xt776h4cnw0p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt776h4cnw0p/data/mets.xml Thompson, Edwin Porter, 1834- 1898 books b92e56451stt4518982009 English L.N. Thompson : Louisville, Ky. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky. Militia. Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky infantry regiment, 2nd. Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Infantry Regiment, 4th. Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky infantry regiment, 5th. Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Infantry Regiment, 6th. Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Infantry Regiment, 9th. Confederate States of America. Army. Byrne s battery. Confederate States of America. Army. Cobb s battery. United States --History --Civil War, 1861-1865 --Regimental histories --Kentucky Infantry (C.S.A.) --1st. History of the Orphan brigade text History of the Orphan brigade 1898 2009 true xt776h4cnw0p section xt776h4cnw0p

history

of the

Orphan Brigade.

By ED PORTER THOMPSON,

Ex-Superintendent of Public Instruction; Author of "The Academic Arithmetic," "Young People's History of Kentucky," "Young People's History of Arkansas," Etc.

louisville, ky.:

LEWIS N. THOMPSON, 1898.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898, by

LEWIS N. THOMPSON, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

FROM THE PRESS AND BINDERY OF HALF-TONE ENGRAVINGS BY

CHAS. T. BEARING, MAYER & SCHLICH,

LOUISVILLE. KY. LOUISVILLE, KY.

ELECTROTYPED BY

ROBERT ROWELL,

LOUISVILLE, KY.
TO THE

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED.

Thousands of the men whose names and deeds it records have heard "the soldier's last tattoo," and it cannot be long before their few surviving comrades will have "passed over the river" to rest with them.

It devolves upon their children to see that the motives which identified them with the South in the Great Conflict are not misunderstood, and that their conduct during the four bloody years in which they added a brilliant chapter to others which Kentucky had written in American history shall not pass from the memory of man. The principles for which they suffered and fought, and so many of them died, were

THE INALIENABLE RIGHT OF A PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN FORM OF GOVERNMENT, AND

THE SACREDNESS OF CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES.

Though the Confederacy failed of establishment these still live and must live if human liberty is to endure on this continent. The children of the Confederate soldier can best illustrate the soldier's virtues by maintaining his principles in peace, and defending them in war if need be, for the great country to which only their allegiance is now due.

ED PORTER THOMPSON.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

[For personal index, alphabetically arranged, see last pages of the book.]

page.

Dedication................;..... 3

PART I.

GENERAL HISTORY OK THE ORPHAN BRIGADE.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory Remarks. Character and Services of the Brigade as estimated by others..............

CHAPTER II.

Brief Review of the Confederate element of Kentucky on the question in issue. Objection to certain current terms and statements which improperly go unchallenged. Organization of a Provisional Government...... 30

CHAPTER III.

Organization of the Regiments and Artillery composing the First Kentucky Brigade. The fight at Hutcherson's. Troops under Buckner concentrate at Bowling Green. Breckinridge assumes command. Fight at Whippoor-will Bridge. Expeditions to Rochester and elsewhere . 41

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. Hard-hearted Surgeons. II. A deadly disease.- III. Too Short. IV. Conquering a peace. V. Tried for high treason................. 57
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

The Second Kentucky and Graves's Battery at Donelson and

in prison.................... 62

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. First Men of the Brigade killed. II. Carson's wrath when Semple fell. III. Still full of fight. IV. Buck-ner's shot at impertinence. V. Escaping from Camp Morton. VI. Dying in prison. VII. A fratricidal war. VIII. "AVhar's ' Baze ' ? " IX. Wouldn't take his own medicine................ 73

CHAPTER V.

Gen. Sidney Johnston's retreat from Kentucky. Battle of

Shiloh...... . , ............v- 76

Incidents and Anecdotes :

