Ramblings on Campbell County in the War

 For the past few years, of course, I have been researching individual soldiers/sailors who ever lived, died or are buried in Campbell County and finding their stories, hopefully to share them some day.

I have shared a few in posts on here and am still working on a couple more, with other ideas in store, but I have also started looking more at the county as a whole in the war. One person had suggested that as a topic for a book, and though I am not sure about that, recent discoveries have really opened my mind to exploring that angle of the war and writing some on the county home front during those years. I kind of figured that was a bit out of my league and too much to do, but some "exciting new developments" in recent weeks might have me rethinking what my project should be. Or if "project" should become "projects." 

I recently completed a story on James Guthrie, who was in charge of the fatigue forces in northern Kentucky during the "Siege of Cincinnati." I discovered a lot of details about that time period that I had not seen before, such as orders he had given about watercarts, impressing horses, and trouble having enough volunteers to fill the positions. His story in this time provides some very good insight into Campbell County and the area as a whole in that timeframe.

Some of his orders went to Henry Gassaway, the Provost Marshal of the county, and his story - including his arrests of numerous county citizens for disloyalty (one story mentioned 38! Campbell County residents being sent to Camp Chase at one time) and his dismissal from the position, after which a newspaper called him a tyrant - surprised me. I never thought I would read about a "tyrant" in this little place, so far away from the major fighting and the largest political factories. His story also shows new aspects of the county's war experience that I had not known of before. 

As often as I've heard or even talked about the "Siege of Cincinnati," especially in the halcyon days of the Ramage Museum, I still just learned quite a bit of information about the day-to-day operations that was new to me. It's almost embarrassing that I did not know some of this until now. Why didn't I research this period more ten or fifteen years ago?

Another man, a Connecticut born lawyer and politician, George P. Webster (not the same George Webster who died at Perryville) was a fervent Union supporter during the war, attending many meetings and giving quite a few speeches to round up support for the cause. He adds a layer of understanding to the political side of the county, and accounts I find about him in the newspapers often mention other names of prominent Union men in the area. Again, this is a new area of studying for me. 

These are just three men, but their stories, and the other names and stories to which they are connected just open more doors for exploration and study. I have gathered quite a bit of information on both Union and Southern supporters in the county. I have seen a few of the same names in several stories where I did not expect them, helping me connect these men and their causes together. Their actions did not happen in a vacuum. It can be confusing at times, but also clarifies just how complicated the county's situation was.

I also learned about two controversies over the status (free or slave) of African-American men in the county one in 1860, the other in 1861, both of which tie in the county's struggles to the nation's as a whole. One was mentioned on a local genealogy site that I frequently check, yet I had never seen it, and while researching this story, I found another similar situation. Webster was involved in these cases, but in my early research into them, I found a possible example of corruption by at least one county official, with it perhaps extending even into a minor conspiracy, though I need to research that and think about if I want to make that accusation based on what I've found, or just relate what I know to be true and not try to create a story that I cannot prove. 

Just these three stories by themselves have given me a lot of information about the effects of the war in this county and on its citizens. Studying the individual soldiers also did that, of course, but these three have provided so much more of what was happening right here on Campbell County soil during that time, instead of what county citizens were experiencing elsewhere. 

It really is eye-opening about what happened and just how many areas of exploration are out there and just how little I know. There is just so much more than I ever imagined or had heard. I wonder if anybody in the county has ever realized all of this. Has somebody else done this work but I've just not ever seen it? I feel like I'm covering new ground (and obviously am to myself) and that's a bit exciting too. Even if none of this becomes a book or website, at least I can share some of it on social media and give information to the local historical society where others might see it. My "attempted book" under its original format is now over 200,000 words, which blows my mind, and that's just focusing on the individual stories, not the county's home front. Who knows how much more I will write, as I have plenty of ideas of what else to explore and to ponder. 

