The Blue and the Gray

 Blue and Gray

        After the Civil War ended in 1865 the South suffered through a period of Reconstruction and an invasion of "carpet-baggers." At some point in time the surviving veterans of Ohio County who had served with the Union Army and with the Confederate Army (the Blue and Gray) began having a joint reunion.  Hearts had softened and these men forgave those on the other side and became friends.  I have been unable to determine exactly when the Ohio County joint reunions started  but I think it was September 29, 1885, the twentieth anniversary of the end of the War, although it could easily have started earlier.

          Apparently these joint reunions were taking place all over the nation, with perhaps the earliest being in Vicksburg, MS in 1874 where they formed as association known as “The Order of the Blues and Grays.” Another joint reunion was held in Elizabeth, NJ in 1875.  These joint reunions continued until at least 1920 – at that time an actual participant in the War would be have been about 75 years old.  There was a Blue & Gray Reunion in Gettysburg in 1938 (the 75^th anniversary), at which time an actual participant in the War would have been in his early to mid 90’s.  It is thought that most veterans of the Civil War were gone by 1950, although one Union veteran from Minnesota lived until 1956, and one Confederate veteran lived until 1959, although there is much dispute about whether some men that claimed to be Civil War veterans were actual participants or not.

            In any event, at “Blue and Gray” reunions, veterans of both sides made conciliatory overtures, enjoyed the hospitality of former enemies and celebrated their collective American identity.  Attended by the hundreds and thousands, reunions of all kinds evoked powerful sentiments and became fertile ground for the construction of Civil War memory.  Certainly, the veterans themselves gained a lot of satisfaction from these reunions, but the service they provided to their united nation in fostering reconciliation and promoting reunion between the two armies was also extremely important.

          I am including a few clippings from the Hartford Herald and Hartford republican about some of these reunions:

September, 1885:

14 October 1885, Hartford Herald:

30 Jun 1893, Hartford Republican:

25 June 1897, Hartford Republican:

14 June 1907, Hartford Republican:

18 June 1909, Hartford Republican:

Orphan Brigade - Civil War - CSA

The Orphan Brigade

            The Orphan Brigade was the nickname of the First Kentucky Brigade, a group of military units recruited from Kentucky to fight for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The brigade was the largest Confederate unit to be recruited from Kentucky during the war. Its original commander was John C. Breckinridge, former United States Vice President and candidate for president, who was enormously popular with Kentuckians.

            The regiments that were part of the Orphan Brigade were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th Kentucky Infantry Regiments. Units of the Orphan Brigade were involved in many military engagements in the American South during the war, including the Battle of Shiloh. In 1862, Breckinridge was promoted to division command and was succeeded in the brigade by Brig. Gen. Roger W. Hanson. At the Battle of Stones River, the brigade suffered heavy casualties in an assault on January 2, 1863, including General Hanson. Breckinridge—who vehemently disputed the order to charge with the army's commander, General Braxton Bragg—rode among the survivors, crying out repeatedly, "My poor Orphans! My poor Orphans," noted brigade historian Ed Porter Thompson, who used the term in his 1868 history of the unit. The name came from how the Confederacy viewed its soldiers from Kentucky (which remained in the Union, but was represented by a star in both countries' flags). The term was not in widespread use during the war, but it became popular afterwards among the veterans.

            The Orphan Brigade lost another commander at the Battle of Chickamauga, when Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Helm, Abraham Lincoln's brother-in-law, was mortally wounded on September 20, 1863, and died the following day. Major Rice E. Graves, the artillery commander, was also mortally wounded.

            The Orphan Brigade served throughout the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, then were converted to mounted infantry and opposed Sherman's March to the Sea. They ended the war fighting in South Carolina in late April 1865, and surrendered at Washington, Georgia, on May 6–7, 1865.

          The "Ohio County" unit was Company C, of the 9th Kentucky Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 1st Kentucky Brigade.

History Repeats - Mexican Border War 1916

Mexican Border Conflict 1910-1919

From the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the United States Army was stationed in force along the border and on several occasions fought with Mexican rebels or federals. The height of the conflict came in 1916 when revolutionary Pancho Villa attacked the American border town of Columbus, New Mexico. In response, the United States Army, under the direction of General John J. Pershing, launched an expedition into northern Mexico, to find and capture Villa. Though the operation was successful in finding and engaging the Villista rebels, and in killing Villa's two top lieutenants, the revolutionary himself escaped and the American army returned to the United States in January 1917. Conflict at the border continued, however, and the United States launched several additional, though smaller operations into Mexican territory until after the American victory in the Battle of Ambos Nogales, leading to the establishment of a permanent border wall.

