The Centralia Massacre was an incident during the American Civil War in which twenty-four unarmed Union soldiers were captured and executed at Centralia, Missouri on September 27, 1864 by the pro-Confederate guerrilla leader William T. Anderson. Future outlaw Jesse James was among the guerrillas. In the ensuing Battle of Centralia, a large detachment of Union mounted infantry attempted to intercept Anderson, but nearly all of them were killed in combat.