Kentucky, of course, was a border state, and Campbell County, along the Ohio River at the northernmost part of the state, was a border county. As I read about some of the activity in Newport, the phrase "border town in a border county of a border state" has stuck with me and will probably be one of the themes I try to explore further. Only a few places in the nation were more on the "border" than this county and its residents, and I'm learning more and more about the strong Union patriotism that existed alongside quite a bit of Southern support. I had always thought that described Kentucky as a whole, but to find specific examples on both sides here in my home county has surprised me. I guess I just never looked at the right places and explored the right issues before. That's too bad, but better now than never.

I also just found an account of soldiers from a USCT unit shaking a resident's apple trees to get apples. The person's wife was at home and told them there were enough apples on the ground, but they yelled at her and called her names. Something like that won't affect my overall project at all but was pretty neat to find and is a reminder that daily life did go on outside of pure military or political activities. (A colonel of a regiment wrote a quick note that steps had been taken to stop such depredations, but I have not found any specifics. I doubt any still exist.)

The more I research, the more fascinating and fun this project gets. I am quite lucky in that regard. This is truly enjoyable, and though my reading and studying of the war in general has slowed down in these recent years, my knowledge of the local situation during that time is much better. The several Cincinnati newspapers of the time provided a lot of coverage.

Thoughts on My Ongoing Research and Learning

I know I haven’t posted much lately, other than occasional items in Facebook, but I am still researching and writing about local Civil War soldiers, and have been surprised by how much I’m learning, especially recently.

A few weeks ago, I started two stories in a pair of men whose stories seemed potentially intriguing. That intuition proved correct and it now appears my work on each will surpass5,000 words, which is high composted to most of my other writings.

One of these men is James Abert, who was a topographical engineer and explorer in the years and decades before the war, then a staff officer during most of the conflict  A quick Internet search turns up plenty of information about him, more than I had imagined, so perhaps my story is unnecessary, but I like to try to use my words to tell of such lives and I think my use of a combination of information from these sources as well as local newspaper reports will create something different than the others.

I also try to use direct quotes from him to add his voice to this work. sometimes I think I use too many quotes (from other articles and stories as well), but I do like how this piece is coming together. I’m really close to calling it finished and focusing on other stories.

However it ends up, his life story has been enjoyable for me to study and I’ve learned a lot about him and his role in the exploration of western territories, his part in the war, and his involvement in society in and around Campbell County.

I am, however, curious about how he pronounced his name. His grandfather had come to North America from France during the American Revolution. Did the family kept a French prononciation, such as “Ah-bear” or had they anglicized it and said it how it looks to modern Americans, i.e. rhyming with pray-bert? I doubt I’ll find any paperwork resolving that.

In a similar vein, James Guthrie was an officer whose name I came across on a piece of ephemera I purchased. I don’t know why I had not examined his career before, but he organized the 1st and 2nd Kentucky Infantry regiments (in Ohio, while Kentucky was “neutral” early in the war), but then he was in charge of the fatigue forces during the ”Siege of Cincinnati.” I’ve heard and shared the story of that episode many, many times, especially when the Ramage Museum was open, and even on here, but I’m finding out many smaller details about the day-to-day operations of the military locally during those few weeks, such as orders that leaders like Guthrie issued and problems they faced. The larger overview of the story is that tens of thousands of people willingly lived under martial law and worked to defend the area as the Confederates neared, but it was not so simple or ideal. I’m learning about some issues that arose  and I’m almost even embarrassed that I had not done this kind of research earlier. This story has truly fascinated me and significantly increased my understanding of the reality of that “siege.”

Studying Guthrie has also helped me find stories of some southern sympathizers in Campbell County. I still plan to focus on Union troops right now, with so much information already gathered, but I now have a couple more and much better leads about the other side of the story, or at least about Union officials taking political prisoners. I have seen a couple of letters from citizens and some oaths of allegiance some men took. I have not told that story much, but now am much more prepared to do do, because of information I’ve found while looking into Guthrie’s story, which led me to Henry Gassaway, a Provost Marshall who made some of those arrests and created some controversy in the county.

