USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume I > Part 47
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The prevalence of this unlawful system of warfare led later to the organization of semi- military bodies of guerrillas, who, recognizing the authority of no flag, operated indiffer- ently under either as circumstances demanded, and were a constant menace to law and order wherever their operations extended. Neither the Union nor Confederate forces were justly responsible for these marauders, made up, as they usually were, by deserters from the two armies who had no interest in the success of either, nor higher aim than the accumulation of the property of non-combattants without regard to the political sympathies of their vic- tims. They were the froth thrown up from the boiling maelstrom of war and very worth-
less froth at that. It is gratifying now to re- call that many of them met their just deserts before their careers had grown old. These men were not properly Federal or Confeder- ate soldiers; they wore, as occasion demanded, the uniform of either army. They were sim- ply outlaws, quick to prey upon the defense- less .persons who fell in their way, yet, as the people who sympathized with the south were without newspapers to print their views, or to publicly speak for them when despitefully used, it became the rule to ascribe all the depreda- tions of these guerilla bands to the south, though it was known then, as it is now, that neither the north nor the south was justly responsible for their depredations, any more than Chicago is responsible today for the pick- pocket arrested while plying his trade in New Orleans and claiming the former city as his home.
Sympathizers with the south led a preca- rious existence in those days, and many men went to sleep in seeming safety to awake in the hands of United States' marshals. Some of these were placed in jail; others more prominent found themselves in Federal prison camps or fortresses. Among these lat- ter were James B. Clay, a former member of congress, and son of Henry Clay, Charles S. Morehead, former governor of Kentucky, and Reuben T. Durrett, former editor of the Louisville Courier, and then, as now, one of the representative men of Kentucky. These men had committed no offenses against the Federal government, but the finger of suspi- cion, doubtless of malice, had pointed at them and they paid the penalty in prison cells. The imprisonment of these prominent citizens was but the beginning of similar action against others of like high character with themselves, the list of whose names, if written here, would require much space and in this day of re- newed peace, serve no good purpose. It is a pleasure to lighten the darkness of those un- happy days with the statement that the terms
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of imprisonment of many of the southern sympathizers were shortened at the instance of Union men who interfered in their behalf. It is not a pleasant duty to the writer of today to recall the incidents of the days of civil war- fare; rather is it a pleasure, as it is a duty, to record that the bitterness of those painful days has entirely passed and that in Kentucky the only memories of the war are those of the glorious deeds done in battle by her valiant sons, no one asking the color of the uniformns worn by those soldier sons, nor the flag un- der which they fought. When war caine again to our country, the sons of the soldiers of 1861-5 sprang to the front under the flag of the Union, regardless of where their fa- thers had fought, and thus may it ever be while the Union exists. So long as an undivided country stands with the flag of the Union fly- ing over it, no fear need come to the people of that Union, for there exists nowhere a power that can do it permanent harm. The motto of Kentucky: "United we stand; divided we fall" was not written in vain. It was writ- ten in a spirit of prophesy and applied to the Union, tells to all the world that this country and its free institutions will exist until time shall be no more and all governments shall have passed away.
When the great war had been fought to a conclusion, the Kentucky soldiers of the two armies came home and, as bravely began the rehabilament of the state as they had fought each other during its progress. Bitterness passed away as the morning dew before the sun's rays. Captain Ed Porter Thompson, a very gallant Kentucky Confederate soldier, has written of the war in these words: "Per- haps no conflict between the civilized nations of the earth has been of such magnitude as was that of the War Between the States. Cer- tainly no other was so remarkable in respect to the question involved and to the result upon the destinies of a vast continent. And not- withstanding the ravings of fanatics that did
so much to precipitate it, no other two mighty antagonists were ever so sincerely honest and unanimous in their respective views of the matter in issue as were the people of the north and the south. Having fought each other long and heroically on what may be styled a mere open clause in the constitution and disposed of the matter for all time, it is not to the in- terest or the glory of either to try to forestall the verdict of the future upon the motives or the conduct of the other. The term 'rebel,' as applied to southern men, and used in cur- rent speech, is not offensive, because they have accepted it, applied to themselves and, though conscious of its falsity, they regard it rather as the title of distinction which con- nects them with that stupendous struggle dur- ing which 'all the world wondered' at their valor, their endurance and their fealty; but it bespeaks either the uncandid and time-serv- ing or careless mind, when one who essays to chronicle the events of that time sets down for the eyes of the dispassionate reader of the future the terms 'rebel' and 'rebellion.' The movement of the southern states was, in no sense, a rebellion, unless, indeed, we may speak of it as a rebellion against the assump- tion of the north that every state surrendered its sovereignty when it ratified the constitution of 1787.'
