USA > Kentucky > History of Kentucky, Volume II > Part 47
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The Confederate sympathizers were not without their plans and activ- ities. They set up recruiting stations on the borders in Tennessee, the most important of which was Camp Boone. In some of the counties groups of Southern sympathizers spontaneously arose and marched away to the Confederate service, as for example a company of 100 under Capt. Joe Desha in Harrison County.5 But the elections of 1861, what- ever their exact meaning was, showed at least that Kentucky was not willing to join the Confederacy. Conditions were becoming intolerable for both sides, and it was only a matter of time, it seemed, until neutrality would fall of its own weight and the state would be forced to take a posi- tion for one side or the other, whether it desired to or not. The Con- federates had been watching the state very closely, realizing the great advantage they would have if they could hold the Ohio River frontier. They saw strong Union forces encamped in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois able at any moment to cross the river, and especially menacing did Grant seem opposite Paducah. Believing that the time was now ripe for de- cisive action, on September 3, hurriedly marching up from Tennessee, they occupied Columbus and Hickman. Soon afterwards a column of Confederates entered the state from East Tennessee, and a general move- ment was on to press the whole line from east to west up toward the Ohio. The Federals were not caught napping. Grant occupied Paducah on September 5, and immediately troops began to cross the Ohio into Kentucky all along the line. The war was now on, and Kentucky was speedily becoming that which she had most feared, a battlefield between the sections.
The mask had now been forcibly torn off and each individual must decide for himself what his course would be. There could no longer be neutrals. Those who had felt an almost uncontrollable sympathy for the South now hurried out of the state, to later become its invaders. John Morgan led a band out of Lexington, and Simon B. Buckner, with most of the State Guards, hurried southward to join the Confederates. Under the command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, Buckner before the end of September was advancing up the Louisville and Nashville Railway, breaking up the line to a point forty miles south of Louisville. He also destroyed the locks on the Green River to prevent its used by the Federal gunboats. Before the end of October, General Zollicoffer was threatening to emerge from the eastern mountains into the central part of the state, but on the 21st was halted by the battle of Wild Cat Mountain.
It was during this period that the Provisional Government of Ken- tucky was set up and promptly joined to the Confederacy. In October a call was issued by certain Kentuckians at Russellville for a sovereign convention to be held the following month to take into consideration the unhappy condition of the state. The convention, attended by over 200 members, claiming to represent sixty-five counties, met on November 18 and sat for three days. It declared the state independent of the United States and asserted the right to set up any form of government desir- able. The supreme legislative and executive power was placed provi- sionally in a governor and ten councilmen. George W. Johnson was made governor.6 Through this government Kentucky was admitted into
5 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 88. This was April 22.
6 Official Records, Series IV, Vol. L, 741-747; Edward McPherson, History of
Vol. II-21
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the Confederacy and was given a place in its councils, despite the fact that it was soon pushed completely out of the state. This action in setting up a Confederate Kentucky was prompted for various reasons. The Confederacy had not yet lost the idea that Kentucky was at heart for the South, but was being temporarily coerced by the occupying Fed- eral troops from leaving the Union. This government would serve as a rallying point. It was also felt that many Kentuckians would be con- strained to join the Confederate forces if they were assured that they were not fighting against the legitimate government of Kentucky. This government would relieve them of the feeling that they were guilty of treason to the state. It was also an easy way to soothe the feelings of those Kentuckians who had fought to force the state out of the Union but had failed. As ludicrous as this so-called government appeared, it was scarcely less substantial than the Federal governments set up in Virginia and other Southern states.