August 27, 1918: The Battle of Ambos Nogales brings the Fence to the Border

In 1918, International Street ran right down the center of Ambos (“Both”) Nogales.

Arizona lay to the north; Sonora to the south. The railroad depot, stores and saloons straddled the border. If one lived in Nogales, Arizona or Nogales, Sonora it made little difference socially – the residents from either side occasionally brawled over women or too much mescal, but for the most part they enjoyed friendly relations and shared the benefits from the local economy based on smuggling cigars, liquor, firearms and cattle.

There had been a few skirmishes in the past (as when Pancho Villa had ridden into town), but still there was no fence down the middle of International Street. The residents understood the protocol – they were expected to cross at one of two entry points, either at Morley Avenue or farther west at Grand Avenue. When trains arrived at the border, First Class passengers could ride across in the cars, while those in coach got off the train, walked and then re-boarded after passing through customs.

On August 27 a carpenter named Gil Lamadrid was walking back into Mexico. As he crossed the border, a U.S. Customs Inspector ordered him to halt, curious about the large parcel he was carrying. Only a few feet away, Mexican customs officers directed him to ignore the summons and continue into Mexico. Gil Lamadrid became confused and hesitated as the two competing groups of customs agents shouted instructions to him. At this point, a U.S. Infantryman raised his Springfield rifle to encourage his return. In the midst of the ensuing commotion a shot was fired, and the carpenter dropped to the ground.

Thinking that the man had been shot, a Mexican Customs Officer grabbed his pistol and opened fire on the U.S. guards, wounding an army private in the face. A U.S. Inspector drew his revolver and returned fire, killing two Mexican Customs Officers. Shaken but unhurt, Gil Lamadrid jumped up and sprinted down a nearby street. As the sound of gunfire rattled the neighborhood, citizens on the Mexican side of the border ran to their homes and picked up rifles to join the Mexican troops.

The U.S. border authorities panicked – World War I was being fought in Europe and the Germans had been urging the Mexicans to abandon their neutrality. Was another front in the war now open? A troop of Buffalo Soldiers was called into town. Under heavy fire, the 10th Cavalry dismounted and crossed the border into the streets and buildings of Nogales, Sonora. Looking for a tactical advantage the troops mounted an assault on the heights immediately to the east of the towns, while militia on the Arizona side started firing their weapons from the windows and rooftops of their houses. Late in the fighting, members of the 35th Infantry placed a machine gun on top of a stone building and fired into the Mexican positions.

As the violence escalated, the Mayor of Nogales, Sonora, took a white handkerchief, tied it to his cane, and ran into the streets of his city in an attempt to quell the violence. As U.S. troops crossed to the Mexican side of International Street he pleaded with the angry crowd to put down their weapons. A shot from the Arizona side felled the Mexican mayor. About 7:45 PM, the Mexicans waved a large white flag of surrender over their customs building.

After the battle was over and the dead were buried and peace restored, the U.S. and Mexico authorities agreed to divide the two border communities with a chain-link border fence, the first border wall put in place between the two countries.

Best web site I found explaining the 1910-1919 Mexican conflict (sorry but it contains a lot of ads):  http://mexicounexplained.com/border-wars-1910-1919/

Kentucky WWI

This is a Service flag or Service banner, also called the Blue Star Flag or Mother's War Banner. It is machine-stitched, and it is made of wool bunting with a canvas header. The banner has a white field with a 12-inch wide red border. The white field is made of two vertical segments of fabric that are stitched together down the center. There is an appliquéd blue star at the top center of the field with blue appliquéd "103,000" below the star. In the center of the field, there is red appliquéd letters that read, "WWI / KENTUCKY." The bottom half of the field has a yellow or gold star appliquéd onto the field with a gold number "3,200" appliquéd below the star. The red border is made of four panels of fabric stitched to the field. The seams are stitched with white thread. This banner has a canvas header with a rope strung through the sleeve. The rope is stitched in place. The rope is looped on the right end and a 30-inch segment of rope hangs off the left side of the banner. On the back of the right side of the header, there is an inscription that reads, "KY. CHAPTER / AMERICAN WAR MOTHERS / 1927."

