In Danville, the veil protecting Captain Clarke was violently lifted. On January 29, U.S. Captain William L. Gross, assistant quartermaster and assistant superintendent of the U.S. military telegraph in Danville, sent a disheartened message to his superiors. Gross informed them that “thirty-five guerrillas, under Captain Clarke, all dressed in Federal uniform, entered Danville this morning. They robbed some of the citizens and one boot store and left on the Perryville pike at 11:15 a.m. They claimed, at first, to be Federal troops, Fourth Missouri Cavalry, but there is no doubt they are guerrillas in disguise. They gutted my office pretty effectually.”

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Purifying the story of the Danville raid, John McCorkle said that Quantrill merely “told the soldiers and men to all go home and let him alone, that he intended to hurt no one.” After the war, McCorkle became a respected citizen of Glasgow, Mo., and became known as “a Christian gentleman of strong character and a tender heart.” He probably failed to mention the plundering to sanitize his role in the incident.

Following the sack of Danville, the guerrillas rode westward toward Perryville, the scene of an October 1862 battle. Union commanders, however, were not dwelling on past fights–they were searching for a new way to catch Captain Clarke. That afternoon, Union brigadier general and Danville native Speed F. Fry sent Federal forces in Lebanon an order to “send one detachment through Perryville and one directly to Perryville. Order your men not to take any prisoners if they find them. Tell your men to be very careful, as guerrillas are arrayed in Federal uniform.” Tired of statewide bushwhacker attacks, angered that the guerrillas were so bold as to wear Federal uniforms and sickened by the plundering of his hometown, Fry ordered Union troops to hoist the black flag. As Quantrill’s men had offered no mercy, Fry called for no quarter.

Riding a number of miles toward Perryville, the guerrillas swung north toward Harrodsburg, with Federal patrols on their tail. As night approached, the band split up into several groups to dine and sleep in private homes. Five miles from Harrodsburg, Quantrill slept in the residence of Mrs. Sallie Van Arsdell while other guerrillas found refuge with her neighbor John Adams. Later in the evening, a group of Federal troops under Captain J.H. Bridgewater surrounded the Adams house. As the bushwhackers tried to escape, Bridgewater’s men killed four guerrillas and captured nine others, including Jim Younger.

Quantrill somehow managed to gather his remaining men and escape town. Those killed outside the Adams house were buried in the Oakland Church cemetery, but were re-interred 40 years later in Harrodsburg’s Spring Hill Cemetery, where they could rest with other Southern dead. The prisoners, who stated they were going to Virginia (which could lend credence to Quantrill’s plot to assassinate Lincoln or surrender with Lee), were jailed in Lexington, but eventually moved to Louisville. One guerrilla, accused of killing the Union lieutenant in Hustonville, was held in Lexington but was released after the war. According to McCorkle, the prisoners were constantly threatened with execution, but they bravely defied their captors.

With a portion of the band killed and captured, Quantrill gathered his men and rode to Nelson County. The guerrillas were harassed by Union militia but managed to drive them off. At this time Quantrill may have consolidated forces with Sue Mundy, one of Kentucky’s most notorious guerrillas. Mundy, whose real name was Marcellus Jerome Clarke, was called “Sue” because his youth, flowing locks and cleanshaven face gave him a feminine appearance. Mundy had served in John Hunt Morgan’s command and entered the commonwealth with Morgan’s raiders. After Morgan’s death in September 1864, he re-entered Kentucky to wage a one-man guerrilla war against Federal troops. On January 29, the same day as Quantrill’s Danville raid, Mundy skirmished with the 54th (Union) Kentucky near Bardstown.

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