I’ve also taken a bit of a break from simply researching and writing about these soldiers and returned to my original idea of confirming names/information about local soldiers. I have found and confirmed several more names, but also a few more questions such as one man whose obituaries state he was a soldier, (one even states he fought at Shiloh under General McClellan, LOL), but do not mention a unit. Doing this kind of research again has been fun, though still challenging as I still have a lot of partial names I have not confirmed. Still, the progress I have recently made has been satisfying.

That said, I did start on a couple other stories that I thought would be shorter or “easier” than the Abert and Guthrie ones, but both have turned out to be different than I expected, one because his grandfather was a Revolutionary War soldier (as were a pair of his grandfather’s brothers) and Campbell County  pioneer, and the other because some records indicate he had a brother (or two?) in the Civil War, while other records don’t show those additional names. Figuring out what really happened will be a task, plus his father was a local businessman and politician for years and a Home Guard soldier, so it may turn into a family story, instead of a quick tale of one soldier.

That’s a little bit frustrating, but it is also good. I believe there are interesting and important stories to write and  these latest two might be prime examples of that, especially from a county history perspective. Nothing as noteworthy as him being captured or killed during the war makes his story an obvious one to share, but other pieces of their lives do. A person/soldier/family need not be famous in order to be an important piece of the county’s past. I hope I can do these men and families justice and help others understand better Campbell County history overall and in the war.

Local Families in the Civil War

 A lot of people have seen or heard the Civil War referred to as a "brother's war" because of the instances of family members fighting on opposite sides (Mary Lincoln's Confederate brothers and Kentucky's Crittenden family are two famous examples) but there were also many cases of family members fighting on the same side, a point that I am learning more and more through my research into Campbell County soldiers and sailors. 

When I started this project, I knew of the Seither brothers - three fought for the Union, but a fourth had moved to New Orleans in the years before the war and became a Confederate soldier - but did not know of any other Campbell County families that had fought in the war. I was obviously foolish, and perhaps naive, but I now have confirmed at least 30 (thirty!) instances of brothers, fathers/sons, and cousins from Campbell County fighting for the Union cause. I certainly never expected to find so many. I've even found some where three or four brothers joined the war effort. Four brothers in the war were grandsons of a Revolutionary War soldier whom the Daughters of the American Revolution are going to honor later this year. That was pretty cool to find. 

Even a couple of weeks ago, when I realized I had found a few examples and decided to look into it more closely to figure out just how many I had uncovered, I did not think it was such a high number.  I'm still surprised, but I do realize that there are probably even more out there that I haven't found (especially cousins or uncles/nephews - the set of cousins I know of only came to my attention because they were distant ancestors of mine.) 

This whole research adventure has been quite fun and educational to me, with the presence of so many families having multiple members fight in the war being the latest example. I have started a separate document to try to track them, and I have a few more names listed to research as possibilities, but who knows what else might pop up to attract my attention and time.

I still need to decide eventually what to do with all this information. A book would be ideal, but is it realistic? I want it to be, but I wonder if anybody else wants to read all this or if my work is good enough to be published. Oh well, I'm enjoying what I'm finding and will make other decisions as I need to, but I thought this was a good excuse to publish another blog post.

Hopefully I will have other interesting finds and observations to share as this process continues.

Update on my Campbell County Civil War Soldiers Project

 My last couple of posts here have concerned genealogy and the war, and I have a couple more of a similar nature started, but I wanted to take a few minutes to update my previously mentioned plans to write a book about Civil War Soldiers from my home of Campbell County. 

I am still working on this, and, like much of the study of history, the more information I find, the more sources to search I discover. It's like digging a bottomless pit at times.

Right now, I'm referring to this simply as "my project" because I'm starting to feel there simply is to much information to fit into a book like I had originally hoped. I have over 1,000 confirmed Union soldiers, and all of these include at least some of the following details: unit, rank, company and genealogical data like birth and death dates and places and burial places. I simply don't think it is feasible to include all of this - plus more I am certain I will find - into one reasonably sized book, especially combined with the stories I want to tell of some of these individuals. I keep finding interesting tales that I want to share - mostly military, but a few from their civilian lives as well. For instance, I looked up the file of one soldier last night and one of the first documents I found was a form stating that a company would provide him with an artificial limb, on the government account. I have also found that at least three of these soldiers testified in a famous murder trial in the county in 1896. That is the kind of information I want to find and share. 