I. The battle of Sunset. II. Alabamians A noble and appreciative people. III. A camp struck by a Southern Hurricane at night. IV. Who led the brigade's first skirmishers on the battlefield ? V. Wasn't quite so angry now. VI. The first" work of the Fourth Kentucky on Sunday morning. VII. Putting on anew uniform in time of action. VIII. An unconquerable Irishman. IX. How the "Desperadoes" all died. X. He expected to be murdered. XI. Armed for close fighting. XII. Bee Stung. XIII. Southern man ran the wrong way. XIV. Gov. Johnson taking the oath as a private soldier. XV. Too late to pray. XVI. The little book saved his life. XVII. The Kentucky Artillery: Byrne and his men cheered. XVIII. Coolly " picked his flint" under fire. XIX. A double duel, fatal to at least one man. XX. "No detail! Ask for volunteers." XXI. A tuneful voice heard in the uproar. XXII. "Devil Dick." XXIII. Some of his teeth had lost their edge at Shiloh. XXIV. The preaching didn't suit him. XXV. Shiloh not conclusive as to whether one of us could whip five Yankees. XXVI. What a reserve corps is. XXVII. The street bully in battle............ 07
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI. Reorganization of the army at Corinth and reassignment of

Kentucky troops. The retreat. Siege of Vicksburg . 108

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. Breckinridge and Van Dorn. II. Celebrating the Fourth of July during the siege; expedition of the Fourth Regiment down the river. III. Dodd's unequal but gallant fight. IV. Graphic description of a sublime spectacle. V. Starving him into terms...... 117

CHAPTER VII. The Battle of Baton Rouge.............. 122

CHAPTER VIII.

From Baton Rouge to Knoxville. Marching toward Kentucky. Return to Murfreesboro'. Battle of Harts-ville...................... 145

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. Splendid fighting of the Second and Ninth Regiments, Infantry. II. The Blue and the Gray meet and greet. III. " Cunny " fooled them. IV. Scenes on the battlefield. V. How we took Nashville. VI. How Jap got and kept the mule. VII. After many years : A

singular occurrence............... 163

CHAPTER IX.

Battle of Stone River.................. 168

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. Preston's coolness and heroism. II. Suffering with cold. III. A Surgeon's experience on the field at Stone River. IV. "That's our flag!" V. Must be killed with due formality. VI. Sententious as Suvaroff. VII. Our one military execution. VIII. Col. Trabue at Stone River. IX. Not a " butternut cap'n." ... 199
8

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.

From Murfreesboro' to Manchester. To Mississippi again. Expedition to relieve Pemberton. Fighting at Jackson. Return to Chattanooga. Battle of Chickamauga.

Incidents and Anecdotes;

I. Danger in loose orders. II. The best-drilled regiments in the Army of Tennessee. III. Should have stood pat. IV. After Jackson : in danger of surfeit. V. How they jollied Kelly. VI. At Chickamauga: too big a wood-chopping for the major. VII. Supposing a case. VIII. Spoilt his beauty and enraged him. IX. The Sang Diggers. -X. A passage at arms with Gen. Breckinridge................

CHAPTER XI.

At Mission Ridge and Tyner's Station. Battle of Mission Ridge. Retreat to Dalton............

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. " Where's our Battery ? " II. What Jim Lee thought of Bragg as a strategist. III. A remarkable incident .

CHAPTER XII.

The army in winter-quarters at Dalton..........

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. Outwitting Col. Cofer. II. Misplaced confidence. III. Punishments in the army. IV. Guying Gen. Bate. V. Punishment for desertion: one of the saddest features of the war. VI. A singular death. VII. The Snowball Battle...............

CHAPTER XIII.

The Dalton-Atlanta Campaign, May 5th to Sept. 8th, 1864 . .

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. They all say that. II. " Two minutes to get to your holes. III. War could not make them inhuman. IV. Wouldn't be checked off till his time came. V. Frank, the soldier dog.................
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

The Dalton-Atlanta Campaign, May 5th to Sept. 8th, 1864 (continued) ....................

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. Lieut. Geo. Hector Burton and his sharpshooters.

II. Another comrade's account of Burton's men. III. How the gallant fellow lost his life. IV. A rifleman up a tree. V. "A Roland for an Oliver." VI. They would do the wind work. VII. About to kill his friend. VIII. Devoted brothers. IX. After Intrenchment Creek: If they had but known. X. A humane and heroic act. XI. How a bullet made a sans cidotte. XII. Presence of mind. XIII. A hero and a martyr. XIV. A dreadful experience...........

CHAPTER XV.

The brigade, as mounted infantry, in Georgia and South Carolina ......................

