USA > Kentucky > The history of Kentucky, from its earliest discovery and settlement, to the present date, V. 2 > Part 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
General Beauregard succeeded to the chief command, but the victorious army seemed without a head for the remainder of the day. 1 In a confer- ence of commanders the day before, Beauregard had advised against the attack, and on the next morning repeated the advice. After the death of the chief, he was found lying much indisposed in his quarters near Shiloh church, by General Harris, of Tennessee. The order had already been given for the final advance in force, for the capture of the defeated army, when the order came from General Beauregard, yet at his head- quarters, directing the troops to be withdrawn and placed in camp for the night.
We have, of course, aimed to follow the actions of the Kentucky troops in this account of the operations, and will continue to do so. General Buell says: "Of the army of not less than forty-one thousand five hun- dred effective men, which Grant had on the west bank of the Tennessee river, not more than five thousand were in ranks and available on the bat- tle-field at nightfall. The rest were killed, wounded, captured, or scattered in hopeless confusion for miles along the bank of the river." By the extraordinary march of Buell's army, of twenty-five miles. thirty thousand re-enforcements were added. and the broken and disordered ranks reformed, for an attack on the part of the Federal army, of over fifty thousand men, on the next day. The energy and skill of General Buell met an emer- gency, overcame disaster, and delivered successful battle, with results as
I General Bragg on Shiloh : Davis' History, Vol. II., pp. 60-7; General Cilmer, Chief Engineer Confederate States Army to Colonel W. P. Johnson : General Hardee's report : Federal official reports.
620
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
fortunate for the Federal arms, as the failure of General Beauregard, on the day before, had been calamitous to the cause of the South.
1 Mainly with Buell's army, there were of Kentucky troops the First, Second, and Third cavalry, and the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, Twenty-third, Twenty- fourth, and Twenty-sixth infantry, sixteen regiments of about twelve thou- sand men. Early on the morning of Monday, the 7th, the Confederate lines were assailed with superior numbers; and with brave assault and resist- ance of battle throughout the day, both armies gallantly braving the issues of life and death, the field of battle was reoccupied by the Union army at sunset of that day. Among the notable incidents of the strife, Gov- ernor George W. Johnson, having his horse killed under him, seized a musket, and joined in the thickest of the fight, as a private, in the company of Captain Ben Monroe, and fell mortally wounded, in the front of battle. It was a rare coincidence that Kentucky's two greatest Johnsons, then her chiefest civil and military representatives on the Southern side, should each have yielded up his life while performing exceptional deeds of heroic service on the same field of Shiloh. .
On either side, the Kentucky troops fought with a valor worthy of their fame. The loss of the Confederate army in the conflicts of the two days was 10,699, in killed, wounded, and prisoners; of the Union army, 13, 573 ; twenty-five per cent. of the former, twenty per cent. of the latter. The loss of the Kentucky troops on the Confederate side was 680; of the same on the Federal side, over eight hundred.
It would be beyond our province to follow with narrative of details the First Kentucky brigade to Corinth, through the first siege of Vicks- burg, the battle of Baton Rouge, and the return to Murfreesboro, where next we may meet, and renew acquaintance; and with like regard, we must leave to other history, the marches and battles of the Kentucky Federal regiments, whose military fortunes were cast with the armies in the same field.
In the autumn of 1861 and after, there was unconsciously in training the improvised nucleus of an arm of service which was destined to become, for its numbers, one of the most active, original, and potential produced in the annals of war. 2 On announcement of the order by the authorities in Kentucky to disarm the State Guards, Captain John H. Morgan, in com- mand of the " Lexington Rifles," secretly loaded the arms of his company into wagons, on the night of September 20th, gathered around him fifty faithful adherents, and moved out through the country to join the fortunes of the army of General Johnston around Bowling Green, falling in with Captain J. C. Wickliffe's company, from Nelson county, on the way. On the 30th, they were welcomed by the Confederate forces holding the coun-
" Collins' Annals of Kentucky.
