THE first knowledge of Anglo-Saxon had of Kentucky was intermingled with "wars and the rumors of wars."  When the pioneer, Boone, climbed.

Page 76 -
action; Lieuts. Basye and Hickman, Joseph McConnell, Farrier, and privates Moses Richardson, Thomas Eastin, William Scott, Thomas Webster, G. E. Edwards, Stephen Barton and S. J. Hawkins were wounded.  Sergt. John Clark died; fourteen are reported sick, thirty-nine frost-bitten, and three fit for duty.  These casualties occurred between October 31 and December 31, 1812, inclusive.
     But the data at hand is too meager, so far as connected with Bourbon County, to give an extended sketch of the part she took in it, beyond the fact that a majority of her able-bodied citizens were engaged in it at some time during its progress.  The battle of the Thames ended the war in the Northwest, and the glorious victory of Gen. Jackson at New Orleans put a stop to it for good and all, and the news of peace, which had already been negotiated at Ghent, soon spread throughout the country.  Thus quiet came once more to the people of the West.  "It was time," says a writer upon the subject," that Kentucky was allowed a little rest, for she may be said to have fought through the two first years of the war by herself Virginia gave the Northwest to the nation, and her daughter, Kentucky, saved it from conquest by savage and foreign foes at the cost of her noblest blood."  Peace settled down with her inestimable blessings, and almost for the first time within the memory of the white man, the dark and bloody ground was in a perfect state of quietude, and free from the dread of savage foes.  War no more disturbed our peaceful pursuits, except at intervals as the faint sounds of savage yells and conflicts rolled along our frontiers, and only came to our ears as the low mutterings of thunder, from a distant storm cloud, whose lightnings could harm us not.
     For several years the surviving soldiers of 1812 have been holding their annual reunions at Paris, and as year by year is recorded upon the muster-roll of Time, their number is growing smaller.  A few more rolling years, and the last of these old heroes will have answered the reveille for the last time.  At the annual meeting held in 1881, there were present the following: Moore Johnson, from Mt. Sterling, aged eighty-six years; Thomas Jones, from Paris, aged eighty-nine; Thomas Casey, from Falmouth, aged eighty-five; Dr. C. C. Graham, from Louisville, aged ninety-seven; Zach Corbin, from Owen County, aged ninety; Enos B. Payne, from Newport, aged eighty-eight; Dr. G. H. Perrin, from Cynthiana, aged eighty-seven; Gilead Evans, from Nicholas County, aged eighty-seven; Dr. T. G. Chinn, from Lexington, aged eighty-four; Joshua Webb, from Madison County, aged eighty-nine; S. M. Berry, from Scott County, aged eighty-five; Samuel Jones, from Fleming County, aged ninety; and Thomas White, from Paris, aged eighty-nine.  Since the annual meeting of 1880, the following old veterans had died: William Northcott, Kenton County, aged ninety-one years; Samuel Chinn, Clark County, aged ninety-three; William Rupard, Clark County, aged one-hundred and ten; Gen. William O. Butler, Carroll County, aged ninety; Maj. J. R. Curry, Harrison County, aged ninety-two; Hy. Lancaster, Garrard County, aged eighty-seven; Thomas Mount, _____, aged eighty-nine; William Boyd, Oldham County, aged eighty-five; Ayres Leforge, Fleming County, aged eighty-six; Hamilton Wilson, Newport, aged eighty-nine; and John Gillespie, Oldham County, aged one-hundred and one years.
     An occasional misunderstanding with some obdurate tribe of Indians comprised our war experience, until the American eagle swooped down upon disrupted Mexico.  The causes which led to this unpleasantness grew out of the admission of Texas into the American Union as a State, and may be termed but the forerunner of that great internecine war that commenced with the fall of Fort Sumter in 1861.  That politics bore an important part in it there is no question.  The majority of the Whig party opposed the measure of annexing Texas to the utmost of their power.  Hon. Tom Corwin, of Ohio, made the ablest speech of his life, and said to have been one of the ablest ever made in the United States Senate, against the further prosecution of the war, just after the fall of Monterey.  The Whig party - dominant in the North - believed it a measure for the extension of slavery, and upon that ground alone all the Northern members of the party opposed it.  In the Presidential election of 1844, it was made a question at issue, and James K. Polk, the Democratic candidate - and whose party favored the annexation of Texas - was elected over Mr. Clay.  This was taken as an indorsement of the measure by the people, and, accordingly, the "Lone Star" was admitted into the Union as a State.  This led to open hostilities between the United States and Mexico, which began in the spring of 1846.  In the declaration of war against Mexico, and the call for troops which followed, Kentucky was required to furnish four regiments of volunteers, comprising 2,400 men, but so great was the zeal of the people, that nearly 15,000 men responded to the call.  The Louisville Legion, nine companies strong, reported to the Governor without delay, and were accepted.  The four regiments furnished were officered as follows: First Regiment Cavalry, Humphrey Marshall, of Louisville, Colonel (Major General in the Confederate army in the late war); E. H. Field, of Woodford County, Lieutenant Colonel, and John P. Gaines, of Boone County, Major. Second Regiment, William R.

