xt773n20cs06 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt773n20cs06/data/mets.xml Tarrant, Eastham. 1894 books b03-000000002 English [Press of R. H. Carothers, : Louisville, Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, 1st. History. United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Regimental histories United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Regimental histories The wild riders of the First Kentucky cavalry. A history of the regiment in the great war of the rebellion. 1861-1865, telling of its origin and organization: a description of the material of which it was composd; its rapid and severe marches, hard service, and fierce conflicts... A regimental roster. Prison life, adventures and escapes. By Sergeant E. Tarrant... Pub. by a committee of the regiment. text The wild riders of the First Kentucky cavalry. A history of the regiment in the great war of the rebellion. 1861-1865, telling of its origin and organization: a description of the material of which it was composd; its rapid and severe marches, hard service, and fierce conflicts... A regimental roster. Prison life, adventures and escapes. By Sergeant E. Tarrant... Pub. by a committee of the regiment. 1894 2002 true xt773n20cs06 section xt773n20cs06
THE WRILD RIDERS
OF THE
FIRST KENTUCKY
CAVALRYI
A HISTORY OF THE REGIMENT,
IN THE
GREAT
WAR OF THE
REBELLION
TELLING OF ITS ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION; A DESCRIPTION OF
THE MATERIAL OF WHICH IT WAS COMPOSED; ITS RAPID
AND SEVERE MARCHES, HARD SERVICE, AND FIERCE
CONFLICTS ON MANY A BLOODY FIELD.
PATHETIC SCENES, AMUSING INCIDENTS, AND THRIL-
LING EPISODES.
A REGIMENTAL
ROSTER.
PRISON LIFE, ADVENTURES AND ESCAPES.
BY
SERGEANT E. TARRANT,
A HEADQUARTER CLERK.
PUBLISHIED BY
A COMMITTEE OF THE REGIMENT.
COPYRIGHTED
BY
E. TARRANT,
W T. HUMPHREY,
JOHN J. ELLIOTT,
R T. PIERCE,
SILAS ADMAS
X894.
Press of
R. H. CAROTHZRS,
Louisville, Ky.
Electrotyped by
ROBERT ROWELL,
Louisville, Ky.
PREFACE.
As age stealthily creeps upon the soldier, he becomes garrulous,
and delights in taking his grandchildren upon his knees, and telling
them how he fought and suffered for his country in his younger
days. To revivify the memories of those who participated in the
thrilling scenes described in this work, and to hand down their
gallant deeds to posterity, are some of the objects of the follow-
ing narrative.
During the war, the Rev. W. H. Honnell, the chaplain of the
regiment, wrote many articles of our marches and fights, and had
them published, principally in the Louisville Journal. It was gener-
ally understood that, at the close of the war, he would have this
material arranged in book form and publish a history of the
regiment. Soon after the war closed, however, he left the State,
and became lost to those still remaining in the localities where the
regiment was raised, and the idea of having a history written, was,
for the time, dropped.
A few words in regard to how I became connected with this
work. In 1891, there was considerable talk among some of the
members of having a reunion of the First Kentucky Cavalry at
some suitable point. While in Hustonville, Ky., I happened to tell
PREFACE.
Dr. Hawkins Brown the desire for a reunion of the members, and
inquired if he was willing to contribute to the expenses. He re-
plied in the affirmative, but said that he would contribute far more
liberally to have a history of the regiment gotten up and published
in book form. On my return to Liberty, Ky., I repeated my con-
versation with Dr. Brown to Col. Adams and some others, but the
subject was dropped for some months. Sometime afterward, a
number of the members chanced to be together in Liberty, among
whom were Col. Silas Adams, Sergeant W. T. Humphrey, John A.
