Kentucky's Last Cavalier

Kentucky's Last Cavalier PDF

Author: Peter J. Sehlinger

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2004-05-07

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9780916968335

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"As this biography shows, Preston was Kentucky's last cavalier, the beau ideal of the Old South, a dashing defender of the old aristocracy both in the political realm and on the battlefield. His is a multidimensional story of power and privilege, family connections and gender roles, public service and proslavery politics. As Kentucky state historian James C. Klotter declares in the foreword, Preston's life "reveals much about his entire generation and his world.""--BOOK JACKET.

Touching America's History

Touching America's History PDF

Author: Meredith Mason Brown

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2014-01-01

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 0253008441

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Objects that make the past feel real, from a stone axe head to a piece of John Brown’s scaffold—includes photos. History isn’t just about abstract “isms”—it’s the story of real events that happened to real people. In Touching America’s History, Meredith Mason Brown uses a collection of such objects, drawing from his own family’s heirlooms, to summon up major developments in America’s history. The objects range in date from a Pequot stone axe head, probably made before the Pequot War in 1637, to the western novel Dwight Eisenhower was reading while waiting for the weather to clear so the Normandy Invasion could begin, to a piece of a toilet bowl found in the bombed-out wreckage of Hitler’s home in 1945. Among the other historically evocative items are a Kentucky rifle carried by Col. John Floyd, killed by Indians in 1783; a letter from George Washington explaining why he will not be able to attend the Constitutional Convention; shavings from the scaffold on which John Brown was hanged; a pistol belonging to Gen. William Preston, in whose arms Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston bled to death after being shot at the Battle of Shiloh; and the records of a court-martial for the killing by an American officer of a Filipino captive during the Philippine War. Together, these objects call to mind nothing less than the birth, growth, and shaping of what is now America. “Clearly written, buttressed by maps and portraits, Brown's book regales while showing the objectivity and nuance of a historian.”—Library Journal “A whole new way of doing history…a novel form of story-telling.”—Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

Kentucky Cavaliers In Dixie; Reminiscences Of A Confederate Cavalryman [Illustrated Edition]

Kentucky Cavaliers In Dixie; Reminiscences Of A Confederate Cavalryman [Illustrated Edition] PDF

Author: George Dallas Mosgrove

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1782898506

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Includes more than 20 Illustrations of the author’s unit and commanders. “George Dallas Mosgrove was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1844, and enlisted in the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry Regiment as a private on September 10, 1862. Through service as a clerk and orderly in both regimental and brigade headquarters, he became familiar with the environment of officers and command. His eyewitness account illuminates the western theater of the Civil War in Kentucky, east Tennessee, and southwest Virginia. Mosgrove admits to a romanticism influenced by Sir Walter Scott in his description of the superiority of the officers and "some of the boys" in his regiment. At the same time, his narrative includes unadorned passages that depict with stark honesty the sordidness of war and man’s inhumanity. Mosgrove provides firsthand information about military actions at Blue Springs, Saltville, and elsewhere, and relates details of his participation in John Hunt Morgan’s Last Kentucky Raid and the skirmish where Morgan was killed. Mosgrove’s highly entertaining account is a perceptive and informative retelling of the truth as he saw it.”-Print Ed.