Currently, I believe an interesting approach would be to upload the soldier names and information to a website, either an existing one or one created just for this project. This would provide plenty of space, as well as allow for future additions as I (or others) find more information and corrections of any errors that show up in this work. I could also add links to information about the various units or battles or to individual findagrave.com records. (I currently have more than 700 graves on my virtual cemetery for this project.) Or maybe I could add photos of some of the enlistment forms or other interesting documents I find in various files. That flexibility and versatility are traits a book would not provide. 

Anyway, I'm sure I will keep thinking about the end game, but I'm still finding more names and details every day. I'm currently going through the roster of the 23rd Kentucky Infantry to find more men from that unit who had Campbell County ties. I've found quite a few that did not turn up on other sources, but there are almost 1,300 names on the regimental roster, so this is quite a daunting task. Then I'll need to do the same for the 42nd Kentucky and maybe the 41st, two “enrolled militia” groups of several hundred men from Northern Kentucky. 

It is a lot of work and no end is in sight, but I'm still enjoying it and learning quite a bit. My past Civil War study has been through reading books and articles, watching documentaries, visiting Perryville and conversations with other people, including my my volunteering at the Ramage Museum, but this way of studying - by looking at the records and lives of individual soldiers - provides me a much different perspective. Instead of reading published books about injuries, captures and military discipline, I'm now uncovering those reports in the files. This is truly history from the "bottom up" and is another way this project is quite satisfying and enjoyable. The local connection and discovery of connections between soldiers (For instance, I found one doctor whose postwar life included time on the Pension Review Board and later uncovered a sailor whose file included pension forms with that doctor’s name as part of it) only make it better. 

 I'm honestly a bit surprised I've been able to gather so much information in one place so far and am more confident than ever that this endeavor will be a positive contribution both to the history of the Civil War and the history of Campbell County. I cannot wait to share it, but as I keep finding more sources, the farther away that goal seems to be, but so be it. I knew this was not a quick work when I started it and even though I may have underestimated how much information was available, I also underestimated how much I would joy this way of researching.

A New, Big, (Crazy?) Project

Something I have thought about for a while but never could commit to was to write a book - an actual and real non-fiction book, with my name as author. The thought lived in the back of my mind for several years, but I never could figure out the right topic that would catch my interest enough to convince me to do all the work that such a project takes. I never was going to just put some words on paper just to say I had authored a book - I needed a topic that captured my passion and my interest and that would not be a fleeting idea that would bore me after a few weeks or so. If I was going to make such a goal, I was going to go all-in on it. 

I think I have finally found the right topic - Campbell County, Kentucky Civil War Soldiers, Sailors and Their Stories. That is the working title, subject to change, of the project I have started pursuing. It still is in the early stages of research and I realize that it will take possibly 1-2 more years to research and write (perhaps even longer, if my research is successful) but the general idea is to identify as many Civil War Soldiers who had some connection to Campbell County as I can find. By "connection," I currently mean "born in, lived in, died in or are buried in" my home county, but I have found a few names that might lead me to expand that. I have found a few names of men who served in this county - probably at the Newport Barracks - but did not meet the criteria I had established, and even more men whose widows lived here some time after their husbands had passed away. I have seen a couple of names of men who enlisted in this county but had no other ties to it, while some men were Confederate supporters or public sympathizers, but not actual soldiers. Some of these men had interesting stories,  so do I expand my definition of "connection" to this county and include them? Maybe I can create a separate chapter or section for such people. That is a tough decision I will need to make, though probably just one of many.

After identifying as many of these soldiers and sailors (both Yankees and Rebels) as I can, I will then compile some stories about their lives and careers. I already have a couple dozen ideas for possible stories - some I have published here on this blog in the past - and will likely find more. 