Page 77 -
McKee, of Lexington, Colonel (killed at Buena Vista); Henry Clay, Jr., of Louisville, Lieutenant Colonel (killed at Buena Vista); C. H. Fry, of Danville, Major.  Third Regiment, M. V. Thomson, of Georgetown, Colonel, (formerly Lieutenant Governor of the State); T. L. Crittenden, of Frankfort, Lieutenant Colonel (Major General in the Federal army during the late war); John C. Breckinridge, of Lexington, Major (Vice President of the United States under James Buchanan).  Fourth Regiment, John S. Williams, Colonel (now United States Senator from Kentucky); William Preston, of Louisville, Lieutenant Colonel (Major General in the Confederate army); William T. Ward, of Greensburg, Major.
     The Third Regiment (Col. Thomson) contained a company (Company H) from Bourbon County, under Capt. William E. Simms, while a number of men were scattered through the other regiments and companies.  The following is the complete roll of the company: W. E. Simms, Captain; W. P. Bramlette, First Lieutenant; C. G. Campbell, Second Lieutenant; William Fisher, Third Lieutenant; Isaac H. Skillman, Orderly Sergeant; John H. Thompson, Second Sergeant; William Ewalt, Third Ser geant; L. C. Hughes, Fourth Sergeant; and James Taylor, Berry Kennedy, Reuben Sandford and William Samuels, Corporals.  Privates -

     This company was recruited to 108 men, and, as we have said, formed Company H, Third Regiment Kentucky Volunteers.  The regiment under command of Col. Thomson was in the army of Gen. William O. Butler, and reached Mexico shortly after the capture of the city, where it was on active garrison duty for nearly a year.  It behaved very well; about twenty died in Mexico, the remains of whom were brought home by Capt. Simms, and interred in the Paris Cemetery, where a handsome monument, erected by the county, marks their resting place.
     The great civil war - the war between the States - was the next to disturb our peace and tranquillity.  Less than a decade and a half passed, after the close of the Mexican war, before the great rebellion - as our Northern neighbors term it - broke upon the country.  It is scarcely possible to write a correct, or a just history of this war, even after this long lapse of time.  All the wars we had hitherto engaged in were waged against savages or foreign foes, but now we were called to measure strength among ourselves - literally, it was Greek meet Greek.  A civil war was inaugurated without a parallel in the world's history.  Of all the conflicts that have ever scourged our earth, a civil war, wherein the "brother betrays the brother to death, and the father the son, and children rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death," is the most dreadful.  The rival houses of York and Lancaster, with their emblems of "White" and "Red," shook Old England to her center, filling her houses with mourning, her fields with carnage, and wasting the blood of her bravest and best, but when compared to our "war between the States," it pales into insignificance.  Though the "pen were dipped in the gloom of earthquake and eclipse," it could not write a true history of those four dreadful years - 1861-65.  All the evils of war, and all the horrors of civil war were crowded into them, and the refined cruelties known to the civilization of the enlightened age in which we live were practiced by the opposing parties.  But after four years of strife and bloodshed, the olive branch of peace again waved over us, and now fraternal love and prosperity smile upon the land from one end of the nation to the other.  As we become naturalized to the new order of things, we find it a source of congratulation that the object of strife between the sections is forever removed, and will never cause another war on American soil.  In the final union of "the Roses," England found the germ of her future greatness and glory, and in the harmonious blending of "the Blue" and " the Grey," who shall limit our own greatness and glory?
     Our State being located upon the border, between the North and the South, it was but natural that our people

