Archie Clement
Encyclopedia
Archie Clement a.k.a "Little Arch", was a pro-Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War
Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War followed the same general patterns of irregular warfare conducted in 19th century Europe. Structurally, they can be divided into three different types of operations—the so-called 'People's War', 'partisan warfare', and 'raiding warfare'...

 leader in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, known for his brutality towards Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 soldiers and pro-Union civilians in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

.

Little Archie, the bushwhacker

Clement was born and raised in Johnson County, Missouri
Johnson County, Missouri
Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 52,595. Its county seat is Warrensburg. The county was formed 13 December 1834 from Lafayette County and was named for Vice President Richard M...

, near the town of Kingsville. A Confederate "bushwhacker
Bushwhacker
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there are large areas of contested land and few Governmental Resources to control these tracts...

" or guerrilla during the Civil War, he rose to notoriety in 1864 as a lieutenant of William T. Anderson
William T. Anderson
William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson was a pro-Confederate guerrilla leader in the American Civil War.Anderson was known for his brutality towards Union soldiers, and pro Union partisans, who were called Jayhawkers. Anderson participated in Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863...

. Clement soon became known as Bloody Bill's most trusted follower—or, in the words of an enemy, "Bill Anderson's scalper and head devil." Standing just over five feet tall and weighing about 130 pounds, Clement's youth and slight stature belied his ferocity. Anderson (or one of his men) left this note on the body of a dead Unionist after a particularly vicious skirmish; "You come to hunt bush whackers. Now you are skelpt. Clemyent skelpt you. Wm. Anderson."

Clement took a prominent role in all of the major operations of Anderson's organization in 1864, including the Centralia Massacre
Centralia Massacre (Missouri)
The Centralia Massacre was an incident during the American Civil War in which twenty-four unarmed Union soldiers were captured and executed at Centralia, Missouri on September 27, 1864 by the pro-Confederate guerrilla leader William T. Anderson...

, in which the guerrillas blocked the tracks of the Northern Missouri Railroad and forced a train to stop. They then robbed the civilian passengers and killed 22 Union soldiers found on board, returning home on furlough from the Atlanta campaign. Anderson left one Union sergeant alive for a possible prisoner exchange. The guerrillas shot the rest, and scalped and otherwise mutilated the corpses.

Following Anderson's death in an ambush by Union militia on October 27, 1864, Clement took command, continuing to fight into the next year. Following the surrender of General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

's army in Virginia, Clement continued to fight, even demanding the surrender of the Missouri town of Lexington
Lexington, Missouri
Lexington is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,453 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lafayette County. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies about 40 miles east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

. Though some comrades, including Dave Pool, surrendered, Clement and Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...

 remained under arms. On May 15, 1865, Clement and James encountered a Union cavalry patrol; a skirmish ensued in which James was severely wounded.

Clement, the outlaw leader

Beginning in 1866, Clement led his supporters into a new profession: bank robbery
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...

, especially of banks associated with Missouri Unionists. On February 13, a group of gunmen carried out the first daylight, peacetime, armed bank robbery in U.S. history when they held up the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Liberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2007 population estimate, the city population was 29,993...

, stealing more than $58,000 in cash and bonds. The bank was owned and operated by former Union militia officers, who recently had conducted the first Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 rally in Clay County's history. The state authorities suspected Archie Clement of leading the raid and offered a reward for his capture. In later years, the list of suspects would grow to include Frank James
Frank James
Alexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:...

, Cole Younger
Cole Younger
Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger was an American Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War and later an outlaw with the James-Younger gang...

, John Jarrette, Oliver Shepard, Bud and Donny Pence, Frank Gregg, Bill and James Wilkerson, Joab Perry, Ben Cooper, Red Mankus and Allen Parmer (who later married Susan James, Frank and Jesse's sister). During the escape through the streets of Liberty, one of the gang shot dead an innocent bystander named George Wymore. A string of robberies followed, many linked to Clement's gang. The hold-up most clearly linked to them was of Alexander Mitchell and Company in Lexington, Missouri
Lexington, Missouri
Lexington is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,453 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lafayette County. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies about 40 miles east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

, on October 30, 1866, in which they stole $2,000.

Death

As the pivotal election of 1866 approached, political violence flared across Missouri. Much of it was associated with Archie Clement, who harassed the Republican authorities who governed Missouri. On election day in November 1866, Clement led a group of some 100 former bushwhackers into the town of Lexington. Their gunfire and intimidation led to the defeat of the Republican Party in the election. In response, Governor Thomas C. Fletcher dispatched a platoon of state militia, led by Major Bacon Montgomery. Clement withdrew, only to return on December 13, 1866. Seeking to avoid a major battle in the center of town, Montgomery allowed Archie Clement to enroll his men in the state militia (as a joke, it seems); after the bushwhackers left, Clement went to the bar of the City Hotel for a drink.

Seeing his opportunity, Montgomery dispatched a few men to apprehend Clement, who was wanted on a warrant for the Liberty robbery. The major's men found Little Arch drinking with an old friend and called out for him to surrender. Clement drew his revolvers and a wild gunfight ensued. Despite having sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, Archie managed to make it outside and onto his horse. Clement rode up the town's main street in an effort to escape only to be shot off his horse by a militia detachment stationed at the courthouse. Montgomery and his men approached the fallen bushwhacker, who, though mortally wounded, was trying to cock his revolver with his teeth. One of the soldiers asked, "Arch, you are dying. What do you want me to do with you?" Clement replied, "I've done what I always said I would do ... die before I'd surrender." Major Montgomery himself later stated of Clement's final moments, "I've never met better 'grit' on the face of the earth."

After Arch Clement's death, his organization continued to rob and be pursued by government troops. Out of this group rose Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...

, who first achieved notoriety three years later.

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