods between Missouri and New Mexico along the historic Santa Fe Trail, a venture Dick Yeager was actively involved in.
The outbreak of the Civil War dramatically altered the course of Yeager’s life. While leading one of his father’s wagon trains, his family’s farm suffered a brutal raid by Charles Jennison’s Redlegs, a Union guerrilla unit from Kansas. They stripped the farm of its possessions and temporarily arrested Judge Barnes Yeager. This personal affront served as a powerful catalyst, prompting Richard Francis Yeager to abandon his freighting business and join Quantrill’s Raiders, committing himself wholeheartedly to the Confederate cause.
Quantrill’s Raiders and the Reign of Terror
William Quantrill, holding a field commission under the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act, molded his guerrillas into a highly effective, albeit brutal, fighting force. They perfected military tactics, executing coordinated and synchronized attacks, and utilizing preplanned routes with relays of horses to evade Union forces. This unit ambushed Union patrols and supply convoys, seized mail, and launched devastating strikes on towns across the Kansas-Missouri border. Yeager quickly distinguished himself within this infamous group.
During the intense Border Wars, Dick Yeager‘s name garnered national headlines, often depicted as a merciless figure terrorizing Kansas towns. He was instrumental in the sacking of Shawnee and Blackjack and was present during the horrific Lawrence Massacre. By the age of 25, his reputation as a formidable and feared guerrilla leader was firmly established.
Yeager’s Raids and Growing Infamy
Yeager soon commanded his own contingent of guerrillas, sometimes referred to as the Hays Gang. His initial documented raid into Kansas occurred in late October 1861. Leading a band of 13 men, including the infamous Cole Younger, Yeager invaded Gardner in Johnson County, Kansas, armed with double-barreled shotguns. While this particular attempt to rob a store was unsuccessful and no one was injured, it marked his entry into active combat.
Quantrill’s strategy increasingly focused on retaliatory actions against pro-Union civilians, in addition to attacking Jayhawkers, Missouri State Militia, and Union troops. Ambush and raids became their primary methods. Yeager’s name appeared on a muster roll of 92 of William Quantrill’s men, a list discovered by Union troops on a fallen Missouri Partisan Ranger after the Battle at Pleasant Hill, Missouri, on July 11, 1862, highlighting his integral role.
The Council Grove and Diamond Springs Raids (May 1863)
On May 4, 1863, Dick Yeager and his 23 guerrillas encamped on land near Council Grove, notably owned by General George Armstrong Custer. Their plan to sack the town was thwarted when they discovered the citizens were armed and had established nightly sentinels. Despite this, the guerrillas remained in the area for some time, exercising dominance over the locals with threats and insults.
The following morning, Yeager and a comrade boldly rode into Council Grove and directly to the office of Dr. J.H. Bradford, who recognized Yeager from his Santa Fe Trail freighting days. Inside, Yeager presented a chilling ultimatum: “Doctor, I expect that you know me, but I have a tooth that aches like hell, and if you give me relief, I will be good. But if we are bothered by any movement on the part of your Unionists, we will burn the old town before we leave, for that is what we came for.” Dr. Bradford extracted the troublesome tooth and provided Yeager with laudanum, a painkiller. To the immense relief of Council Grove’s residents, the town was spared its fiery fate.
However, the band’s violence was far from over. They rode west to Diamond Springs, Kansas, where on May 5, 1863, they attacked the stage station. During this brutal raid, station manager Augustus Howell was killed, and his wife, Sarah, was severely wounded. The renegades then set the station ablaze before fleeing east. Before returning to Missouri, they continued their rampage, killing a Union soldier at the Rock Springs stage station and robbing a stagecoach near Black Jack. The Diamond Springs stage station was never rebuilt, with operations moving to Six Mile Creek, though the spring itself remained a vital water source along the Santa Fe Trail.
Union authorities were fixated on capturing or killing Yeager that summer, erroneously believing he had led the early May 1863 raid deep into east-central Kansas. While it is believed Dick Yeager leveraged his pre-war freighting experience to guide the guerrillas, he was not their leader. This faulty intelligence plagued Federal efforts to track the true leadership of several west-central Missouri guerrilla bands. Interestingly, many historians suggest this audacious May raid may have served as the inspiration for William Quantrill’s more infamous Lawrence Massacre in August 1863.
The Decline of the Guerrillas and Yeager’s End
The Confederate government, initially supportive through the Partisan Ranger Act, grew outraged by the increasingly brutal and indiscriminate actions of groups like Quantrill’s and withdrew their support for such irregular forces. By 1864, Quantrill himself began losing control of his fragmented group. By the fall of 1863, Union soldiers had significantly increased their patrols along the eastern border of Kansas, effectively curbing the frequency of Confederate guerrilla raids.
Rumors of Yeager’s death circulated as early as June 1864, with Union soldiers reporting he had been killed near the Jackson/Lafayette County border. These reports, though widespread, were ultimately false.
His true end came on July 20, 1864, during an attack led by Confederate guerrilla George Todd against Federal troops of the 1st Cavalry near Arrow Rock, Saline County, Missouri. In this engagement, Dick Yeager sustained a grievous head wound. Doctors who examined him concluded the wounds were fatal, with his brains reportedly exuding from two places. Despite the grim prognosis, George Todd transported him by ambulance to a safe house seven miles from Miami, Missouri, where the Flannery family, exiles from the General Order Number 11 region, provided care. Despite careful nursing, Richard Francis Yeager succumbed to his injuries on August 1, 1864. He was laid to rest in Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.
Union soldiers initially unaware of the identity of their fallen adversary learned of his death days later. When newspapers reported his demise in early August 1864, headlines mockingly declared, “Dick Yeager Killed Again.” Tragically, Jennie Flannery, who had nursed Yeager, was subsequently imprisoned for her act of compassion. Yeager’s story is a stark reminder of the savage and often personal nature of the Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas border, leaving a legacy of conflict and enduring historical debate.