Page 78 -
should be divided in their opinions, as to the justice or injustice of the war, the acts of the National Government, and the project of setting up a new Republic.  Thus divided in sentiment, the contending sections received many recruits (perhaps nearly an equal number, each) from Central Kentucky and from Bourbon County.  Each, actuated by motives of the highest honor, with a firm, unswerving faith in the righteousness of their cause, rallied around their respective standards, and went forth to fight the battles of their country.  Imbued with more than a Roman valor and patriotism, they bore uncomplainingly the privations of camp and field, and when the oft-repeated news was brought home of depleted and broken ranks, a similar spirit hurried on fresh legions to brace up the tottering columns.  Bourbon County's valor was attested on many a hard-fought field, both in the ranks of the blue and the gray, and her sons were ever ready for posts of danger.  Some, who went out to fight for the cause they deemed just and right, with only the benediction of a mother's prayers and tears, came not back to that mother's arms.  They sleep in the, swamps of the Chickahominy, on the banks of the Rapidan, at Shiloh, Chickamauga, Corinth, Stone River, Lookout Mountain, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and the Wilderness, and it is no reproach to their valor that they fell before foes who were as brave as themselves.  Their memory is immortal; and beautiful as a crown of gold, the rays of the sunset lay upon the hilltops where they repose, after their battles.  Others, worn down with toil and exposure, dragged their wearied bodies home to die, and now sleep in the quiet church-yards, where, with each recurring anniversary, surviving friends gather together, moisten with tears the graves, and with loving hands lay immortelles upon the green hillocks above them.  This is eminently proper.  The custom of strewing floral mementoes on the graves of departed friends is time-honored and ancient.  It is of Oriental origin, and we read that

and that each little velvet petal that spreads itself to the light contains a mystical language more powerful and sympathetic in its nature than tongue can express.  In ancient times, the people were as careful in guarding the memory of their dead, of embalming their virtues and erasing their errors, as they were mindful of their liberties.  This sweet privilege, through the long roll of years that have passed, has fallen a blessed boon to our people, and they have felt it a duty to recall the virtues and heroic deeds of noble sons who endured the stern discipline of the camp, and dared the storm of battle for a cause in which their hearts and natures were enlisted, and with spring's first flowers they garland the spot where they slumber in glorified rest

     Of the troops furnished to the National armies from this county, the Seventh Cavalry and the Fourth and Twenty-first Infantry received the larger number of men.  Among the commissioned officers of the Seventh Cavalry, from Bourbon, were the following: A. B. and J. C. Masoner, Ruddel's Mills; Thomas L. Scott, Paris; H. H. Talbott, Paris; Rev. M. J. W. Ambrose, Paris; W. W. Bradley, Berry Station; Jesse Bryant, Berry Station; William M. Bell, Paris, and perhaps others.  The Masoners were Quartermaster and Commissary of the Regiment; Rev. Ambrose was Chaplain, but resigned Sept. 6, 1863.  Jesse Bryant was promoted to Captain Feb. 7, 1863, and to Major, but never mustered as such.  Thomas L. Scott, promoted from Second to First Lieutenant, May 7, 1863, promoted to Captain, but not mustered as such - mustered out of service July 10, 1865.  H. H. Talbott, promoted from Sergeant, Company C, to Second Lieutenant, Company A, wounded at Hopkinsville, Dec. 16, 1864, and mustered out July 10, 1865; and William M. Bell, Second Lieutenant.  W. W. Bradley entered the service as Captain of Company D, was promoted to Major Feb. 6, 1863; to Lieutenant Colonel, Sept. 17, 1864, and mustered out July 10, 1865.  The following sketch of the Seventh Cavalry is from Gen. D. W. Lindsey's report as Adjutant General of Kentucky during the war:
     "This regiment was organized at Paris, Ky., in August, 1862, under Col. Leonidas Metcalfe, and was mustered into service by Maj. L. Sitgraves, United States mustering officer.  Before the regiment was thoroughly equipped or disciplined, they were ordered into active duty, and engaged in the battle of Big Hill, Ky., where they received the charge of the enemy under Gen. Kirby Smith, and lost many officers and soldiers in killed, wounded and prisoners.  Owing to the enemy having possession of nearly the entire State, the organization of the regiment was much retarded.  In October, 1862, under, command of Col. Faulkner (Col. Metcalfe having resigned), the Seventh was placed upon active duty, and assigned to the Department

