The Battle-turned-Massacre of Baxter Springs

 On October 6, 1863, the site of Baxter Springs, in Kansas just a couple miles from the Indian Territory border, hosted one of the more infamous moments of the Civil War. It saw the only clash of, up to that time, two of the most successful military commanders of Trans-Mississippi theatre. About a hundred Federals, along with a fair number of civilians, marched with Major General James Blunt to Fort Baxter, en route to Arkansas. As fate would have it, a few hundred guerillas were also nearby. Their leader was none other than Colonel William Quantrill, the most feared and notorious bushwhacker from Missouri. This clash is classified as a battle, but most prefer to call it the Baxter Springs Massacre.

Quantrill Heads to Texas

William Quantrill, the son of an Ohio schoolteacher and migrant to Missouri, began his career as a bushwhacker near the end of 1861. Starting with just ten men, he built up a fearsome reputation with an impressive series of raids. By the end of 1862 he directly commanded over 150 men. After wintering in Arkansas with General Sterling Price’s Confederate soldiers, they returned in spring 1863 to pick up where they left off.[1] This time the guerillas faced more formidable opposition. Major General Thomas Ewing Jr., a former judge, commanded the Federal District of the Border. Kansas had long been the victim of Quantrill’s raids and he was determined to stop them. He undertook harsher measures to contain and hopefully stop the scourge of the border.

Movie Review: Last Samurai (2003)

 Last Samurai, directed by Edward Zwick, is inspired by real historical events in 19th Century Japan. Japan has recently opened up to the outside world and is rapidly modernizing. In order to accomplish this successfully, the Meiji government brings in many foreign advisors to build them up. The main character is Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who comes to Japan to train its army. He is also expected to help lead it against the titular Last Samurai, rebellious warriors under Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) who believe that Japan's rapid modernization has enabled corrupt and greedy individuals to gain power over the Emperor at the people's expense. Impressed by Algren's ferocity and courage, Katsumoto has him taken prisoner rather than killed after a major defeat for the government. Algren, suffering from personal demons, becomes fascinated by the samurai and finds renewed purpose by helping them instead. It's a bit like Dances with Wolves.

This movie is heavily inaccurate, yet it's awesome and I recommend watching it. It's inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, in which incorruptible samurai Saigo Takamori led a revolution. It also combines elements with the Boshin War (1868-1869). Katsumoto, the coolest characters thanks to Watanabe's performance, is based on Saigo. Like the character in the film, Saigo felt that the Meiji government was moving too fast, and that this enabled many to enrich themselves at the expense of good governance. He and other samurai were also distressed by the loss of privileges they once held, such as guaranteed rice payments and the right to carry swords anywhere. The movie's inspired version on the other hand is more purely conservative, with him and his followers effectively maintaining a pre-modern lifestyle. Thus their war with the government in the film borrows elements from the Boshin War, in which the more conservative shogunate warred with the Meiji faction. Even then the Shogunate employed modern weapons in its armies. Only politically and culturally was it old-fashioned.