William Sloan Tough
William Sloan Tough aka "Captain Tough", "Tufts" or "Tuff" (May 19, 1840 – May 24, 1904) was an American guerrilla fighter who served with the Kansas Red Legs{{cite book| last = Gilmore| first = Donald L.| title = Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border| publisher =Gretna, LA: Pelican|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6NCEb-2SU-4C&q=William+Sloan+Tough&pg=PA160|date=2005| isbn = 9781455602308}}{{cite news|last1=Schofield|first1=Arnold W.|title=Battlefield Dispatches No. 261: 'Tuff was Tough'|url=https://www.fstribune.com/story/1719003.html|accessdate=12 March 2018|work=Fort Scott Tribune|date=15 April 2011|language=en}} which fought on the Kansas-Missouri Border during the American Civil War in support of the Union.{{cite journal|last1=Lindberg|first1=Kip|author2=Matt Matthews|title=Better off in Hell: The Evolution of the Kansas Red Legs|journal=North & South Magazine|date=May 1, 2002|volume=5|issue=4|pages=20–32|url=http://www.northsouthmag-sales.com/downloads/5-4/|accessdate=18 March 2018}} Born in Maryland, he moved to Missouri as a young man and joined the Red Legs before the Civil War. After the war, he married and opened a livery stable. He was also appointed a United States Marshall and was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives. He later fell ill and died in 1904.
Early life
William Sloan Tough was born on May 19, 1840, in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the age of 19 he settled in St. Joseph, Missouri. He journeyed to Colorado during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush but returned to Missouri when his prospecting activity was unsuccessful. Tough is also credited as being a pony express rider and some reports list him as engaging in horse trading before the American Civil War in 1861.{{cite web|title=Pony Express Riders|url=http://ponyexpress.org/pony-express-riders/|website=ponyexpress.org|publisher=Pony Express Museum – St. Joseph, MO|accessdate=14 March 2018}}
Civil War years
Tough joined the "Red Legs" guerrilla forces fighting on the Kansas-Missouri Border leading up to the Civil War. He became a civilian scout for the Union Army serving as chief of scouts for General James G. Blunt as part of the Army of the Frontier. The group of scouts he led were called the "Buckskin Scouts" and this group included former members of the "Red Legs". One of the scouts working under Tough during this time was sixteen year old William Frederick Cody who would later become known as Buffalo Bill.{{cite web|last1=Rea|first1=Tom|title=Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express: Fame, Truth and Inventing the West|url=https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/buffalo-bill-and-pony-express-fame-truth-and-inventing-west|website=www.wyohistory.org|accessdate=12 March 2018|language=en|date=September 8, 2015}}{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Ronald D.|title=Thomas Ewing Jr.: Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General|date=2008|publisher=University of Missouri Press|isbn=9780826266668|page=[https://archive.org/details/thomasewingjrfro00smit_0/page/186 186]|url=https://archive.org/details/thomasewingjrfro00smit_0|url-access=registration|quote=Buffalo Bill cody red legs.|accessdate=12 March 2018|language=en}}
On July 23, 1863, while at Fort Scott, Kansas, Tough was involved in a disagreement with a Union cavalry soldier named William Gardner. It was reported that Gardner had followed Tough after the initial dispute and Tough shot Gardner killing him. Tough was arrested for the act but was released following an investigation. On another occasion Tough was part of a small group of survivors following an attack by Quantrill's Raiders on a military column that he was with.
Later life
Following the Civil War, Tough married and settled with his wife at Leavenworth, Kansas, and began operating a livery stable.{{cite web|last1=Graves|first1=Leon B.|title=Kansas Bankruptcy Court – Territorial Times to 1978|url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54170cd0e4b00eba52a2db00/t/592dbe6ba5790a341db76cbb/1496170093333/KansasBankrtupcy.pdf|publisher=Tenth Circuit Historical Society|accessdate=13 March 2018}} He was appointed a United States Marshall for Kansas on March 23, 1873, and held the position until some time in 1876.{{cite book|last1=Thrapp|first1=Dan L.|title=Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: P-Z|date=1991|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0803294204|page=1437|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCObM3OAPuwC&q=incidents+in+the+life+of+william+sloan+tough%27&pg=PA1437|accessdate=12 March 2018|language=en}}{{cite web|title=[MC 617, Sec. 3] Civil War (1861–65) – State Archives|url=https://www.kshs.org/archives/309415|website=www.kshs.org|publisher=Kansas Historical Society|language=en}} During this time period he was also elected to the Kansas House of Representatives from the Leavenworth district. Tough then returned to horse trading operating his business at the Kansas City Stockyards and it was reported that he sold a number of animals that were used during the Boer War.
William Sloan Tough died on May 24, 1904, in Kansas City, Missouri, following a long illness.{{cite book|last1=Rosa|first1=Joseph G.|title=The West of Wild Bill Hickok|date=1994|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=9780806126807|page=53|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDpjarSZm4cC&q=William+sloan+tough+kansas+redlegs&pg=PA53|accessdate=12 March 2018|language=en}}
See also
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
References
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Category:Law enforcement officials from Kansas
Category:People of Kansas in the American Civil War