Page 79 -

GLENWOOD
Residence of E. K. Thomas
Breeder of Short Horns
North Middletown, Ky

Page 80 - BLANK PAGE

Page 81 -

of the Cumberland.  It was in all the early engagements in Southern Kentucky and Tennessee, and by their gallant bearing and soldiery conduct upon many well-fought fields won the commendation of the commanding General."
     The regiment participated in the following-named battles, in which loss was sustained, in addition to several others not mentioned on the rolls, viz.: Big Hill, Richmond, Cynthiana and Hopkinsville, Ky.; Franklin, Triune and Nashville, Tenn.; La Fayette, Resaca, Ga.; Gainesville, King's Hill, Gadsden, Scottsville, Randolph and near Montgomery, Ala.  The veterans and recruits of this regiment were transferred to the 6th Kentucky Veteran Cavalry.
     The Fourth Kentucky Infantry drew quite a number of commissioned officers and privates from Bourbon.  Among the officers were the following: R. M. Kelly, who was promoted from Captain of Company K to Major of the regiment March 23, 1862; to Lieutenant Colonel Apr. 18, 1864; to Colonel, Aug. 25, 1864; mustered out of the service Aug. 16, 1865, and is now editor of the Louisville Daily Commercial.  John T. Croxton was promoted from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel Mar. 23, 1862; to Brigadier General Aug. 16, 1864; brevetted Major General, and resigned Dec. 26, 1865.  John A. Roberts, promoted from a private to Sergeant Sept. 1, 1861; to Second Lieutenant, Mar. 1, 1862; to First Lieutenant, Mar. 27, 1863; to Captain, June 17, 1865, and mustered out Aug. 17, 1865.  C. V. Ray, promoted from Second to First Lieutenant Jan. 12, 1862, and November 6, following, was appointed Adjutant.  Elliott Kelly, commissioned First Lieutenant Jan. 2, 1865.  N. M. Kelly was First Lieutenant Company D, and died at Lebanon, Ky., Jan. 12, 1862; and a large number of privates.  This regiment was organized at Camp Dick Robinson, under Col. Speed S. Fry, and mustered into the United States service Oct. 9, 1861, by Brig. Gen. George H. Thomas, United States mustering officer.  The regiment saw hard service, and in the sketch of it, given in the Adjutant's report, published by Gen. Lindsey, of Frankfort, he bestows upon it much praise.  He concludes his notice of it in the following words: "It received the praise and commendation of every general officer under whom it served, and the casualty list clearly shows it to have been ever foremost in the battle.  It participated in the following among other battles in which loss was sustained, viz.: Mill Springs, Ky.; Corinth, Miss.; Rolling Fork, Ky.; Tullahoma, Tenn.; Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Mission Ridge, Lafayette, Mason's Church, Newnan, Ga.; Pulaski, Tenn.; Shoal Creek, Ala.; Lewisburg Pike, Franklin and Lynnville, Tenn., etc."
     The Twenty-first Infantry also drew a large number of officers and privates from the county.  Among the former were M. M. Clay, S. R. Sharrard, L. W. Dunnington, E. B. Davidson, J. B. Buckner, J. R. Jameson, and perhaps others.  M. M. Clay entered the service as Captain of Company C, and resigned Oct. 3, 1862.  S. R. Sharrard, promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain Oct. 3, 1862, and resigned Apr. 7, 1864.  L. W. Dunnington, promoted from Sergeant to Second Lieutenant Apr. 12, 1864, transferred to Twenty-first Veteran Infantry, and mustered out of the service at Victoria, Tex., Dec. 9, 1865.  E. B. Davidson, promoted from Second to First Lieutenant Company C Oct. 3, 1862; to Captain.  Apr. 12, 1864; transferred to Twenty-first Veteran Infantry, and mustered out at Victoria, Tex., Dec. 9, 1865.  John B. Buckner entered the service as Orderly Sergeant, promoted to Second Lieutenant Oct. 3, 1862; to First Lieutenant Apr. 12, 1864; transferred to Company C, Twenty-first Veteran Infantry, and promoted to Captain Company K Jan. 18, 1865.  J. R. Jameson, promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain Feb. 27, 1862, and resigned June 12,1863.  The regiment contained, likewise, a large number of private soldiers from Bourbon. Indeed, Company C, Capt. Clay, was raised principally in Paris and the surrounding community.
     The first commander of the Twenty-first was B. L. Dudley, of Lexington, who died Feb. 20, 1862.  The regiment saw much hard fighting during the war.  The following extract is from its record in the Adjutant General's report: "After the retreat of Bragg from Kentucky, the regiment returned to Nashville, Tenn. On the 9th of December, 1862, it, with other regiments of the brigade, under command of Col. Stanley Matthews, while out for aging, were attacked near Dobbin's Ford by Wheeler's rebel cavalry.  The conduct of the Twenty-first on that occasion was highly commended by the brigade commander, and the following-named non-commissioned officers and men were complimented in field orders by Gen. Rosecrans for their gallant conduct, viz.: Sergt. J. F. Morton, Company F; Corp. Henry Stahel, Company A; Corp. J. P. Hagan, Company F; Private George P. Montjoy, Company A; Private Cassius Keger, Company A; Private Edward Welch, Company A; Private William Murphy, Company A; Private R. B. Clusin, Company F ; Private W. W. Oliver, Company F; Private John Morton, Company F ; Private B. S. Jones, Company F."
     It participated in the following battles, in which loss was sustained: Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, Pine Top, Kenesaw Mountain, Smyrna, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin and Nashville.

