Agreed, but then what was Tinkder Dan Beatty or Sam Hildebrand? In my mind, men like these were very complicated and probably provoked to violence that did not appear in their nature prior to the War. Especially Hildebrand because I read his biography. Two of his brothers, including a 13 year old, were murdered by Jayhawkers quite sometime before he took up arms. By then, his mother had been burned out of her home. Sam executed qutie a few Union soldiers, militia men and civilians. Some for revenge for his family or those of his men, some for being Unionist spies who endangered their lives. Beatty and Hildebrand were not feared by civilians who took their side in the War. Ferguson was the type of thug who scared everyone....and there were many like him. Some were just plain non partisan criminals.