2 Duke's History of Morgan's Cavalry, p. 80.
621
OPERATIONS OF MORGAN'S CAVALRY.
try on the south side of Green river, from Woodsonville to Bowling Green, and under the command of General Buckner. An experience at Buena Vista in the Mexican war and years of drilling of an amateur company had given to Morgan's intuitive military talent an education that proved of immense advantage in the after development. In this field he at once began active operations. Instead of confining himself to mere picket duty, as the other cavalry had done, he began with his unfilled company those frequent scouts and excursions in front, on the flanks, and sometimes in the rear of the Federal advance, that enabled him to acquaint himself with and report the numbers, the positions, and the movements of the enemy from day to day. These " excursions " were un- dertaken three or four times every week, and usually occupied about twenty-four hours each. The scout- ing party would set out at or a little before dark, and cover the move- ment for the first twelve hours under the shadows of the night. Morgan at the first declared that cavalry could be employed to far better advantage if kept well out upon the front or flanks of the army to which it belongs, and close upon the enemy, than by exacting of it the sort of duty that can as well be performed by infantry. On the return of day, GENERAL JOHN HUNT MORGAN. the scouting party would take a position on the line of retreat at a conven- ient but safe distance from the enemy, rest and refresh men and horses, observe closely the positions and movements in the hostile lines, and, as the day declined and all seemed quiet, return to camp. Sometimes fifty miles, and, exceptionally, over sixty miles, would be made in twenty hours. Often skirmishes with the pickets and outposts of the enemy occurred, and with occasional killed, wounded, and prisoners, on the scale of scouting. Morgan's company was joined by that of Captain Thomas Allen's, of Shelbyville, and Captain James Bowles, of Glasgow, and thus was made up " Morgan's squadron." In gathering in horses, cattle, and army supplies, in disconcerting and annoying the enemy, and in advising and protecting the main body of the Confederate army, their services had already become invaluable. The bridge over Nolin creek was burned in front of the advancing Federal army, causing serious delay and trouble. In :wenty hours he rode into Lebanon, Kentucky, burned the enemy's stores, and brought off a number of prisoners, and did many other acts to disconcert and baffle the foe.
In this school of training began the history of the famous " Morgan's
622
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Cavalry," afterward to become an important military factor in the civil war. The squadron was swept along with the current of events to Shiloh, in which battle it participated as part of General Breckinridge's reserve corps. From this field the squadron, on detached service, made its way, with varying incidents and adventure, back to Middle Tennessee, and as far as Cave City, Kentucky, returning southward once more. The details of the romantic career of these bold riders and their daring chieftain until their reorganiza- tion at Chattanooga may be read with thrilling interest in Duke's " History of Morgan's Cavalry." We must confine our narrative to the main events in Kentucky. In all the important operations of this command, in which He became the second in authority, the skill and energy of Colonel Basil W. Duke lent an indispensable service of aid to Morgan which contributed very largely to the marvelous accomplishments of the squadron. Indeed, the sagacity of Morgan in the officering, equipping, and make-up of his command was next to his tact and generalship in the field. When the reorganized force left Chattanooga, a few days after, for Kentucky, no better men could have been placed in supporting command than Major G. W. Morgan and Captains Richard M. Gano, Jacob Cassel, John Allen. James Bowles, John B. Castleman, John Hutchison, Thomas B. Webber, and McFarland.
The command of Morgan re-enforced by Colonel Hunt's rangers and Gano's Texans, eight hundred and seventy-six strong, entered Kentucky on a flying campaign early in July, 1862. They were well mounted and armed and carried a small battery of two light mountain howitzers, which proved of most effective use in shelling an enemy within eight hundred yards and throwing grape and canister three hundred. They could go any- where a light wagon could go, and could be carried by hand along the line as close to the enemy as the line could move. Morgan's troops were armed for both infantry or cavalry fighting, carrying an Enfield or other gun and two army Colt revolvers each. They fought usually dismounted and as infantry. 1 It is said that the peculiar methods of operating around the enemy and raid- ing for hundreds of miles in his rear caused the Federal army to employ one- fourth its forces for rear guards. With one thousand horsemen under such leadership, and with the privates capable of acting individually in almos! any emergency, it was possible to keep employed ten thousand of the enemy in the defense of depots and communications. Even thus, Morgan was able to capture these posts, to break communications, and to break up and disconcert the enemy's plans to a large extent. Morgan's officers and men were mainly Kentuckians, and their wonderful work is the best evidence of capacity. It showed the possession of fertility of invention, endurance, and vigor of action demanded in successful war. His methods and tactics were suggestive, and came to be imitated by the leaders of mounted forces on both sides in time.