Kentuckians in Gray

Kentuckians in Gray PDF

Author: Bruce S. Allardice

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-12-14

Total Pages: 477

ISBN-13: 0813194067

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Perhaps more than any other citizens of the nation, Kentuckians held conflicted loyalties during the American Civil War. As a border state, Kentucky was largely pro-slavery but had an economy tied as much to the North as to the South. State government officials tried to keep Kentucky neutral, hoping to play a lead role in compromise efforts between the Union and the Confederacy, but that stance failed to satisfy supporters of both sides, all of whom considered the state's backing crucial to victory. President Abraham Lincoln is reported to have once remarked, "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." Kentucky did side with Lincoln, officially aligning itself with the Union in 1861. But the conflicted loyalties of Kentucky's citizens continued to impact the state's role in the Civil War. When forced to choose between North and South, Kentuckians made the choice as individuals. Many men opted to fight for the Confederate army, where a great number of them rose to high ranks. With Kentuckians in Gray: Confederate Generals and Field Officers of the Bluegrass State, editors Bruce S. Allardice and Lawrence Lee Hewitt present a volume that examines the lives of these gray-clad warriors. Some of the Kentuckians to serve as Confederate generals are well recognized in state history, such as John Hunt Morgan, John Bell Hood, and Albert Sidney Johnston. However, as the Civil War slips further and further into the past, many other Confederate leaders from the Commonwealth have been forgotten. Kentuckians in Gray contains full biographies of thirty-nine Confederate generals. Its principal subjects are native Kentuckians or commanders of brigades of Kentucky troops, such as Morgan. The first complete reference source of its type on Kentucky Civil War history, the book contains the most definitive biographies of these generals ever assembled, as well as short biographical sketches on every field officer to serve in a Kentucky unit. This comprehensive collection recognizes Kentucky's pivotal role in the War between the States, imparting the histories of men who fought "brother against brother" more than any other set of military leaders. Kentuckians in Gray is an invaluable resource for researchers and enthusiasts of Kentucky history and the American Civil War.

The Most Hated Man in Kentucky

The Most Hated Man in Kentucky PDF

Author: Brad Asher

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-07-27

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0813181399

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A revealing biography of Stephen Gano Burbridge, the controversial Union Army general known as the “Butcher of Kentucky.” For the last third of the nineteenth century, Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge enjoyed the unenviable distinction of being the most hated man in Kentucky. From mid-1864, just months into his reign as the military commander of the state, until his death in December 1894, the mere mention of his name triggered a firestorm of curses from editorialists and politicians. By the end of Burbridge’s tenure, Governor Thomas E. Bramlette concluded that he was an “imbecile commander” whose actions represented nothing but the “blundering of a weak intellect and an overwhelming vanity.” In this revealing biography, Brad Asher explores how Burbridge earned his infamous reputation and adds an important new layer to the ongoing reexamination of Kentucky during and after the Civil War. Asher illuminates how Burbridge?as both a Kentuckian and the local architect of the destruction of slavery?became the scapegoat for white Kentuckians, including many in the Unionist political elite, who were unshakably opposed to emancipation. Beyond successfully recalibrating history’s understanding of Burbridge, Asher’s biography adds administrative and military context to the state’s reaction to emancipation and sheds new light on its postwar pro-Confederacy shift. “A solid reassessment of Kentucky’s most controversial and reviled Union general, and one that will help readers understand the state’s complex place (and Burbridge’s complex place) in Civil War history.” —Stuart W. Sanders, author of Murder on the Ohio Belle “A superb biography of one of the most pivotal figures in Kentucky’s Civil War history. . . . There has been a lot of revisionist literature in the last fifteen years on Kentucky’s belated Confederate identity but no work up to now has addressed Burbridge himself. Brad Asher has filled a very important gap in the literature on wartime and postwar memory of Kentucky.” —Aaron Astor, author of Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation and the Reconstruction of Kentucky and Missouri, 1860–1872 “Asher does a terrific job of weaving together the military, political, social, and economic threads that made Kentucky such a complex story in and of itself during the Civil War.” —Emerging Civil War Book Reviews

A Union Woman in Civil War Kentucky

A Union Woman in Civil War Kentucky PDF

Author: Frances Dallam Peter

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-12-21

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 0813155142

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Frances Dallam Peter was one of the eleven children of Union army surgeon Dr. Robert Peter. Her candid diary chronicles Kentucky's invasion by Confederates under General Braxton Bragg in 1862, Lexington's monthlong occupation by General Edmund Kirby Smith, and changes in attitude among the enslaved population following the Emancipation Proclamation. As troops from both North and South took turns holding the city, she repeatedly emphasized the rightness of the Union cause and minced no words in expressing her disdain for "the secesh." Peter articulates many concerns common to Kentucky Unionists. Though she was an ardent supporter of the war against the Confederacy, Peter also worried that Lincoln's use of authority exceeded his constitutional rights. Her own attitudes toward Black people were ambiguous, as was the case with many people in that time. Peter's descriptions of daily events in an occupied city provide valuable insights and a unique feminine perspective on an underappreciated aspect of the war. Until her death in 1864, Peter conscientiously recorded the position and deportment of both Union and Confederate soldiers, incidents at the military hospitals, and stories from the countryside. Her account of a torn and divided region is a window to the war through the gaze of a young woman of intelligence and substance.