Size is 74" x 48.5"

The numbers on the banner apparently means 103,000 Kentuckians served in World War I and 3,200 died.  These figures might not be correct - see https://www.abmc.gov/news-events/news/hometown-boys-kentucky-information-and-statistics-about-wwi-service-members

The above is Courtesy of Kentucky Historical Society.

As for Ohio County, my search found the following:

D.W. = Died of Wounds

D.D. = Died of Disease

D.A. = Died of Accident

K.A. = Killed in Action

W.A. = Wounded in Action

The Blue and the Gray - 1905 - Beaver Dam

Source: Kentucky Eloquence, Past and Present; Library of Orations, After-Dinner Speeches, Popular and Classic Lectures and Poetry; editor Col. Bennett H. Young; published 1907 by Ben La Bree, Jr., Louisville, Kentucky. Page 348.

Civil War Pensions, as of 13 Feb 1884

Civil War Pensions – newspaper article

Source: Hartford Herald

Feb. 13, 1884, page 4

A List of Persons in Ohio County, Ky., Drawing Pensions from the United States by Reason of the Late War, and Monthly payment to each.

BEAVER DAM

Thos. E. Carter         16.00

Jno T. Davis                  12.00

Sarah Blankenship       8.00

BEDA

Geo. Redner             4.00

Geo W L Richeson        4.00

Mary Turne              8.00

George W. Lynch         2.00

CENTERTOWN

Bradford N Strona       8.00

William H Williams            2.00

Silas W Jones           2.00

William Benton          8.00

John M Bishop           4.00

John Romhild                  2.00

CERALVO

Margaret Riley          8.00

Jesse Ashby             6.00

Henry Tinsley           8.00

John M. Williams        6.00

Elizabeth C. Helld (?)  8.00

Elizabeth M Hill        8.00

Patrick A. Miller       8.00

CROMWELL

Nicholas C Daniel       18.00

Joseph W Coleman        4.00

Fleming J Clark         4.00

Roden B Swan                  4.00

Rebecca Bratccher       8.00

Nancy J Bratcher        8.00

Rilly Findley           8.00

Angeline Herrell        8.00

Nancy J Porter          8.00

Carroll Bradley         10.00

John H Baize                  2.00

John Gentry             3.00

Franklin M Haven        6.00

Spenser Harrald         12.00

Geo L O'Bannon          6.00

James H Leach           6.00

ROSINE

Mary A Leach                  8.00

Susannah Taylor         8.00

Susannah T Daniel       8.00

Samuel M Wilson         4.00

Sylvester White         2.00

James H Stewart         4.00

Moses W Stone           4.00

John R Sorrels          3.00

Leonard I Taylor        4.00

Edward Pierce           8.00

William H Felix        14.00

Agnes J Hall                  8.00

Wm H Bright             6.00

Rosanna Frazier         8.00

Caroline Stewart        8.00

Thomas Curley          12.00

Leonard T Cox           4.00

Joseph M Ashford       24.00

Absalom P Frazier       6.00

POINT PLEASANT

Edward H James          4.00

Andrew Buskill          8.00

ROCKPORT

George R Carson         6.00

Elizabeth Grant         8.00

SULPHUR SPRINGS

William R Bean          2.00

SUTTON

Nancy Mansfield         8.00

Abram H Stanley         ........

