Bugle Briefs

7th Annual Holt Day . . .
2,000 attend community event, celebrate
receipt of gifts totaling nearly $700,000

A record attendance and announcement of new funds totaling nearly $700,000 highlighted the 7th Annual Holt Home Community Day, Sept. 26.

Some 2,000 visitors attended the event, which featured announcement of a $500,000 Transportation Enhancement grant from the State of Kentucky and $199,000 in tax credits from the Kentucky Heritage Council/Preservation Office. The funds will be used to continue restoration and renovation of the Joseph Holt Home, the Breckinridge County residence of the nation’s first Judge Advocate General (JAG). Judge Holt also served as prosecuting attorney for the trial of the Lincoln Assassination conspirators.

The grant and tax credits enable the Friends of the Holt Home, Inc., to match a Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant of $150,000. When work on the home is completed, the structure is being considered as a national training site for JAGs.

The Holt House was constructed circa 1850, during the time of Holt’s national service, to replace an earlier family homestead that had been destroyed by fire. Holt, a prominent Kentucky lawyer, served as Commissioner of Patents (1857), Postmaster General (1859) and Secretary of War (1860) under President James Buchanan. He held the JAG post from 1862-75.

Test scores indicate history insufficiency
among nation’s eighth-grade students

Test scores released recently by the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate an alarming rate of historical proficiency among eighth graders.

Only 18 percent of the students in the national exam scored at or above the “proficient” level in history. That translates to 82 percent of eighth graders having an insufficient knowledge about the nation’s past.

Where the Civil War is concerned, that indicates there’s little knowledge of or appreciation for the conflict that nearly tore America apart. That also means future generations may not care about history or preserving it.

The Civil War Trust, charged with saving America’s Civil War Battlefields, emphasizes that encouraging youngsters to visit living history events and re-enactments at America battlefields can change their educational perceptions.

Camp Nelson adds 101 acres to its park,
continuing efforts for national status

Camp Nelson is a step closer to gaining approval as a national park with the purchase of another 101 acres.

The farm property was purchased in August from a Nicholasville family and brings the park’s total acreage to 626. The park’s core area, where most of the original buildings and stables were located, is 800 acres, according to Mary Kozak, Jessamine County special projects coordinator. The area considered as original camp property totals some 4,000 acres. Camp Nelson was a Union Army depot and included a hospital facility and provided African American enlistment during the Civil War.

The county made the $677,935 purchase with a temporary loan and Judge Executive David West is seeking a USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) loan that will allow Jessamine to finance the property over 40 years.

Kozak said obtaining a national park status is a long process, but the next step will be to propose a bill in the U.S. Congress that would provide funding for a feasibility study.

Soldier received real jolt while on sentry duty

At least one soldier got a real jolt from serving in the Civil War. It happened when a bolt of lightning struck the bayonet of his rifle.

The name of the soldier isn’t known, nor is the location where the lightning strike occurred. The weapon, however, is on display at the Springfield (Mass.) Armory National Historic Site. The rifle is an 1861 model Springfield with an 1864-marked barrel equipped with a Confederate-made Tredegar socket bayonet.

Despite the intense heat caused by the lightning, a regulation Civil War paper cartridge was found intact in the breech when the weapon was disassembled for cataloging and preservation. The identity of the sentry, who survived, is not known. It is believed that he was a Confederate since, while the rifle is a Springfield contract arm, the bayonet is apparently of Confederate manufacture.

When disassembled in 1981, the weapon was found to still be loaded with a charge of century-old black powder and a .58-caliber Williams Type III “cleaner” bullet. Records relate the sentry walked away unhurt, but that the soles of his shoes were burned away.

Dog’s action saved life of his Confederate master

A document written during the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania campaigns reveals how a faithful dog saved his master’s life.

According to the written material, a dog was found with his head lying against the neck of his Confederate master. The soldier appeared to be dead, but it was found he was still alive as the dog had stopped his bleeding by keeping his head across the bullet wound in the man’s throat. The dog’s coat was matted from the blood, but he remained at his post until help arrived.

The record of the event is on file at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park.

Robert Anderson highlighted at Boone County event

Don Rightmeyer, an associate of the Mercer County Public Library in Harrodsburg, conducted a September program about Union Major and Louisville native Robert Anderson.

“Kentucky’s Bookends to the Civil War: Major Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter” reviewed the life and military career of the commander in charge of Ft. Sumter when it received fire to start the Civil War. The program was hosted by the Boone County Historical Society at the county library.

An alumnus of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Rightmeyer is the former editor of the Kentucky Historical Society’s genealogical quarterly, Kentucky Ancestors from 2008-13.

Rightmeyer majored in military history at the academy and served 20 years in the Air Force.

House with Civil War signature to be sold

A pre-Civil War property is being cleaned and repaired and will be offered for sale by Main Street Perryville.

Proceeds from sale of the Bond House and Old Mill property, circa 1820, will be used to repair other historic properties along Perryville’s Merchant Row. Two large storage warehouses will be included in the sale.

A “Sergt. Morgan” scrawled his name and home state of Mississippi on the house wall by the rear staircase. This was discovered and preserved as the Bonds were removing old wallpaper. A glass cover safeguards the penciled signature.

Celebration scheduled May 23 at Mill Springs

The Mill Springs Battlefield Association and the Civil War Trust will host a preservation celebration May 23 at the battlefield park. The event will begin at 10 a.m.

Mill Springs is seeking national park status with the help of U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers and the Trust. Rogers will be featured at the event.

Light refreshments will be provided and musical entertainment will be by the Eighth Regiment Band. Reservations can be made by contacting Lindsey Morrison at lmorrison@civilwar.org.

Pierce packs museum at Hardin Civil War roundtable

Dr. Judy Pierce was a big hit at the Hardin County Civil War Roundtable in June with her presentation on “Female Soldiers of the Civil War.”

Attendance included some 34 women in a packed museum audience. She has been invited back.

A professor of Teacher Education at Western Kentucky University, Dr. Pierce is a long-time Civil War storyteller at re-enactments and living history events and speaks at educational institutions throughout Kentucky. A Bugle staff writer, she is researching and writing a book on female soldiers in Civil War Kentucky.