xt7j6q1sfr7h https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7j6q1sfr7h/data/mets.xml Logan, India W. P. (India Washington Peddicord), 1835- 1908  books b92-72-27213831 English Neale, : New York ; Washington : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Peddicord, Kelion Franklin, 1883-1905. United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Personal narratives, Confederate. Morgan's Ohio Raid, 1863. Kelion Franklin Peddicord of Quirk's scouts  : Morgan's Kentucky cavalry, C.S.A. : biographical and autobiographical, together with a general biographical outline of the Peddicord family / by Mrs. India W.P. Logan. text Kelion Franklin Peddicord of Quirk's scouts  : Morgan's Kentucky cavalry, C.S.A. : biographical and autobiographical, together with a general biographical outline of the Peddicord family / by Mrs. India W.P. Logan. 1908 2002 true xt7j6q1sfr7h section xt7j6q1sfr7h 























KELION FRANKLIN PEDDICORD


 













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KELION FRANKLIN PEDDICORD

            of Quirk's Scouts
    Morgan's Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. A.


       Biographical and Autobiographical


             Together with a
     General Biographical Outline of the
            Peddicord Family


     By MRS. INDIA W. P. LOGAN



     New York and Washington
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY
             1908


 


























  Copyright, 1908, by
Mrs. India W. P. Logan




 










                 PART I
                                    Page
General Biographical Outline of the
  Peddicord Family ..   .............  9

                PARTII
Biographical Sketch and Autobiography
  of Kelion Franklin Peddicord as
  Written in His "Journal" and in Let-
  ters from Military Prisons, and as
  Jotted Down by Him During a Busy
  Life After the War ........    ......  I9
Chapter
I  Youth and Early Manhood,         2I
II  The Journal.    .................29
III  Prison Life .'................. 149
IV  After the War . .   ............. i6i
V Some Letters Received by Mrs.
       Logan ..    .................. i64




 















          ILLUSTRATIONS
                                   Page
Kelion Franklin Peddicord, I 863, ....
                             Frontispiece
Columbus A. Peddicord .  ...........  12
Carolus J. Peddicord . .............  i8
Kelion Franklin Peddicord, i888, .... So


 



















            PART I
GENERAL BIOGRAPICAL OUTLINE OF THE
         PEDDICORD FAMILY


 
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PART I



GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE OF THE
           PEDDICORD FAMILY

  Our great-grandfather was Adam Peddi-
cord. He married Elizabeth Barnes, a
daughter of James Barnes, the elder. Their
son, Jasper Peddicord, our paternal grand-
father, was born in 1762 in Anne Arundel
County, Maryland, from whence he moved to
Ohio in I829. He died in Barnesville, Bel-
mont County, Ohio, on September 23, I844,
aged 82. Barnesville was named after James
Barnes, grandfather's cousin. Caleb Peddi-
cord, another cousin of Grandfather Peddi-
cord, emigrated from Maryland to Kentucky
in I830. Two other cousins of our grand-
father, William and John Peddicord, served
in the war of i812.
  Amelia Hobbs-Peddicord, our paternal
grandmother, was the daughter of Thomas
Hobbs. She was born in Maryland in I767
and died March 23, i841, in Barnesville,
Ohio.
  Jared Hobbs, our maternal grandfather,


 






Kelion Franklin Peddicord



was born in Howard County, Maryland,
March 22, I772, and died on his farm in
i866 at the advanced age of 94.
  Our maternal grandmother was Elenor
Shipley-Hobbs, daughter of Edward Shipley.
She was born in Howard County, Maryland,
March i6, 1777, and died August 2I, I828.
  Wilson Lee Peddicord, our father, was
born in Howard County, Maryland, May I3,
I803, and died in Palmyra, Missouri, May
20, i875, from injuries caused by his team
running away and throwing him under a
large iron field roller. He was a Royal Arch
Mason, and Palmyra Lodge officiated at his
funeral.
  Our mother, Keturah Barnes-Peddicord,
the fifth child of Grandfather Hobbs, was
born in Howard County, Maryland, Septem-
ber 25, 1807, and died January 9, i876.
She is buried near father in Palmyra, Mis-
souri, where she died.
  Jared Hobbs and Elenor Shipley-Hobbs
had six children:
  i. Louisa, born October i6, i8oi.
  2. Robert T., born December 2, I 802.
  3. Julia Ann, born April 3, i804.
  4. Corilla E., born March 2, i8o6.



