GEOLOGY AND GUERILLA RAIDS IN THE WAR FOR SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE

Beginning in the late 1850's and throughout the active years of the Civil War, both sides, Union and Confederate, engaged in Partisan or Guerilla activities. The landscape, geology, and geomorphology contributed to the success and sometimes failure of these events. Among the most notable of raids were the Cantrill Raid on Lawrence, Kansas, Morgan's Raid into Ohio, and a little known raid by Missouri (Confederate) Partisans into southern Iowa in 1864. The capacity for the Raiders to organize, hide, and maneuver was dependent on a landscape shaped by erosion and interestingly enough by surface features developed on top of Pleistocene events. In addition, drainage patterns as a result of Pleistocene events along with Quaternary developments in river channels determined crossings and pathways for guerilla movements and actions throughout the Civil War.