Cole Younger

Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger (January 15, 1844 – March 21, 1916) was an American Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War and later a leader with the James–Younger Gang. He was the eldest brother of Jim, John and Bob Younger.

Early life

Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger, was born on January 15, 1844 on the Younger family farm. He was a son of Henry Washington Younger, a prosperous farmer from Greenwood, Missouri and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe, daughter of a prominent Jackson County farmer. Cole was the seventh of fourteen children.

Civil War

During the American Civil War, savage guerrilla warfare wracked Missouri. Younger's father was pro-Union, but he was shot dead anyway by a Union soldier from Kansas. After that, Cole Younger sought revenge as a pro-Confederate guerrilla under William Clarke Quantrill. After the early part of the war, the Confederate Army withdrew from the state and the fighting was mainly between pro-Union and pro-Confederate Missourians. However, the bushwhackers held a special hatred for the "red leg" Union troops from Kansas who frequently entered Missouri and earned a reputation for ruthlessness. Younger rode with Quantrill in a retaliation raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863, during which about 200 citizens were killed and the town looted and burned.