Lawhorn, John W. Wilkinson, J. 0. Staton and some others, and
a kind of impulse came upon them all that a history of the regi-
ment must, by all means, be published, and they applied to me to
write and compile the work. In vain I pleaded the want of a ple-
thoric pocket book, and that an abler and more brilliant pen should
undertake the difficult task of tracing the regiment in all of its
meanderings, and detailing its many unique exploits, in three and a
half years' hard service in the war. They insisted that I was the
proper one; that I had more to do with the records in war times
than any other in the command, and that I should be backed in
personal expenses, and the publication of the book.
A meeting of the regiment was called, through the neighboring
newspapers, and a good number met in the courthouse, at Liberty,
in December, 1891. Col. Adams addressed the assembly and ex-
plained the object of the meeting, and on motion, Sergeant W. T.
Humphrey, Sergeant R. T. Pierce, and Dr. I. C. Dye were ap-
pointed a Committee on the History, and W. T. Humphrey was
appointed Financial Secretary. At a later meeting, Dr. H. Brown
was present and presided, and contributed liberally to defray ex-
penses; others also subscribed to the fund.
I was formally selected and commenced my work. I traveled
over about five counties, and procured several valuable war diaries,
took notes and collected some other material. In June through
the Financial Secretary, W. T. Humphrey, I received from the War
Department, eighteen large volumes of the Official Records of the
PREFACE.
Rebellion, and I worked no longer in the dark. The reader has the
result of my researches and labor.
I do not claim that my work is free from errors. They are
found more or less in all histories. If I had at least a year's longer
time in reviewing and correcting both the composition and material,
there might have been less of them; but there has been somewhat
an impatient demand for my book to appear, and I have responded.
I do not offer it as a work of standard literature; therefore I have
labored but little to avoid the poisoned arrows of the critic. My
chief object has been to tell about the First Kentucky Cavalry-
what they did, and how; giving as high coloring as allowable to
their virtues, and charitably smoothing over as much as possible
their short comings, so that I did not interfere with the truth of
history.
I hereby acknowledge my indebtedness and tender my thanks
to the following persons for aid in the way of information, diaries,
sketches, notes, incidents and other ways: Mrs. Nancy Sims,
Cornishville, Ky.; Mrs. Louisa Jackman, Harrodsburgh; General
W. J. Landram, Lancaster; Chaplain W. H. Honnell, Bellefonte,
Kansas; Captain J. Brent Fishback, Winfield, Kansas; Maj. Geo.
W. Drye, Powar's Store; Captain Sam. M. Boone, Somerset; Cap-
tain John Smith, Louisville; Captain N. D. Burrus, Baldwin; Cap-
tain Phil. Roberts, Madison County; Captain Boston Dillion,
Lancaster; Captain F. W. Dillion, Crab Orchard; Captain Irvine
Burton, Marion, Kansas; also to Lieutenant J. E. Chilton, Louisville;
Lieutenant Thos. J. Graves, Mackville; Lieutenant Vincent Peyton,
Ellisburg; Lieutenant Warren Lamme, Hustonville; Lieutenant
Abraham Grubb, Oakland City, Ind.; to Captain J. E. Huffman,
Hustonville, (for Lieut. R. E. Huffman's letter on Stoneman Raid);
Dr. H. Brown, Hustonville; Lieutenant Granville Vaught, Indiana;
J. F. Early, Wilbur, Neb.; E. Dresser, Kansas. Also to the fol-
lowing privates and non-commissioned officers: John A. Gillespie,
Jenkinsville; Cornelius Vanoy, Stanford; H. C. Gillespie, Mack-
ville; J. E. King, Humphrey; A. J. Rigney, Mayfield; A. C.
Vi. PREFACE.
Carman, Hubble; Jacob S. Bruton, Burkesville; Dr. 1. C. Dye,
Middleburg; D. R. Totten, Gano; John W. Wilkinson, Texton
Sharpe, W. T. Humphrey, J. J. Elliott, and R. T. Pierce, Liberty;
Buford Kinnett, Marion County; Jas. Sandusky, M. E. Purdy,
Casey Co.; John A. Lawhorn and others of Casey County.
EASTHAM TARRANT.
