James “Dick” Liddell was a member of William Clarke Quantrill’s Confederate guerilla band during the Civil War. In this photo, Liddell is wearing a mounted services jacket, most likely taken from a Union soldier. Quantrill and his guerrillas harassed Union soldiers, raided pro-Union towns, and scored several dramatic and devastating victories, such as the raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863, and the massacre of General James Blunt’s command two months later at Baxter Springs, Kansas.

In 1874 Liddell was convicted of horse stealing and served three and a half years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. In 1879 he joined the Frank and Jesse James gang for their robbery of the Glendale Missouri bank. In 1881, Liddell was arrested, tried, and found guilty for the robbery of a U.S. paymaster. Released from custody, he testified against Frank James when the famous outlaw was tried in Gallatin, Missouri, for the murder of a passenger during a train robbery. Following the trial, Liddell went to New Mexico, traveled to New Jersey, and was finally arrested in Missouri in 1891 for the 1881 murder of Wood Hite, another member of the James gang and perhaps Jesse’s closest friend.

Tintype by Unknown Photographer

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30206