The first part of the proposed book would include these stories, combining Civil War history with some local history and maybe a few bits of genealogy sprinkled in along the way. My hope is that these stories, both military and human-interest ones, would interest readers and provide both information and entertainment. I have found stories of soldiers who were wounded, killed and/or captured in battles both famous and obscure, and others who had interesting civilian lives. A few of these tales might be fairly short and others longer, as I try to focus on the more interesting pieces of their lives snd not detailed genealogy or more mundane tidbits. Some of these men had fascinating lives both in and out of the military. 

After a section of these stories, the last part of the book would be a list of all the names I found, with the men's names, unit, company and rank included. Ideally, I would also add as much birth, death and burial information as I can find, but I do not know how much space that will require. My first thought is that these lists would be in a spreadsheet format, but maybe I could write out this information in mini-paragraphs for each soldier, though that would require many more words and, perhaps, pages. That is another decision I will need to finalize in the future as I would like this work to be both an enjoyable read and a benefit to researchers. Can I  make both those ends meet in one book? 

I have created a virtual cemetery on findagrave to keep track of the men whose final resting placesI have found. It currently has just over 500 graves on it, but I have more names for which I am still searching burial places, so hopefully that number increases. 

Of the ones I've already included, there may be a couple that are not 100% proven to be Civil War veterans. If they had the same name as a soldier I have confirmed and are in a logically located cemetery, I may have included them already, especially if the record showed birth and/or death dates that fit the right timeframe but I still have a some of these for which I want to go back and confirm burial places. Hopefully the ones like that included here are few and far between, but if anybody finds any errors, please let me know by email or in the comments section.

Of course, what to do when I have gathered, organized and put this information in a book format is the big question. First are the formatting questions. Do I need to be prepared to do endnotes or footnotes instead of just typing up one big story? Will I need to index it? I know that's a difficult task that even well-known and frequent authors consider to be a challenge. I also have found several photos on findagrave and other websites, but my current preference is for the book to be text only so that I do not have to determine who owns those photos snd then get permission to use them. Perhaps I could use my own photos of headstones or even sites associated with these men. 

Then, will anybody want to publish this? Do I just send letters to publishers to gauge interest?  Will I need to pay to self-publish it?  Will it end up as a digital format, such as a webpage?  I am sure there are more issues I will face at that time (and while I am still researching this) but I am convinced that I am willing to face those when the time comes. I began my research several weeks ago, have found a lot of information so far, and am enjoying it. It remains a labor of love for me and I am more confident that I will see this through to the end. That is why I have not mentioned this previously, but am ready to post this now.  

The research - both in confirming names that meet my (evolving?) criteria and in finding stories that I think are worth sharing - has been enjoyable and I have remained motivated to continue it. I am optimistic that I will maintain those feelings and that attitude.

Of course, as I throw myself into such a long, labor-intensive project, I realize my time for researching and writing this blog may decrease, but maybe I can use this blog to "test-write" some of the information I find. For instance, the recent posts I made about Foster and Israel Sellers are among the ideas I would like to include in the book.

I can also utilize this site to post updates on my progress or maybe express frustration or just to get some thoughts off my chest from time-to-time. I do not know how exactly this project will affect this blog, but I do not intend to close this blog, even if I post less often. Shutting this down is not an option.

                                                                                                         

Relevance of the Book Version of the Official Records of the Rebellion

Anyone that has ever researched the Civil War knows of, and has most likely used, the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, and virtually any book published bout the War includes these records (normally noted as "OR") in its bibliography. Readers of this blog surely know that already.

What I am wondering is: is the book version of these records still relevant?  In the age of compact discs and so many publications, including the OR, digitized online (see the OR  here or here ), with handy "find" features, is the original 128 book version of these records still worth having? 

A historical group I belong to is fortunate enough to have a full set of the OR (though one person suggested one volume is missing. I have not confirmed that.) The group now is considering putting these books in storage somewhere in order to display other items, probably additional non-Civil War military uniforms. 

This is not a Civil War group and its mission is beyond just that one period of time, so it is understandable that some people want to show other items from our collection, but the willingness to hide (or possibly even get rid of) the OR frustrates me.

I understand the books are online now and that we could purchase a CD of these books. Both of these options have search functions and take up much, much less space than the dozens of thick, heavy OR books. I have trouble arguing against such logic.

