Jan.-March 2011
Vol. 5, No. 1
Richmond, Ky.


















Hit Counter by Digits

What if Lee…
If Lee (right) had refused to surrender to Grant
at Appomattox, could the Confederacy have
endured? Glenn LaFantasie, director of Western
Kentucky University’s Institute for Civil War
Studies, speculates that it could and reflects
on what might have transpired. See story.
The Lee and Grant artwork are provided by
Civil War portrait artist Ken Henricksen.
www.civilwarartist.com
‘Bull pup’
One of the great hit-and-run weapons of the
Civil War in Kentucky was the Mountain Howitzer,
shown here at a Richmond re-enactment. The
diminutive cannon packed a powerful punch for
the cavalry. See story. – Frank Becker photo
Goin’ south
A Confederate re-enactor retreats at the Battle of
Lawrenceburg as Union artillery drive Southern
cavalry south at a September re-creation of
the 1862 skirmish. The engagements “of
which no one has heard” will be conducted
again at a Sept. 25-27 Re-enactment Weekend.
See story. – Anne Goins photo
Sachs’ ghosts
Gettysburg has more than its share of ghost stories, including those about Sachs Bridge (above).
Some say that a ghost of a Kentuckian hanged there sometimes re-appears. See story.
Helm
wreath

Members of the
General Ben Hardin
Helm Camp, SCV,
lay a wreath at the
Elizabethtown
gravesite of the
general who was the brother-in-law of
President Abraham Lincoln.
Performing the
duties are
(from left)
Geoff Walden,
Joey Oller and
John Clark.
See story.
‘Bull’ session
Robert Preston may look like “Bull” Nelson, but
re-enactors agree he has a much better
disposition. Preston talks with students about
the Union general at a Richmond living history
program. See story. – JK Photography

Click here to view
Picture
Potpourri
In this issue ...
Sesquicentennial planners urged to attend
Sites Summit in Frankfort on March 21

Those organizations or individuals interested in commemorating the
Civil War Sesquicentennial are invited to attend a Civil War Sites
Summit in Frankfort March 21.

The meeting - sponsored by the Kentucky Historical Society, the
Kentucky Department for Travel and Tourism and the Kentucky
Heritage Council – is scheduled at the Thomas D. Clark Center for
Kentucky History at 1 p.m.

Topics include a new statewide Civil War Heritage Trail and ongoing
sesquicentennial efforts, plus an open discussion about what sites
and local history organizations hope to achieve during the 150th
anniversary observance. The meeting is open particularly to Civil War
sites, historic sites, museums, historical societies, convention visitor’s
bureaus and tourism agencies.

Those planning to attend should contact Stuart W. Sanders of the
Kentucky Historical Society at 502/564-1792, Ext. 4420 or by e-mail
at www.history.ky.gov.

Conn has best view of Lincoln statue
he had constructed, placed in Stanville

Stanville attorney Eric Conn has a better view of a 19-foot statue of Civil War President Abraham Lincoln than anyone in this small Floyd County community.

He just looks out his law office window. Read more

Mays covers Saltville, new exhibit
opened to public at Camp Nelson

A crowd of approximately 100 was on hand for a lecture and exhibit opening Nov. 14 at Camp Nelson.

Dr. Thomas D. Mays, chair and professor at Humboldt State (Calif.) University, spoke on “Camp Nelson, Saltville and the 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry” and the exhibit “African American Refugees at Camp Nelson: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives” was opened to the public.
Read more

This one-of-a-kind Union monument
honors 107 soldiers who died for cause

Where is the only Union monument honoring Federal soldiers located south of the Mason-Dixon Line that is not in a cemetery funded by public subscription? Read more

New website up and running
for Civil War sites group

The Kentucky Civil War Sites Association (KCWSA) – an organization dedicated to promoting Civil War Kentucky statewide – has a new website up and running.

Highlights about the Civil War in the Commonwealth, information on member sites and coming events are featured at www.kycivilwarsites.org. The website also includes eight other sites on its “Blogroll” – the Civil War Preservation Trust, Kentucky Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus Members, Kentucky Department of Travel and Tourism, Kentucky Heritage Council, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Main Street Communities, Kentucky Civil War Bugle and Trails R Us – Civil War in Kentucky. Read more

Book reviews

“Creating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State,” by Anne E. Marshall,  188 pages of text, 20 pages of notes, plus a bibliography and an index, The University of North Carolina Press, 2010, $35.

“Lincoln’s Advocate, The Life of Judge Joseph Holt,” by Susan B. Dyer, 251 pages, Acclaim Press, 2009, $24.95.
Read reviews

Civil War’s animal casualty rate
surpassed even that of its soldiers

It’s estimated that the Civil War claimed some 620,000 lives, perhaps as many as 700,000. But the fatality rate for the animals that were the backbone of the war was even greater. Read more

News in Brief
Hardin Museum seeks $8,000 grant

The Hardin County History Museum has applied for an $8,000 grant to document Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s 1862 raid in Elizabethtown.

The Federal Survey and Planning grant application, filed through the Kentucky Heritage Council, would provide for a comprehensive survey of structures involved in the battle, facilitate installation of interpretive markers and provide for ideas on management and preservation.
Read more

LaFantasie speculates
If Lee had refused to surrender
could the South have won the war?

“The facts of history cannot be changed,” Glenn LaFantasie states.

But, what would have happened if Robert E. Lee had not surrendered to U.S. Grant at Appomattox? Read more

Kentucky’s rugged terrain was ideal
for cavalry’s hit-and-run ‘Bull Pup’
 
Confederate Sgt. Henry Worth, reputed to be one of the best gunners of the Civil War, was so good with a mountain howitzer that he could “hit a man a mile away by sighting the gun with only his hands.”
Read more

Skirmishes at Lawrenceburg, Dog Walk
engagements ‘of which no one has heard’

Lawrenceburg re-enactor James Bowen doesn’t mince words.

“The skirmishes at Lawrenceburg and Battle of Dog Walk are probably the most significant Civil War engagements fought in Kentucky ofwhich no one has ever heard.” Read more

Nelson portrayer physically resembles
Battle of Richmond commander

Physically, he resembles Union Major Gen. William (Bull) Nelson, is a veteran re-enactment commander and is experienced in both infantry and artillery maneuvers. Read more

Does a Kentucky Civil War soldier
haunt Gettysburg’s Sachs Bridge?

The Civil War ghosts of Halloween perhaps are most prevalent at Gettysburg’s Sachs Bridge.

According to legend, three Confederate soldiers – one each from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia – were convicted as Union spies and were hanged at the covered crossing in 1863 as the troops of Gen. Robert E. Lee were withdrawing from the battlefield. Read more

Kentucky’s Civil War leaders…
Orphan Brigade commander also served
as lawyer, state's attorney, legislator

Confederate Brig. Gen. Benjamin Hardin Helm – the son of a Kentucky governor and a brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln - served as commander of the 1st Kentucky “Orphan” Brigade from May 1862 until his death in 1863. Read more
Articles and photos appearing on www.thekentuckycivilwarbugle.com may be used with permission. For permission, contact Bugle editor Ed Ford at fordpr@mis.net.

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