Incidents and Anecdotes :

I. Its effect on a dead man. II. A conglomeration of odds and ends. III. Thought he knew cavalry tactics. IV. Kentucky against Georgia : How Capt. Turney got the sheepskin. V. Jim Price. VI. Dead on his feet. VII. My ole Missis' skillet. VIII. New brains evolve old jokes. IX. The cheerful brigade. X. Our star-gazer. XI. Dying in the last ditch.......

CHAPTER XVI.

Medical and surgical officers of the brigade, with biographical sketches and portraits ..............

Biographies:

I. Dr. Preston B. Scott.............

II. Dr. John O. Scott..............

III. Dr. R. R. Stevenson............

IV. Dr. Hugh G. Smith.............

V. Dr. Thomas L. Newberry..........
]0 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII. Confederate Women of Kentucky, with portraits...... 312

CHAPTER XVIII.

Our dead and where they lie. Confederate veteran organizations, their objects, and those now maintained in Kentucky ..................... 324

CHAPTER XIX. Annual Reunions of the Brigade............. 340

PART II.

SPECIAL DEPARTMENT OF BIOGRAPHY.

I. Lieut.-Gen. S. B. Buckner....... 353

II. Maj.-Gen. John C. Breckinridge .... 358

III. Maj.-Gen. William Preston....... 364

IV. Brig.-Gen. Roger W. Hanson...... 375

V. Brig.-Gen. Ben Hardin Helm...... 380

VI. Brig.-Gen. Joseph H. Lewis....... 387

VII. Col. James W. Moss......... 395

VIII. Col. Philip Lightfoot Lee....... 399

IX. Col. Robert-P. Trabue.......' . . 403

X. Col. Joseph P. Nuckols........ 407

XI. Col. Thomas Williams Thompson .... 414

XII. Col. Hiram Hawkins......... 416

XIII. Col. Martin H. Cofer ........ 423

XIV. Col. Thomas Hart Hunt........ 429

XV. Col. John W. Caldwell......... 434

XVI. Lieut.-Col. James W. Hewitt...... 438

XVII. Lieut.-Col. Hervey McDowell..... 440

XVIII. Lieut.-Col. William L. Clarke...... 443

XIX. Lieut.-Col. John C. Wickliffe...... 447

XX. Maj. Charles Semple......... 451

XXI. Maj. Rice E. Graves......... 455

TABLE OF CONTENTS. II

XXII. Maj. Thomas B. Monroe........ 459

XXIII. Maj. John B. Rogers......... 466

XXIV. Maj. Thomas H. Hays........ 471

XXV. Capt. Fayette Hewitt......... 474

XXVI. Capt. Sam H. Buchanan........ 480

XXVII. Capt. Ben. J. Monroe......... 481

XXVIII. Capt. John H. Weller......... 487

XXIX. Capt. Jo Desha............ 491

XXX. Capt. J. T. Gaines '.......... 497

XXXI. Capt. D. E. McKendree........ 498

XXXII. Capt. David C. Walker........ 503

XXXIII. Capt. John B. Pirtle.......... 505

XXXIV. Adjt. Thomas E. Moss........ 507

XXXV. Lieut. Keller Anderson........ 508

XXXVI. Lieut. Robert A. Thomson....... 513

XXXVII. Lieut. John W. Greene........ 512

XXXVIII. Thomas D. Osborne.......... 514

XXXIX. Gov. George W. Johnson........ 516

XL. Hon. Eli M. Bruce.......... 522

XLI. Hon. Horatio W. Bruce........ 525

XLII. Dr. Daniel P. White......... 528

XLIII. Elder Jos. Desha Pickett........ 530

XLIV. Rev. G. B. Overton.......... 533

XLV. Rev. Hubbard H. Kavanaugh..... 536

PART III.

BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIVIDUALS, FIELD AND STAFF, RANK AND FILE.

General Introductory Remarks.......

Field and Staff Officers of the Second Regiment Officers and men of Co. A, "

" F, "

54i

548

549 554 563 57i 580 586

'503 600
12 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Officers and men of Co. I, Second Regiment

, " " K,

Field and Staff Officers of the Fourth Regiment Officers and men of Co. A, B,

it it Q "

E, " a u "p a

" " G, "

" H,

a t i T tt

. Field and Staff Officers of the Fifth Regiment Officers and men of Co. A, "

" D,

" " E, "

(c tt jr tt

it tt T a

Field and Staff Officers of the Sixth Regiment Officers and men of Co. A, " B,

t l tt Q it

" tt -p tt

tt it T i<

Field and Staff Officers of the Ninth Regiment Officers and men of Co. A, "

C, ' "

" Byrne's Battery . . .