But it may by many be considered profit- less at this late day, to consider the causes which brought that tremendous upheaval to the country. It has many times been said that it is to the historian of the future that the story of the war. its causes and its effects, must be left, since those who are of its era view it from personal or partisan standpoints, which prevent that calm analysis which should mark the historian's work. Therefore there shall be little found here or hereafter, in this work as to the causes which set the two forces of the country face to face in deadly conflict. Events, rather than causes, will mark the fur- ther pages of this work.
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Kentuckians were not slow in taking their
had represented the First Kentucky district stand in the forefront of events. Those who . for eight years in the congress of the United were for the north flocked to the recruiting stations at Camp Dick Robinson, or across the Ohio river at Jeffersonville; those who were for the south made their way, as best they could to the Confederate lines in Virginia and Tennessee. Everyone recognized that the hour for temporizing had passed and that of action had come.
Of that period, a distinguished and venera- ble citizen of Kentucky, happily yet numbered among the state's active and useful living sons, has spoken from first knowledge. Hon. The- odore L. Burnett, of Louisville, one of the few surviving members of the Confederate congress, in an address delivered in 1910, says :
"The observance of the neutrality of Ken- tucky by the Confederate government was such as to necessitate the formation of three camps outside the state and in the state of Tennessee, to-wit: Camp Boone, Camp Bur- nett, and Camp Breckinridge, where troops were organized in companies, regiments and brigades. About the 18th of September, 1861, Brigadier General S. B. Buckner, with Con- federate troops, occupied Bowling Green, Kentucky, and issued a proclamation to the people of Kentucky, giving his assurance that the force under his command would be used to aid the governor of Kentucky in carrying out the strict neutrality desired by its people whenever they undertook to enforce it against the two belligerents alike."
Under the conditions then existing, the Confederates not being recognized as bellig- erents by the United States forces, Judge Bur- nett states that "a proclamation was issued calling a Sovereignty convention to meet at Russellville on November 18, 1861.
"Sixty-five counties responded to this proc- lamation. They met in Russellville and the convention was organized with about two hun- dred members. The Hon. Henry C. Burnett was elected president of the convention. He
States and was among the greatest of all the great men produced in this commonwealth. Col. Robert McKee was elected secretary of state; O. F. Payne, assistant secretary of state; John Burnham, treasurer; Richard Hawes, auditor, and Walter N. Haldeman, state printer.
"They also elected an executive council, to-wit: Willis B. Machen of Lyon county ; John W. Crockett, Henderson county; Phil B. Thompson, Mercer county; James P. Bates, Warren county; James S. Chrisman, Wayne county; Elijah Burnside, Garrard county ; Horatio W. Bruce, of Louisville; Ely M. Bruce, Mason county ; James W. Moore, Montgomery county, and George B. Hodge, Campbell county. It is but proper that we pause one moment to reflect upon the charac- ters of the distinguished men composing this executive council. Willis B. Machen had served his district long in the legislature; he was afterwards a member of the United States senate, appointed from Kentucky ; John W. Crockett was one of the leading lawyers of the state; Phil B. Thompson, of Mercer county, was one of the heroes of Buena Vista and a great lawyer ; James P. Bates of Warren county, a distinguished lawyer; James S. Chrisman had been a member of the United States congress, a member of the constitu- tional convention of 1849, and a distinguished lawyer ; Ely Bruce, a citizen of high standing and commercial reputation; H. W. Bruce, a distinguished lawyer, had been a candidate for the United States congress in the Louis- ville district, and after the war was for many years judge of the circuit court, then Chan- cellor, then chief counsel for the Louisville and Nashville railroad, and a better man never lived; James W. Moore, long a circuit judge and a splendid lawyer, and George B. Hodge, long a member of the state legislature and a fine lawyer.
