A Horse Breeder

Sanders Dewees Bruce an expert on horse breeding was made the Colonel of the Union 20^th Kentucky Infantry January 6^th 1862.

Sanders Dewees Bruce was born in Lexington, Kentucky August 18^th 1825, the son of John Bruce.  He graduated in 1846 from Transylvania University and went in the mercantile business.  He served in the Kentucky State Militia as a Captain of the Lexington Chasseurs.

When the Civil War started Bruce decided to fight for the Union, despite other family member choosing to side with the Confederacy [his sister Rebeca was married to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan].  Bruce started his service as the Union Inspector General of the Kentucky Militia.  When the 20^th Kentucky Infantry; which he helped recruit, was raised, he was mustered in as their Colonel on January 6^th 1862.  In February of 1862 Bruce was in command of a Brigade in Union General William Bull Nelson’s Division of the Army of the Ohio.  Bruce led his Brigade when Nelson was ordered to reinforce Union General Ulysses S Grant at Pittsburg Landing during the Battle of Shiloh.  He would serve as post commander in Bowling Green, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee.  When he resigned from Union service June 24^th 1864, due to a stroke, he was serving as the Provost Marshal of Lexington, Kentucky.

After the war ended Bruce moved to New York City.  He published “The Turf, Field and Farm” a magazine where he used his knowledge of horse breeding.  He became a member of the Coney Island Jockey Club, and wrote the “American Stud Book” and “The Horsebreed’s Guide and Handbook”.  Bruce died January 31^st 1902 in New York City; and is buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.

A Stovepipe And Blindness

Confederate Adam Rankin “Stovepipe” Johnson was promoted Brigadier General on September 6^th 1864.

Adam Rankin Johnson was born February 8^th 1834 in Henderson, Kentucky the son of Thomas J and Juliet (Rankin) Johnson.  He attended local schools before going to work at the age of 12 in a local drugstore.  He moved to the Hamilton Valley, in Burnet County, Texas in 1854, where he became a surveyor.  Johnson also supplied and drove stagecoach for the Butterfield Overland Mail stations, and was a noted Indian fighter.

When the Civil War started, Johnson returned to his native state of Kentucky, and joined Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry as a scout.  He escaped being captured at Fort Donelson, and received a promotion to Colonel for his and his regiment’s actions well behind Union lines in Kentucky.  In a raid against Newburg, Indiana, Johnson with twelve men captured the city by using two joints of stovepipe he mounted to an old wagon convincing the Union presence it was a cannon.  This was how he picked up the nickname “Stovepipe”.  In 1863 Johnson took command of a brigade in Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry.  When Morgan’s raid came to an end at the Battle of Buffington Island, Johnson led 350 troopers across the Ohio River to safety.  He was appointed Brigadier General September 6^th 1864.  An accidental shot by one of own men on August 21^st 1864 at the Battle of Grubb’s Crossroads blinded Johnson.  He was captured by Union soldiers and spent most of the rest of the war in Fort Warren as a prisoner of war.

After the war ended and Johnson was paroled, he returned to Texas.  Even though he was blind, Johnson founded the town of Marble Falls, Texas; known as “The Blind Man’s Town”, founded the Texas Mining Improvement Company  and worked to try to harness the Colorado River for water power.  He died October 20^th 1922 in Burnet, Texas and is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.  His body was laid in state in the Senate Chamber of the Texas State Capitol.

Will Be Publicly Shot To Death

Union Major General Stephen Gano Burbridge in command of Kentucky issued order Number 59, "Whenever an unarmed Union citizen is murdered, four guerrillas will be selected from the prison and publicly shot to death at the most convenient place near the scene of the outrages," on July 16^th 1864.

Stephen Gano Burbridge was born August 19^th 1831 in Georgetown, Kentucky.  He attended Georgetown College and the Kentucky Military Institute.  After graduating Burbridge became a lawyer.

When the Civil War started Burbridge joined the Union army, forming a regiment; the 26^th Kentucky, which he was the Colonel of.  He was promoted to Brigadier General on June 9^th 1862.  He saw action at several battles including Shiloh, and the Vicksburg Campaign.  In June of 1864 he succeeded Union General Jeremiah T Boyle in command of the District of Kentucky which had a problem with Confederate guerrilla fighting.  He was given a brevet to Major General after repulsing Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid on Kentucky on July 4^th 1864.  One July 16^th 1864 Burbridge issued Order Number 59, which said, "Whenever an unarmed Union citizen is murdered, four guerrillas will be selected from the prison and publicly shot to death at the most convenient place near the scene of the outrages."  Do to the outrage of the population and civil authorities of Kentucky, Burbridge was relieved of his command in January 1865.