LIBERTY, Ky.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.-INTRODUCTION- - I1
CHAPTER II.-ORIGIN OF THE REGIMENT-ORGANIZA-
TION OF COMPANIES A, B, AND C - 8
CHAPTER III.-ARRIVAL AT CAMP DICK ROBINSON-
SCENES IN CAMP - 11
CHAPTER IV.-COMPANIES D, E, F, H, I, J, K, AND L
JOIN THE REGIMENT-ORGANIZATION OF REGIMENT 17
CHAPTER V.-ARRIVAL OF GEN. NELSON-EXPEDITION
TO LEXINGTON-VISIT OF ANDREW JOHNSON AND
GEN. ROBERT ANDERSON - 24
CHAPTER VI.-GEN. GEO. H. THOMAS IN COMMAND-
SCOUTING EXPEDITIONS TO VARIOUS POINTS-OR-
GANIZATION OF FIRST BRIGADE .------------------------33
CHAPTER VII.-BATTLE OF CAMP WILD CAT-NOTES _. 41
CHAPTER VIII.-MOVEMENTS TO VARIOUS POINTS-CON-
DITION OF AFFAIRS IN KENTUCKY-ARRIVAL OF
GEN. THOMAS-NOTE. 49
CHAPTER IX.-BATTLE OF MILL SPRINGS-DEATH OF
ZOLLICOFFER-SCENES AND INCIDENTS-NOTES . 57
CHAPTER X.-WOLFORD MOVES TO CAMP RIGNEY,
THENCE TO BARDSTOWN AND GLASGOW-LIEUT. COL.
LETCHER 'S SERVICES ON THE BIG SANDY 66
CHAPTER XI.-ORDERED TO NASHVILLE-INCIDENTS ON
T1HE WAY .--- - -.74
CHAPTER XII.-BATTLE OF LEBANON-NOTES .. . 81
CHAPTER XIII.-SERVICE IN TENNESSEE-INCIDENTS.. 92
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XIV.-MAIRCH TO REYNOLD'S STATION AND
TO MURFREESBORO-STARTING FOR LOUISVILLE -
N OTES -101
CHAPTER XV.-THE MARCH FROMI MURFREESBORO,
TEN-N., TO ELIZABETHTOWN, KIY.-NAOTES AND IN-CI-
DENTS - 107
CHAPTER XVI.-BATTLE OF PER RYVILLE AND PURSUIT
OF BRAGG- 116
CHAPTER XVII .-ORDERED TO NASHVILLE-BUELL RE-
LIEVED BY ROSECRANS-THE REGIMENT RETURNS
TO KENTUCKY - 125
CHAPTER XVIII.-PEGRAM'S RAID IN CENTRAL KE N-
TUCKY-BOONE'S CHARGE THROUGH THE EN-EMY'S
CAMP-MRS. JACKMAN A-ND VAUGHN-NOTES - 133.