110


 






Kelion Franklin Peddicord



  5. Keturah B., born September 25, 1807.
  6. Teresa, born June i9, i809.
  Jasper Peddicord and Amelia Hobbs-
Peddicord had twelve children; two of
whom died quite young:
      Sons.           Daughters.
i. Thomas.          i. Pleasants.
2. Asbury.          2. Rebecca.
3. Benjamin.        3. Anna.
4. Joseph.          4. Cordelia.
S. Wilson Lee.      5. Hannah (Dorsey).
  Anna married John Holton.
  Cordelia married Thomas Holton.
  Pleasants married Jerry Bartholow.
  Rebecca married Robert Musgrove.
  Hannah (daughter by a second marriage
to Miss Dorsey) never married.
  Wilson Lee Peddicord and Keturah
Barnes-Peddicord were married on Novem-
ber 17, i829, in Howard County, Maryland,
by the Rev. T. Linthicum. They had seven
children:
  i. Columbus Adolphus, born July i 8,
I831.
  2. Kelion Franklin, born October i, i833.



II3


 






Kelion Franklin Peddicord



  3. Indiana Washington, born December
i5, i835-
  4. Ruth Elenor, born November 7, I 837.
  S. Carolus Judkins, born November 27,
I 840.
  6. Laura Clay, born November 22, i844.
  7. Lily Louisa Pleasants, born August 28,
I 849.
  Columbus A. Peddicord and Mrs. Issa
Meador-Peddicord were married March 3 I,
i859, in Sumner County, Tennessee, by Rev.
John Winn. They had three children:
  i. Charles Lewis, born February, i 8 6o.
  2. Frank Morgan, born November, i86i.
  3. Columbus, born I863.
  The following biographical sketch of
Columbus A. Peddicord is by his sister, Mrs.
India P. Logan:

  Columbus A. Peddicord was the oldest
child in our family. Six feet tall at eighteen
years of age, the idol of our family, he was
a model of manly beauty, an image of our
stately, beautiful mother.  His chestnut,
curling hair, and his hazel eyes, clear pale
complexion, perfect form, and friendship
with all classes made him a universal fa-
vorite. Impetuous tempered, he forgave any



12




 














































































                       CoIxumIUts A. PEI)DICORD

                  Capt. Independentt Scouts. 'Morgani's Cavalry


FACING 12


 
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Kelion Franklin Peddicord



who affronted him at the first overture. He
was a splendid shot at an early age, afraid of
nothing in the world.
  After the first year of service in the "Sil-
ver Grays," a company of Gallatin, Tennes-
see, in Colonel Bates's regiment, Second
Infantry, Company K., he was with J. H.
Morgan, and was often sent on detached
service. He was taken prisoner in i863, and
spent nineteen months starving and freezing
at Johnson's Island. Exchanged in Novem-
ber, i864, he returned to find his wife in a
Federal prison at Gallatin, Tennessee-a
ruse to catch him. His father succeeded in
getting her freed by going to Nashville to
General Rosecrans, who banished her from
Tennessee, where she owned one hundred and
sixty acres of land, which was sold for taxes
during reconstruction days. My brother Col-
umbus was furious at his wife's treatment,
and he and his men were conspicuous for
their daring until the close of the war.
  He was farming near Glasgow Junction in
Kentucky until August, i867, when he at-
tended a Democratic barbecue at Glasgow
City. While riding in his carriage driven by
the old faithful slave driver, he was ap-
proached by four men, and asked if he would



is


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



take them to the grounds. He acquiesced.
Three rode with him, and one with the
driver. "You are Captain Peddicord," said
one. He smiled, saying, "The Captain is
played out." The man, using vile epithets,
said, "A fine carriage for a d-d rebel to
ride in." Brother, thinking they were joking,
replied, "Yes, but the rebel is played out,
too." After he found out they were antag-
onistic, he stepped out and said, "Get out of
my vehicle." The one who got out first went
behind the carriage and shot at my brother,
hitting him in the left arm, shattering the
bone. My brother then pulled out his. pis-
tol, but, as he said afterward, it failed to go
off for the first time. The man shot again
and struck his spine. He fell, and the men
ran, and as there were many old Confeder-
ates on the grounds the crew disappeared
quickly.  My brother lived thirteen days.
He is buried in the old "Bell" family ceme-
tery at Glasgow Junction, Kentucky. His
wife and two sons-one seven, one five and a
half years old-were left to mourn his loss.

