Burning of Platte City

The Burning of Platte City (December 16, 1861) was a Union punitive expedition in which troops under Colonel W. James Morgan (18th Missouri Infantry) burned Platte City and its courthouse after failing to capture bushwhacker Silas M. Gordon.¹ A second burning followed in 1864 when Gordon returned and Federals again destroyed the town.¹

Summary

Primary date	December 16, 1861 (first burning)1
Second burning	1864 (after Gordon’s return)1
Union commander	Col. W. James Morgan, 18th Missouri Infantry USA1
Order context	Gen. David Hunter (from Fort Leavenworth) ordered Platte County to deliver Gordon or face burning1
Trigger figure	Bushwhacker Silas M. Gordon (raids; suspected of Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy, Sept 3, 1861)1

Background

Gordon, of Platte County, conducted guerrilla raids and was suspected of masterminding the September 3, 1861, Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy, in which a sabotaged Hannibal & St. Joseph bridge near St. Joseph derailed a train, killing an estimated 17–20 and injuring about 100.¹ Union attempts to capture him in November 1861 failed at a Bee Creek skirmish (two Federals killed).¹ In early December Gordon’s band of 30–40 captured Weston, took Federal prisoners, and camped on the Platte County Courthouse lawn; Gordon reportedly stole county records and threatened the district judge.¹

December 16–17, 1861

Hunter’s order from Fort Leavenworth told the county to deliver Gordon or see the city burned.¹ Morgan marched from St. Joseph, set fire to Platte City and the courthouse, and captured three Confederate soldiers (furlough or expired enlistment).¹

On December 17, Morgan took prisoners Black Triplett and Gabriel Close to the Bee Creek site of the earlier Federal deaths. Triplett was executed; Close was bayonetted while fleeing; “U.S.” was scrawled in Triplett’s blood on the Bee Creek bridge (the Bee Creek Massacre in secondary literature).¹

Aftermath

Gordon continued guerrilla activity elsewhere and returned to Platte City in 1864, prompting a second Federal burning.¹ The present Platte County Courthouse replaced the destroyed original (see platte-city-mo).¹

Sources

See also

• platte-city-mo
• fort-leavenworth
• bleeding-kansas-and-the-border-war
• Wiki

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “Burning of Platte City.” — asserts: Dec 16 1861 first burning; Silas M. Gordon; Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy Sept 3 1861 (17–20 killed / ~100 injured); Bee Creek Nov skirmish; Weston capture; Hunter order from Fort Leavenworth; Morgan 18th Missouri Infantry; courthouse fire; Triplett/Close Dec 17 executions (Bee Creek Massacre); second burning 1864; Class B book The Half Not Told (Filbert) ISBN 0-8117-1536-1 named in references. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