CHAPTER XIX.-GUARDING THE CUMBERLAND-VARI-
OUS ADVENTURES - ...---- ...--..----155
CHAPTER XX-GEN. BURNSIDE IN COMMAND-SAN-
DERS 'S RAID INTO EAST TENNESSEE-NOTES -.-.- 165
CHAPTER XXI.-MORGAN'S RAID THROUGH KENTUCKY,
INDIANA, AND OHIO-THE PURSUIT AND CAPTURE-
NOTES -.---------------------- 173
CHAPTER XXII.-CAPT. DRYE CAPTURES ONE OF MOR-
GAN'S SQUADS-THE SCOTT RAID-A HUNDRED-MILE
CHASE -- - 189
CHAPTER XXIII.-BURNSIDE 'S MOVEMENT INTO EAST
TENNESSEE - WOLFORD COMMANDS THE BRIGADE
AND ADAMS THE REGIMENT ------------------------ 196
CHAPTER XXIV.-THE ADVANCE TO CONNECT WITH
ROSECRANS -.--.----.--..---- .-- .--.209
CHAPTER XXV.-ON OUTPOST DUTY SOUTH OF TEN-
NESSEE RIVER-ADAMS RESCUES THE WAGON-TRAIN
-NOTES - 222
CHAPTER XXVI.-GUARDING APPROACtIES TO KNOX-
VILLE-SCOUTING SOUTH OF THE HOLSTON-HERAVY
FIGHTING-ESCAPE OF ROBERTS AND CARR - 235
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XXVII. BURNSIDE CONCENTRATES AT KNOX-
VILLE-GALLANT FIGHTING-DEATH OF GEN. SAN-
DERS -245
CGHAPTER XXVIII.-SIEGE OF KNOXVITLLE-CHANGES
IN OFFICERS-SHERMAN TO THE RESCUE-NOTES 2,50
CHAPTER XXIX.-FFOM KNOXVILLE TO BEAN'S STATION
AND BACK -26tJ
C('HAPTER XXX.-SCOUTING AND FIGHTING BE TWEEN
THE HOLSTON AND FRENCH BROAD -277
CIHAPTER XXXI.-SOUTH OF THE FUENCH BROAD-OR-
DERED BACK TO KENTUCKY-AT MT. STERLING -2S5
CHAPTER XXXII.-TH-IRILLING ADVENTURE OF CHAP-
LAIN HONNELL-REFITTING AND REORGANIZING IN
KENTUCKY - 295
CHAPTER XXXIII.-WOLFORD's ARREST-SCOUTING-
THE REGIMENT UNITES AT NICHOLASVILLE -FARE-
WELL OF WOLFORD 303
CHAPTER XXXIV.-STONEMAN IN COMMAND OF THE
CAVALRY-THE MARCH TO GEORGIA -314
CHAPTER XXXV. CHANGES IN COMMANDERS-SHER-
MAN MOVES ON JOHNSTON-FROM DALTON TO THE
ETOWAH-MARCHING AND FIGHTrNG -320
CHAPTER XXXVI.-FROM THE ETOWAH TO ATLANTA-
BATTLES AND MARCHES-333
CHAPTER XXXVII.-STONEMAN'S RAID TO MACON-
ADAMS BRINGS OFF THE BRIGADE-HUFFMAN'S NAR-
RATIVE-SUFFERINGS AND ADVENTURES OF HEL-
LARD, RIGNEY, SMITH AND OTHIERS -. 357
CHAPTER XXXVIII.-BACK TO KENTIUCi Y-EXPEDI-
TION TO SALTVILLE-SCOUTING-THE FURLOUGH
HOME-ANECDOTE OF MAJOR KEEN -381
TAABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XXXIX.-ROSTER OF THE FIRST KETNTUCKY
VOLUNTEER CAVALRY --91
Field and Staff --- -92
Company A ------
Company B ---4
Company C - - 410
Company D- 41S
C omnq,) y E - - 424
Company F --- - 19
Comp ny G - - -435
Companly H - - 441
Company I - -447
Company J- - 458
Company K - - 459
Company I-- 4 6-)'
CHAPTER XL.-THE MUSTER OIJT -- --4
ADDENDA-PPRISON- LiFE, ADVENTURES AND EsC(.APES-
Capt. Irvine Burton- -473
James E. King and Others- 475
Sorg. James E. Gillespie------------------------- 484
Dr. I. C. Dye -488
Alexander C. Carman- -- 495
This page in the original text is blank.
COL. SILAS ADAMS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY - KENTUCKY - EARLY SETTLEMENT - BRIBES
AND TEMPTATIONS-POLITICS-TRANSITIONS-ATTITUDE IN
REGARD TO THE UNION-PACIFICATIO-N-SLAVERY-GREAT
MEN'S VIEwS-ELECTION OF 180THE IMPENDIN- STORM
-POSITION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR-ORIGIN OF
THE FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY REGIMENT.
