Silas M. Gordon (1835–1888) was an anti-United States Federal government guerrilla who indirectly caused Platte City, Missouri, to be burned twice by forces during the American Civil War.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gordon engaged in various guerrilla actions, including kidnapping Union officers in Missouri.
Gordon stole county records from the courthouse and threatened to kill the district judge if he came to Platte City.
On December 17 Morgan ignored the pleas for leniency from the father of one of the prisoners, a man named Black Triplett.
In July 1864, Union troops once again burned the city in an attempt to capture him (the courthouse was not to be rebuilt from the first fire until 1867).