After the war Burbridge moved to Brooklyn, New York where he died December 2^nd 1894.  He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

For more information about Burbridge’s Order # 59, I recommend Four Confederate Soldiers Martyred at Pleasureville

Thirteen Hundred Union Prisoners

The Second Battle of Cynthiana was fought in Harrison County, Kentucky on June 11^th 1864, a part of Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan’s raid into Kentucky.

Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan moved toward Cynthiana, Kentucky at dawn on June 11^th 1864 with 1,200 cavalry.  The town was defended by a small Union of home guard and a detachment of the 168^th Ohio, about 300 soldiers all under the command of Colonel Conrad Garis.  Morgan divided his men and surrounded the town, launching the attack at the covered bridge.  The Union troops were pushed back north towards the railroad.  The Confederate cavalry set fire to the town.  As the fighting was going on in Cynthiana, the 171^st Ohio under the command of Union Brigadier General Edward Hobson arrived about a mile outside of town.  The soldiers of the 171th fought Morgan’s men for about six hours before being trapped along the Licking River.

Morgan spent the night on the line of battle.  He had 1,300 Union prisoners with him.  The next day the men of the 171^st Ohio were paroled.

Pushed Through The Cove

The Battle of Cove Mountain was fought in Wythe County, Virginia on May 10^th 1864.

On May 10^th 1864 a Union cavalry brigade under Brigadier General William W Averell ran across a Confederate brigade commanded by Brigadier General William E Grumble Jones.  The Union forces attacked and were driven back.  Then Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan arrived, his cavalry counterattacked.  Morgan’s men pushed Averell’s troops through the Cove Mountain area of Wythe County, Virginia.

The Confederates held the battlefield, forcing Averell and his men back to West Virginia.

A Great Escape

Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and several of his men broke out of prison November 27^th 1863 in Ohio and made their escape to the south.

John Hunt Morgan was raised in Kentucky.  His served in the United States Army during the Mexican American War, under General Zachary Taylor.  When the Civil War started and the state of Kentucky didn’t secede, Morgan moved to Alabama.  He made several raids into the north between 1862 and 63.  On the last of these raids Morgan led his band of men through Kentucky, southern Indiana and into Ohio.  After a tour through Cincinnati the raiders head for the Ohio River, their route was blocked at Buffington Island, Ohio by Union soldiers and about 700 of Morgan’s men were captured.  Morgan turned his men back north, but most were captured along with Morgan at Salineville on July 26^th 1863.

Morgan was placed in the newly built Ohio State Penitentiary along with some of his officers at Columbus, Ohio.  Morgan and his men cut a hole into a ventilation space under Thomas Hines’ cell, through which they tunneled out into the inner yard; they then scaled the wall on November 27^th 1863.  Morgan caught a train for Cincinnati, and then hired a boat to take him across the river.  They made their way back to Tennessee and safety in Confederate territory.

The Fort Only Lasted A Year.

Fort Duffield built outside of West Point, Kentucky was started November 3^rd 1861, and finished in two months.

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman was worried about the Confederates located at Bowling Green and Columbus, Kentucky, and a possible attack using the Ohio River and the Louisville Nashville Turnpike.  He ordered a fort the be built on Pearman Hill at West Point Kentucky to protect the Union supply base located at Elizabeth, Kentucky.  The 37^th Indiana and 9^th Michigan began construction of the fort on November 3^rd 1861.  They finished it in two months.

The Fort Duffield was named after Rev George Duffield of Detroit, Michigan.  The Rev’s son Colonel William W Duffield was the commander of the 9^th Michigan.  The fort wasn’t built in the traditional star like shape, but had more of a serpentine shaped wall about 1000 foot long.  There was a fresh water source inside in the fort and the trees were removed for a mile around the fort.  About 61 men died from disease while working on the fort.  There were about 950 soldier stationed in Fort Duffield.

