n [ pl ]
a small independent military group that fought for the Confederate States in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War . It was led by Captain William Quantrill (1837–65), a former criminal, and included Jesse and Frank James and the Younger brothers . The Raiders attacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas, on 21 August 1863, and murdered 150 men and boys who were not soldiers. Quantrill was later killed in a gun fight with US soldiers in Kentucky .