Steve,
It wouldn't surprise me at all to later discover Quantrill's men used caves, but I don't recall seeing it in their postwar writings.

Thanks for asking about the end of my little series. The publisher, McFarland and Company, will soon complete the proofs for Volume III, covering January through August 1864, and Volume IV, covering September 1864 through June 1865. At that point they will have me examine both proofs and compile an index for each volume. If all goes well, both volumes should hit the market later this year.

I first attempted to complete the series with a large Volume III, but I didn't count on guerrillas in three regions of the state continuing operations throughout the horrible winter of 64-65 after General Sterling Price's army returned to Arkansas. Secondary works I read did not seem to cover this, as they ended their narrative of the prominent guerrilla bands with the deaths of George Todd and Bill Anderson in October 1864 and Quantrill's expedition to Kentucky with 40 riders in December 1864. Many of the bushwhackers returned to Missouri to fight in 1865 despite a late spring and the end of regular Confederate operations, and there were issues with traveling bands of armed southerners returning home in April and May 1865. And, sad to say, there was a wave of revenge-taking by both sides before state and local authorities could restore civil law. Historians generally don't like to admit to surprises, but I was surprised.

Bruce Nichols