  Kelion Franklin Peddicord never married.
  The following appreciation of his charac-
ter is by his sister, Mrs. India W. P. Logan:



14


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



  In person my brother Kelion was about
five feet eight inches in height, pale olive in
complexion, with dark gray eyes and fine,
very dark brown hair, and erect form, even
when his hair had become white with age.
Though always cheerful, his countenance was
grave and he seldom laughed. He looked
the soldier to the last time he walked the
street, and died like the "bravest of the
brave." With his soft hat under his arm,
his Kentucky Confederate badge on his
breast (from the reunion in Louisville in
I905), he was laid beside his father and
mother for whom he had given up his am-
bition of rising in his profession of civil en-
gineer, becoming the cheerful farmer until
the death of his parents, when he came to
Palmyra, where he filled many positions of
trust. He was a member of Robert Buffner
C. V. Camp at Hannibal. Kelion was one
of the most truthful persons I was ever ac-
quainted with. This was a trait he inherited.
"If you cannot speak the truth," he said, "say
nothing." He was always chivalrous toward
women and loved children to a great degree,
and was an uncommon judge of men.
  Always uncomplaining, he said only once



IS  


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



when ill, looking at the clock, "It is so long."
He was ill eighteen days.
   Kelion, as he was always called until his
army life, was only two years older than my-
self, and I corresponded with him when pos-
sible until the last sixteen years of his life,
during which he lived in my home. I wish
to say here that I can never forget the kind-
ness of those who ministered to him in his
last illness. He was the last link that bound
me to the past.

  Indiana W. Peddicord-Logan and Samuel
Logan were married in St. Marys, Pleasant
County, Virginia, May is, I855. They had
three children:
  i. Eugene W., born June 27, i856; died
August i8, I857.
  2. Minnehaha, born May 2I, i858.
  3. Ernest Lee, born April 26, i862; died
August 8, i893.
  Samuel Logan died of apoplexy in Parkers-
burg, West Virginia, April I4, i896. He
was buried in Palmyra, Missouri, April I7,
i 896.



Ruth Elenor Peddicord-Byrd and William



z 6


 






Kelion Franklin Peddicord



Hamilton Byrd were married April 27,
i88I, by Rev. Dr. I. A. Wainwright at the
National Hotel, in Palmyra, Missouri.
  William Hamilton Byrd died January I2,
i905. He was a descendant of Sir William
Byrd of "Westover," Virginia.

  Of Carolus J. Peddicord, his sister, Mrs.
India P. Logan, writes:

  Our youngest brother, Carolus J. Peddi-
cord, was only twenty-two years old when
taken prisoner by General Paine's soldiers at
Gallatin, Tennessee.  He was during the
first year of the war a member of Col. Ben
Hardin Helm's First Kentucky Cavalry,
Company A, and afterward belonged to the
same scouts with my brother, C. A. Peddi-
cord. With five of his men Carolus was put
in a dungeon at Gallatin, on a stone floor,
without a blanket, until a comrade left his on
being paroled by General Paine. He was told
if he would inform on his friends and the
Southern sympathizers that his life would be
spared. He obstinately refused from Octo-
ber until December, when he was informed
that he would be taken out on horseback to
    2



17


 






Kelion Franklin Peddicord



the country and be shot if he refused to
guide them to the homes of his friends. One
friend who spent the last night in the cell
with him said to my brother, K. F. Peddi-
cord, at a reunion in Dallas, Texas, "Your
brother was the bravest man I ever saw. He
said, 'I can die, but never can I betray a
trust.' " He was taken many miles out into
the country and shot in the forehead.
   Carolus had auburn hair, extremely fair
complexion, was pale, slender, about five feet
eight inches tall, with a graceful figure, and
dark blue laughing eyes like our father's.
He is buried at the old Bell family cemetery
in Kentucky.

  Laura Clay Peddicord was born in Barnes-
ville, Belmont County, Ohio, and died at
Fountain Head, Sumner County, Tennessee,
May i8, i867, having been an invalid her
whole life. She is buried at Fountain Head
Church, Sumner County, Tennessee.