Before commnencilng a history of the First Kentucky Cav-
alry Regiment, a brief account of Kentucky's politics and its
attitude in regard to the Union will be given fromn its first set-
tlemient, to the beginning of the W\rar of Secession. During that
time its politics went through several transitions. Its first per-
manent settlement began at the time of the colonial conflicts
with the mother country. The pioneers had to contend with
wily anid hostile savages. Their loved ones were at their
mercy. Appeals for aid were a long time fruitless. Virginia
and her sister colonies had at the time all they could do to
defend themselves and prosecute the war for independence.
To add to the perplexities and difficulties of the pioneer set-
tler's situation, there were several conflicting claims to the
Territory, but Virginia established the most weighty, if not
the best claim.
Left alone in their almost helpless condition to take care
of themselves, it is not strange that some of Kentucky's
leading citizens should listen to the voice of the foreign in-
triguer. Magnificent bribes were held out-the free naviga-
tion of the Mississippi river, and beneficial alliances with
western territories then belonging to foreign powers. These
tempting offers were calculated to make the most patriotic
waver in their allegiance. These hardy pioneers, too, were
separated from the other colonies by hundreds of miles of
trackless wilderness. After the new Federal Government was
A
FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY.
formed it was too weak for some time to give material aid.
Every attempt for some years to gain admission as a State
was repulsed. Even with all these drawbacks, Kentucky at
last emerged unsullied. Attachment to the kindred race, in-
vincible affection for the legal government, and the voice of
patriotism prevailed. She became a bright star in the new
republic.
On the adoption of the Federal Constitution many alarm-
ists doubted the stability of the government; many opposed
those provisions of that instrument which made it the su-
preme law of the land, fearing if put into practical opera-
tion it would have rnonarchial tendencies.
Kentucky soon after becoming a State, like other oppon-
ents of the Federal Constitution, became frightened at the
Alien and Sedition Laws passed under John Adams' adminis-
tration, and, through John Breckinridge, representative from
Fayette county, presented to the State legislature the cele-
brated Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, which were almost
unanimously adopted. These resolutions advocated the most
extreme nullification doctrine. Some seven other State
legislatures vehemently repudiated them. Little did the
advocates of these measures dream of the bitter fruits they
would bear sixty-three years afterward.
But in a few years it will be seen there was a change in
Kentucky's politics. The second war with England was.
brought about and successfully terminated for the United
States. The doubting Thomases had a little more confidence
in the strength of our national Union. Our great Republic
grew in wealth and population in spite of the croakers. In
the course of time a new disturbing element made its appear-
ance in our national politics.
The discovery and settlement of America was at the dawn
of a new era in the Old World. Learning had revived; the
Reformation soon commenced, but one relic of those past
ages was handed down to us and fastened upon our colonies,
which was destined in after years to shake our Union to its
very foundation-that of slavery.
Slavery had existed in all ages, and among almost all
countries, in various forms and degrees; but the slaves of
former times were chiefly war captives. The slavery fastened
FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY.
on our colonies was of the most objectionable kind-that of
commerce or traffic. It might have died in an incipient
stage, but in the first year of William and Mary's reign, an
act was passed making the slave trade free and open to all
subjects of the English crown. Though hunting and stealing
human beings for traffic had already been practiced to some
extent in Africa, yet this nefarious practice was much aggra-
vated by the new demand of European and American colo-
nies caused by this act.
Slavery soon vanished in the Northern States. It is not
the Author's purpose to tell why it vanished; it may have
been that climate had something to do with it; it may have
been that slavery was unprofitable in the North; it may have
been that the peculiar habits and disposition of the people
of the North, inherited from their Puritan ancestors, was
potent in extinguishing it.
But slavery flourished and grew in the warm and genial
land of the South. It may have been the inherited and cul-
tivated habits of the cavalier, or the invention of the cotton
gin, which caused that staple to be enthroned so many years
as king, which made her people adhere so tenaciously to this
exotic production. But the most eminent fathers of our
Union were opposed to slavery in principle. Washington,
Hamilton, Franklin and John Adams, on the Federal side,
and Patrick Henry and James Madison, on the Republican
or Democratic side, all repudiated the principles of slavery;
and Thomas Jefferson was the most opposed to slavery of
all. Washington, in his will, provided for the emancipation
of his 500 slaves, and said to Jefferson that it was among his
" first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery
would be abolished by law."
