Lincoln Heritage Trail leads efforts
to tell story of nation’s 16th president

Telling the story of Abraham Lincoln follows many twists and turns through places, people and events. That’s why the Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail was formed. Read more

20 Lincoln Heritage Trail sites
located across Kentucky

The 20 Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail sites are located in 11 Commonwealth cities and communities. Read more

BORA president Sharon Graves named
2014 Kentucky History Teacher of Year

Richmond social studies teacher and Battle of Richmond Association President (BORA) Sharon Graves is the 2014 Kentucky History Teacher of the Year. Read more

Colby College Civil War authority
to speak at Holt Community Day

Dr. Elizabeth D. Leonard, Colby College associate professor of history, will be guest speaker at the Sixth Annual Holt Home Community Day, Sept. 27, at the Judge Joseph Holt Home in Hardinsburg.

The 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. program will include period and patriotic music, living history presentations and a visit from members of the Thomas Holt family. Thomas was the brother of Joseph Holt who was the first U.S. Judge Advocate General (JAG). Read more

Who was young boy in photograph
of Lincoln conspirators execution?

In the sweltering Washington City heat of July 7, 1865, Alexander Gardner photographed one of the most famous executions in American history.

In all, he reportedly took seven photos of the execution of four Abraham Lincoln conspirators involved in the April 14 assassination of the president. The most widely reprinted image of the series shows the bodies of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt and David Herold hanging limp and motionless from the scaffold at Old Arsenal Prison.

But, perhaps the most unusual aspect of the photo is the image of a young boy standing in the midst of Union soldiers and spectators in the left foreground. Two questions eventually arose: Who was the boy and how did he obtain access to the execution?
Read more

It’s not as well known, but Confederacy
awards Medal of Honor of its own

The Medal of Honor, America’s highest military award for valor, never will be awarded to those who fought for the South. Confederates, after all, were the enemy.

But the Confederacy has a Medal of Honor of its own.
Read more

Lt. Commander Charles W. Flusser
was one of Kentucky’s most noble sons

When South Carolina seceded from the Union on Dec. 20, 1860, many of Charles Williamson Flusser’s fellow officers thought he may enlist in the Confederate army.

The native of Annapolis, Md., who grew up in Kentucky, thought differently, however. Read more

Bugle book review…
‘My Kentucky Life’ provides evidence
as to why residents love their home state

“My Kentucky Life,” by Dave Shuffett, 105 pages of text and photos, Butler Books, 2013, $25.

Politician, baseball commissioner and Bluegrass personality Happy Chandler once said a Kentuckian either thinks about returning to the Commonwealth or is actually doing it.

Storyteller, photographer and television host/producer Dave Shuffett fits that description. But, in his new book, My Kentucky Life, Shuffett gives evidence of why Kentuckians have such a love for their home state. Read more

An incredible deception…
Frances Clayton could chew, smoke,
drink, fight as well as any Union soldier

During a burial detail, after the Battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863, the men were shocked to discover the body of a Union soldier that was a female. Another burial detail near Cemetery Ridge on the Gettysburg Battlefield uncovered the body of a woman wearing a Confederate uniform. These burial details found one of the most intriguing secrets of the Civil War; the multitudes of women who fought in the front lines. Read more

Kentucky’s Civil War leaders…
Twice wounded, Brig. Gen. Gholson
was fiery advocate for states rights

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 29th in a series about Kentucky’s officers and battle leaders during the Civil War.)

Confederate Brig. Gen. Samuel J. Gholson was a fiery advocate for states rights who served as a U.S. representative from Mississippi and a U.S. federal judge prior to the Civil War.
Read more

Battle of Richmond mural capsulizes
conflict, aftermath of two-day affair

Murals tell a story, and that’s what a mural by the late Richard Deane does for the Civil War Battle of Richmond.

A 6x8-foot oil-on-canvas painting was commissioned in 2006 by the Richmond Kiwanis Club, a rendering designed to depict the aftermath of fighting on Aug. 30, 1862, as wounded soldiers were transported to and treated at the Palmer House, one of many residences used as hospitals during the two-day battle.
Read more

Civil War Trust photo contest
will accept entries in five categories

The 19th annual Civil War Trust Photography Contest is underway and submissions will be accepted through Aug. 15.

The contest invites amateur photographers to submit Civil War-related photos in five categories. Read more

This story from Perryville underscores
soldier’s desire to cheat death, live

Civil War museum docents seldom are surprised by the stories they hear from visitors.

A recent visit to the Downtown Perryville Museum was no exception, but the story provided by Joyce Shay, an Idaho resident, was quite graphic and illustrated the intensity of a soldier’s will to live. Read more

Cancer patient doesn’t let illness
dampen his enthusiasm for Civil War

Cancer victim Alessandro “Ale” Patrick Valeri hasn’t let his lifetime ailment rain on his enthusiasm for Civil War history.

The 13-year-old Silver Spring, Md., resident shows not only a sincere interest in every aspect of Civil War history, but much compassion for the soldiers’ lives in battle.

Ale has fought his own battle since he was 18 months old and diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Read more

Bugle Briefs...
Perryville's House elected president
of Kentucky Civil War Sites Association

Joan House, preservation coordinator for Perryville Battlefield Historic Site, has been elected president of the Kentucky Civil War Sites Association (KCWSA) for 2014.

The statewide organization promotes the Commonwealth’s Civil War heritage and markets the state as one of the nation’s top War Between the States places to visit.

Also elected at the April meeting were Vice President Phillip Seyfrit (Richmond), Secretary Chris Lueken (West Point) and Treasurer Nancy Turner (Fort Boonesboro-Winchester). Read more

Bugle book review…
What truly makes a person great?
Kean explores Civil War leaders

“Great Men?? at the Worst Time,” by Don Kean, DMD, 474 pages, Xlibri Corporation, 2014, $34.85.

The text of this book is 395 pages, with a good selection of photographs. There are five appendices, a bibliography and bibliographic sources for each chapter. Read more

Civil War re-enactment photography
sparks interest of E-town resident

Nine years ago, Thia Stover picked up a camera and took up photography for the first time.

A year later, while shooting the 2006 Battle of Perryville Re-enactment, she’d found her niche: photographing Civil War re-enactments and historical sites.

“My love for America and her rich history has greatly contributed toward this endeavor,” the 64-year-old Elizabethtown resident stated. “It’s my hope that my work would capture the imagination of the viewer and inspire him/her to reflect on America’s history and the cost of freedom.” Read more