Bugle book review ...
Guerrillas in Kentucky? Familiar names
were prominent during Civil War activity

By ED FORD
Bugle Editor

(Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Kentucky, by Gerald W. Fischer, 240 pages with endnotes, Acclaim Press 2014, $24.95)

Frank and Jesse James, the Younger Brothers, William Quantrill – all names associated with the Civil War and the post-war frontier of Western America.

But, as Gerald Fischer points out in his book, Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Kentucky, these outlaws also were active in the Commonwealth. They were among guerrilla forces that often invaded the state to rob and pillage and who attempted to evade capture and death from military and civil law enforcement.

A tireless researcher and dedicated fact finder, Fischer, an anthropologist and history specialist, details the exploits of guerrilla fighters in Kentucky and the lawmen and soldiers determined to bring them to justice.

Take the James brothers for example. Frank was a member of Quantrill’s Raiders and Jesse was with Quantrill’s second in command, Bloody Bill Anderson. The Raiders would move through Kentucky when they were evading pursuit from Missouri and Kansas.

Brandenburg apparently experienced more from the James brothers than desired. In 1865, Frank had a gunfight with four Union soldiers. He killed two and, although wounded, escaped. He and Jesse return to Brandenburg in 1869.

One of the interesting stories Fischer relates concerns Frank and Jesse near Taylorsville. They heard of an eviction notice that would be served on a Spencer County widow and were touched by her plight. They gave the widow sufficient funds to pay off the mortgage and taxes. After the sheriff collected from the widow, Frank and Jesse stopped him as he returned to Taylorsville and relieved him of the mortgage money along with his personal funds.

The author notes that the James boys were good to their friends and those who helped them, but also were “cold-blooded men who would kill without hesitation.”

Quantrill actually met his end in Taylorsville when he was shot and captured after four months of raiding in the Commonwealth. He was taken to Louisville where he died from his wounds in June 1865. He was 27 years of age.

Sue Mundy, “One Arm” Sam Berry and some lesser-known guerrillas also are reviewed by the author.

Fischer points out that Kentucky’s Civil War guerrillas were associated with or sympathetic to the Confederate cause. And, he notes, they were no worse than their Union counterparts. He doesn’t condone their actions, but explains that it’s the victors who write the history and it’s politically correct to depict the losers as villains.

“If the South had won the war, and the Confederacy had written the story, what prominent place in history would all these courageous, gloriously dangerous and sometimes hard-hearted and cruel guerrilla fighters have commanded?” he concludes.

Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Kentucky is well worth reading. Fischer adds details about another aspect of Civil War Kentucky that, of which, many are not aware.