On the other hand, I like how these books look. They are a modern printing, with the dark blue covers, and I think the collection looks really good on the shelves. When I think of Civil War research, these shelves are what that looks like to me. These books ARE Civil War research. 

I must also reluctantly acknowledge that these books rarely leave the shelves in our office. We do not get a lot of Civil War researchers visiting us, though I have used them occasionally (but not very recently). Maybe a Korean War uniform would attract more interest from visitors, and it would be something unique to our displays. We have other uniforms on display, but none from that conflict. 

Again, I must admit that the logic behind changing exhibits seems strong and I have not found a good counter for it, but as a Civil War student, I really like the OR collection. Even if we do decide to remove it from display, I will absolutely make sure we either store these books safely or find a good home for them. In a worst case scenario, I would take them to my house, finding room to keep them, but that is unlikely as I know of another organization that would likely accept them. So from that sense, they are safe - they will end up well-stored or in another good home, so destruction is not a threat, but I still emotionally like seeing them in the office, on the shelves. They really do make a handsome collection, but maybe that's just the Civil War enthusiast in me, as others in the group do not share my view. It is frustrating on some level, but others have acknowledged that throwing away these volumes is not an option. I think I have expressed my feelings of the importance of the books enough at least to ensure they will be treated with respect, even if not on display. 

What do others think? Is it fine now just to rely on digitized versions of these records and forget about the actual books? I have used these new versions so and probably will continue to, but I still appreciate the book version. The convenience of the electronic versions is undeniable. I do still read actual books instead of e-versions, but for a research project, it is nice to hit "ctrl-F" or another find function to locate key information. I think the digitized versions of these records are a major improvement, but I do appreciate the original format. The Official Records are far from perfect sources, but seeing all those books shelved together still makes me happy, and I know this may not be logical. I make no claim to be another Spock. 😊 Hopefully this modern world finds a way to feature the convenient electronic copies while not losing the actual books. There still is a place for real books and real records. At least I hope so.

As I proofread and edit this post, perhaps it truly is more about books in general than just the OR, though the situation with the OR is real and did inspire my rant.

I also hope I'm not just being an old-fashioned, "get off my lawn" type of grouch, but as I read and re-read my post again, my main points seem to be about sentimentality more than practicality. That said, there is room for such feelings in the world today and while 128 volumes of several hundred pages each may not be the easiest or fastest approach to finding information, I do still find these books to be relevant. 

Wrap-Up and Some Sources for Hart Series

Well, my series on Derrill Wason Hart and his family has finally reached its conclusion with this post. It started out to be just one post, then evolved into perhaps two or three, but ended up being nine posts, including this one. I have really enjoyed this project and have learned quite a few new ideas about online research and how to continue to look for more information even when I think I am done. Perhaps some better planning would be helpful as well, though planning for the unexpected might not be easy. Still, this project has been good for me in more than one way. 

Anyway, I found and used many different sources in this series. Most are linked and/or mentioned throughout the various stories, but I originally noted that I would make a separate post of sources, so, to keep my word, here it is. Some of these may be duplicated in the various posts, but better safe than sorry.

Here is a list of the posts in this series.

Derrill Wason Hart

Robert S. Hart

Benjamin R. Hart 

Derrill M. Hart

William F. Hart

John S. Hart

Edward H. Hart

Hart Family Genealogy 

Sources

-http://www.findagrave.com

-http://www.researchonline.net/alcw/index/index198.htm

-http://www.dahlia.org/guide/medals.html

-http://files.usgwarchives.org/ky/woodford/cemeteries/pisgah.txt

-http://www.scottcraft-military.com/civwar/c22alabama.htm

-http://www.archives.alabama.gov/referenc/flags/039040.html

-http://www.gwest.org/conflags.htm

-://www.americancivilwar.50megs.com/22ndAlabama01.html

-http://www.mocavo.com/History-of-Kentucky-Edited-by-Judge-Charles-Kerr-by-William-Elsey-Connelley-and-E-M-Coulter-Ph-D-Volume-4/281481/858