I Shaler's Kentucky Commonwealths, p. 288.
623
MORGAN'S RAID IN KENTUCKY.
1 On the 8th of July, the command crossed the Cumberland river, and late in the afternoon attacked and routed a force of three hundred and fifty Fed- erals, under Major Jordan, at Tompkinsville, inflicting a loss of over forty killed and wounded, and many more prisoners, Major Jordan among the latter. Passing through Glasgow the next day, a halt was made at Bear Wallow, where Ellsworth, an expert operator on Morgan's staff, tapped the telegraph line between Louisville and Nashville, to obtain the necessary information of the Federal forces in Kentucky, and from Federal head- quarters. Connecting an instrument and wire carried for the purpose, he obtained what he wished to know, under guise of friendly assurance, and, in return, sent misleading messages concerning Confederate plans and move- ments, especially of Morgan's command. Pushing forward, Lebanon was reached and captured after nightfall of the next day, with two hundred prisoners, and a large collection of stores, of arms, ammunition, and provis- ions. After sending out detachments to break the railroad lines and prevent pursuit, destroying nearly a million dollars' worth of army property which could not be used, and using the telegraph as at Bear Wallow, the command moved on through Springfield, Harrodsburg, Lawrenceburg, and Versailles, to Midway, with skirmishes and adventures along the route. At Midway, `the telegraph station and operator were captured, and utilized as before by Ellsworth. With the official and signal book of the regular operator, tele- graphic strategy was put actively into effect along the main lines to Louis- ville, Cincinnati, and Lexington, and immense excitement created at these places, and over Central Kentucky, from exaggerated reports of Morgan's forces and exploits, sent from Midway. In the midst of this disordered chaos and puzzle of the Federal authorities at the various important posts, the main body of the Confederate cavalry moved to Georgetown. From this point, after sending a small detachment to make a feint on Lexington, as at Frankfort, Morgan directed his march to Cynthiana. Here Colonel J. J. Landrum, a brave and gallant Federal officer, held this post with six hundred men and one twelve-pound cannon. On the 17th, an attack was made in force by the Confederates, with their usual daring. The defense was bravely and skillfully conducted, and for several hours the ground was contested from house to house and from street to street, the citizens taking refuge in cellars and other secure places. At last all resistance was over- come, with a loss to the Federals of nearly five hundred in killed. wounded, and prisoners, and about fifty killed and wounded of the Confederates. Colonel Landrum, mounted on a splendid horse, when the issue of battle was over, after fighting to the end of hope, made his escape from the pur- suing enemy.
From Cynthiana, Morgan's cavalry passed on to Paris, and out of Ken- tucky by way of Winchester, Richmond, Crab Orchard, and Somerset, de- stroying many wagons and stores. On this route he was hotly pursued by a
I Duke's History of Morgan's Cavalry, p. 184.
--
624
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Federal cavalry force of twelve hundred men, under General Green Clay Smith, who came near enough to skirmish with the rear guard of the rapid raiders only. The exit from Kentucky was completed by way of Monticello, with Colonel Frank L. Wolford menacing the flank. In his official report, Colonel Morgan says : " I left Knoxville July 4th, with about nine hun- dred men, and returned to Livingston, Tennessee, on the 28th, with nearly twelve hundred men, having been absent just twenty-four days. During this time I traveled over a thousand miles, captured seventeen towns, de- stroyed all the government supplies and arms in them, captured three hundred government horses at Cynthiana, dispersed fifteen hundred Home Guards, and paroled nearly twelve hundred regular troops. I lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, of the number I carried into Kentucky, about ninety men."
Colonel Frank L. Wolford's regiment of Federal cavalry, raised in the upper Cumberland and Green river portion of the State, obtained noted reputation for its activity and efficiency in the service on that side, as did other cavalry commands on both sides of the contest. The same may be said of infantry commands mainly contributed by Kentucky to the one cause or the other, but the history of those brave men and deeds have had no special compilation ; nor will the limits of this work admit of more than a partial narration of such commands and their operations as will preserve the connection of main events of the war, and on either side.
