In Missouri, Union troops searching for Confederate guerrillas burn most of Platte City to the ground

Platte County had been the scene of significant guerrilla activity, led by by a local named Silas Gordon.  Earlier threats has been made on Platte City for sheltering Gordon and seventy-five men of the 18th Missouri Infantry under the erratic Colonel James Morgan made good on these warnings when they occupied Platte City, captured several "bushwackers," shot them without a trial, and burned much of the town to the ground. Union forces also burned the town again in 1864.  (By John Osborne)     
Source Citation
William McClung Paxton, Annals of Platte County, Missouri: from its exploration down to June 1, 1897... (Kansas City, MO: Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Co., 1897), 321. 
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Battles/Soldiers
    How to Cite This Page: "In Missouri, Union troops searching for Confederate guerrillas burn most of Platte City to the ground," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/38504.