According to the best authority accessible at this time
when the Constitution was formed at Philadelphia, in 1787,
most of the members of the convention were opposed to it
and it would have been expunged from the land, if Georgia,
and South Carolina had not insisted on its recognition as a
condition of their joining the Union. In order to avoid
perpetuating it in the organic law, the words " slave " and
" slavery " were excluded from it.
Later on, the greatest statesmen in our country, with the
FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY.
possible exception of John C. Calhoun, were opposed to the
institution sentimentally: Clay, Webster, all were opposd to
it. Lawrence, of South Carolina, though a large slaveholder,
believed it an element of weakness in his own State. Many
of the leading men in later years were pro-slavery for the
sake of the Union, and some for party strength.
But to return to Kentucky. As Kentucky grew in wealth,
population and intelligence, under the leadership of her
great Henry Clay, she changed from State sovereignty nulli-
fication proclivities to a Union-loving, law-abiding member
of the Union. The slavery question never made a serious
disturbance in our national councils until the admission of
Missouri in 1820. The whole country was then agitated, a
dissolution of the Union threatened, and serious consequences
might have ensued, if the State, through her favorite son,
Mr. Clay, had not assumed the role of a pacificator, and
effected a compromise, which averted the danger. Again,
when trouble came up over the Tariff Bill of 1882, Mr. Clay
warded off the danger by a compromise satisfactory to both
parties. Upon the admission of California in 1850, a dissolu-
tion of the Union seemed imminent, but the Omnibus Bill of
the great Commoner poured oil upon the troubled waters and
the Union was saved for the time.
The people of Kentucky indorsed Mr. Clay in all of his
Union measures, as shown by their votes for him, and those
of his own household of faith, whenever they had a chance
at the polls.
As a sample of the Union sentiments of Kentucky's patri-
otic son, the Author makes the following brief extracts:
" Kentucky views disunion, itself, as one of the greatest of
evils, and a remedy for nothing." On another occasion, in
reply to John C. Calhoun: " I owe a paramount allegiance
to the whole country-a subordinate one to my own State.'
When the somber cloud appeared in the political atmos-
phere after the election of Mr. Lincoln in 1860, the great
mass of the people of Kentucky were sad, and stood aghast
at the impending storm. It was not on account of timidity,
or want of courage, as charged by the extremists of both
sections. The descendants of the Shelbys, Boones, Estills,
Logans, and others of the kind, still peopled the land, and the
4
FIRST KENTUCKY CAYALRY.
blood of their ancestors still coursed in their veins. The
record of Kentucky's troops at Frenchtown, the river Raisin,
Tippecanoe and Thames in the Northwest, and at New Or-
lealls in the South, in the War of 1812, and still later, on
the bloody fields of Mexico, disproved the charge.
The principal cause why the people of Kentucky hesitated,
they did not wish to imbrue their hands in fraternal blood.
Manly Kentuckians had peopled the younger Northwestern
States, and the people generally had intimate social and
commercial relations with the South. Encumbered with the
same institutions as the cotton States, the people were con-
vinced that if the secession, or disunion prevailed, that no
matter which side the State took, slavery was practically
destroyed within its boundaries.
When the threatening clouds hovered over the land,
thotighi the State government was principally in the hands
of the Southern sympathizers, yet the great mass of the
people stood, as they had stood, for the past forty years, for
the Union, for pacification, and for compromise.