  Lily L. Peddicord-Webster and Thomas
T. Webster were married December 2I,
i887, in Kansas City, Missouri. They have
one child, Frank Thursby, born December
i, i888.



IS




 






































CAROLUS J. PEDDICORD
Member 1st Kentucky Cavalry



FACING 8



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         PART II
  BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH AND
     AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
 KELION FRANKLIN PEDDICORD
 AS WRITTEN IN HIS "JOURNAL"
AND IN LETTERS FROM MILITARY
PRISONS, AND AS JOTTED DOWN
BY HIM DURING A BUSY LIFE
      AFTER THE WAR


 
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CHAPTER I



      YOUTH AND EARLY MANHOOD

  Kelion Franklin Peddicord was the sec-
ond son of Wilson Lee Peddicord and Ke-
turah Barnes-Peddicord. He was born Oc-
tober i, i833, on a farm near Barnesville,
Belmont County, Ohio, the home of his
Grandfather Peddicord, where his parents
lived when they moved from Maryland in
I830. The family moved to Barnesville,
while he was yet unable to walk, to the hotel
called the Mansion House, later styled the
Mills House.
  His father was in charge of the Mansion
House, and owned at the time four or five
large six-horse teams and wagons, which he
kept for hauling to and from the Baltimore,
Maryland, market, over the National Turn-
pike. He was an experienced tobacconist,
buying, packing, and sending hundreds of
hogsheads of tobacco to the Baltimore mar-
ket. They hauled tobacco east, and brought
dry goods and merchandise of every descrip-
tion west in return.


 





Kellon Franklin Peddicord



  Young Peddicord's education was begun
at the old brick "free" schoolhouse, then the
high school of the town. The first school-
master was an old-timer by the name of Ash-
ford. Another was Joseph Harris. When
the large academy was built he attended it,
while under the charge of that excellent pro-
fessor, Nathaniel R. Smith, of Smith's Gram-
mar fame. From Professor Smith Kelion re-
ceived his first lessons in surveying, having
field practice, geology, and geometry. He
was often a companion of the Professor in
his researches, and thus acquired a great
fondness for all that was curious in nature.
This knowledge in after years aided him
much in his profession of civil engineering in
the classification of materials.
  He was a good assistant in the tobacco
house under his father, and had become an
expert assorter and packer when but twelve
years old.
  In I846 his father moved with his family
from the town of Barnesville to a farm on
the Ohio River, in Washington County,
Ohio, at the foot of what old river men
called Long Reach, from its straight course
of eighteen miles. While living here the boy



22


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



saw pass many Mexican war soldiers en route
to their homes from Mexico.
  In the spring of i85o the family moved to
the Virginia side of the river on a farm five
miles above St. Marys, the county-seat of
Pleasants County, Virginia. With his eldest
sister he attended the seminary school con-
ducted by Mrs. T. E. Curry, at the town of
Grandview, Ohio, during the winter of i 8So
and I851.
  In December, i 8So, the family moved
again, this time to St. Marys, Virginia. They
resided there until December i5, I856, dur-
ing which time his father was a railroad con-
tractor on the Northwestern Virginia Rail-
road, then under construction, grading sev-
eral miles of heavy work.
  The young man attended school a short
term in St. Marys, then went to his father's
works to act as timekeeper and bookkeeper
for the force at work.
  Before he was twenty-one he received the
appointment of second assistant in a corps of
civil engineers, from Chief Engineer Benja-
min H. Latrobe, of Baltimore, Maryland,
with directions to report for duty to Cornelius
Mercer, resident engineer in charge of the
First Residency, Second Division of the N.



23


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



W. V. R. R. He remained on the First Res-
idency until near the completion, acting as
first assistant from the first day of joining
the corps. This was owing to the fact that
the first assistant was unable to take charge
of the instruments and keep notes. Thus the
second assistant fell heir to the care of the
transit and level and other field instruments,
and the note-book.
   It was a great day to him, when on the sec-
ond day in the service he was sent to give the
contractors, McCune  Gillespie, grade in
the heavy summit cut, keeping notes and run-
ning the level for nearly a mile from the
bench mark. This summit was the highest
on the road, and the divide between Middle
Island and the Monongahela River. Water
which fell on the east side would have to
travel nearly seven hundred miles before
joining in the Ohio that which fell, a few feet
away, on the west side.
  At one time the resident engineer, Mr.
Mercer, was permitted a short leave of ab-
sence, and the junior was left in charge of a
tunnel, near completion, where the skill of
the engineer is tested-that of bringing op-
posite lines together with slight variation.
This he did satisfactorily.  He was pro-



