Fall of a Renegade

Fall of a Renegade. . Although the Civil War was raging far from the Red River Valley in 1863, certain events occurred to remind the citizens of Bonham of the blood being shed by many of its young men. The most compelling of the events concerned Captain William C. Quantrill, notorious leader of a feared band of renegades who operated just outside the control of the Confederate Army. Quantrill was known to have wintered in the area of Bonham on at least two separate occasions., In late November, just weeks after the bloody massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, perpetrated by Quantrill and his band, the group showed up in Sherman after crossing Red River at Colbert's Ferry. They spent a few days in town before setting up camp on Big Mineral northwest of the town., In the meantime, General Henry McCulloch, Commander of the Northern Sub-District of the Confederate Army, at his headquarters in Bonham, began to receive dispatches from various levels of command of the army. McCulloch was ordered to keep a check on Quantrill and his movements. Soon after, violent incidents, including murder and robbery began to occur in the area. Quantrill's men, with good reason, were suspected of being the perpetrators of these incidents., Yielding to the demands of the area citizens, McCulloch ordered Quantrill to appear at his headquarters immediately. Quantrill responded by riding into town with several of his company in attendance. He went to the general's office which was located on the second floor of the Fannin County Courthouse. His men hitched their horses outside the Bonhamı House Hotel, which was on this site, and took up various stances on the northeast corner of the public square., McCulloch confronted the rebel leader with the accusations of area citizens, as well as the orders from the Confederate Army leaders. At that, McCulloch then ordered Quantrill's arrest. Two guards took possession of his guns and he was placed in a small room just off the general's office., McCulloch then left to go to dinner, placing the guards in the room in which Quantrill was confined and another guard just outside the courthouse door., Carelessly, one of the guards had placed Quantrill's weapons at the foot of a cot in the room. Somehow, he managed to divert the guard's attention and regain possession of his guns. Relieving the guards of their rifles, he ordered them to remain silent and locked them in the room. At the bottom of the stairs, he surprised the third guard and took his rifle. Exiting the building, he shouted to his men that they were all prisoners. Quantrill quickly mounted his horse and he and his men galloped from in front of the hotel., They circled the courthouse twice, in a display of bravado, shooting at the weathervane atop the building before racing out of town in a northwesterly direction., When McCulloch was apprised of the incident, he ordered a company in pursuit. Quantrill had too much of a lead and the band was able to get to Colbert's Ferry and across the river before the pursuing company caught up with them. Once in Indian Territory, the men were safe since the Confederate's had no jurisdiction., Quantrill returned to the area once more in 1864. By the end of the year, his band had disintegrated and he died later from wounds received in an ill-fated raid in Kentucky.