While the Confederates were setting up this government, the Federals were gathering their forces to sweep them out of the state and carry the war into the enemy's country. The loyal government of Kentucky entered into the war with vim and determination. On September 25 it called for 40,000 volunteers to drive the invaders out of the state, and the Military Board was soon given an appropriation of $2,000,000, in addition to an equal amount previously allowed. Rousseau stood in the way of Buckner's attempted assault on Louisville, while forces were forming to deal with Zollicoffer in the east. Munfordsville and other engagements sent Buckner's forces toward the Tennessee line, and the defeat and death of Zollicoffer at Mill Spring threw the Confederates southward across the Cumberland River. Grant moved up the Tennes- see and Cumberland rivers in the southwestern part of the state and by the middle of February, through the aid of gun boats, captured Fort Donelson on the Cumberland and Fort Henry on the Tennessee, and cleared the road to Nashville. This made it extremely dangerous for the Confederates in and around Bowling Green. Johnson ordered a re- treat. Bowling Green, Columbus and Eastern Kentucky were evacuated and the state was free of the Confederates by the first of March.
With the battlefields now pushed beyond the state's limits, Ken- tuckians had more time to think what the war was all about and to adjust themselves to war conditions. With the fighting removed from their doors, they also had more time and inclination to note the manner and methods of the Federal occupation of the state. Always jealous of outside interference in state affairs, they were not disposed to wink at too many restrictions and doubtful acts of the Federal military regime. With prophetic vision the Legislature, in the same set of resolutions abandoning neutrality and calling for the expulsion of the Confederates. declared : "That in using the means which duty and honor require shall be used to expel the invaders from the soil of Kentucky, no citizen shall be molested on account of his political opinions; that no citizen's prop- erty shall be taken or confiscated because of such opinions, nor shall any slave be set free by any military commander, and that all peaceable citizens and their families are entitled to, and shall receive, the fullest protection of the government in the enjoyment of their lives, their lib- erties, and their property." 7 Here was suggested the sources of troubles to come, so exasperating that, had the future been open, the course of Kentucky in the war would have been much more doubtful than it really was. This resolution was less than a week old when the Legislature was made to feel the military power. Three members of that body, while
the Rebellion, 8; Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 97; Speed, Union Cause in Ken- tucky, 200-211.
7 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 93.
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on their way home, were arrested at Harrodsburg by Union officers of the Home Guards and held. The Legislature, smarting under this af- front, sent a committee to make an investigation and secure their release. This committee reported that their arrest was "illegal, unwarranted, and is disapproved; and that the arrest of any citizen of this State, except for sufficient cause and in accordance with law, meets our condemnation, and is in conflict with a series of resolutions passed by the present Gen- eral Assembly. * * *" 8
The Federal authorities were anxious to clinch their hold on Ken- tucky, and an important way they believed to do it was to arrest all those who should in any way aid the South or express sympathy for it. As this left a very wide field for interpretation, it became increasingly easy to arrest people for any cause whatsoever or for no cause at all. In order that many people who had stood out against the state's joining either the North or the South, or who had expressed sympathy for the South in the days of neutrality, might know where they stood in the new order, General Anderson, in command of the state, issued, directly after the legislators had been arrested, this order: "The commanding Gen- eral, understanding that apprehension is entertained by citizens of this State who have hitherto been in opposition to the policy now adopted by this State, hereby gives notice that no Kentuckian shall be arrested who remains at home attending to his business and does not take part, either by action or speech, against the authority of the General or State Gov- ernment, or does not hold correspondence with, or give aid or assistance to, those who have chosen to array themselves against us as our enemies." 9 This announced policy tended to reassure the state, but no policy could last long with commanders frequently changing, and many over-zealous officers, anxious to distinguish themselves by arresting un- armed rebels. Reuben T. Durrett and Charles S. Morehead had already been arrested "on charges of treason or complicity with treason," and many another person, high and low, was destined to fall before the onslaught.10 James B. Clay was arrested in Madison County, and soon thereafter charges of treason and high misdemeanor were found in the Federal District Court against thirty-two other prominent Kentuckians, including John C. Breckinridge, John Morgan and Humphrey Marshall. Arrests became so frequent that there was grave danger of nullifying all advantages secured from a riddance of dangerous Confederate sym- pathizers by rousing the Union element against the Federal regime. In early October, Anderson issued an order against the practice of making arrests "upon the slightest and most trivial grounds" and warned the Home Gaurds against their persecutions of law-abiding citizens who were remaining quietly at home. Anderson, on account of ill health, was superseded on October 14 by Gen. William T. Sherman, who was in turn succeeded by Gen. D. C. Buell on November 13. Sherman took a gloomy view of the Union cause in the state, but did not see a cure in senseless arrests. He declared that all civilian prisoners must be given a trial before "the legal tribunals of the country." Under Buell many arrests took place, but activities were intensified when Gen. Jerry T. Boyle assumed command of Kentucky on June 1, 1862. On August 13 Secre- tary Stanton wrote Boyle that arrests should "be exercised with much caution and only where good causes exists or strong evidence of hostility to the Government." 11
In addition to the great provocation of promiscuous arrests, the state
8 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 94. This resolution in modified forms passed each house.