Fort Duffield never saw any action, and was abandoned in the fall of 1862.  Interestingly had the Fort remained in use, they may have stopped Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s 1863 Raid, which was carried out in the area.

I Am Yet And Will Die A Rebel

Confederate guerrilla Samuel “Champ” Ferguson was hung October 20^th 1865 for killing a large number of Union soldiers and sympathizers.

Samuel “Champ” Ferguson was born along the Tennessee border in Clinton County, Kentucky November 29^th 1821.  He grew up to be a farmer with a streak of violence.  In 1858 Ferguson was said to have killed James Reed a Tennessee sheriff by tying him a tree and riding around the tree hacking the man to death.  He moved with his family to the Calfkiller River Valley in White County, Tennessee in the 1850’s.

Ferguson’s reasons for fighting anything Union related are many.  Some say his wife and daughters were raped by Union soldiers, others say it was because the Confederates promised to forgive previous murder charges and some say just because he enjoyed it.  The area of East Tennessee was evenly divided between Union and Confederate supporters, which gave rise to many guerrilla bands and irregular military groups on both sides of the fight.  At the start of the Civil War Ferguson put together a unit which attacked Union supporters.  His band worked from time to time with Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and Major General Joseph Wheeler.  Ferguson was even held once for two months by Confederate officials for the murder in Wytheville, Virginia of a government representative.  It is claimed that he personally killed over 100 men during the course of the war.

When the Civil War came to an end Ferguson returned to his home, where he was quickly arrested by Union troops.  He was taking to Nashville, Tennessee and place on trial for 53 murders.  Ferguson admitted to the killing, but contended they were committed as a part of military duty, this included the killing of wounded men and prisoners following the Battle of Saltville.  He was found guilty of murder October 10^th 1865 and sentenced to hang.  Ferguson told the court following his sentencing, "I am yet and will die a Rebel ... I killed a good many men, of course, but I never killed a man who I did not know was seeking my life. ... I had always heard that the Federals would not take me prisoner, but would shoot me down wherever they found me. That is what made me kill more than I otherwise would have done. I repeat that I die a Rebel out and out, and my last request is that my body be removed to White County, Tennessee, and be buried in good Rebel soil."

Ferguson was hanged to death October 20^th 1865.  He is buried north of Sparta, Tennessee in the France Cemetery.

Kirby's Army

The Confederate Army of Kentucky was designated such August 25th 1862 and led by Edmund Kirby Smith.


The Army of Kentucky was designated and placed under the command of Kirby Smith August 25th 1862. This army was made of troops from the Confederate Department of Eastern Tennessee. It was made up of infantry divisions of Thomas J Churchill, Patrick Cleburne, Henry Heth and Carter L Stevenson. It also included the Confederate cavalry brigades of John Hunt Morgan and John S Scott.

Following the Battle of Perryville Kirby Smith received a promotion and was given the command of the Department of Trans Mississippi.

The First Time In Town

In Rutherford County, Tennessee on July 13th 1862 the First Battle of Murfreesboro was fought.


Union Major General Don Carlos Buell started his Army of the Ohio toward Chattanooga, Tennessee from Corinth, Mississippi on June 10th 1862. In response to this Union threat, Confederate Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest moved to Chattanooga. In early July Confederate cavalry under Forrest and Colonel John Hunt Morgan began raiding around Middle Tennessee and Kentucky.

On July 9th 1862 Forrest took two cavalry regiments and left Chattanooga. He met up with some other Confederate units, making his total force about 1,400 men. The target was the Union supply depot on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Union troops under Brigadier General Thomas Turpin Crittenden where garrisoned in three location around the town of Murfreesboro. They were made up of parts of four companies of infantry, cavalry and artillery. In the early morning of July 13th 1862 Forrest’s cavalry engaged Union picket east of Murfreesboro, and then overran a Union hospital and the camp of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry. The Confederate soldiers then moved onto the Union troops at the Murfreesboro’s jail and courthouse. By that afternoon all of the Union troops had surrendered, a total of about 1,000 men. The Confederates destroyed the railroad tracks and most of the Union supplies. The Confederates lost about 150 men.

A Sterling Fall

A detachment of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry on March 22nd 1863 captured the Union held city of Mount Sterling.