It will not be denied that there were several different
phases of Unionism. There were many, no doubt, who es-
poused the Union cause for the better protection of their
slave property. Policy has much influence with the best of
men. There were others who were for the Union, provided
that all institutions remained intact. But the great mass of
Union-loving people were for the preservation of the Union
paramount to all other questions, and willing to let the
slavery problem solve itself. The Author is happy to state
that many slave owners belonged to the last-named class;
and on the other side, he was acquainted with many of the
most violent Secessionists, whose families, as Pasron Brown-
low once remarked, " never owned as much as a nigger's
toe nail."
The Union strength of Kentucky was shown in the presi-
dential election in 1860, which gave the candidates represent-
inig loyal sentiments 40,000 more votes than were given to her
talented son, John C. Breckenridge, who, in all probability,
would have carried the State by a large majority, if it had
not been that he represented the Secession wing of the Demo-
cratic party. Again, at a special election for members of
FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY.
Congress, in obedience to the call of the President for an
extra session, July 1, 1861, when not a single United States
soldier trod the State's soil, the vote stood 92,365 for the
Union, and 36,995 for Secession. It would be too tedious to
analyze all the votes taken in those days on the subject.
Enough is given to show that in taking up arms to defend
the general government, the Union men of Kentucky neither
violated national sovereignty, nor the Secessionists favorite
dogma, State Sovereignty.
The Kentucky legislature assembled January 17, 1861,
and adjourned, May 24th. The Senate resolved,
" That Kentucky will not sever connection with the Na-
tional Government nor take up arms for either belligerent
party; but arm herself for the preservation of peace within
her borders; and tender their services as moderators to effect
a just and honorable peace."
The above resolution passed the Senate, but it was not
stern enough loyalty to suit the House of Representatives:
it failed in that body.
For the Neutrality Doctrine, which was earnestly insisted
on by Governor Magoffin after the State failed to secede, and
partially adopted by the legislature, Kentucky was severely
cenisured, and sometimes vilified by extremists of both sec-
tions. Mr. Horace Greeley, in his history, though generally
moderate and fair in most things, criticised without mercy
the vacillating policy, as he termed it, of the State. But Mr.
Greeley hiniself was, for a while, in favor of letting the erring
Southern brethren go. The greatest minds in the country
were astounded at the magnitude of the threatened convul-
sion, and were puzzled to know the best policy to adopt to
to save our great Republic. It is not the purpose of the Au-
thor to defend the neutral position of the State, which was
for a time partially attempted to be adhered to by the State,
and somewhat advocated by the conservative men of both
parties.
Education in its broad sense has much to do with man's
conscience and beliefs. The patriotic conservative men of
the North, while willing to let slavery alone for the sake of
union and harmony, were educated to believe slavery was
wrong, and had prejudices against it; but Kentucky being a
FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY.
slave state, its people were educated to believe slavery a di-
vine institution; yet standing on the middle ground between
extremists of both sections, they were also educated by its
greatest Statesmen in a love for the Union, and for pacifica-
tion; therefore, they thought it best to stay the angry tide
for a while, to pause, and try the usual antidote of compro-
nilse.
Historians of both sides have, to some extent, erroneously
construed the intentions of the neutral position of the State.
Some may have understood it to have been intended as per-
manent, but the true Union men who advocated neutrality
understood it to be only for a temporary purpose. It was to
stop hostilities until all means had failed to effect a compro-
mise. If nothing could ward off the fratricidal strife, then
they deemed it a duty to array themselves on the side of the
National Government and fight for the Union our fore-
fathers had formed. All men of sagacity knew that niou-
trality could not be maintained amid the fierce conflict of
arms. But all efforts and measures for conciliation failed;
and the true, loyal men of the State were eager to offer their
bodies as living sacrifices to that Union which they so much
loved. The spirit which animated this class may be better
voiced by the speech of General Lovell H. Rousseau in the
Kentucky Senate, May 22, 1861.
" When Kentucky goes down, it will be inl blood. Let that
be understood. She will not go down as other States have
gone. Let the responsibility rest on you wA-here it belongs.
It is all your work, and whatever happens will be your work.