General Jerry T. Boyle was appointed military commandant, June 1, 1862, with headquarters at Louisville. The Government at Washington was demanding the enforcement of a more threatening and intimidat- ing policy in the border States, and especially in Kentucky, as the North and South factions had crys- tallized into decided hostility, and the actions of adherents on either . side boldly tended to give aid and comfort to the one cause or the other, as they had espoused. Re- cruiting, furnishing information, sending out supplies, and shelter- ing the bold scouts and raiders across the military line, were as GENERAL JEREMIAH TILFORO BOYLE. ardently and as defiantly done by the " Secesh Sympathizers," as the friends of the South were called, as they dared. Secret messengers and spies continuously passed through the lines, bearing communications between the Confederate army and their civilian friends in the Federal rear. This irrepressible Southern element, in contin- uous activity, managed to keep in fomenting and menacing condition the
625
PROMINENT CITIZENS IMPRISONED.
rebellious population throughout the State. It is true that the more lawless of the Home Guards and violent Union men were giving even more trouble and annoyance to the people, as they had more authority and opportunity. Yet it was not strange that, in such a stage of pervading war, the power holding possession and jurisdiction should adopt and execute the severest measures of repression, not incompatible with the laws of civilized war- fare. The formidable armaments and the titanic resistance of the Confed- eracy had put the powers of the Federal Government to the strain of exertion that called forth every resource of war.
1 In accordance with the orders of the war department, provost marshals were appointed in all the counties by the commandant. Orders were issued to these, to require that all who had joined the Confederates, given aid, or gone beyond the lines, should now report themselves, take the oath of alle- giance, and give bonds for future submissiveness, on penalty of arrest and imprisonment. Second-All who should hereafter give aid and comfort to the enemy must be arrested and dealt with according to military law. Third- When the person or property of loyal citizens should be damaged by maraud- ing bands of guerrillas, the disloyal citizens of the locality must be held responsible, and a military commission appointed to assess damages and , enforce compensation. A form of an oath of allegiance was drawn up for the signatures of the disloyal, and beneath was printed: "The penalty for violating this oath is death." Many arrests were made under these orders, and a number of citizens sent to prison at Louisville, Newport Barracks, Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere. On the whole, these laws were enforced with moderation, in the hands of officials who, though deter- mined partisans, were honorable and humane men; yet there were some who seized upon the opportunity to inflict much injury, annoyance, and loss, unnecessarily, to citizens of the State. The people of a district or county fared well or ill, according to the character of the petty local provost in authority. While the rude and cruel excesses of some gave their proceed- ings a character of infamy, the neighborly friendship and kindness of many in like authority became a shield of protection and safety to the citizenship around. Indeed, throughout the war, the integrity and humanity of men in power on both sides, made a never-absent restraint upon the spirit of lawless- ness, that is inseparable from a state of civil war. The dashing and successful raid of Morgan's cavalry through Central Kentucky, however, produced almost a panic of consternation in the Union quarters, and very much exasperated the authorities to acts of greater severity.
The subsequent tyrannical measures which the authorities in Kentucky were called on to execute, emanated from the cruel and merciless nature of Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war, with whose name the responsibilities should be placed more than with any other man. A reign of martial law, overriding the civil authorities, for over two years, brought out its natural
I Collins' Annals of Kentucky.
10
626
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
fruitage of lawlessness and violence, on the part of the vicious and unscru- pulous class, who dared any outrage under pretext of military license. While military commandant, General Boyle executed the policy outlined and ordered, perhaps with as much leniency as he was allowed, but with a se- verity that even strained the rules of civilized warfare, and under a condition of martial law. Behind this aspect of official severity, the commandant was a man of personal integrity and honor, and of kindly and humane dis- position. He was inflexibly loyal, and sought only to serve his country and cause faithfully. His execution of Stanton's policy has been criticised. perhaps with not always deserved censure. His dilemma was one that repeatedly fell upon good men in authority during this period of anarchy. They had the choice to remain in office and execute the oppressive orders of their superiors, with such leniency as they could personally extend, or resign, and open the way for some unscrupulous and vindictive successor to add the violence of execution to the cruelty of the spirit of orders sent him. In this way some of the purest men of Kentucky, known to the author, bore the censure of popular malediction, while standing between the execution of a harsh policy and its violent abuse in less worthy hands. - The force of this extenuation will be seen in the following pages, in which are recorded the acts and administrations of the petty Neroes of murder, outrage and robbery, who succeeded on the retirement of General Boyle, only to institute a reign of terror, such as Kentucky had never before known, and under which General Boyle declined to be executioner.
