$500,000 check presented
TE grant awarded Holt House reps
for rehabilitation of 1850s-era home

A check for $500,000 toward preservation of the Holt House in rural Breckinridge County was presented to county representatives recently by Marcheta Sparrow, secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet. Read more

Perryville’s bloodiest battle area next
on Civil War Trust’s preservation list

“All along our front, a solid line of dead and wounded lay, in some places three deep, extending to the right from the barn,” according to a Louisiana soldier.

In describing perhaps the bloodiest part of the Oct. 8, 1862 Battle of Perryville, the Confederate trooper wrote that the fighting along this 141-acre tract was “the grandest, but the most awful sight ever looked upon.” Read more

Camp Nelson displays impress visitors,
tell story of facility’s historic significance

“Beautiful … Great Presentation … Excellent Job … Great source of History.”

Wayne Hayden hears such comments every month when visitors view living history displays at Camp Nelson, Jessamine County’s Civil War heritage park. Read more

As predicted, Kevin Combs was destined
to be Civil War re-enactor, drummer

When he was six months old, Kevin Combs II slept through a re-enactment artillery barrage at Staunton, Va.

Members of a re-enactment unit to which Kevin’s parents belonged, couldn’t believe it.

“He’s destined to be a re-enactor,” someone predicted. Read more

Perryville’s Joan House elected V-P
of Kentucky Civil War Sites Association

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

She succeeds Richmond’s Paul Rominger and will serve a one-year term. Read more

Battle of Lebanon
Myrtledene will be long remembered
as the house Gen. Morgan imprinted

Although it’s now a bed and breakfast establishment, Myrtledene always will be remembered as the Lebanon house imprinted by John Hunt Morgan.

And, for many years, the stairs of the 1833 structure literally were imprinted, thanks to Morgan’s horseback ride up the staircase.
Read more

Book review
‘They’re not dead…they live in memory,’
Swanson relates about Davis and Lincoln

Reviewed by
PAUL ROMINGER
Bugle Staff Writer

"Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse," by James Swanson; William Morrow press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2010; 403 pages; bibliography, 23 pages; notes and index, 16 pages each; $27.99.

James Swanson has degrees in history from the University of Chicago and in law from UCLA. He has held several government and think tank positions in Washington, D.C., and serves on the advisory council of the Ford's Theatre Society. Readers will remember his previous saga, “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer.” Read more

Emma Edmonds one of some 400 women
who were Civil War great pretenders

By DRS. JUDY PIERCE, PAMELA JUKES
Western Kentucky University

Emma Edmonds was one of approximately 400 women who succeeded in enlisting in the Union army during the Civil War.

She succeeded while acting as a Union spy – all while impersonating a man. Read more

Grant funds Civil War governors research
Historical Society’s digital documentary
will tell key story about state’s leaders

It may require as much as 100,000 hours of effort and 10 years to complete, but a Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) project to tell the story of Kentucky’s five Civil War governors promises to be a blockbuster.

In August, KHS received a $210,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to develop the “Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition.” Read more

Although involvement was not sought,
some 20,000 Indians fought in Civil War

“There were possibly 20,000 American Indians who fought in the Civil War, however it was a war in which Indians would have preferred not to be involved,” according to Dr. Paul Rominger, Civil War historian.

But, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief John Ross effectively summed up the Indian choice to be involved, stating in a letter that “self preservation fully justified” the course at least followed by his tribe.
Read more

Interpretative marker honors Nelson
at Jessamine camp’s national cemetery

Union Major Gen. William (Bull) Nelson was honored on his 187th birthday with an interpretative marker at the national cemetery that bears his name. Read more

Floridians claim Civil War’s first shot
was at Fort Barrancas, not Fort Sumter

It’s not wise to tell Pensacola residents that the first shot fired in the Civil War was at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.

There are some residents of this Florida city who insist the initial shot took place three months prior at Fort Barrancas, a Union fort at what is now Pensacola Naval Air Station. Read more

Nominations will be received until Jan. 31
for Excellence in Public History award

The Society of Civil War Historians (SCWH) is seeking nominations for its $5,000 Award for Excellence in Public History.

The award, for which nominations must be received by Jan. 31, is funded by the Blue and Gray Education Society and will recognize an outstanding public history project completed and made available to the public in 2011. Nominated projects should be those that enhanced public awareness and understanding of the Civil War era, including the events leading to the war and its direct consequences.
Read more

Kentucky’s Civil War leaders…
Union Col. J.M. Harlan better known
as outstanding Supreme Court justice

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  This is the 18th in a series about Kentucky’s officers and battle leaders during the Civil War.)

Although he was a highly regarded Union infantry officer during the Civil War, John Marshall Harlan made his mark as one of the foremost justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more

Letters to Editor…
Historical truth about Confederate flag,
its stars concern for West Point reader

Sept. 22, 2011
Dear Mr. Ford:
I enjoyed your web site; and especially its pictures. But I can’t help but wonder, if you were writing as a Confederate Kentuckian in 1863, what ‘Confederate State’ would you say was represented (according to the Confederate Congress itself) by that center star on the Southern Cross Confederate Battle Flag??? Read more

News in Brief
Civil War Sesquicentennial emphasized
Jefferson group brings Ky. history to life

Thanks to a Louisville-based organization, the study of history is making a comeback in Jefferson County and some surrounding areas.

Since 2009, the Jefferson County Kentucky Junior Historical Society has been bringing history to life to a growing number of members.

Dae Lynn Combs, one of the group’s co-sponsors, points out 35 K-through-12 youngsters now are active members of the group that provides monthly speakers, workshops, field trips, service projects and participation in state-wide competition about Kentucky history. Homeschoolers from Jefferson County and surrounding counties – including southern Indiana – learn about Kentucky’s past, history careers and why history is important. Read more