From what little I have seen of guerrillas in Illinois in the area you mentioned, I agree fully with Kirby's analysis. Most of the Missouri guerrilla activities in Illinois concerned winter sanctuary, small-scale recruiting, purchasing ammunition, percussion caps, medicines, and other items restricted in Missouri. Most of the action I read about in that area was U.S. detectives from Missouri tracking down and battling with small numbers of Missouri guerrillas at their Illinois hideouts, mostly in Pike County, IL, and that during 1864 and 1865. I understand these Missouri guerrillas kept quiet in Illinois so as not to attract unwanted attention. This was also true in the area around St. Louis and especially around Alton to provide sanctuary and help for escapees from the Union military prison in Alton. The situation in southwest Illinois south of St. Louis was much the same except more of illegal sales of war materials to Missourians and Missouri guerrillas selling or trading horses stolen in Missouri, except for the Prairie du Rocher raid by Missouri State Militia cavalry that Kirby mentioned.

I worked with a man from southern Illinois back in the 1980s whose ancestors were southern Illinois Rebels. He showed me one hardback book that examined small-scale guerrilla activity county by county across Illinois published in the 1960s or 1970s, but I do not recall the name or author. I Googled this topic, but all I could find was Carl I. Stanton's 2002 book "They Called it Treason: An Account of Renegades, Copperheads, Guerrillas, Bushwhackers, and Outlaw Gangs that Terrorized Illinois during the Civil War," in Bunker Hill, Illinois. I have not seen Stanton's book, but just from the title, it shows promise to cover the same topic.

I heard about a third book addressing small-scale guerrilla activity in southern Illinois, but I have even less on that one.

I recommend you place your query in "the Illinois in the Civil War Message Board" in this series just to see if somebody can name that book I referred to above from the 60's or 70's.

Bruce Nichols