We have more right to defend our government than you have
to overturn it. Many of us are sworn to support it. Let our
good Unioni men at the South stand their ground. I know
that many patriotic hearts in the seceded States still beat
warmly for the old Union-the old flag. The time will come
when we all will be together again. The politicians are hav-
ing their day; the people will yet have theirs. I have an
abiding confidence in the right, and I know this Secession
movement is all wrong. There is, in fact, not a single sub-
stantial reason for it. If there is, I should be glad to hear
it. Our government has never oppressed us as much as a
feal-her's weight. The direst oppression alone could justify
what has brought all our present suffering upon us. May
God, in his mercy, save our glorious Republic."
FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY.
It is claimed by Confederate historians-and this is one
of their excuses for their army invading Kentucky-that the
government violated Kentucky's neutrality by empowering
General Wm. Nelson to recruit and organize troops at Camp
Dick Robinson. This class of writers always conceals the
fact, that, before any Union troops were organized on IKen-
tucky soil, General Felix K. Zollicoffer, of the Confederate
army, had already seized Cumberland Cap immediately on
the State line, and held it with a formidable force, as a men-
ace to the State. The days of neutrality had passed, its ob-
jects had failed, and the conflict had begun. The people, of
the State had in decisive tones given their voices to remain
in the Union. The life of the government was at stake. The
organic law of the United States, which all colonies and
after territories had to agree to before becoming members of
the Union, made that instrument the supreme law of the
land. The President had been put in office by the legal votes
of the people. A great rebellion had sprung up, and it was the
duty of every loyal citizen to assist in defending the life of
his government. It was this cause which inspired the recruit-
ing and organizing of the four Kentucky regiments, one bat-
tery, and two loyal East Tennessee regiments at Camp Dick
Robinson, in Garrard county.
CHAPTER II.
ORIGIN OF THE FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY, BETTER KNOWNIN
UNTIL THE CLOSINGYEARS OF TH:E WAR AS W\VOLFOPD'S CAV-
ALRY-THE THIRD, FOURTH AND SEVENTH INFANTRY, AND
HEWITT'S BATTERY-GEN. WILLIAM NELSON-W. J. LAN-
DRAM, FRANK WOLFORD, CAPT. S. S. FRY, JUDGE BRAM-
LETTE, HON. T. T. GARRARD AND OTHERS-ENLISTMENT
AND ORGANIZATION OF COMPANIES A, B AND C-RENDEZ-
VOUS TO MARCH TO CAMP DICK ROBINSON.
War being inevitable, and hostilities already having com-
menced, the loyal men of Kentucky were eager to show t' eir
devotion to the cause which they espoused. Lieut. William
Nelson, of the Navy, himself a Kentuckian, had been com-
FIRST KENTTUCKY CAVALRY.
missioned as Brigadier General, and had been given author-
ity to organize troops for the national defense in Kentucky.
HJe arrived at Lancaster, in Garrard county, July 15, 1861.
He immediately nmade the following appointments: Wm. J.
LandranI, Colonel, and Frank Wolford, Limut. Colonel of the
Cavalry Regiment; Judge Thomas E. Bramlette, Cap-
tain S. S. Fry, and the Hon. T. T. Garrard, Colonels of In-
fantry regiments. All of these officers, except Judge Bram-
lette, had served in the Mexican War, and were selected on
account of their military experience, as well as their known
adherence to the cause of the Union. Commissions similar
to the following were issued by Gen. Nelson to the officers
named:
To Wm. J. LANDRAM, OF LANCASTER, Ky.:
By virtue of authority vested in me by the War Depart-
ment, You are hereby appointed to be Colonel of the regi-
ment of Cavalry authorized for the Tennessee expedition.
This appointment will continue in force until further notice.
W. NELSON.
LANCASTER, KY., JIuIly 15, 1361.
Lieut. Colonei Wolford was notified of his appointment,
and the two jointly commenced the work of recruiting for
the First Kentucky Cavalry-Wolford speaking in Casey and
other