24


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



moted and transferred to the Second Resi-
dency, Second Division, as first assistant to
John Maxwell, resident engineer, and J. C.
C. Hoskins, division engineer, assisting in
field work in order to make complete his final
estimates. Most of the time during his stay
at the Second Residency he was on office
work.
  Young Peddicord was next ordered to re-
port at the office of the Fifth Residency, Sec-
ond Division, in company with A. C. Hos-
kins, and remained at the fifth completing
the unfinished office work.
  Having finished the final estimates and re-
ports he left Schumla, Virginia, on February
7, i856, for St. Marys, Virginia, where some
time was spent in assisting the firm of Logan,
Kellar  Co., one of whom was his brother-
in-law, in their store, and in making collec-
tions of parties in the interior counties.
  On   December   i5, i8S6, the     family
moved to Tennessee, where his father had a
number of miles of heavy work on the Louis-
ville and Nashville Railroad, under Mr.
George McLeod, chief engineer, near Foun-
tain Head, in Sumner County. His sister,
Mrs. Logan, accompanied the family.
  On March 12, 1857, with Samuel Logan,



25


 





Kellon Franklin Peddicord



who was going after his wife and child,
young Peddicord left St. Marys for Tennes-
see. They took the steamer Stephen Bayard
for Parkersburg, Virginia, thence by steamer
Silver Star to Galliopolis, Ohio, then by
steamer J. B. Ford to Cincinnati, Ohio, then
on steamer Gazelle to Louisville, Kentucky,
and the South America to Smithland at the
mouth of the Cumberland River. From
there they traveled on the V. K. Stephenson
to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee. Here
they visited Mrs. James K. Polk's residence,
the Capitol Building, then not completed,
and other places of interest.  From Nash-
ville they proceeded by stage coach to Galla-
tin, Sumner County, Tennessee, north of
which the family resided on the works.
  Soon after reaching home he was taken
sick with measles, caught from a passenger
in the stage coach.
  Having letters from Chief Engineer La-
trobe to Chief Engineer McLeod, he received
an appointment from the latter and was or-
dered to Nashville, Tennessee, on June i i,
i857, where he was stationed up to April 23,
1858, as inspector of cross-ties, superintend-
ent of bridge masonry and superstructure,
and receiving chairs and spikes and railroad



26


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



iron. While in Nashville, as a boyish ex-
ploit, he climbed the spire of the State Capi-
tol and hung his hat on the point.
  Returning to Fountain Head in April,
i858, he spent a short time attending to his
father's business, then joined him near Glas-
gow Junction, Barren County, Kentucky, and
aided in the completion of his father's last
contract on the Louisville and Nashville Rail-
road in the spring of i859.
  While residing near Glasgow Junction in
i859 and i86o he discovered and explored a
number of caverns, the largest of which was
the Hundred Dome Cave, two and a half
miles from the station. In connection with
and aided by John D. Courts, he fitted up and
opened it to the sightseeing public, having
carriages to meet the trains for the accom-
modation of visitors.
  Although born and educated in Ohio, a
Northern State, young Peddicord believed
truly and sincerely in the rights of States, and
when war became imminent his sympathy was
all with the South, and he enlisted in the
Confederate States Army in September,
i86i. Before enlisting he was engaged in
the service as special agent in re-shipping
supplies and all kinds of munitions, etc.,



27


 





Kelion Franklin Peddicord



from Glasgow Junction, L.  N. R. R., to
the State line of Tennessee. Permits would
not be granted at Louisville, Kentucky, to
ship through, but by re-shipping freight and
paying charges with gold its southern destin-
ation was reached.
   While thus engaged the young man met
General, then Colonel, N. B. Forrest, who
tendered him a fine position, urging Kelion
to go with him in the service. The Colonel
was on his way through Kentucky, taking
out his first company at the time. With
some reluctance he was forced to decline the
Colonel's kind offer, because of his engage-
ment with the shipping and commission mer-
chants of Nashville, whose gold was en-
trusted to him for a specific purpose.
  For a record of young Peddicord's service
after enlistment in the Confederate States
Army we can do no better than use his jour-
nal, as completed by him in December, i865.