About 300 of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry, under the command of Colonel RS Cluke, captured a Union garrison located in the town of Mount Sterling, Kentucky March 22nd 1863. Cluke’s men took 438 Union prisoners, 222 wagon loads of military supplies, and 500 mules. The Confederates saw 21 killed or wounded. The Union troops lost those taken prisoners and about 8 men who burned to death in a house the Confederates set fire to.

They Hunted Jefferson Davis

The Union 12th Ohio Cavalry mustered out of service in Nashville, Tennessee November 14th 1865.

The 12th Ohio Cavalry was mustered in November 24th 1863 at Camp Taylor in Cleveland, Ohio. They were placed for three years under the command of Colonel Robert W Ratliff. The regiment was part of the 2nd Brigade, 5th Division of the 23rd Corps, District of Kentucky, the Department of Ohio. They saw service during John Hunt Morgan’s invasion at Mount Sterling, General Stephen Gano Burbridge’s raid on Saltville and during Stoneman’s Raid as well as others. Following Robert E Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox, the 12th Ohio took part in the man hunt for Jefferson Davis. They captured Confederate Generals Braxton Bragg. The 12th Ohio was mustered out November 14th 1865 in Nashville, Tennessee. The regiment saw 50 men killed or mortally wounded and 112 who died from disease.

Stonewall And Lee Called For Him

Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill, most commonly called AP Hill was born November 9th 1825.

Ambrose Powell “A. P.” Hill was born November 9th 1825 in Culpeper, Virginia. He graduated 15th out of 38 from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1847. He was appointed Second Lieutenant in the 1st US Artillery, and served in the Mexican American War. Hill married Kitty Morgan McClung a young widow in 1859, making him the brother-in-law of cavalry Confederate General John Hunt Morgan.

With the coming of the Civil War, Hill resigned his United States Army commission. He accepted an appointment of Colonel in the 13th Virginia Infantry. He showed talent on the field at the Battle of First Manassas. Hill was promoted to Major General following the Battle of Williamsburg. As a division commander in General Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, Hill’s men distinguished themselves at the Battles of Seven Days, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg. After the Battle of Chancellorsville, Hill took over command of Thomas J Stonewall Jackson’s corps in May 1863 following Jackson’s wounding. After Jackson’s death Hill received a promotion and command of the Third Corp, which he led for the first time at Gettysburg, although he was sick at the time with some unidentified illness.

Seven days before Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, on April 2nd 1865, Hill was shot and killed as he road the Petersburg line possibly by Union Corporal John W Mauck of the 138th Pennsylvania. He is buried in Richmond Virginia.

The Butcher Of Kentucky

Stephen Gano Burbridge, also known as the Butcher of Kentucky was born August 19th 1831 in Scott County Kentucky. He started college at Georgetown College and finished at the Kentucky Military Institute. He became a lawyer after graduating.


When the Civil War started Burbridge raised a Union Regiment, and was made a Colonel of the 26th Kentucky Infantry. He raised to the rank of Brigadier General on June 9th 1862, and saw action at Shiloh, Vicksburg and was successful against John Hunt Morgan during the Battle of Cynthiana. Burbridge took over the problem in June 1864 of Kentucky’s growing Confederate guerrillas from General Jeremiah T Boyle. On July 16th 1864 Burbridge issued his Order Number 59, "Whenever an unarmed Union citizen is murdered, four guerrillas will be selected from the prison and publicly shot to death at the most convenient place near the scene of the outrages." In October 1864 he led African American Union troops at the Battle of Saltville, the wounded were left behind and killed by Confederate soldiers. After trying to take control of the military from Kentucky Governor Thomas E Bramlette in February 1865, he was dismissed and resigned from the army.

Burbridge found himself and his family shut out socially after the war, and they moved to Brooklyn New York. He died there December 2nd 1894. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Encircling The Union Position

In Rutherford County Tennessee on March 20th 1863 the Battle of Vaught’s Hill was fought.


The Battle of Vaught’s Hill, or the Battle of Milton as it is also known occurred in Rutherford County Tennessee on March 20th 1863. Following the Battle of Stones River while things were quite, Union Colonel Albert S Hall lead a reconnaissance from Murfreesboro on March 18th of about 1,300 men. Going out to the northeast Hall’s troops ran into Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan, with about 3,500 soldiers. Hall’s Union soldiers fell back to the east of Milton Tennessee. Morgan’s cavalry gave chase and caught up with the Union troops on the morning of March 20th 1863 at Vaught’s Hill.