"When these gentlemen had accomplished
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their purpose and the convention adjourned, commissioners were appointed to convey the result of that convention to the authorities at Richmond, Virginia, and ask that the state of Kentucky be admitted upon equal terms with the other states, as one of the Confed- erate states. That application was presented by Commissioners Henry C. Burnett, William Preston and W. E. Simms, as commissioners to negotiate an alliance with the Confederate states. As a result of that negotiation, Ken- tucky was admitted into the Confederate states, December 10, 1861, by the following ordinance :
"'An act for the admission of the State of Ken- tucky into the Confederate States of America as a member thereof :
"'Section I .- The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact that the State of Ken- tucky be and is hereby admitted a member of the Confederate States of America, on an equal footing with the other States of the Confederacy.
"'Approved, Dec. 10, 1861.'"
"Within ten days after the approval of the act, one million dollars was appropriated by the Confederate congress and delivered at Bowling Green, Kentucky, for the purpose of arming and uniforming the Kentucky troops.
"That body of men (the Sovereignty con- vention of Kentucky) acted with deliberation. Committees were appointed and reports made -a report with a preamble, giving the rea- son and setting forth the manner in which the state of Kentucky had been deceived by at- tempted neutrality. They passed an ordinance of secession ; established a provisional govern- ment and elected a provisional governor.
"The Hon. George W. Johnson was unani- mously chosen by that convention to be pro- visional governor. It is not necessary for me to tell who George W. Johnson was. The state of Kentucky never produced his supe- rior. He served his country in many posi- tions, always with honor and with credit. He fell with a musket in his hand, on the battle- field of Shiloh.
"Thompson, in his 'History of the First Kentucky Brigade,' says: 'Having his horse shot under him on Sunday, he entered the ranks of a Kentucky regiment ; he fell mor- tally wounded toward the close of the next day. In the quiet cemetery at Georgetown, Kentucky, his grave, marked by a simple in- scription, in the midst of a people whom he loved dearer than his own life, rests the body of this pure and spotless man. The failure of the cause for which he sacrificed himself has left him to slumber in a grave watered only by the tears of domestic affection and marked only by the care of private and personal de- votions. For deeds less noble than were ·il- lustrated in his death, shafts of marble and . columns of bronze have been reared in all ages of the world. For him, until such day as receding time shall permit his virtues to be properly commemorated, his monument will be in the affections of all who knew him, loved him, all who reading this brief and im- perfect story of his life and death, shall ac- cord to his memory the tribute which belongs to a character so exalted, and death rendered memorable by heroism and unselfish devotion to duty.'
"I have now reviewed from the record some of the political events occurring in Ken- tucky in 1861. There were many who did not believe in the idea that neutrality was practicable, but Virginia, on our eastern bor- der, although her convention was in session, hesitated, and the state of Tennessee, on our southern border, by a popular vote when first submitted, decided against secession, and when these states acted much of the state of Kentucky was under the military control of Federal power, and, notwithstanding this condition, Kentucky furnished to the Confed- erate army many regiments, brigades and di- visions of infantry, cavalry and artillery, as brave and true men as ever marched to battle and on every field they were led by Buckner, Breckinridge, Hanson, Helm, Lewis, Trabne, Williams, Morgan, Tilghman Preston. Buford
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and Duke. Many sealed their devotion to the cause with their life-blood; let their memories be ever embalmed in our hearts; let us tell our children and our grandchildren of their great deeds; transmit to the latest generation a knowledge of the heroes who formed a part of those who resisted the world in arms for four long years."
