Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border

During the American Civil War, the western front was the scene of some of that conflict's bloodiest and most barbaric encounters as Union raiders and Confederate guerrillas pursued each other from farm to farm with equal disregard for civilian casualties. Historical accounts of these events overwhelmingly favour the victorious Union standpoint, characterising the Southern fighters as wandering, unprincipled savages. "Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border" seeks to point out that in fact the bushwhackers' violent reactions were understandable, given the reign of terror they endured as a result of Lincoln's total war on the West.