GENERAL ANDERSON IN KENTUCKY. seek to conquer her. No true son of Kentucky can longer hesitate as to his duty to his State and country. The invaders must and, God willing, will be expelled. The leader of the hostile forces who now approaches is, I regret to say, a Kentuckian, making war on Kentucky and Kentuckians. Let all past differences of opinion be overlooked. Every one who now rallies to the support of our Union and our State is a friend. Rally then, my countrymen, around the flag our fathers loved and which has shielded us so long. I call you to arms for selfdefence, and for the protection of all that is dear to freemen. Let us trust in God and do our duty as did our fathers." 89 the guise of neutrality, the armed forces of the United States might secretly prepare to subjugate alike the people of Kentucky and the Southern States." The invasion by Polk was described as a de fensive position by the troops of the Confederacy taken on the invitation of the people of the State. "I return among you, citizens of Kentucky," he added, "at the head of a force, the advance of which is composed entirely of Kentuckians. We do not come to molest any citizen, whatever may be his political opinions. Unlike the agents of the Northern despotism, who seek to reduce us to the condition of dependent vassals, we believe that the recognition of the civil rights of citizens is the foundation The allusion of General Anderson to of constitutional liberty, and that the the Kentuckian in arms against his native claim of the President of the United State, was to General Buckner, whose States to declare martial law, to suspend services as Inspector-General in mar- the privilege of the writ of habeas corshalling the State Guard, we have seen pus and to convert every barrack and so warmly commended by Governor Ma- prison in the land into a bastile, is nothgoffin. After using the influence of his ing but the claim which other tyrants position till it could with safety be used have assumed to subjugate a free people. no longer in favoring the interests of the The Confederate States occupy Bowling Rebellion, he had left the State for Ten- Green as a defensive position." One of nessee, and had now returned a Briga- the first acts of General Anderson, in dier in the army of the Confederate his military administration, was to adStates, with a band of invaders com- dress a kind letter to Judge James Pryposed of several regiments of refugee or, urging him to appeal to a band of Kentuckians from Camp Boone-a rebel misguided persons who had assembled in resort on the Tennessee frontier-joined arms at Liberty in Owen county, with by a considerable body of Tennesseeans, the evident intention of forming a rebel to occupy the central position at Bowling camp, to return to their homes as good Green, in Warran County, of importance citizens. The subject was brought, by for its capability of defence and its rail- Judge Pryor, before Colonel Humphrey way connections with Nashville and Mem- Marshall, the master-spirit of the organphis. He would, it is thought, have ad-ization, who wrote a long epistle in revanced farther to Muldraugh's Hill, but ply, assuring his correspondent and Genfor the timely preoccupation of that ad-eral Anderson that the assemblage of vantageous locality by the Union forces. men in question "contemplated no raid General Buckner had announced his upon any town or upon any body." He arrival at Bowling Green by a Procla- | had, indeed, advised them to form commation. It was addressed to the People panies, elect officers and drill, but he of Kentucky, and opened with a denun- held no military commission and comciation of the Legislature. "They have manded no military force. He had conendeavored," said he, "to make your gallant State a fortress in which, under * Proclamation of Simon B. Buckner, Brigadier General c. s. A., Bowling Green, September 18, 1861. sented to instruct the men in their duties cessionists and had joined the Confederand, if the people should desire, "to col-ates, while the Union men, the aged and lect together and organize for the protec- conservatives, would not enroll themtion of their constitutional right and of selves to engage in conflict with their their persons from violence and wrong, relatives on the other side. But few to command any camp they will thus regiments could be raised." He repreform, provided it be attended by such sented Buckner in advance of Green numbers as to be able to protect itself River threatening Louisville, while he, if properly directed.” The admission Sherman, had but ten thousand troops on of the letter, in spite of its denials, im- that line, nine thousand in the East actplicated its writer with the disaffected ing in conjunction with General Thomas, Southern Rights partisans in the State. and two regiments at Henderson on the Its readers had no reason to be surprised Ohio. "On being asked the question, at the subsequent directly belligerent at- what force he deemed necessary, he titude which the Hon. Humphrey Mar- promptly replied, two hundred thoushall assumed towards the Government sand men.'" Such was the disheartenof the Union.** ing situation as it then appeared to General Sherman, commander of the Department of the Cumberland. If two hundred thousand men were required to expel the enemy and garrison the loyal State of Kentucky, whose population was thus hostile or indifferent, what, it was asked, was the prospect of dealing with the openly rebellious States of the South. Yet, in two months, by the aid of the valiant men of the West, who were poured into the State, and more inspiring counsels at headquarters, the question was, for the time, at least, settled for Kentucky, and by one resolute battle on her soil, a blow was struck, felt by the enemy throughout their entire Confederacy. The health of General Anderson did not permit him to encounter the fatigues and exposure of active command, and, in consequence, after he had given the influence of his birth and character to the cause of the Union in the State, he requested to be relieved. This was granted, and Brigadier-General W. T. Sherman was appointed to the Department in his stead. On the 8th of October, General Anderson took leave in a General order, in which he