Of the south of today rehabilitated and filled with the spirit of hopefulness, Judge Burnett, eloquently speaks in conclusion : "Now, after forty-odd years, by the labor and intelligence and bravery of the men, their de- voted wives and children and their descend- ants, the burned and sacked cities have been rebuilt, the farm houses reconstructed, and the wilderness made to blossom as the rose ; manufactures have been so multiplied as to make a home market for the products of its rich soil, and by the plastic process of an All- Wise Providence the two-the north and the south-have been welded into one, and the United States government is now regarded as one of the greatest of the world-powers."
This is not a history of the war. If it seem at times to give unusual prominence to the Confederates, it is because their coming and going in Kentucky tended to make the history of that period. There is no desire nor intent to take one iota of praise from the gallant Kentuckians who followed the flag of the Un- ion. They did their duty nobly and well, and if notice of some of them be omitted when, to others, it seems it should have been made, it is because of the limitations of space and not from a desire to minimize the value of their service.
Without entering into details which would be endless if attempted, it is enough to say that the Federal forces, ignoring the neutral- ity of Kentucky, had made a footing in the state early in the autumn of 1861, and that the Confederates had not been slow in occu- pying such points of vantage as were acces- sible. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, a Ken-
tuckian, had been appointed a general in the Confederate army and came in the autumn of 1861 to Bowling Green, Kentucky, which he made the headquarters of the department which he commanded. It was his task to form an army of the heterogeneous material there gathered. There were men under his command who had been trained in company drill, but who knew nothing of the formation of a battalion and were profoundly ignorant of the existence of such a military organiza- tion as a brigade. The multiplicity of uni- forms was kaleidoscopic; no two were alike; some had guns, some had none; some of these guns had percussion locks, some were of the old flint-lock pattern, some were of one cali- ber, some of another and the furnishing of ammunition fitted to each of the several arms, was sufficient to send the ordnance officers to whom the task was submitted to asylums for the treatment of diseased minds. There was nothing uniform about the embryo army which General Johnston found at Bowling Green, but a unanimous inclination to do its duty when the fighting began. While General Johnston was getting his forces into shape for the campaigns which lay before them, the Federal forces were not idle, and they soon assumed the offensive. On January 10, 1862, General James A. Garfield, of the Federal army, attacked at Prestonsburg, in Floyd county, the Confederate forces under Gen. Humphrey Marshall. There was a deal of noise made over this attack, but that was early in the war when every skirmish attained the dignity of a pitched battle. Two years later, this encounter would not have received more than a three line notice in the newspapers.
But if this attack meant but little, there was one in the near future which attracted atten- tion not alone for its dire result, but for the fact that it meant much in the strategic plans of those who were directing the military move- ments of the two armies. January 19, 1862, Gen. George B. Crittenden, commanding the
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Confederate forces on the north bank of the Cumberland river, marched at midnight with a force of five thousand men and a battery of artillery to meet the Federal forces ten miles away, under command of Gen. George H. Thomas, a Virginian born, who had elected to remain in the United States army after his native state had seceded from the Union. General Thomas made a splendid record in the subsequent events of the war and finds a place in history as "The Rock of Chicka- mauga," through having held his position on that direful field, after Rosecrans and most of the army under his command had fled in dis- may to Chattanooga.
At Fishing Creek, where General Critten- den met the opposing Federal forces, he found them to be but five regiments, two of which were from Kentucky commanded respectively by Col. Speed S. Fry and Col. Frank Wolford. At six o'clock in the morning the attack be- gan, it being the object of General Crittenden to beat the enemy before the arrival of the latter's expected reinforcements. General Zollicoffer, of Tennessee, led the attack very gallantly for four hours of very heavy fight- ing. at the close of which he was killed. The Confederates fell into disorder after his death. At this time, two Kentucky regiments of Federal infantry, commanded respectively by Col. William A. Hoskins and Col. John M. Harlan, whom all the world now knows as a justice of the supreme court, reinforced Gen- eral Thomas, and, a flanking force having been partially successful, the Confederates were driven back to their former camp. Un- der cover of the night, notwithstanding a heavy fire of artillery, they crossed to the southern bank of the river, retreating into Tennessee with a loss of artillery, muskets and other military stores. The losses in killed and wounded were about equal on each side, being about four hundred. When the news of this battle became known, there were many people who thought that the war was about
over and that there would probably be but little more actual fighting. This shows how innocently ignorant the people were as to the magnitude of the great struggle upon which the north and the south were embarking. The battle of Fishing Creek, important from the point of strategy was but a picket skirmish as compared to the contests which were later to mark the great contest.
