Forget all the myths learned about Jesse James. Most aren't true. Learn what really drove the outlaw to rob banks. Jesse James is the last rebel of the Civil War.
The Myth
T.J. Stiles disproves the myth that Jesse James was a “Robin Hood” figure who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. In fact, he proves that James was not an avenger for the poor at all. He was bitterly driven by politics based on wartime allegiances and was rooted among former Confederates. In fact, he was “a major force in the attempt to create a Confederate identity for Missouri."
The Reality
Jesse James’ home state of Missouri was bitterly divided and in chaos over slavery before, during, and after the Civil War. Many in Missouri, Jesse’s family included, supported slavery and the Confederate Rebels who seceded from the Union, while others supported the Union and the dream of a slave free state and country.
The Life of Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War
Stiles uses half of the book to show Missouri’s history of dividedness even before the Civil War; it had been a “hot spot” for the country well before the first shots were heard. Stiles believes that Jesse first began noticing the war effort around the family farm as a boy when the Enrolled Missouri Militia (which sided with the Union) was formed.
In Missouri, all disloyal persons were required to surrender their arms and fight for the Union. Of course, for the right price, this could be avoided. Jesse's step-father, Ruben Samuel was humiliated and forced to pay the fine in order to avoid the draft. Jesse's brother, Frank, was forced to publicly declare his disloyalty because of his service in the "bushwhackers." This wouldn't be the last time the EMM humiliated Jesse's family.
A different quest, however, began on the day that the militia came to the family farm looking for a group of bushwhackers, Frank included. They thought this rogue group to be on the James’ farm. What they found, however, was Jesse working in the fields with no bushwhackers to be found.
They proceeded to beat him while they tried to hang Ruben Samuels for information. Jesse joined Frank and the guerilla’s soon afterward with the objective to “inflict pain, to punish, to kill and destroy” after the second humiliation of his family.
Jesse James entered a race to find and kill as many enemies as he could. Their act of terrorism against his family fueled a rage that would still burn well after the Civil War ended. His life became a quest for pain and revenge.
The Aftermath
As a member of the bushwhackers, Jesse helped bring chaos and destruction to the people who supported abolitionism and Reconstruction policies in Missouri. After the war ended, his bank robbing and raids of the express companies on the railroads were still creating a political message.
The fact that “they [The James and Younger brothers] stated that they did not want to rob workingmen or ladies” perpetuated Jesse’s image of a “Robin Hood” but at closer inspection, Stiles ultimately proves that the attacks on the express companies were nothing more than an attack on the Yankees in the East.
The Accomplishment of T.J. Stiles
Eventhough Stiles can get a bit too detailed in his statistics, Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War is a highly engaging read for anyone wanting to learn about the man behind the myth.
This biography does more than describe the man behind the myth, though. It describes Missouri and how the events shaping Missouri’s future were also shaping the future of Jesse James. Stiles believes “This is, at bottom, a story of how Americans have hated Americans, how Americans have killed Americans, how both winners and losers refused to forget or forgive. It is a story of the Civil War and what it left unsettled.”
T.J. Stiles is officially the "go to" man if you crave knowledge and the truth. Bravo.
Stiles, T.J. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War. London: Pimlico Edition, 2004.