ECHOLS

Alexander Wilson        1.00

FORDSVILLE

Josephus L Harder       6.00

James Gentry                  8.00

Edwin Forbes                  4.00

William H Carter        8.00

John S Fuqua                  6.00

Leroy Condor                  4.00

John A. Clark           4.00

Elisha M Miles          2.00

Samuel Keown                  8.00

Sebastion Kissenger     6.00

William Wilson          8.00

William Staples         3.00

William D Park          2.00

Richard Farmer          8.00

Mary A Brown                  8.00

Edward R Bennett        6.00

William Clark           8.00

HARTFORD

Mahala J McSherry       8.00

John S Lezure          18.00

Henry Hurt              4.00

Berry Hurt              8.00

Thomas Green                 18.00

Nancy Petty             8.00

John I Felix                  8.00

Elizabeth Foreman       8.00

William E Ward          2.00

William F Wright        4.00

David L Smith           6.00

John T Smith                 18.00

Victor M Stewart        1.00

John P Rowe             3.00

Chas M Ralph                 10.00

Charlotte Barnett      20.00

Josey Likens                 8.00

Mary A Linsley          8.00

Margaret Lott           8.00

Rachel E Bell           8.00

Elmyra Smith                 8.00

William G Bennett       8.00

Lindsey Bennett         8.00

Ashford W Millw         6.00

HORSE BRANCH

Archie Lankford         4.00

HORTON

Warner Martin           6.00

William B Leach         4.00

McHENRY

Thomas Galley           6.00

John S. Miller          72.00 

(Yes I checked - total blindness)

James Kelly             4.00

Lucinda McConnell       8.00

William F. Wakeland     4.00

Lydia B Stewart         8.00

William H Bennett       8.00

Daniel Duncan          24.00

MAGAN

Elizabeth Rogers        8.00

Cromwell Home Guard Organized

Cromwell Home Guard Organized

In west central Kentucky after Lincoln’s call for troops, men and boys living near Cromwell and elsewhere in Ohio County, put down their plows and picked up their guns to defend their homes.  The Cromwell Home Guard was organized in June 1861. As members of the Guard, they were anxious to help protect their own family members and homes, and indeed, the homes all over the county, against Confederate raiders. (At least 150 men from Ohio County served in the Cromwell Home Guard. It appears that the commanding officer was Captain W. H. Porter. This unit was active about seven or eight months and many of these men subsequently enlisted in the Union Army. See my blog posted August 13, 2012 for a list of names of members of the Cromwell Home Guard.)

            The Cromwell Home Guard guarded ferries, constructed bridges, and sabotaged and destroyed Rebel obstructions.  The Guard became an important source of information to Union troops about the enemy forces.  One of their most significant jobs was keeping Union troops informed about the size and moves of Confederate forces in the area.  The Home Guard from Cromwell was also a constant menace to active Confederate couriers in the area, who often carried supplies, messages and intelligence of updated strength and disposition. The Cromwell Home Guard took pride in their jobs to try to foil the Rebel ambitions, and they became recognized by Union leaders for their daring and courage in west central Kentucky.

Less than a year after joining two members of the unit were taken prisoner while on duty near Borah’s Ferry on New Year’s Day 1862, in Ohio County.  They were carried off and put in a Confederate prison in Maryland, and later were to be exchanged at Aiken’s Landing, Virginia. 

Subsequent research at the National Archives verified that Thomas Smith was a member of the Cromwell Home Guard when he was taken prisoner by Confederate troops January 1, 1862, at a point between Borah’s Ferry on Green River and Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky.  He and his friend, James A. Stevens, who were guarding the ferry together, were captured and carried off by the Confederates.  James A. Stevens and Thomas Smith were later paroled from prison at Aiken’s Landing, below Dutch Gap on the James River, Virginia, on September 14, 1862, as of Company E., 15^th Kentucky.  Thomas later died in a prison hospital at Annapolis, Maryland, November 16, 1862, while waiting to be sent home.

James Axley Stevens, captured along with Thomas Smith on New Year’s Day, 1862, survived the war and returned home to Ohio County.  Born in 1817, he was the son of Henry Stevens and Hannah Bennett, both of whom are said to have come to Ohio County, from Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Stevens and Smith families appear to be closely connected and some of the families may have intermarried.  Almost five years later, on the 21^st day of October, 1869, Thomas Smith’s friend, James A. Stevens, gave an affidavit, along with several others, on behalf of and for the benefit of Kitty Ann Smith (widow of Thomas Smith), when she was trying to obtain a widow’s pension.  In this affidavit, James declared and made oath:

            “that he and Thomas Smith were both members of Capt. William H. Porter’s Company of Home Guards, and that on the 1^st day of January, a squad of the company were guarding Borah’s Ferry on Green River by order of Colonel McHenry of the 17^th, who was then at Hartford, and the Rebels then held Bowling Green and the ferry way between those points, and that the squad was captured by the Rebels, and affiant and Smith were retained in custody until 15^th Sept. 1862 when they were paroled and sent to Annapolis, Md.  Smith was sick at the time they were paroled, and Thomas was sent to a hospital and died there of diahrrea (sic) which disease he caught while a captive.”