" Graves's Battery . . .

Cobb's Battery . . .

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART IV.

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE "SECOND KENTUCKY CAVALRY.

Gen. Wheeler's opinion of the Regiment......... 871

Prefatory Note.................... 873

CHAPTER I.

Organization of the Regiment. Subsequent changes. Erroneous designation by number explained....... 875

CHAPTER II.

1861-1862....................... 879

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. A Brave Kentucky Woman. II. The Bushwhacker's non-combatant brother. III. Preparing for rapid flight. IV. A gallant escort. V. "The rose and expectancy of the fair State." VI. The American Soldier the best of his age. VII. "Burgoyne" had it in for his drill-

master..................... 892

CHAPTER III.

1863 ..........*.............. S96

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. A base fiction. II. How the bugler was promoted. III. Henry Croan in Sequatchie Valley and at Mission Ridge. IX. Attention there, Yank Unlimber! V. How Capt. Beckley's negro body servant came to be a valiant knight. VI. Cole Basye's chill stuff. VII. A "poor rebel" in extremity. VIII. The improvised chevrons. IX. Death of Capt. Jack Jones : A soldier's tribute. X. John Vincent at the Charleston fight. XI. True to their colors : a roll of honor. XII. Even prison
14 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

horrors could not subdue them. XIII. A bit of personal

experience

CHAPTER IV.

1864........................

Incidents and Anecdotes:

I. Cutting his comb. II. The Kentucky way, whatever the uniform. III. Fidelity commands respect. IV. Faithful unto death. V. Capt. John Witt. VI. The killing of John Hanlon. VII. Capture and recapture of First Kentucky men in battle .........

CHAPTER V.

1865 ........................

Incidents and Anecdotes :

I. A desperate encounter. II. In the swamps of Sal-kiehatchie. III. They would know him in the dark. IV. Adjt. Payne, the genial and well-beloved. V. Phil Pointer. VI. Some remarkable war horses : (a) Yeager; (b) Fanny . . . .... . ..... . ......

PART V.

SPECIAL DEPARTMENT OF BIOGRAPHY. (FIRST CAVALRY.)

I. Lieut.-Gen. Joseph Wheeler.....

II. Col. James Q. Chenoweth.....

III. Hon. William T. Ellis.......

IV. Hon. E. Polk Johnson.......

V. Hon. Thomas C. Jones.......

VI. Lieut. James H. Rudy.......

VII. Lieut. William Wallace Herr .... Till. Hon. John Will Dyer.......
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART VI.

brief history of individuals, field and staff, rank and file. (first cavalry.)

Field and Staff Officers of the Regiment (First Organization) . 995

Officers and men of Co. D, . . ............. 996

E,............... 999

" " F,............... 1004

" " G,............... 1006

" " H,............... 1008

" " I,............... 1009

" " K,............... 1009

Field and Staff Officers of the Regiment (Second Organization) 1014

Officers and men of Co. A,............... 1015

" " B,............... 1020

" " C,............... 1024

" " D,............... 1028

E,............... 1033

F,............... 1038

" " G,............... 1040

" " h,........:...... 1044

" " I)............... i 4S

FINAL CHAPTER.

Men of the brigade who, after the war, became noted in the professions, in various businuss callings, and in public

stations ......... :.......... 1048

The C. S. Army's Commissary (a poem)......... io57

Song, " Oh, Lay Me Away, with the Boys in Gray " . . . .
TABLE OK CONTENTS.

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

facing page.

Anderson, Lieut. Keller....... ........ 5 8

Breckinridge, Maj.-Gen. John C............. 358

Buchanan, Capt. Sam H................. 480

Bozarth, James H.................... 95^

Bruce, Hon. Eli M................... 522

Bruce, Hon. H. W.................. 525

Buckner, Lieut.-Gen. S. B................ 353

Byrne, Dr. Walter J.................. 299

Bugle, The Brigade.................. 538

Caldwell, Col. John W................. 434

Cofer, Col. Martin H.................. 423

Clarke, Lieut.-Col. Wm. L................ 443

Chenoweth, Col. James Q................ 969

Desha, Capt. Joseph................. 491

Dyer, Hon. John W.................. 992

Ellis, Hon. Wm. T................... 973

Flag, National (Frontispiece)........'......