1 Under orders issued, hundreds of citizens of disloyal sentiment were arrested and sent off to prisons, among them Revs. Stuart Robinson, Mr. Duncan, S. D. Baldwin, R. Ford, Thomas J. Fisher, W. H. Hopson, and others of the ministry; Messrs. James O'Hara, Thomas L. Jones, Hubbard D. Helm, Lucius Desha, and scores of private citizens. Prisons were pre- pared for disloyal women, though these were yet but little used. The provost marshals were instructed to allow no one to stand for office who was of Southern sympathy, and among the many candidates who withdrew under this rule of the bayonet were some of the best and quietest citizens. Under the orders of Colonel Noble, in Paducah, the soldiers entered the court- room and broke up the court while in session. Thousands of dollars of in- demnity assessments were collected of innocent citizens. These invasions of personal liberty and overthrow of civil authorities are the invariable con- sequences of a protracted state of civil war; they are peculiar to no age or people of past history. We mention here but a few of their incidents, that the future citizen who reads may learn to know the realities of war only to abhor and avoid its passionate strifes and cruel inhumanities, where the worst men and the worst nature of good men are ever in dominant activity.
The effect of hostilities to this date on the value of slave property was very fairly illustrated at the sale of eleven slaves in Madison county in May.
I Collins, Vol. I., Annals of Kentucky.
627
RESIGNATION OF GOVERNOR MAGOFFIN.
1862, who brought at public outcry one hundred and forty to three hundred and eighty-eight dollars each. Two years previous, five hundred to twelve hundred dollars each would have been about the market value of these. The sentiment was universal that the institution had received its death-blow, but the speculative hope was indulged that Kentucky might in some way re- ceive compensation, or that emancipation would be graduated so as to allow the owners of slaves the right of their services for a period of years.
1 In August, Adjutant-General Finnell reported the number of volunteers enrolled in the United States army from Kentucky to that date at- forty-one thousand seven hundred and three. He announced that " no more volun- teers for one-year mounted men would be received; the regiments are now full to overflowing."
During the summer of 1862, Governor Magoffin had exerted the extreme of his authority, as the civil head of the Commonwealth, to arrest the en- croachments of military usurpations upon the rights of the citizens and the . prerogatives of the civil powers. In vain had he ordered the courts held, the ballot-box to be open to every citizen with the right of suffrage, the rights of person and property to be respected. and the functions of civil au- thority ever to operate. The antagonizing sentiment between the Federal ยท head at Washington, which found expression through both civil and military representatives, and the governor was irreconcilable, and the constant fric- tion between the two was the cause of irritations not favorable to the peace of the public. Believing that the time had come when it would be better to relieve himself of further responsibility, Governor Magoffin, on the 16th of August, sent in to the Legislature a message tendering his resignation, to take place on the 18th, and at the same time the following document :
"At any time within the last eighteen months I have been willing to re- sign my office, could I have done so consistently with my self-respect. But the storms of undeserved abuse which have been heaped on me, and the threats of impeachment, arrest, and even assassination, repeatedly made against me, have compelled me to continue in the quiet discharge of my duty. As yet, no one has dared, before any tribunal of authority, to prefer a charge against me. My political friends-and by this term I mean the Southern rights party, a great many of whom are not, and never have been. secessionists-have been subjected to what seems to me, in modern times, an unexampled persecution. It became impossible for me to relieve them. and yet I could not reconcile myself to even appear to desert them in their need. Could I be assured that my successor would be a conservative, just man, of high position and character. and that his policy would be conciliatory and impartial toward all law-abiding citizens, however they may differ in opinion ; that the constitutional rights of the people would be regarded, and the sub- ordination of the military to the civil power be insisted on and maintained, I would not hesitate to put aside the cares of office and to tender my best
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.