 











CHAPTER 11



               THE JOURNAL
                      To
    My beloved sister, Mrs. India W. P. Logan,
                This little History
         Is Dedicated and Inscribed by Her
         Very grateful and affectionate brother,
                                   FRANK.
                  PREFACE
   This Journal of incidents and adventures,
written at your request, was never intended
to pass beyond the circle of tried and par-
ticular friends. The particular situation in
which it was written, the character of the
writer, of his associates, and the Cause they
represented-all these peculiarities must be
known, felt, and understood before you can
enter into the spirit of the enclosed composi-
tion.
  With this consideration, these simple
sketches are kindly submitted, and placed
under your protection, sincerely hoping they
will be appreciated and estimated according
to their merits. And furthermore, that the
honor of the Cause, as well as of its defend-


 






Kelion Franklin Peddicord



ers, be kept sacred, and to the end of time
unsullied.
                          THE AUTHOR.

        GLASGOW JUNCTION, KENTUCKY.
DEAR SISTER:
  I received, some time since, a request that
I would write you an outline of my expe-
rience in "the tented field" up to the date of
my capture. It will necessarily be very im-
perfect, and a very brief one, and perhaps it
will be as uninteresting as it is brief. Yet I
can assure you that nothing less than a long
and continued interview could give you any
just conception or description of my expe-
rience and many exploits as a member of
Morgan's Cavalry.
  However, I trust this sketch may both
please and interest you. To me, in the mean
time, it will only be a reminder of the long
years of hardship, exposure, and suffering in
a Lost Cause which was so gallantly and de-
votedly battled for that one would almost
accuse the God of Battles of injustice and im-
partiality; of using the Fates against a
people in such a sacred cause. That I have
been a soldier in the service of the Confed-



30


 






Kelion Franklin Peddicord



crate States is not, and never will be, re-
gretted. I am proud that I was one who did
not hesitate to join the standard of those in
defense of their country's rights. Had I not
done so I would now be chiding myself with
no little severity Shame alone would cause
me to blush myself out of existence.
  But pardon my digression. I will com-
mence my sketch.
  You are already aware, perhaps, that I en-
listed in the cavalry service of the Confed-
erate States of America at Glasgow, Ken-
tucky, in October, i86i, and in a company
that was then being fonned by Second Lieu-
tenant James W. Bowles, who had been duly
authorized by the Confederate Government
to recruit a company of cavalry.
  At Glasgow forty men were enlisted, and
after some experience in drilling and a few
exciting engagements, such as scouting and
skirmishing, in which we were sometimes sup-
ported by Capt. John H. Morgan and his
company,-a favor we often returned,-we
were ordered by General Buckner to Bowling
Green, Kentucky. On reporting to the Gen-
eral we were instructed by him to report to
Captain Morgan, commanding Camp Burn-



53I


 






3elion Franklin Peddicord



ham, one mile south of Bowling Green, where
we went into camp.
  Here we found the Lexington Rifles, Cap-
tain Morgan's old company; Captain Allen's
and Capt. John S. Churchill's company,
partly completed, with which our company
was, by order of the commandant, soon after-
ward consolidated. The two captains, by the
toss of a copper, decided who should become
the commander, and Lieutenant Bowles, our
then acting captain, being the successful one,
Captain Churchill justly fell heir to the
second in command, the first lieutenancy.
Our first lieutenant became the second lieu-
tenant of the new company, and the other
first lieutenant became our third, the very re-
sponsible position of orderly sergeant falling
to your most humble servant, and so on down
the list.
  At that time Captain Morgan had in camp
three full companies, amounting to about two
hundred and seventy-five men, all splendidly
mounted on Kentucky's best: Morgan's own
Company A, Capt. Thomas Allen's Company
B, and Capt. Bowle's Company C, forming
"Morgan's Squadron," as it was afterward
known, and being under the command of
Capt. John H. Morgan, with First Lieutenant



