News in Brief

Seyfrit honored for efforts at Battle of Richmond

Madison County’s Historic Properties Director Phillip Seyfrit has been awarded the Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance’s Pinnacle Award for work he has done in regards to the Battle of Richmond Visitors Center and the preservation efforts at the Battle of Richmond.

The award is given annually by the Alliance to an individual who “has strapped on the packs, trudged thru the valleys of fundraising and climbed to the heights of project completions.”

This year’s award was presented during the Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance’s annual conference held in June at Maysville.

In addition to his duties with the Battle of Richmond Visitors Center, Seyfrit also is active with the Battle of Richmond Association, the Madison County Civil War Roundtable and the newly established Central Kentucky World War II Roundtable. He recently was appointed to the Kentucky Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission by Gov. Steve Beshear.

Seyfrit also is a staff writer for The Kentucky Civil War Bugle.

Camp Nelson promotion just part of his work

Where promotion of Camp Nelson is concerned, Jeff McDanald is one of those who does it all.

Creative director for the Jessamine County Civil War park, McDanald is editor of The Camp Nelson Dispatch newsletter, designs and coordinates the park’s website, produces brochures, rack cards and a variety of other promotional materials. A story about the Simpsonville Massacre that he wrote originally for The Lexington Herald-Leader appears in this issue of the Bugle.

The West Virginia University alumnus has a degree in journalism from WVU and is a media consultant and writer in the Commonwealth’s Bluegrass area. As a designer and builder of websites, Jeff specializes in government, tourism and historical subjects.

He lives in rural Jessamine County with his wife, Carrie, and three children - Kristen, Mallory and Wyatt. Jeff can be contacted at jeff@mcdanald.com.

Ellsworth first Union officer killed in Civil War

It was 150 years ago this spring that a soldier from upstate New York became the first Union officer to be killed in the Civil War.

Col. Elmer Ellsworth was gunned down on May 24, 1861, and his death was a national sensation in the first months of the war.

Ellsworth was killed the same day he led a New York infantry regiment into Alexandria, Va., on the orders of his friend, President Abraham Lincoln. While removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the Marshall House, the hotel’s proprietor shot and killed Ellsworth before being fatally shot by one of Ellsworth’s men.

In 1860, Ellsworth studied law in Lincoln’s Springfield, Ill., office and helped the future president with his initial campaign for the presidency.  Only 5-foot-6 in height, Ellsworth was described by Lincoln as “the greatest little man I ever met.” He accompanied Lincoln to Washington, D.C., in 1861.





Perryville church aids tornado, flood victims

God’s Hands of Hope, a May 27 concert sponsored  by the Perryville Christian Church, benefitted victims of tornadoes and floods in the midwest and southern states.

Donations of items for hygiene kits (towels, washcloths, soap, toothbrushes and bandaids) were received for distribution as part of a Week of Compassion Disaster Relief activity. Love offerings also are being accepted and should be sent to Perryville Christian Church, Disaster Relief, Box 86, Perryville, Ky. 40468.

Veterans honored at Cannonsburg event

A Civil War encampment and the firing of cannons marked the first Veterans Appreciation Week sponsored in May by the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center in Cannonsburg.

The Levisa Artillery, a Catlettsburg Confederate group, provided the cannons and other artifacts, including mini balls from the Battle of Perryville. The mini balls had tooth impressions, which, group spokesmen explained, were given to soldiers to bite on while their wounds were being attended.

Events also included a ceremony honoring prisoners of war and missing-in-action combatants.

Civil War photography among Herrling’s expertise

Eileen Herrling, Appleton, Wis., is a freelance nature and travel photographer who also includes Civil War events and activities among her expertise. Her photo of the Confederate charge on page one is among a number of re-enactments and Civil War events she has photographed at the Wade House in Greenbush, Wis.

Eileen’s work has been published in magazines, textbooks, travel brochures and calendars and she has received a number of awards. She’s a four-star exhibitor in color slide, nature and photo-travel divisions of the Photographic Society of America and teaches digital photography classes at various locations in Northeastern Wisconsin. Her photos have been exhibited in Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Australia, Malta, Macau, Toronto, Africa and Taiwan in addition to the United States.

Examples of her work can be viewed at www.eileenherrlingphotography.com and she can be contacted at eherrling@athenet.net.





Union seemingly proved that ‘last shall be first’

In July 1861, the Union lost the first land battle of the Civil War (Bull Run/Manassas) and lost the war’s last battle (Palmito Ranch) in May 1865.

In addition, the Federals reportedly suffered the first victim of the conflict (Pvt. Luther C. Ladd) in April 1861 and the last casualty (Pvt. John J. Williams) in May 1865.

Somewhere among all that, however, the Union managed to win the war, seemingly following the Biblical prophecy that “the last shall be first.”

At first Bull Run, both armies had green troops and officers. However, a basic reason for the Southern success is that when both sides are inexperienced, the defender has the advantage.