Morgan attacked both of Hall’s flanks, at time encircling the Union position. Hall set up perimeter defense and held off Morgan’s men until after 4:30 pm. At that time Morgan broke off the fight, hearing that Union reinforcements were on their way from Murfreesboro Tennessee.

They Were Wearing Union Blue

The Union XIV Army Corp’s 39th Brigade was guarding a river crossing on the Cumberland at Hartsville, Tennessee to keep Confederate cavalry from raiding across. The 39th was made up of the 106th, and 108th Ohio, 104th Illinois and 2nd Indiana Cavalry. In the early morning hours of December 7th 1862 Confederate General John Hunt Morgan crossed the river. Morgan had about fourteen hundred men mostly from Kentucky. According to the commander of the Union Brigade; Colonel Absalom B Moore, Morgan’s advanced men got past the pickets by wearing Union uniforms.

Fighting started about 6:45 am and continued until around 8:30 am. One of the Union units ran during the battle causing disorder among the other troops. In the end the Confederates surrounded the 39th Brigade and talked them into surrendering. The Confederate sustained 149 casualties only inflicting 58 among the Union soldiers, however Morgan captured a wagon train of supplies and 1,844 Union prisoners. This raid was a lead up to the Confederate Cavalry raids conducted by Nathan Bedford Forrest and Morgan through out the winter of 1862 - 1863. It also got Morgan a promotion to Brigadier General.

Killed Trying To Escape Again

General John Hunt Morgan was killed in on the 4th of September 1864 while trying to escape Union troops. Morgan was born Jun 1, 1825 in Huntsville, AL to Calvin Morgan, the oldest in a family of ten. In 1831 the family moved to Lexington, KY.

Morgan began his military career in 1846 when he enlisted in the Army as a cavalry private during the Mexican-American War. At the beginning of the Civil War he raised the 2nd KY Cavalry Regiment, and was made their Colonel. Morgan and his men were present at the Battle of Shiloh. He was promoted to Brigadier General on Dec 11, 1862 following his great sweep through Kentucky, where he captured 1200 Federal soldiers.

Gen Morgan led his troops in an effort to distract Union forces on what is known as “The Great Raid of 1863” or the “Calico Raid”. The force raided through southern Indiana and Ohio, farther north than any other Rebel force would advance during the war. It came to an end for him when about 700 of his men were captured trying to cross the Ohio River on July 19th 1863. He lasted a bit longer before having to give up near Salineville, OH on the 26th, but the Federals didn’t keep the intrepid John Morgan long. In Nov he and six of his officers dug their way out of their cells, and than ascended a wall using bed sheets.

He was killed during a Union raid on Greeneville, TN September 4th 1864, shot in the back by an ex-Confederate soldier. Many believed he was murdered so that he wouldn’t escape from Union prison a second time, but it seems more likely that he was shot simply because he refused to halt.

Thunderbolt of the Confederacy

General John Hunt Morgan was killed on the 4th of September 1864 while trying to escape Union troops.

Morgan was born Jun 1, 1825 in Huntsville,AL to Calvin Morgan, the oldest in a family of 10. In 1831 the family moved to Lexington,KY.  John began his military career in 1846 when he enlisted in the Army as a cavalry private during the Mexican-American War.

At the beginning of the Civil War he raised the 2nd KY Cavalry Regiment, and was made their Colonel. Morgan and his men were at the Battle of Shiloh. He was promoted to Brigadier General on Dec 11, 1862 following his great sweep through Kentucky, where he captured 1200 Federal soldiers.

Morgan led his troops in an effort to distract Union forces on what is known as “The Great Raid of 1863” or the “Calico Raid” through southern Indiana and Ohio, farther north than any other Rebel force would advance during the war. It came to an end for him when about 700 of his men were captured trying to cross the Ohio River on the 19th of July. He lasted a bit longer before having to give up near Salineville,Ohio on the 26th, but the Federals didn’t keep the intrepid John Morgan long. In Nov he and six of his officers dug their way out of their cells, and than ascended a wall using bed sheets.

He was killed during a Union raid on Greeneville,TN, shot in the back by an ex-Confederate soldier. Many believed he was murdered so that he wouldn’t escape from Union prison a second time, but it seems more likely that he was shot simply because he refused to halt.