George M. Todd

George M. Todd (unknown – October 21, 1864) was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War who served under William C. Quantrill. A participant in numerous raids, including the Lawrence Massacre in 1863, he was ultimately killed at the Second Battle of Independence in 1864.

Todd had worked as a bridge mason before the war, and served with the Missouri State Guard before joining Quantrill in 1862. He rose to become one of Quantrill's principal lieutenants, and participated in various raids of his own as well as with Quantrill. During the First Battle of Independence on August 11, 1862, Todd served under Quantrill in a two-pronged attack on the city led by Col. John T. Hughes. During the fighting, Todd liberated several prisoners in the city jail, one of whom was the city marshal, James Knowles, who had been imprisoned for the killing of a rowdy citizen. Knowles and a Union captain named Thomas (whom Todd had captured at this same time) were summarily executed by Todd and his men, who wanted revenge for previous attacks made by those two on their command.

On August 21, 1863, Todd participated in Quantrill's raid on Lawrence. Todd and his men participated in the Centralia Massacre, on September 27, 1864. Following the initial massacre of unarmed soldiers on a train, the guerrillas overran a relief force of inexperienced mounted infantry carrying single shot rifles, killing nearly all of them as well. Todd was killed during the first day's fighting at the Second Battle of Independence, on October 21, 1864, by Lt. Col. George H. Hoyt of the Fifteenth Kansas as Major General Sterling Price's Confederate forces pushed the Army of the Border through the town. Todd was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence, where his grave is a local historical attraction.