The Chickamauga Campaign - Glory or the Grave

The Chickamauga Campaign - Glory or the Grave PDF

Author: David A. Powell

Publisher: Savas Beatie

Published: 2015-09-19

Total Pages: 745

ISBN-13: 1611212022

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David PowellÍs The Chickamauga Campaign„Glory or the Grave: The Breakthrough, Union Collapse, and the Retreat to Chattanooga, September 20-23, 1863 is the second volume in his magnificent projected three-volume study of this overlooked and largely misunderstood campaign. According to soldier rumor, Chickamauga in Cherokee meant ñRiver of Death.î The name lived up to that grim sobriquet in September 1863 when the Union Army of the Cumberland and Confederate Army of Tennessee waged a sprawling bloody combat along the banks of West Chickamauga Creek. This installment of PowellÍs tour-de-force depicts the final day of battle, when the Confederate army attacked and broke through the Union lines, triggering a massive rout, an incredible defensive stand atop Snodgrass Hill, and a confused retreat and pursuit into Chattanooga. Powell presents all of this with clarity and precision by weaving nearly 2,000 primary accounts with his own cogent analysis. The result is a rich and deep portrait of the fighting and command relationships on a scale never before attempted or accomplished. His upcoming third volume, Analysis of a Barren Victory, will conclude the set with careful insight into the fighting and its impact on the war, PowellÍs detailed research into the strengths and losses of the two armies, and an exhaustive bibliography. PowellÍs magnum opus, complete with original maps, photos, and illustrations, is the culmination of many years of research and study, coupled with a complete understanding of the battlefieldÍs complex terrain system. For any student of the Civil War in general, or the Western Theater in particular, PowellÍs trilogy is a must-read.

Enslavement in Kentucky

Enslavement in Kentucky PDF

Author: Marshall Myers

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2022-06-06

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 1439675090

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Between the time Daniel Boone led his settlers through the Cumberland Gap and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery was prominent in the Commonwealth. In several constitutional conventions, founders and lawmakers questioned the legality and appropriateness of the issue. At every possible juncture, wealthy slaveholders defended the institution, while abolitionists fought one another over the question of slavery. As a result of the fighting, the Thirteenth Amendment was not ratified until the 1970s. Author and historian Marshall Myers dives deep into the means both slaveholders and abolitionists used to secure a policy that supported their beliefs.

Contested Borderland

Contested Borderland PDF

Author: Brian D. McKnight

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2006-03-31

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 081314146X

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During the four years of the Civil War, the border between eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia was highly contested territory, alternately occupied by both the Confederacy and the Union. Though this territory was sparsely populated, the geography of the region made it a desirable stronghold for future tactical maneuvers. As the war progressed, the Cumberland Gap quickly became the target of invasion and occupation efforts of both armies, creating a chaos that would strain not only the soldiers but all those who called the area their home. Contested Borderland examines the features of the region's geography and the influence of the attacks on borderlands caught in the crossfire of the Union and Confederate forces. The land surrounding the Kentucky-Virginia border contained valuable natural resources and geographic features considered essential to each army's advancement and proliferation. While the Appalachian Mountains barred travel through large parts of the region, the gaps allowed quick passages through otherwise difficult terrain and thus became hotly contested areas. Brian D. McKnight explores the tensions between the accomplishment of military goals and the maintenance of civilian life in the region. With Kentucky remaining loyal to the Union and Virginia seceding to the Confederacy, populations residing between the two states faced pressure to declare loyalty to one side. Roadside towns found themselves the frequent hosts of soldiers from both sides, while more remote communities became shelters for those wishing to remain uninvolved in the conflict. Instead of committing themselves to either cause, many individuals claimed a neutral stance or feigned dedication to whichever side happened to occupy their land. The dual occupation of the Union and Confederate armies consequentially divided the borderland population, creating hostilities within the region that would persist long after the war's conclusion. Contested Borderland is the first Civil War study exclusively devoted to the border separating eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia. McKnight's unprecedented geographical analysis of military tactics and civilian involvement provides a new and valuable dimension to the story of a region facing the turmoil of war.