Page 82 -

     The following commissioned officers from Bourbon were in scattering regiments, viz.: Greenberry Reed, Captain in the Fortieth Infantry; C. B. Pettitt, First Lieutenant in same regiment; John W. Evans, Second Lieutenant in same regiment; Jesse Dennis, First Lieutenant in Fifty-third Infantry, and W. H. Drinkhard, First Lieutenant in the Fifty-fifth Infantry.  John T. Farris, Quartermaster of Fifth Cavalry, afterward promoted to Major of Ninth Cavalry, and resigned Nov. 10, 1862; John C. Brent, promoted from First Lieutenant Company B, to Major of Ninth Cavalry, Feb. 9, 1863, and mustered out with the regiment.  There may be other commissioned officers, that should be credited to Bourbon County, but we have scanned the Adjutant General's Report closely, and if such there be, he has overlooked them.
     The Confederate army received perhaps a larger number of recruits from this county than the opposite side.  Among the soldiers furnished to the South, were the following commissioned officers; Lieutenant Colonel, E. P. Clay; Major, Thomas Brent; Captains, James M. Thomas, B. G. Stoner, Harry Bedford, James Bedford, John Hope, Fowle, John B. Holladay, James Rogers, Hugh Henry, E. F. Spears; Lieutenants, James A. Allen, Samuel Hawes, William Talbott.  A. J. Lovely and Harry Boesh, John P. Talbott and Charles Benton, Surgeons.  Captain John Bradshaw was from Powell County, but is now a resident of this county.  Col. E. F. Clay raised a company, of which he was Captain, of fifty or sixty men, which rendezvoused at Prestonburg.  Capt. Clay was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and was wounded and taken prisoner at Puncheon Creek, in Magoffin County, Ky.  Of his old company, William Talbott was First Lieutenant, Harry Clay, Second Lieutenant, and James Rogers, Brevet Lieutenant.  The latter afterward resigned, and raised a company, of which be was made Captain.  A. J. Lovely entered as private, was brevetted Lieutenant, and afterward promoted Captain in Commissary Department.  This company was "D" of the "First Kentucky Rifles," John Williams, Colonel; and formed part of Gen. Humphrey Marshall's brigade.

END OF CHAPTER VII - Click Here to go to CHAPTER VIII - Page 83

CLICK HERE to Go to Table of Contents