Kentucky, the erstwhile home of neutral- ity, was now an armed camp. Gen. Don Car- los Buell in December, 1861, commanded an army of seventy thousand men with appro- priate artillery in the state; General Grant was near by at Cairo, Illinois, with more than 1,600 troops; Gen. C. F. Smith had at Padu- cah more than 6,000 men, under his com- mand. General Sherman was sent to com- mand these forces, but a month later was transferred to the Missouri department and was succeeded by General Buell. During the short period of General Sherman's stay in Kentucky he had claimed that to meet and defeat the Confederate forces, would require an army of two hundred thousand men. Though General Halleck, the commander-in- chief of the army, who had succeeded the su- perannuated Gen. Winfield Scott, agreed with Sherman, the newspapers of the north, through their superlative degree of military knowledge, united in declaring that General Sherman was crazy, and demanded that he be removed and a sane man be placed in com- mand. It would have been well for the south- ern cause had this advice been heeded at Washington. The extreme military knowl- edge shown by the newspapers of the north and of the south, during that great war, as well as during the later conflict with Spain, would apparently justify the government, in future conflicts, in selecting the commanding officers of its armies from among the edito- rial fraternity. The "On to Richmond" de- mand of the northern press has not been for- gotten by the Union veterans who spent four
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energetic years in accomplishing what the "bomb proof" specialists in the rear de- manded should be done in a month.
Opposing the forces named under General Buell and others at this time, there was an approximate force of 40,000 men, including those of General Crittenden, who had just suf- fered a defeat in their first encounter with the enemy. Nothing so demoralizes new troops as a defeat. The affair at Fishing Creek, dis- astrous though it was in its effects, would, three years later have been passed over merely as a part of the day's work by the men who suffered that defeat. Including the half- armed and less than half-clad forces in Mis- souri, General Johnston had under his com- mand less than 80,000 troops of all arms.
Buell had 70,000 men ready for active field duty. He proposed sending 12,000 of these to east Tennessee, with appropriate artillery ; the remainder he kept for his purposes in front. Writing to the adjutant general of the army, he said: "It is my conviction that all the force that can possibly be collected should be brought to bear upon that point of which Columbus and Bowling Green may be said to be the flanks. The center, that is the Cum- berland and Tennessee rivers where the rail- road crosses them, is now the most vulnerable point."
At this time, General Johnston, at Bowling Green, was attempting to cover and protect a military line four hundred miles in length, with a force of half-armed men, ignorant of tactics or military movements, united, officers and men, upon one line only; and that was that they had gone into the army to fight and were willing to do so whenever called upon by those in authority.
Early in January, General Johnston re- ceived re-enforcements which increased his forces at Bowling Green to about 23,000 men. Two brigades from West Virginia were sent to the aid of Pillow at Fort Donelson. Gen- eral Johnston asked Richmond to send him
more men, recognizing the weakness of his long defensive line. He did not ask to be made numerically equal to the opposing forces, but named 50,000 as the number of men needed by him-which he never received.
The defeat of Crittenden at Fishing Creek threatened his right flank, a movement against which was momentarily expected. On Feb- ruary 6th, a second disaster came to the Con- federates in the bombardment and capture of Fort Henry on the Tennessee river, by the Federal forces under General Grant. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, a Kentuckian, in command of the fort, finding himself unable to with- stand the terrific bombardment and the over- whelming forces of the enemy, despatched 3.500 of his forces to points of safety and sur- rendered the fort. Of itself, this affair was of no great importance, but in its effect it was of great magnitude, opening, as it did, a wa- terway for the Federals into Tennessee. In another respect, it was especially disastrous as, following the defeat at Fishing Creek it had a demoralizing effect upon the morale of the army, as well as upon the non-combattant population, and tended to stop enlistments in the Confederate army which, up to this time, had gone steadily on.
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