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News in Brief…
Morgan raids tours scheduled June 29
Betty J. Gorin, author of “Morgan Is Coming,” will lead a group of enthusiasts through Taylor County June 29 on the Morgan’s Raids Civil War Bus Tour.
The tour is scheduled from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. with the bus departing from the Hiestand House-Taylor County Museum, located near Wal-Mart and Holiday Inn Express.
The in-depth tour will include Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s raid at Pleasant Hill, the First Kentucky Raid, the Christmas Raid and the Great Raid.
The seven-hour excursion is $30 with a box lunch and raid maps included. Payment in full is required by May 15 in order to reserve seating on the bus. The event is sponsored by the Taylor County Historical Society and the Tebbs Bend Battlefield Association.
Reservations, including payment, can be made by mailing:
Taylor County Tourist Commission
P.O. Box 4021
Campbellsville, KY 42719
Additional information can be obtained by contacting Gorin at 270/465-8726 or 465-1548 (cell phone). The Tebbs Bend leader also invites re-enactors to contact her and march in the July 4 parade marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Tebbs Bend.
Masterson to speak at Tebbs Bend memorial service
Civil War Historian Kent Masterson Brown will speak June 8 at the 150th Anniversary Memorial Service for the Battle of Tebbs Bend-Green River Bridge.
The service will be conducted at 2 p.m. at Tebbs Bend of Green River Confederate Cemetery off Highway 55 between Campbellsville and Columbia. Also, a stone will be unveiled for Pvt. Frank Voss of the 7th Kentucky Cavalry.
Contact Betty Gorin at 270/465-8725 or 465-1548 or via e-mail at smithgorin@windstream.net.
Confederates met Butler’s demand, returned swords
It was built in 1850 and served as a cartridge factory during the Civil War.
At that time, the Kentucky Military Museum – then known as the state arsenal, didn’t have a set of stairs leading to the second floor, but rather an ammunition hoist for moving goods.
But now, after extensive renovation, the Frankfort museum reopened in March and prominently features one of six swords made for generals to honor their service during the Mexican War. The sword on display was made for Kentuckian William Orlando Butler, a lawyer and politician who ended the war as the commanding general of the Army and became the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for vice president.
Butler’s sword is gold with a 3.2-carat ruby in the guard and a topaz in the hilt. Its value is incalculable, hence the presence of a stepped-up security system for the case that houses it. At the time Butler received the sword, it cost about as much as a 300-acre farm – $1,800. Another of Butler's swords, an elaborately patterned silver piece, also is showcased at the museum.
The legend is that Butler’s swords were stolen from his home by Confederates during the Civil War when Butler stood as a Union Democrat. Butler allegedly rode to the nearest Confederate camp, demanded the swords’ return and then hid them until the end of the war.
Big Hill re-enactment weekend scheduled Aug. 16-18
The 2013 Big Hill Civil War Weekend is scheduled Aug. 16-18 at the Jackson Energy Farm in Annville featuring a re-enactment of the cavalry skirmish between the troops of Union Col. Leonidas Metcalfe and Confederate Col. John Scott.
The Saturday (Aug. 17) schedule includes the battle, a ladies tea, storytelling and a dance. A 19th century church service and the battle are on tap for Sunday.
Camps are open to the public at 9 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
Call 606/287-7853 for more information.
Davis commemoration takes place May 31-June 1
The Jefferson Davis Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration is set for May 31-June 1 at the Davis State Historic Site in Fairview.
Saturday’s schedule (June 1) includes a Ladies Tea, Civil War Ball, book signings and the Miss Confederate Pageant. A Jeff Davis presentation is set for Sunday in addition to an artillery salute to Davis. Battles, artillery, cavalry and infantry demonstrations are scheduled all weekend.
Call 270/889-6100 or e-mail jeffersondavis@ky.gov for additional information.
Most Civil War soldiers were farmers by occupation
A majority of the soldiers in the Civil War – both North and South – listed their occupations as farmers.
Union rosters referenced more than 300 different careers, including accountant, surveyor, locksmith, teacher, carpenter, shoemaker, blacksmith, painter, mason, teamster and mechanic.
Southerners who had not farmed included carpenters, mechanics, merchants, machinists, lawyers, teachers, blacksmiths and dentists.
Unusual was sometimes normal during Civil War
There were plenty of unusual activities and events that took place during the Civil War. For example …
• Mounted Confederate militia units called the “cow cavalry” rounded up and guarded wild “scrub” cattle in southern Florida during the war. They helped herd them to hungry Southern armies while skirmishing with Union landing parties that were put ashore from the blockade fleet.
• Confederate raider Adam Johnson got troops guarding the federal arsenal at Newburgh, Ind., to surrender in July 1862 by threatening them with artillery fire. But his “cannon” was only a length of black stovepipe laid across a wagon carriage.
• The Battle of Memphis in June 1862 was entirely a naval battle fought on the Mississippi River, which residents watched from the shoreline. The Union fleet of gunboats sank or captured all but one of eight Confederate riverboats, leaving the fortified city of Vicksburg, Miss., the only rebel strongpoint left on the river.
• Federal authorities imprisoned the mayor, police chief and a number of other Southern sympathizers, including the grandson of Francis Scott Key, in May 1861. The action followed attacks on Union troops moving through Baltimore to Washington.
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