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Kelion Franklin Peddicord



Basil W. Duke, of Company A, as acting ad-
jutant, subject to the command of General
Buckner alone.
  After remaining in camp near Bowling
Green for some time, drilling and making
other preparations necessary to meet the foe
successfully, we moved to an encampment
called "Camp Allen," five miles south of
Bowling Green, between the L. and N. and
the Memphis Branch railroads, where we
drilled constantly until the latter part of
November, when we were ordered to the
front to form a portion of the advance-guard,
then near Green River, under the command
of General Hindman. Here we remained
on active duty until the withdrawal of our
forces from Bowling Green, which with-
drawal was caused by the enemy's flank move-
ment and the fall of Fort Donelson, about the
first of February, i862. On the retreat the
squadron was the rear-guard of our army,
that being the second time we had had charge
of the post of honor.
  Leaving Camp Green on the I 2th,-my
last sight of home until the 27th of June,
i865,-we passed through Bowling Green
and encamped four miles south of town. On
    3



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Kelion Franklin Peddicord



the i3th our column reached Franklin, Ken-
tucky, and the evening of the I4th we were
encamped one mile south of Mitchellville,
Tennessee.  Here   General   Breckinridge,
who was now in command, General Buckner
having gone to Fort Donelson, learned that
the enemy's advance had reached Bowling
Green. I shall not soon forget the night we
camped near Mitchellville, for we shared the
fate of the reindeer in having our beds on the
snow.
  On the i th we reached Goodletsville, and
on the i6th we marched into Nashville. We
remained on special duty in that city several
days, and until the main army had reached
Huntsville, Alabama. On the arrival of the
enemy's forces our little band steadily and
quite sullenly gave way before them until we
reached Lavergne, about midway between
Nashville and Murfreesboro, meanwhile in-
flicting sudden and unexpected blows, causing
the enemy so much loss as to make him ad-
vance slowly and with the utmost caution.
  It was on this retreat that our commander
and the squadron, by their many daring deeds,
brought themselves first into notice and
gained such notoriety as to make them after-
ward of no little terror to the enemy. And



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Relion Franklin Peddicord



from this time forward, until July i9, i863,
the date of our capture in Ohio, they earned
and gained more laurels, captured more
stores and provisions, and had less reverses
than any other command in either service.
Never was a commander so much admired, so
devotedly loved, or one in whom his soldiers
placed so much confidence as a leader, as was
our dashing and gallant chief. Any of us-
all of us-would gladly have died in his de-
fense, and each one would have envied the
man who lost his life defending him. So
much was he trusted that his men never
dreamed of failing him in anything that he
attempted. In all engagements he was our
guiding star and hero.
  Doubtless you learned at the time they were
enacted of the many daring and spirited en-
gagements and scouts while we were en-
camped at Lavergne and Murfreesboro, the
enemy near us, at the Asylum and Nashville.
I presume you heard particularly of the Gen-
eral's personal adventures, sometimes alone,
sometimes with a chosen few. It is exciting
and interesting to read such incidents, but to
be an actor in them is the only way to realize
"the heart's exultant swell." That can only



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Kelion Franklin Peddicord



be felt; it cannot be described even by those
who have been through it.
   During our stay in Murfreesboro a portion
of the squadron went with the General, then
Captain, to Gallatin, very much to the sur-
prise of the enemy who were garrisoning the
town. On this occasion Columbus A. Peddi-
cord, having just come from Virginia, acted
as guide. His regiment had been disbanded
with orders to reorganize on the first of April,
I 862.
  It was here that I contracted the illness
which afterward resulted in typhoid pneu-
monia, it being brought on by constant ex-
posure to the long cold rains during the first
two weeks of March while we were scouting
in the vicinity of the capital We lived in the
saddle the most of the time, and our clothing
was continually wet.
  Captain Morgan and sixty horse were sta-
tioned in Murfreesboro, and they held the
town; the rest of the squadron, meantime,
encamped on the pike running from Shelby-
ville, a pike intersecting the Franklin and
Nashville pike twelve miles from Nashville.
This disposition of our small force non-
plussed the enemy entirely and successfully.
They could not solve the mystery, or imagine



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Kelion Franklin Peddicord



what our number was, or where or who we
were.
   Our leader, by his rapid blows and dare-
devil encounters, caused them to believe his
entire force was with him at Murfreesboro,
while Captain Allen, Captain Bowles, and
Adjutant Duke drew their attention in the
opposite direction, attacking them at all
hours of the day and night. We would cap-
ture an outpost, very often galloping in the
midst of their camp, thus causing the greatest
surprise  and   consternation  imaginable.
After presenting the compliments of "Mor-
gan's Men," in the shape of a few broadsides