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Riley Crawford of Quantrill's Guerrillas Awarded the Southern Cross of Honor

 
On June 29, 2013 a memorial stone for guerrilla Riley Crawford was placed next to the grave of his father, Jeptha Crawford. Riley Crawford was born in 1847 in Jackson County, Missouri. The Crawfords lived in Blue Springs, Missouri. On January 29, 1863, having taken no part in the war but being a Southern sympathizer Jeptha Crawford was murdered by Federal soldiers in the presence of his wife and children. The Federals then burned down his home in the middle of winter leaving his family destitute. Mrs. Crawford took Riley and his brother to Quantrill and told him to make soldier’s of them to avenge their father’s death. Riley was only fourteen years old when he joined Quantrill, too young for the regular Confederate army. To have remained at home would have been certain death. He served in Captain George Todd's company under Quantrill. His three older brothers William, Marshall, and Marion, also rode with Quantrill before joining the Missouri State Guards. Riley Crawford was not only one of the youngest guerrillas; he was also one of the hardest fighters in Quantrill’s band. It was said that he killed every Union soldier who fell into his hands.
 
          Six months after joining Quantrill Riley Crawford's two older sisters were arrested and placed in a make-shift prison in Kansas City. Federal soldiers of the 11th Kansas Jayhawker Regiment who were assigned to guard them undermined the building killing both of the sisters and three other young Southern women. These murders are what is said to have initiated the Lawrence Kansas raid two weeks later.
 
          Riley Crawford was killed in combat less than two years later. He died in Cooper County, Missouri riding on a raid to join General Sterling Price commanding the Missouri State Guard as he tried to wrestle the State out of the clutches of an invading Federal army. Now 150 years later, Riley Crawford has been awarded the Southern Cross of Honor bestowed on him by a grateful organization who wishes to honor fallen Confederate soldiers. Below is the citation for Riley Crawford.
 
 
 
Certificate of Eligibility
 
for the
 
Southern Cross of Honor
 
for
 
Private Riley Crawford
 
Missouri Cavalry Scouts
 
 
 
He entered the service of the Confederate States of America in March of 1863 being mustered as a private into Colonel William Clarke Quantrill's independent partisan ranger command as a cavalry scout in Captain George Todd's company attached to Colonel Upton B. Hays's 2nd Cavalry Regiment of General Joseph Orville Shelby's Iron Brigade in the Eighth Division of the Missouri State Guard. Private Riley Crawford fought honorably in the Westport Skirmish on June 17, 1863, the Lawrence Raid on August 21, 1863, the Battle of Baxter Springs on October 6, 1863, Quantrill's  Texas Expedition winter of 1863-64, and the Wagner Fight on July 6, 1864 before being killed in action in September 1864. Private Crawford served the Confederate States of America honorably from 1863 to 1864.
 
 
 
We endorse the above Certificate of Eligibility, June 29, 2013.
 
 
 
Emory Cantey
 
Rick Mack
 
Patrick Marquis
 
Claiborne Scholl Nappier
 
Paul R. Petersen
 
 
 
 
Shown in the photo are John & Rosa Rogers, both descendants of Jeptha Crawford as they accept the award of the Southern Cross of Honor on behalf of Riley Crawford. Paul R. Petersen of quantrillsguerrillas.com is making the presentation.

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