Then, at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, Texas, Col. John S. (Rip) Ford and his Second Texas Cavalry tore through Union troops in a four-hour battle. The skirmish took place although both sides seemed to know that the war officially was over. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox had occurred more than a month earlier.

Ladd, a volunteer in the 6th Massachusetts Infantry, was shot and died in Baltimore when a group of secessionist sympathizers physically resisted the passage of the 6th through the city.

Then, at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, Pvt. John J. Williams became the final fatality, being among 30 Union men killed or wounded.

Bugle purchased for $1 valued at $1,500

How much is a Civil War bugle worth?

For a Nashville man, it amounted to $1,500.

At a recent “Antiques Roadshow” in the Tennessee capital, a participant brought in a Civil War bugle he’d purchased for $1 at a garage sale. A military expert identified it as a Union antiquity from Cincinnati worth $1,500. Even more significant was that the engraving on the bugle that tied it to one of the famous “Fighting McCooks.”

Fourteen members of that Ohio family all participated in the Civil War.

Sword rekindles memory of fighting Hoosier

The memory of a Hoosier who fought in Kentucky was rekindled recently when his presentation sword unexpectedly turned up in Wayne County, Ind., by way of Knoxville, Tenn.

Union 1st Lt. Mayberry M. Lacey of the 69th Indiana Infantry Regiment was given a presentation sword in 1865 three months shy of the end of the Civil War. The sword somehow made its way into the Richmond, Ind., home of a family named Blossom and eventually into the hands of a grandson in Knoxville. Jerry Blossom and his sister, Janet, returned the sword to Indiana and the Wayne County Historical Museum after learning of the item’s colorful owner.

Lacey, who fought at the August 1862 Battle of Richmond, came from a long line of fighting men. Family members fought in England for William the Conqueror, in Austria and in Spain. In the United States, one ancestor fought against the British in the War of 1812 under the command of Francis Marion, the war’s famed “Swamp Fox.”

Attaining the rank of major, Lacey was among some 1,000 volunteers who formed the 69th. Overrun at the Battle of Richmond, the regiment ended Civil War service with six officers and 331 enlisted men either killed and mortally wounded.

And now, some Civil War trivia questions

Did you know that…

President Abraham Lincoln suffered from smallpox when he delivered his famous speech at Gettysburg. Some three weeks were required for him to recover from the disease that killed as many as 30 percent of those infected. The President was weak and dizzy when he delivered his speech.

Poet Walt Whitman served as a volunteer in Civil War hospitals. At age 43, Whitman saw in The New York Herald that his brother had been wounded and was hospitalized in Fredericksburg, Va. Whitman traveled from Brooklyn to Fredericksburg to care for his brother. The experience of seeing the suffering of wounded soldiers prompted him to volunteer for three years in war hospitals in Washington.

Although women were not allowed to join either the Union or Confederate armies, some 700 females disguised themselves as men in order to serve. The women bound their breasts and cut their hair short. Medical exams for enlistees were not required and many women served undiscovered until they were wounded.

Many Civil War units had dogs, cats, squirrels and raccoons as mascots, but the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry 8th Regiment had a bald eagle named Old Abe. The eagle, named after the president, appeared at the National Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876.

The Arlington National Cemetery was developed on property originally owned by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The general and his wife, Mary Anna, fled their Arlington House in 1861 when Virginia seceded from the Union. The U.S. government confiscated the property in 1864 and turned it into a military cemetery.

When John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln, April 14, 1865, he and his conspirators planned to kill three men that evening. Also targeted were Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. Seward was attacked, but recovered, while Johnson’s would-be assassin failed to follow through. The plan was to throw the Federal government into chaos.



Parade scheduled for Hart County Civil War Days

A Saturday morning parade down Main Street will kick off Hart County’s annual Civil War Days observance Sept. 9-11.

The Munfordville parade will feature a marching band, Civil War re-enactors and a variety of weekend participants. Other Saturday highlights on the 10th include a re-enactment of the Battle of Munfordville and the Blue-Gray Ball, complete with dance instructors. Period music will be conducted throughout the weekend.

A Civil War fashion show is among the opening day highlights. The re-enactment will be conducted again on Sunday with an authentic period church service scheduled that morning.

For additional information, call 1-888-686-3673 or e-mail sherylmtourism@scrtc.com.

20th Heritage Day set at Erlanger Sept. 18

Union soldiers who passed through Erlanger probably never forgot the community’s hospitality as residents provided them with food and drink. That period of the northern Kentucky city’s history will be observed Sept. 18 at its 20th annual Heritage Day.

Members of the 6th Ohio Volunteers will provide information about life during the Civil War, show firearms and military equipment and demonstrate marching and drilling.

Storytelling by members of the Erlanger Library will include a historic account about Miss Addy, a black girl who lived during the period.

A general display of photographs, Confederate money, uniforms and flags also will be available.

The event is sponsored by the Erlanger Historical Society, which is located in the Erlanger Depot, the only remaining Southern Railroad train depot from Cincinnati to Chattanooga.

For additional information, contact Pat Hahn at 859-727-8959 or e-mail hahnpp@insightbb.com.