            Kitty Ann (Jenkins) Smith, then age 32, was never to see her husband again. She was left with a small farm near Cromwell and the duty of raising their five young children, ranging in age from six months to eleven years.  She eventually obtained a widow’s pension by a special Act of Congress.  It took a special Act because her husband was in the Home Guards, and not a soldier in the regular U. S. Army.  But, because the Home Guard militia had been ordered out by Col. John McHenry of the 17^th Kentucky Regiment, Thomas Smith’s duty at Borah’s Ferry was considered to be active war service.  She was granted a pension of $8.00 per month as shown in the Special Act of Congress below:

CHAP. CDXXIV. — An Act granting a Pension to Kitty A. Smith:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to place upon the pension roll,  subject to the provisions and limitations of the pension laws, the name of Kitty A. Smith, widow  of  Thomas  Smith,  late  a  private  in  the Ohio county, Kentucky, home guards,  and  pay  her  a  pension  at  the  rate of eight dollars per month from the passage of this act. 

Approved, March 3, 1873.

Submitted  by Janice Cox Brown, Coppell, Texas

The War of 1812

War of 1812

        The War of 1812 has ties to Ohio County, Kentucky, in that some of our first settlers were directly involved in the fighting and some land grants resulted from service in the War.

       It is a great understatement to say that the War of 1812 is difficult to understand and it is dangerous to try to explain it in a few words, but I’ll try to give a short explanation:

• Basically, the war was between the USA and Great Britain (including allies of Great Britain). 

• The war started in June 1812 and ended February 1815. 

• The war was fought at sea and in the United States – partly in the US & Canadian border area and partly in the southern United States.

• Prior to the war, Great Britain was locked in a long and bitter conflict with Napoleon Bonaparte’s France. In an attempt to cut off supplies from reaching the enemy, both sides attempted to block the United States from trading with the other.

• Prior to the war, the British Navy outraged Americans by its practice of impressment, or removing seamen from U.S. merchant vessels and forcing them to serve on behalf of the British.

• Also, the British were encouraging the Native American Indians to resist American expansion in the West. This factor had been going on since 1811 and was largely related to the attempted expansion of the Indiana Territory and the battle of Tippecanoe.

• Although the USA had almost no Navy or Army (still recovering from the Revolutionary War) the US government finally decided to stand up against the British and declared war in June 1812.

• The US forces attacked Canada (British colony) and suffered a humiliating defeat in August 1812.

• Other battles in the Northwest Territory (Lake Erie, Detroit, etc.) continued over 1812 and 1813. After Britain finally defeated Napoleon in April 1814 it gave its full attention to the war effort in North America.

• On August 24, 1814 the British captured and burned Washington, DC, including the Capitol and the White House. There is a wonderful book about this that everyone should read: Through the Perilous Fight: From the Burning of Washington to the Star-Spangled Banner: The Six Weeks That Saved the Nation, by Vogel, Steve

• Peace talks were ongoing at Ghent (modern Belgium) in late 1814 and a treaty was signed December 24, 1814.  But unaware of the treaty British forces attacked New Orleans January 8, 1815 and were soundly defeated by the US Army led by future president Andrew Jackson.

            Kentucky's Sacrifice: approximately 60 percent of the war's total casualties were Kentuckians. Kentucky suffered more casualties than any other state combined. Of the 1,876 Americans killed during the war some 1,200, or 64 per cent, were from Kentucky. Furthermore, nearly 25,000 Kentuckians, about one in six, had some type of military service. Therefore, the war also greatly impacted the Kentucky home front.

            With the impending onset of hostilities, the governor of the Indiana Territory, future President William Henry Harrison sought military assistance from neighboring Kentucky. After being appointed brigadier general of the Kentucky militia on August 22, Harrison went to attain the force in order to defend the Indiana territorial government at Vincennes, Indiana. Harrison had resigned his military commission in December 1811, but with the help of Kentucky governor Charles Scott, he was able to recruit Kentucky citizens to help defend Indiana; citizens in Ohio and Indiana had heard of the lack of camp provisions and chose not to be burdened by such hardships. As a result, most of Kentucky's militia during the war fought in what was the old Northwest territory.

            A total of 25,010 Kentuckians fought in war, with five out of six men of military age fighting the British and/or the Indians; they were in 36 regiments, four battalions, and twelve independent companies.