Flag, Battle..................... 323

Graves, Maj. Rice E.................. 455

Gaines, Capt. J. T................... 497

Greene, Lieut. John W................. 512

Hanson, Brig.-Gen. Roger W. ............ 375

Hanson, Mrs. Virginia................ 318

Helm, Brig.-Gen. Ben Hardin.............. 380

Helm, Mrs. Ben Hardin................ 312

Hawkins, Col. Hiram................. 416

Hunt, Col. Thomas H................. 429

Hewitt, Lieut.-Col. James W............... 438

Hewitt, Capt. Fayette................. 474

Herr, Lieut. Wm. Wallace............... 987

Hays, Maj. Thomas H................. 471

Johnson, Gov. George W................ 516

Johnson, Hon. E. Polk................ 977

Jones, Hon. Thomas C................. 982

Kavanaugh, Elder H. H................ 536

Lewis, Brig.-Gen. Joseph H............... 387

Lee, Col. Philip L................... 399
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 17

McDowell, Lieut.-Col. Hervey............. 440

Moss, Col. James W................... 395

Monroe, Capt. Ben J.................. 481

Monroe, Maj. Thomas B................ 459

McKendree, Capt. D. E................. 498

Moss, Adjt. Thomas E................. 507

McDaniel, Walter................... 959

McQuown, William R.................. 1059

Monument to Gov. Helm................ 870

Monument to Gen. and Mrs. Hanson .......... 350

Monument to Gen. John C. Breckinridge......... 19

Monument to Our Confederate Dead, Frankfort...... 330

Monument to Our Confederate Dead, Louisville...... 336

Nuckols, Col. Joseph P................. 407

Newberry, Dr. Thomas L................ 309

Overton, Elder G. B........... ...... 533

Osborne, Thomas D................... 514

Pirtle, Capt. John B................ . . . 505

Preston, Maj.-Gen. William............... 364

Pickett, Elder Joseph Desha.............. 530

Pendleton, Dr. John E................. 298

Rodgers, Maj. John B.................. 466

Rudy, Lieut. James H................. 983

Scott, Dr. Preston B.................. 301

Scott, Dr. John 0.................... 305

Smith, Dr. Alfred................... 300

Smith, Dr. Hugh................... 309

Stevenson, Dr. R. R.................. 308

Semple, Maj. Charles................. 451

Thompson, Col. Thomas W............... 414

Thomson, Lieut. Robert A................ 513

Trabue, Col. R. P................... 403

Taylor, Capt. W. J................... 957

White, Dr. Daniel P. . ,............... 528

Wickliffe, Lieut.-Col. John C............... 447

Wheeler, Lieut-Gen. Joseph.............. 967

Walker, Capt. David C................. 503

Weller, Capt. John H.................. 487

Yeager, Charger of S. D. Brooks ........... 961

MONUMENT TO MAJ.-GEN. JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE Lexington.
PART I.

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE BRIGADE.

ORPHAN BRIGADE.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.-CHARACTER AND SERVICES of THE BRIGADE

AS ESTIMATED BY OTHERS.

Some months prior to the close of the war I conceived the design of preparing, at some future time, a history of the Orphan Brigade. In November, 1864, the plan of the work was set out in writing, with a view to interesting others, and of obtaining such muster-rolls and other papers as could be furnished while the command was still in the field, and at the close. This letter or circular was lost before the end came, but I recall a sentence : " However this war may terminate, if a man can truthfully claim to have been a worthy member of the Kentucky Brigade he will have a kind of title of nobility."