-:http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm

-http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ALBARBOU/2003-12/1072848221

-https://books.google.com/books?id=79tHAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA28&lpg=RA1-PA28&dq=derrill+wason+hart&source=bl&ots=cErBOuI-

9H&sig=0UctrjKLrWSvakylkn1FBwImHic&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwC2oVChMIiamnmPO6xwIVgp-ACh171QGj#v=onepage&q=derrill%20wason%20hart&f=false 

- http://www.singletonfamily.org/familygroup.php?familyID=F137&tree=1

- www.uky.edu

-www.ancestry.com
- www.ua.edu

- www.fold3.com

- http://www.sysoon.com/deceased/margaret-wyld-35

Some Perryville Sources

Today  is the 153rd anniversary of my favorite Civil War battle, the bloody fight at Perryville, which went a long way towards keeping Kentucky under the United States' control. The Confederacy perhaps won a tactical victory in the small town, but its army abandoned the battlefield the next day, retreating to Tennessee. This ended the invasion of Kentcky (sometimes called "Bragg's Invasion of Kentucky")' the last major invasion of this border state ((though some smaller raids would follow in the years to come, notably by John Hunt Morgan.)

I have found several good books and sources on this battle and though i am sure there are others I have missed, I will list my favorites here. (I will gladly take suggestions for others though.)

First, here are some good books about the battle.

Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle By Kenneth Noe is a very good book, perhaps the definitive account of the battle. It is one I want to read again.

Stuart Sanders has written two fine books about this fight. One is Maney's Confederate Brigade at Perryville . I read this just after a trip to the battlefield, so the names and places were fresh in my mind. That was great - and lucky - timing on my part. It is a very good and quick read about this part of the battle and would be a good book to read right before a trip to the site.

His other work is Perryville Under Fire: The Aftermath of Kntucky's Largest Civil War Battle. This is a fascinating look at how this battle affected the small town of Perryville as well as many of the other surrounding towns and rural areas near Perryville in the weeks and months after the terrible event.

The Civil War at Perryville: Battling for the Bluegrass by Christopher Kolakowski is a good book about the battle, shorter than Noe's, but very helpful and a quick, easy read. It would be another fine choice to use right before a visit to the field.

Company Aytch by Sam Watkins is a really enjoyable read and includes a good section on Perryville.  Some of the more famous quotes about this battle came from ?Watkins' story.

Of course, the web also provides many resources, as a quick Google search will show. Here are the ones I haves used and recommend.

One great website is at Battle of Perryville.com. It provides a really detailed view of the battle, the campaign and pictures of the barttlefield, as well as a list of other sources and information. It is a very informative snd helpful site if you want to read or research the battle online. This would be a great starting point.

The battlefield's official site does a fine job of updating current events, programs and information about the park and museum. It is a good resource to check before taking a trip to the park.

Perryville Battlefield is part of the Kentucky State Parks system and the parks' website for this historic site is here with good current information about park hours and directions.  Here is a direct link to the park system's map of the battlefield and surrounding land.

The Friends of Perryville is a wonderful organization working to help out the park, as such sites are not a high priority in the state's budget. Their site focuses on activities they sponsor and  on ways they are trying to help support the park. They also have a Facebook page to update ongoing events.

Also available is a database of casualties at Perryville, a valuable resource and the product of a lot f work.

The Ohio at Perryville blog provides good updates on events at the park, especially the annual walking tour, as well as information on Ohio units at the battle snd other interesting information.

 The Civil War Trust's battle page includes a summary and couple other nice stories about the battle and the National Park Service's brief summary page also is helpful for a quick overview.

I know there are more great resources out there, including a couple of books who focus on the overall  Civil War in Kentucky, but these are ones I have read or used and find especially enjoyable and informative. I make sure I keep these on my bookshelf or saved in my list of bookmarks.

If you know of any others I should know about, please share them in the comments.

Photo from a trip to the battlefield

Bibliography & Notes of my Nelson/Davis research

Here are the sources and resources I used to look into the aftermath of the Jefferson C. Davis murder of William "Bull" Nelson on September 29, 1862. I have added a few notes and comments here as well.