            Note:  There is a chapter about the War of 1812 in Ohio County, Kentucky in the Olden Days, by Harrison.  Here is a partial quote from the book:  “The people of Ohio County held mass meetings at which speeches were made and resolutions were adopted teeming with devotion to Kentucky and their country, no matter what the cost in self-sacrifice. It was resolved that the people should wear nothing but homespun, and even recommended that the ladies should use thorns as a substitute for pins, and otherwise abstain from every article of English manufacture.  The ladies of every neighborhood were ready to join together and knie socks and gloves and make hunting shirts and other garments for every new recruit. Certain individuals would go around and collect such articles to send off to supply their friends and other soldiers in the army. Thus, by the patriotism of the people, especially the women, Kentucky soldiers were equipped and sent to the field without a dollar’s expense to the government.  Few, if any, of these soldiers received a dollar of pay until after the close of the war, and then it was at the pitiful rate of eight dollars a month.”  “Besides several small parties and companies who joined the cavalry expeditions into the Indian territory, Ohio County raised three companies during the war. One accompanied General Samuel Hopkins up the Wabash River, the other Governor Isaac Shelby to the Battle of the Thames, and another was under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.” 

            It is not known to me the names of those from Ohio County who served. Perhaps we can find those names and publish them in the future. We do know (from Harrison’s book) that James Tyler, Philip Thompson and Reuben Bennett served with honor and as leaders.
__________________________________________________________

Added:  Source - Kentucky, Soldiers of the War of 1812; published by The Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky 1891.

         This book is indexed by name of soldier but not by city or county, so I am unable to determine the names of those soldiers from Ohio County; however, I did find a page that included the two names from the Harrison book, i.e. James Tyler and Philip Thompson, so I think we can conclude that the soldiers on this list are from Ohio County.  The page follows:

     We can also conclude that the above list is only the one "Company" from Ohio County and we know (from the Harrison book) that there were two other companies.
_______________________________________________________

Added:  In 1840 there was a census of Pensioners for Revolutionary War or (Other) Military Services.  This census most likely included those soldiers, or their widows, that were injured during the War of 1812.  Here is the list for Ohio County, KY (there is no way to distinguish which war the soldier served in except to interpret by age and all of these gentlemen would have been about 20 years old for the Revolutionary War and 45 - 50 years old for the War of 1812; so they probably served in the Revolutionary War):

Name of Soldier        Age          Head of family (with whom residing)

Ohio County

Zebra Arnold  83 Bayliss Axton
William L. Barnard 81 William L. Barnard
William Campbell 87 William Campbell
William Carter, sen. 80 William Carter, sen.
John Maddox, sen. 78 John Maddox, sen.
Francis Petty  87 Pinkney Petty
Peter Parks  81 Peter Parks
Diadama Shutts  78 Joseph Shutts
Chesley Calloway 81 William Simmons

Caney Creek Civil War Skirmish

by James Taylor

       According to students of Mrs. Amy Bratcher (Arthur) Wilson, a teacher at Horse Branch School in the elementary grades, there was a skirmish near the curved bridge area on Highway 62. Her grandfather was captured and taken to Tennessee, also some of the soldiers were buried on top of the hill near the skirmish site. Family lore further states he had to walk to Tennessee. Currently unable to specify whether this was her maternal Grandfather James Wilson or paternal Grandfather Isaac Bratcher. His Union allegiance made him susceptible to capture by the remaining fleeing Confederate troops. The skirmish site would have been above Horse Branch near the Grayson County line. This article is an effort to document this community legend.

       From Ohio/Grayson border history—November 23, 1860, William Henry Burden married Mariah Ellen Renfrow, daughter of Albert and Nancy Pierce Renfrow, who lived in the Richland community. William Henry Burden enrolled in the Civil War, 17th Kentucky Infantry, Company B of the Union Army. Foy Burden, a grandson, tells of an event that took place following his grandfather’s return from the War. Kentucky being a border state, loyalties were divided between North and South. Soldiers from both sides were returning to their homes when a dispute broke out one night in the Caneyville community of Grayson County. A Union sympathizer was killed, the Confederate soldiers then mounted their horses and headed toward Ohio County. Union soldiers, bent on revenge, gave chase. They stopped to pick up William Henry Burden who reportedly tried to dissuade the angry men. Being unable to do so, he joined the hanging party.

