bushwhackers
Trail-clearing machete wielders
Bushwhackers are people who clear paths through dense brush or wilderness, or who live in remote, wooded country.
During the American Civil War, bushwhackers were Confederate guerrilla fighters who ambushed Union forces from wooded cover—the term carried connotations of lawlessness and brutality.
More generally, a bushwhacker is someone who attacks from concealment: The convoy was hit by bushwhackers along the mountain road.
Those fighting established authority
- partisansStaunch factional supporters
- rebelsArmed opposition fighters
- irregularsUnofficial combatants or anomalies
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
fighters · hit-and-run · sabotage · raids · Missouri · Kansas · irregular warfare · harassment
Surprise strike from concealment
- surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
- attackAggressive act against another
- concealmentAct of hiding something
- stealthSecret, undetected movement
trap · waylay · lurk · hideout · camouflage · sneak · pounce · ensnare
Heavy broad-bladed knife
- undergrowthLow forest vegetation
- thicketDense shrub cluster
- clearingTreeless space in forest
- hackingInfiltrating protected digital systems
pathfinding · jungle · wilderness · vegetation · forest · overgrown · pioneering · backcountry
Armed robbers, often roving
- brigandsRoving armed robbers
- highwaymenArmed roadside robbers
- desperadoesReckless criminal fugitives
- renegadesTraitors to a cause
fugitives · rustlers · marauders · plunderers · robbers · criminals · lawless · frontier
Those advocating political withdrawal
- raidersThose who plunder
- border statesAdjacent countries or territories
- antislaveryOpposing human bondage
- irregular troopsNon-standard military forces
insurgents
Those fighting established authority
- partisansStaunch factional supporters
- rebelsArmed opposition fighters
- irregularsUnofficial combatants or anomalies
resistance · fighters · hit-and-run · sabotage · raids · Missouri · Kansas · irregular warfare · harassment · supply lines
ambush
Surprise strike from concealment
- surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
- attackAggressive act against another
- concealmentAct of hiding something
stealth · trap · waylay · lurk · hideout · camouflage · sneak · pounce · ensnare · stalkers
machete
Heavy broad-bladed knife
- undergrowthLow forest vegetation
- thicketDense shrub cluster
- clearingTreeless space in forest
hacking · pathfinding · jungle · wilderness · vegetation · forest · overgrown · pioneering · backcountry · explorers
bandits
Armed robbers, often roving
- brigandsRoving armed robbers
- highwaymenArmed roadside robbers
- desperadoesReckless criminal fugitives
renegades · fugitives · rustlers · marauders · plunderers · robbers · criminals · lawless · frontier · wanted men
secessionists
Those advocating political withdrawal
- raidersThose who plunder
- border statesAdjacent countries or territories
- antislaveryOpposing human bondage
- Westernscowboys, western, outlaws, sheriffs, western novels
- raidersraiders, marauders, pillagers, plunderers, looters
- Bleeding KansasFree-Staters, John Brown, Kansas-Nebraska Act, popular sovereignty, guerrilla warfare
- Ozarks HistoryTrail of Tears, Osage Nation, frontier settlement, frontier settlers, German settlers
- adventureadventure, quest, quests, exploration, explorers
- navigatorsnavigators, navigator, pathfinders, helmsman, wayfinders
bushwhackersregular army
Nation's permanent military force
regulars · standing army · line infantry · conventional forces · enlisted men