9 Ibid.
10 McPherson, History of the Rebellion, 153; Official Records, Series II, Vol. II, 808, 829.
11 Official Records, Series II, Vol. IV, 380, 381.
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was forced to endure military interference with elections. Boyle stirred up much opposition and hatred for himself along this line. In the August election the Federal soldiers began that course of interference which was to increase with time, until the state was on the verge of declaring open opposition to the Federal administration. On July 21 Boyle issued an order forbidding any person whose opinions were hostile to the government to run for office. Such person, he declared, would be con- sidered guilty of treason and would be treated accordingly. Federal in- terference with voting was freely charged when the election was over and the Union candidates successful.12 On August 15, Governor Magof- fin, in his message to an extraordinary session of the Legislature, called the serious attention of that body "to the interference by the military with the civil authorities, to the arrest of our citizens without authority of law, and to their protection in the enjoyment of the right of suffrage, their right to become candidates for and to hold office, and enjoy their property, as peaceful and law-abiding citizens, under the constitution and laws." 13
It was sometimes difficult for the government of the state to steer a true course between the machinations of the Confederate sympathizers among her population and the exasperating interferences of the Federal military authorities. The one was hated as much as the other. But the desire to hold the state true to the Constitution and the Union was so strong that Federal interferences were largely forgotten when it came to dealing with the Confederates and their sympathizers. In September of 1861 the Senate passed a bill setting severe penalties on any Ken- tuckian who joined a military force which should later invade the state, but the House refused to concur. However, on October I, virtually the same law was enacted declaring that Kentuckians invading the state should be adjudged guilty of a felony and punished with imprisonment in the penitentiary from one to ten years; and any person persuading a person to enlist in the Confederate armies should be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor and should be punished by a fine of not over $1,000 or imprisonment of not more than six months.14 In December the Leg- islature passed laws imposing certain civil penalties on any person join- ing the Confederates. The growing indignation against Confederates and their sympathizers was forcefully expressed in the celebrated ex- patriation law passed in the session of March, 1862. By this law any citizen of the state who should join the Confederate government, either in a civil or military capacity, or who should give voluntary aid or assistance to those in opposition to the Federal Government, should be "deemed to have expatriated himself, and shall no longer be a citizen of Kentucky, nor shall he again be a citizen except by permission of the legislature." 15 The volume of laws designed to punish Confederates and their fol- lowers was increased at almost every session of the Legislature until almost the end of the war. In August, 1862, stringent oaths of loyalty were required of all jurors, teachers, college professors and ministers. It was also made punishable by a fine of $50 to $100 to display a Confed- erate flag, and it was made a penitentiary offense to conspire or combine to levy war on the state or hold secret meetings to encourage or give aid to the South.
The indignation of the Legislature was aroused on various occasions by the opposition of Governor Magoffin to measures passed by it and to its program in general. Magoffin had been much opposed to the state's course in abandoning neutrality and in its standing with the North thereafter. His opposition stood out in many vetoes, which were almost
12 Louisville Journal, July 22, 1862, for Boyle's order.
13 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 106.
