author

John P. Burch

A little-known chronicler of Civil War border fighting, he is best remembered for preserving Captain Harrison Trow’s account of William Clarke Quantrill and guerrilla warfare in Missouri and Kansas. His work helped carry a firsthand, deeply partisan story of that violent era into print.

1 Audiobook

Charles W. Quantrell : a true history of his guerrilla warfare on the Missouri and Kansas border during the Civil War of 1861 to 1865

Charles W. Quantrell : a true history of his guerrilla warfare on the Missouri and Kansas border during the Civil War of 1861 to 1865

by Harrison Trow, John P. Burch

About the author

Very little biographical information about John P. Burch is readily confirmed online, but he is known as the author and publisher connected with Charles W. Quantrell: A True History of His Guerrilla Warfare on the Missouri and Kansas Border During the Civil War of 1861 to 1865, issued in Vega, Texas, in 1923.

That book presents the recollections of Captain Harrison Trow, described as a former follower of Quantrill. Because of that role, Burch is best understood not just as a writer, but as someone who helped record and publish a firsthand narrative about one of the Civil War’s most controversial guerrilla leaders.

For listeners interested in border-war history, Burch’s significance lies in that act of preservation. Even if the details of his own life remain obscure, his name stays attached to a vivid and unusual historical account that has continued to circulate through reprints and digital editions.