       The Confederate soldiers were soon found, having taken refuge in a home at the foot of Leach Hill. This was home to a Union sympathizer, thus the women were being forced to prepare food. During the shoot out that followed, the women lay on the floor until a Confederate was hit. Then the Union men entered the home, produced a rope and dragged the dead soldier across the road where he was quickly buried. Mr. Foy Burden says that he often heard his grandmother tell this story, knew the location of the grave and seldom passed that way, as a boy, without stopping, even though his grandfather was on the opposite side. The other Confederate bodies were reportedly buried nearby on the same Pierce farm.

       The above mentioned gravesite was actually on the side of the Leitchfield to Hartford Road. Reference to Hopewell is a community of southern Grayson County near the Ohio County line. Richland is also located in Grayson County.

      From Collins, Annals of Kentucky, February 20, 1865—Captain Bates and some Grayson County home guards attack a camp of gorillas…Ohio County, and after a brief skirmish kill 6, wound 4, and disperse the balance; home guards lose 1 killed and 1 wounded.

      February 16, 1865, A Fight with Guerillas—A Brilliant Affair. From Headquarters, Provost Marshal, Third District, Bowling Green, Kentucky, February 12, 1865. To the editors of the Louisville Journal.

      Captain William Bates, commanding the Home Guards of Grayson County, has made a report to these headquarters of eleven captured guerillas, taken in Grayson County (Ohio County), who were turned over to the commander of the post at Bowling Green today. On Friday, February 10, a band of guerillas, commanded by Captain John L. Webster, in raiding through Grayson County, killed three men. Captain Bates heard of them, and learning the road they were on, gathered his forces together, numbering 31 men, and followed in pursuit. The outlaws were on the road leading from Leitchfield to Hartford. They camped near the house of Mr. Pierce. Captain Bates made a reconnaissance of their position, and found they had out a double line of pickets about 2 o’clock Saturday morning. A brisk and determined resistance was made by the guerillas, who numbered 33 men, but the Grayson boys soon proved too much for them. Captain Bates captured 11 of the guerillas and left 6 dead on the field, one of them Lt. Bayless. The remainder, with Captain Webster, made their escape. Captain Bates and his men captured 29 horses. He lost one man killed and one wounded.

       The names of the captured guerillas are as follows: J. C. Oats, of Muhlenberg County; W. R. Baldwin, of Lyon County; J. C. Nickolds (Nichols) of Caldwell County; H. B. Holder, of Lyon County; J. A. Rodgers, of Meade County; J. W. Martin, of Lyon County; H. T. Walker, of Crittenden County; J. G. Morris, of Webster County; J. A. Webster, of Stewart County, Tennessee; R. Smith, of Montgomery County, Tennessee; G. H. Williams, of Stewart County, Tennessee.

      This is quite a brilliant little affair—more so than any other we have heard of lately. This makes the second or third engagement Captain Bates has conducted equally successful. He and his men are entitled to much praise.

       Submitted by A. G. Hobson, Captain and Provost Marshal, 3rd district of Kentucky.

Following is an account of an apparently soon after skirmish involving the same groups as above, as they moved on through the area.

       Louisville Press, February 19, 1865—A squad of guerillas numbering 33 men of Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon’s command, have been operating in Grayson and Edmonson Counties, and murdered 4 citizens a short time ago. Captain William Bates, in command of the Home Guards of Grayson County attacked their camp.

      Louisville Journal, Thursday, February 16, 1865—A band of 21 guerillas, that had been operating in Ohio County the past few days, on Sunday night last crossed the dividing line between Butler and Ohio Counties, and camped about 6 miles from Morgantown. The Grayson County Home Guards learned of their presence, and speedily effecting an organization, mounted their horses and started on a vigorous pursuit. The guerilla camp was attacked about daylight on Monday morning…taking them by surprise, offered but feeble resistance.

References:

On the Boundary line between Ohio and Grayson Counties Kentucky (Some Early Settlers of the Hopewell Community) by Natalia Decker Mallisee.

History of Kentucky, Volume I, Lewis Collins, Richard H. Collins, 1874

Kentucky Soldiers and their Regiments in the Civil War, Volume V, 1865, Abstracted from the pages of contemporary newspapers, Steven L. Wright.

Thanks to James Taylor and - 

Ohio County Historical Society
PO Box 44
Hartford, Kentucky 42347