14 Acts of Kentucky, 1861, p. 15.
15 Acts of Kentucky, 1862, p. 71. Dated March II.
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invariably overridden. The situation was pleasant neither for the gov- ernor nor the Legislature. Magoffin undoubtedly wished many times that he were removed from his situation, but, being strongly legalistic in his views and also hoping to prevent the state from settling into a severe policy against the South, he clung to his office. The Union leaders saw the impossibility of the state giving its best efforts for the preservation of the Union while a hostile governor filled the executive office. The situation was growing more intolerable for all concerned as time went on. Owing to a confusion as to the meaning of the militia laws, the state troops had dwindled to nothing. It was becoming impossible to uphold the dignity of the state under such circumstances. Governor Magoffin be- lieved that Federal interference and indignities were coming in increasing volume. On July 28, 1862, the governor called a special session of the Legislature to take into consideration the situation confronting the state, both from the dangers of Federal interference and the impotence of the government in its divided condition. In his proclamation he said: "I am without a soldier or a dollar to protect lives, property and liberties of the people, or to enforce the laws. Daily appeals are being made to me, as the governor of the state, to protect our citizens from marauding bands, and in the peaceable enjoyment of their property and rights under the con- stitution. I am without the means and power to afford relief; and am left no alternative but to appeal to you, their representatives-in the hope that it will not be in vain." 16
His term of office would not expire until 1863, but he had by this time come to the conclusion that he would resign if he could designate a desirable successor, the lieutenant-governor having died some time pre- viously. By the constitution, the speaker of the Senate should succeed to the governorship when there should be no lieutenant-governor, but John F. Fisk, the present speaker, was unacceptable to Magoffin. In order to solve the difficulty, Fisk resigned his position, and James F. Robinson, who was acceptable to the governor, was made speaker, where- upon Magoffin resigned, and Robinson automatically became governor. Fisk was then reelected to the speakership, and the political transforma- tion was complete.17 Efforts had been made to supersede Magoffin in October of 1861 through a resolution introduced in the Legislature, but it was not acted upon. As previously noted, Magoffin would have been glad to relinquish his office much earlier, but he refused to be pushed out in a manner which he believed illegal, and he did not wish to resign under fire. With regard to this, he said in his message of resignation : "At any time within the past twelve or eighteen months it would have given me great pleasure to resign my office, could I have done so con- sistently with my self-respect. But the storms of wholly undeserved abuse with which I have been assailed during that period, and the threats of impeachment, arrest, even assassination, constantly made against me, have compelled me to continue in the quiet discharge of my duty." 18 Many people were constrained to sympathize with him in his difficult situation, and few but the most unreasoning refused to accord him com- plete sincerity and honesty of purpose. The Frankfort Tri-Weekly Com- monwealth said: "While credit for conscientiousness is due him for not wavering in his opinion, even under the dictates of a majority, still more credit is due for candidly yielding his opinions by a resignation when he felt those principles coming in contact with the will of the people." 19
Since February, 1862, the state had been free from major Confed- erate operations and had during this time come to a realization that,
16 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 105, 106.
17 See Danville Quarterly Review, IV, 388; Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 108.
18 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 108.