I was young and ardent, and of course such an expression was somewhat extravagant, even when received only as it was intended to convey, by a figure, the simple idea that such a man would be distinguished among the thousands of surviving soldiers and receive honorable recognition from his fellow-citizens. The circumstance is worthy of note as indicating that the fame of this body of Kentucky soldiers did not depend upon factitious circumstances, which assume undue proportions when viewed through the haze of time, nor is it at all attributable to that glamour to which the poet refers when he declares that "distance lends enchantment to the view." On the contrary they were proof against that insidious depreciation which results from long and familiar association with men of narrow limitations and unfavorable characteristics, to which reference is made by the trite maxim, " Familiarity breeds contempt." The writer had from the first borne a humble part with those of whom he spoke, having a place with them till after Shiloh, first as a private in the ranks, then as a noncommissioned officer; afterward holding line and staff commissions; had noted their conduct in all the multifarious conditions under which a faithful soldiery, through years of unequal conflict and peculiar trials, find themselves; and after all had not merely a pride in his corps in the abstract, but an admiration for those composing it, which gave birth to the idea that no history of the command would be adequate that did not take cognizance of all the individuals whose conduct helped to
22 HISTORY OF THE ORPHAN BRIGADE.

make the fame of the organization, and which is carried out in that department of the present work entitled, " Brief History of Individuals, Field and Staff, Rank and File."

Coarse, ill-fitting, and ragged clothes, tattered shoes, and battered hats, ugly and cheerless surroundings, could not seriously depress and could not at all disguise the intrepid spirits who were as ready in the almost hopeless days of 1865 to spring to action at a word as they were in the first flush of their martial experience, when they had no thought but that battle meant victory, and victory meant the establishing of a government founded indeed and in truth upon the consent of the governed.

A student of history, he had considered the conduct of famous soldiery, ancient and modern; and with what light he had, he could not see that this body of young Kentuckians suffered at any point by comparison. He was not without a certain warm admiration of the Tenth Legion of the Roman army and of Bonaparte's Old Guard; but after all, in contemplating them, he saw rather Caesar, the great Imperator, and Bonaparte, the fiery Corsican, who moulded them and made them famous; in contemplating the Orphan Brigade we see the men who made their own fame. True, they were proud of their commanders, and were influenced by them; were quickly and intelligently responsive to their efforts to develop soldierly qualities and promote efficiency; but it was rather that they regarded these commanders as of them, not over them; rather as gallant and capable fellow-countrymen on whom they could rely, and whom they could proudly follow, than as martinets and masters who held their places only by virtue of commissions from the War Office. If Buckner or Breckinridge or Preston, Hanson or Helm or Lewis, had proved in any sense incapable or craven, they would not have sunk below themselves on that account, but would have driven him from his place by manifest contempt.

It is well to note here the quality of these soldiers as representatives of their people. It is probable that there was never any other organization of equal number that had so many bright and well-educated men. They were in the main of old pioneer stock, and they were proud and self-respecting. They had due regard to family honor, and a strong trait was their State pride. To use the words of Dr. Holmes' biographer, they had that " noble clannishness which is one of the safeguards of social morality," and, it may be added, of the fair fame of a commonwealth. Indeed, it was the name, Kentuckian, which touched them to the quick, and gave them a feeling of responsibility in guarding it from reproach. It made them patient under privation and steady under unusual trial. It gave them fortitude under suffering and fierceness in fight. If this feeling seems to have been somewhat
HISTORY OF THE ORPHAN BRIGADE.

2:!

overweening, and to have manifested itself at times in a way to make them appear to "think better of themselves than they should," it must be observed that it partook not in the slightest degree of mere personal vanity. This latter characteristic is incompatible with a just and manly pride of either family or State.

It should be recorded, too, that they represented Kentucky as a whole and not any particular section of it, not any particular class of its citizens. They came together from eighty-three counties, from homes dotting the State from the Big Sandy to the Mississippi; from the Ohio to the Tennessee line, from the mountains, the bluegrass regions and the western plains; from city and hamlet and country places; from factories and shops, mines and farms; from schools, commercial houses and the offices of professional men.

But the fact that the brigade held a remarkable place in an army of much-enduring and splendid fighting men does not rest upon what might otherwise appear the too partial estimate of an admiring comrade ; but the evidence of others, contemporaneous and subsequent, not only justifies his conclusions, but gives them increased significance. Shortly after the battle of Shiloh, Judge Walker, of New Orleans, who was on the field during the engagement, published an account of it, which was circulated in pamphlet form, and in which he mentioned several of the Kentucky officers by name, and spoke of the conduct of the brigade in terms of the highest praise.

In drill and discipline it was acknowledged to have no peer in the Army of Tennessee, after the trial-drill, May, 1863, with the Louisiana Brigade, which had set up a claim to superior training and skill in maneuver.