Please read that post at this link

This illustration is from Harper's Weekly of October 18, 1862 and is captioned: "The Assassination of General Nelson by General Jefferson C. Davis - sketched by Mr. H. Mosler"  It is courtesy of www.sonofthesouth.net   I thought it was appropriate to use it in this discussion, but with my first post already being so long, I added it to this entry instead.

Listed below are the theories I found and the sources in which I found them. These sources either cited a specific reason for Davis to go unpunished or included enough reaction to the event that I found it appropriate to include these reactions as possible explanations about how this event played out.

My breakdown of the categories and how often I saw them was (a couple of sources used more than one that fit into the categories I decided to use)
:
1. Davis's influential friends or individuals helping him: 7 times (5 times Oliver Morton, 2 times Horatio Wright)
2. Nelson's reputation/unpopularity: 5 times (plus 1 other disagreeing with this view)
3. "Matter of honor:" 3 times
4. Buell's command uncertainty/business: 4 times
5. Union need for talent and leadership in the theater: 3 times
6. Davis was honorably acquitted at trial:  1 time. (His obituary mentioned this, but this claim is incorrect. I still feel it is worth mentioning) 




Bibliography

Books
Bobrick, Benson.  Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War, New York, Simon & Schuster,
   2003. Print.

Engle, Stephen Douglas.  Don Carlos Buell: Most Promising of All, Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Press, 1999. Print.

Heidler, David S., ed and Heidler, Jeanne T., ed. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social and Military History, New York, W.W Norton & Company,  2000. Print.

Noe, Kenneth W.  Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, Lexington, KY, University Press of Kentucky,
     2001. Print.

Street Jr, James, and Editors of Time-Life Books. The Struggle for Tennessee: Tupelo to Stones River, Alexandria, VA, Time-Life Books, 2nd printing, revised 1987. Print. 

Blogs 
Powell, David A "Women and War, Politics and Bedfellows."  Retrieved October 23, 2010 from http://chickamaugablog.wordpress.com/

Talbott, Tim, "Personality Spotlight: William "Bull" Nelson."  Retrieved October 23, 2010 from  http://randomthoughtsonhistory.blogspot.com/

Websites
Clark, Donald A. "General Jefferson Columbus Davis, USA" Historycentral.com Accessed October 23, 2010, http://www.historycentral.com/bio/UGENS/USADavis.html

Clark, Donald A. "General Nelson William Bull USA" Historycentral.com, Accessed October 23, 2010, http://www.historycentral.com/bio/UGENS/USANelson.html

Groom, Winston, "Murder in the Civil War" historynet.com, Accessed October 23, 2010, http://www.historynet.com/murder-in-the-civil-war.htm/1

Robinson, Bill, "Battlefield Park getting pistol belonging to Gen. Nelson's killer" RichmondRegister.com, Accessed October 23, 2010, http://richmondregister.com/localnews/x752937183/Battlefield-Park-getting-pistol-belonging-to-Gen-Nelson-s-killer

Author unknown, "Jefferson C. Davis" worldlingo.com, Accessed October 23,2010,  http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Jefferson_C._Davis#Murder_of_General_Nelson

Author unknown, "Although not convicted of murder, Davis was passed over for advancement in rank" KentuckyCivilWarBugle.com, Accessed October 23, 2010, http://www.thekentuckycivilwarbugle.com/2010-1Qpages/murder.html

Author unknown, "Gen. Jefferson C. Davis Dead" query.nytimes.com, Accessed October 23, 2010, http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60E11FC3D5A137B93C0A91789D95F4D8784F9

Author unknown "An encounter between Union generals turns fatal"  history.com, Accessed October 23, 2010, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/an-encounter-between-union-generals-turns-fatal

Author unknown "Camp Nelson National Cemetery"  United States Department of Veterans' Affairs website. Accessed October 23, 2010, http://www.cem.va.gov/pdf/cnelson.pdf (direct link to the article in .pdf format) or http://www.cem.va.gov/ to the website