Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainSeptember 27, 1864: 24 unarmed Union soldiers executed by guerrillas, then 107 of 155 pursuing volunteers killed in an ambush — 89% casualty rate.
19101 N Rangeline Rd, Centralia, MO 65240
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to visit; Civil War markers and picnic area on site
Access
Wheelchair OK
Open field with paved access; historical markers accessible from parking area
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1864 · Centralia Massacre — 24 unarmed Union soldiers executed September 27 1864 · Centralia Battle — 89% Union casualty rate in afternoon ambush · Jesse James connection as member of Anderson's guerrilla force · William 'Bloody Bill' Anderson's most notorious action
The events at Centralia unfolded in two stages on a single afternoon in late September 1864. That morning, Confederate guerrilla William T. Anderson — known to Union forces as 'Bloody Bill' — led approximately 80 riders into town and stopped a northbound Missouri Pacific train. Among the passengers were 24 unarmed Union soldiers on furlough. Anderson ordered the men off the train and had them shot. The sole survivor, Sergeant Thomas Goodman, later described the action as among the most monstrous atrocities he witnessed during the war. Anderson's men included a number of recruits who would later gain notoriety in postwar outlaw careers, including Jesse James, then approximately 17 years old.
That afternoon, Major A.V.E. Johnston led approximately 155 men of the 39th Missouri Infantry in pursuit of Anderson's force into the countryside north of Centralia. The guerrillas had anticipated the pursuit and set an ambush in an open field. Johnston ordered his men to dismount and advance on foot, a decision that left them unable to withdraw quickly. Anderson's riders — experienced cavalry fighters — charged at speed. The engagement lasted minutes. When it ended, 107 of Johnston's 155 men were dead, a casualty rate of approximately 89%. Johnston himself was killed. Anderson was killed in a separate action in Ray County less than a month later, on October 26, 1864.
The site north of Centralia today features Civil War interpretive markers and a picnic area maintained as a public memorial. The Centralia Battlefield Historical Society operates a website with a virtual tour and reenactment documentation. The massacre and battle are documented extensively by the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database and by Wikipedia, which draws on the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion.
Sources
Given the scale of death at Centralia on September 27, 1864 — the execution of 24 unarmed men in the morning followed by the killing of 107 Union soldiers in an afternoon ambush — the site has accumulated a persistent layer of paranormal accounts in local tradition. Vox Magazine, Columbia's local alt-weekly, documented reports of cannon fire and gunshot sounds captured in audio recordings at the battlefield, along with accounts of uniformed apparitions seen in the open field where the afternoon ambush took place.
The location sits in an undeveloped field accessible from Rangeline Road with no significant modern construction atop the battle site. Investigators drawn to the location cite the concentrated trauma of the site — more than 130 violent deaths within a few hours in a small area — as consistent with the type of event local paranormal tradition associates with residual activity. The morning massacre site, closer to the town of Centralia itself, also generates accounts, though these are less consistently documented than the afternoon battle field.
The Centralia Battlefield Historical Society maintains the public memorial and interpretive signage. No organized paranormal tours currently operate at the site.
Notable Entities
Walk the battlefield grounds with historical markers documenting the September 27, 1864 events: the morning train massacre of 24 Union soldiers and the afternoon ambush that killed 107 of 155 pursuing volunteers. A picnic area and informational signage are on-site.
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