After a review at Dalton, January 30, 1864, Major-General Hind-man, then commanding Hardee's Corps, issued a complimentary order, in which he said : " It is announced with gratification that' the commanding General was much pleased with the appearance and bearing of the troops of this corps on review to-day. Without detracting from the praise due to all, the Major-General deems it but just to mention the Kentucky Brigade as especially entitled to commendation for soldierly appearance, steadiness of marching, and an almost perfect accuracy in every detail."

General Joseph E. Johnston once told a prominent Confederate officer that there was " no better infantry in the world than the Kentucky Brigade." In the winter of iS63~'64, when General Breckinridge was ordered to Virginia, he applied to General Johnston for permission to carry the brigade with him, under promise from President Davis that a brigade of other troops should be furnished as an equivalent. Johnston replied : " The President has no equivalent
24

HISTORY OF THE ORPHAN BRIGADE.

for it. It is the best brigade in the Confederate Army." It is said that he made substantially the same remark at the Continental Hotel, in Philadelphia, some time in the winter of 1865-66. While he was United States Railroad Commissioner, Judge William L. Jett, of Frankfort, called to see him in Washington one day, and incidentally referred to having seen the above statements. "Yes," he replied, "the Kentucky Brigade was the finest body of soldiers I ever saw." judge Emory Speer, the eminent Georgia statesman and jurist, writes recently to Capt. J. T. Gaines, in whose company he served for some time : "lam glad to testify that our old General, Joseph E. Johnston, told me, when we were Congressmen together, that the Orphan Brigade was the finest body of men and soldiers he ever saw in any army anywhere." Coming from a trained West Pointer, an officer of the old United States Army, a veteran of two wars, and a citizen of another State, these expressions must be regarded as of extraordinary significance.

When the dismounted detachment moved through Columbia, South Carolina, April, 1865, one of the men inquired of a citizen: "Did the mounted Kentuckians pass through here?" "Yes," he replied; "and," said another, standing by, "they were the only gentlemen who have passed through here since the war began."

A medical officer of White's Battery was asked, in the same city, whether a certain command (naming it), was fighting below Camden. " No no," he replied, "they never stay at one place long enough to get into a fight." "Where was Lewis?" "Oh," said he, "Lewis was there. It is his men who are doing the fighting, and they'll stick to it as long as they can find a foe to shoot at! "

About this time, too, Major-General Young gave free expression to his admiration, and declared that an army of such officers and men, with adequate means, could bid defiance to the world.

And one of the prominent Southern journals, referring to General Hood's defeat at Nashville, had this remark : "A correspondent of one of our exchanges writes of the unfortunate disaster at Nashville, and incidentally pays the highest compliment to Lewis' brigade, then absent, which was never known to falter."

The Mobile Advertiser and Register, speaking of a certain point of Hood's defense, on the same occasion, remarks: "Troops should have been placed at that point of whom not the slightest doubt existed. Had the Kentucky Brigade been there, all would have been safe."

It is well authenticated, also, that the United States Army knew them; and as the veteran soldiers of every civilized nation admire those most who oppose them most manfully, they respected them highly
HISTORY OF THE ORPHAN BRIGADE

When a large part of the brigade was captured at Jonesboro, General Jefferson C. Davis, by whose division they were made prisoners, expressed his admiration of them, and assured them that they should be treated as gentlemen ; and no insult was offered by the soldiers, nor was the then common custom of depriving prisoners of watches and other private property resorted to by any one. On the contrary, while expressing their joy at having captured them, they incidentally extolled them in no measured terms.

The foregoing are a few of the many expressions that were heard from Donelson and Shiloh to Camden. It is unnecessary to swell the number.

Something of the interest which gathered around the command was no doubt due to the singular position they occupied. Almost the sole representatives in the Confederate Infantry of a State renowned of old for the gallantry of her sons, displayed on almost every field since the Revolution; completely isolated from home, and for the time in direct antagonism to the authority of their Commonwealth, without the comforts and encouragements that others enjoyed the soldierly qualities exhibited in battling so manfully, suffering so patiently, bearing themselves so loftily under all, were such as would have attracted the attention of the country under any circumstances, and would seem to deserve special notice at the hands of the historian.

In physical development and powers of endurance their superiority was manifest. Official tables of measurement taken during the war show that among from three to four millions of volunteers from all parts of the Union, natives and foreigners, those born and reared in Kentucky exceed