19 August 22, 1862.
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regardless of warfare on her soil, she was still to be subject to an army of occupation and to all its inconveniences and exactions. The protests that had arisen were not unknown to the Confederates, who for this reason tried to believe that Kentucky was being held in subjection against her will and was only waiting for deliverance. Coupled to this idea was the great desire to push the limits of the Confederacy to the Ohio River, which would be an ideal line of defense denied to them in 1861, but now looming up as a possibility. To feel out the situation and to show the effectiveness of detached raiders, Gen. John H. Morgan in early July began the first of those raids into Kentucky that were to win for him the reputation of being the most intrepid cavalry leader of the South. He entered the state through Monroe County and continued his march northward toward Louisville, destroying the railroad and its equipment ; then eastward through the central part of the state, on through Rich- mond, and out by the way of Monticello into Tennessee. In less than a month he captured seventeen towns, destroying all government stores in them, fought numerous engagements, dispersed about 1,500 Home Guards and paroled about 1,200 regular troops. He lost only about ninety of his original force of 900.20 A general advance in force into Kentucky was now determined upon. The Confederates moved forward under General Bragg in three columns, all directed toward a converging movement in the central part of the state. Gen. E. Kirby Smith entered from Knoxville, Humphrey Marshall was in command of troops coming up from Southwest Virginia, and General Bragg entered farther west- ward from a feint on Nashville. General Morgan reentered the state with his cavalry as a part of this movement. On reaching Bardstown, Bragg issued an address to the people, bespeaking his belief of their sympathy for the Confederacy and calling upon them to enlist or be drafted. In part he said: "The armies of the Confederate States now within your borders were brought here more as a nucleus around which the true men of Kentucky could rally than as an invading force against the Northwest. As you value your rights of person and property and your exemption from tyranny and oppression, you will now rally to the standard which protects you and has rescued your wives and mothers from insult and outrage." 21
There were few Federal troops in the state to resist Bragg's advance, and before General Buell could move up from Tennessee, General Smith administered a crushing defeat to the Federals near Richmond, and moved forward into the central part of the state, threatening Cincinnati and Louisville. Bragg, who had now entered the state in a rather dilatory fashion, continued to delay a decision, thus giving Buell time to move up and occupy Louisville. Even yet Cincinnati might have been taken by Smith if he had been reenforced and given permission. Delay seemed to be the order with Bragg, and in a short time he found himself confronted by an ever-increasing Union army. But before the final gen- eral action came, the Confederates occupied Frankfort long enough to inaugurate Governor Hawes, who had succeeded to the governorship upon the death of Johnson. But the opportunity of the Confederates was now gone, and on October 8 the battle of Perryville took place, the bloodiest ever fought on Kentucky soil. The Federals lost about 4,000 men, while the Confederates left behind over 3,000. Bragg now marched eastward with the immense supplies which he had gathered up, effected a junction with Smith, and left the state by way of Cumberland Gap. Morgan, with his brilliant recklessness, remained in Central Kentucky for a fortnight, and then marched westward, retreating through the
20 Official Records, Series I, Vol. XVI, Part 1, p. 767.
21 Quoted in Speed, Union Cause in Kentucky, 274, 275.
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Green River region into Tennessee.22 The failure of this expedition to obtain its military objective, as well as to arouse the Kentuckians to sup- port the Confederacy precluded any further major attempts of the Con- federates to invade the state. The military situation in the West also made it more and more a hazardous undertaking. Thus it was that from the expulsion of Bragg to the end of the war the state was free of the Confederates, except for the raids of Morgan, Forrest and less noted commanders. Before the end of 1863 Morgan visited the state in another of his swift movements, spreading consternation and destruction in his wake. He captured Glasgow and Elizabethtown. Falling astride the Louisville and Nashville Railroad he destroyed bridges and track as far as Muldraugh's Hill. There he turned toward Bardstown, but was de- terred from further advance by the collecting of large forces to oppose him. He then hurried back into Tennessee.23 During 1863 the state was again visited by raiding parties, the most important of which was Morgan's cavalry. This was his most daring and spectacular movement of the whole war. Crossing the Cumberland at Burksville in his march from Tennessee, he moved north and west through Lebanon and Bards- town, striking the Ohio River at Brandenburg. Imitating Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, which was now in process, he crossed the river and started eastward, destroying railways as he progressed. Consterna- tion reigned throughout the regions north of the Ohio, and in a short while formidable forces were rising against him. Seeing the dangers of further operations here, he sought to recross the river, but was prevented. Then, continuing up the river, he sought to cross near Cincinnati, but saw the way barred by Federal troops. Foregoing the easy possibility of capturing the city, he continued on up the river, seeking a point where he might be able to cross. After a determined attempt, in which he failed and lost a considerable number of his men, he marched eastward toward Wheeling. He was finally surrounded, captured, and sent to the Ohio penitentiary as a common criminal. Resourceful in every surround- ing, he soon escaped and was back in the South again, preparing to invade Kentucky his last time in 1864.
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