commended the interests of the State to his successor. "God grant," was his emphatic expression, "that he may be the means of delivering this Department from the marauding bands, who, under the guise of relieving and befriending Kentucky, are doing all the injury they can to those who will not join them in their accursed warfare." Not content with open attacks of armed invasion from without, the sympathizers with the South sought to give a color of revolution to their proceedings within the State. For this purpose certain leaders held a preliminary meeting at the town of Russellville, on the border of Tennessee, on the 29th of October, wher they expressed their dissatisfaction with the action of the legislature, as a violation of the neutrality of the State, denounced its patriotic proceedings as "the unconstitutional edicts of a factious majority," and pronouncing themselves thus abandoned and betrayed on the one ⚫ Letter of Colonel H. Marshall to the Hon. James Pry-hand by the "Lincolnites," and on the There is an instructive memorial of the state of affairs at this time in Kentucky in General Thomas' memorable report of his tour of inspection in the West with Secretary Cameron. On the 16th of October, he says, the party arrived at Louisville and had an interview with General Sherman. "He gave a gloomy picture of affairs in Kentucky, stating that the young men were generally se or, Lusby's Mill, Owen county, Ky., September 26, 1861. TREASONABLE PROCEEDINGS. other "being as yet no part of the Southern Confederacy," resolved to call a Convention to be "chosen, elected or appointed in any manner now possible by the people of the several counties of the State," and meet at the same place the following month. The body thus loosely summoned was recommended to sever forever the connection of Kentucky with the United States, and adopt a provisional government, or take such measures as might be expedient for their purposes. This meeting was presided over by the Hon. H. C. Burnett of Trigg county, who had been recently elected, the only disunionist out of ten members, to the National House of Representatives. A committee was appointed to carry out the Resolutions, of which John C. Breckenridge and Humphrey Marshall were members. According to appointment, this so-called Convention met at Russellville on the 18th of November. It was composed of some two hundred persons, professing to represent sixty-five counties, but the terms on which they had been invited did not warrant much scrutiny as to their credentials. They proceeded, however, to their work, with the formality and solemnity of the best accredited delegates in the world, drew up a formidable Declaration of Independence, pronounced a Decree of Separation, and adopted a Plan of Provisional Government, one of the sections of which directed the appointment of Commissioners to treat with the Confederate States for the earliest practicable admission of Kentucky into that body. George W. Johnson of Scott county, was appointed Provisional Governor under this instrument. On the 9th of December the Rebel Congress at Richmond, recognizing the "Convention," admitted Kentucky to the Confederate States of America. Governor Magoffin, it may be added, by no means approved of the proceedings at Russellville. When Provisional Governor Johnson intimated in a "Message" that he would resign his 91 position whenever" the regularly elected Governor should escape from his virtual imprisonment at Frankfort, that he might be placed at the head of this movement for the emancipation of Kentucky,"Governor Magoffin wrote to the Louisville Journal that he had not given his sanction to any such use of his name. On the contrary, he expressed his strong disapprobation of the Convention. "Selfconstituted as it was," he wrote, "and without authority from the people, it cannot be justified by similar revolutionary acts in other States, by minorities to overthrow the State Governments. I condemned their action, and I condemn the action of this one."* All that treason could accomplish by Resolutions and Proclamations, was thus attempted. Not an expedient of that sort seems to have been left untried. Yet the State stood firm for the Union, in spite of the declarations of her disappointed politicians, a hundred times repeated, that she was tyrannically treated and betrayed. The people had given their allegiance to law and order under a beneficent government, in preference to the cruel tender mercies of the Confederate usurpaiton. If any thing was to be gained by the rebels it was evident it was to be accomplished not by words but by violence. The first military encounter of conscquence in the State, was in the Southeastern region, where the rebel General Zollicoffer, at the head of a band of marauders, was conducting a series of predatory attacks upon the Unionists. This officer, destined to leave a lasting memory of his brief military career, was not bred to the profession of arms, but had risen to his rank in the Confederate army by his services in various political campaigns. He was a native of Western Tennessee, had received but a limited education in his boyhood, had improved it by service in a printing-office, and at * Letter of Governor Magoffin to the Editors of the Louisville Journal, Frankfort, Ky., December 13, 1861. the age of seventeen had undertaken the management of a country newspaper. He had been much engaged in editorial life, editing the Nashville Banner and other journals, and had held various political offices of trust and profit in Tennessee. In 1853 he was elected to Congress by the American party from the Nashville District. He was a man of energy and ambition, and, though without military experience, was relied upon as an efficient officer by the rebels of the Southwest. were stationed here. The first attack, about eight in the morning. was made in a hollow extending from the London road to the Winding Blades road. After the repulse, the rebels formed again and attempted to come along the London road. By this time the 33d Indiana regiment had come upon the ground, and a portion of them were led to the top of the conical hill. A battery of artillery, too, arrived at this critical juncture. The rebels advanced shouting as before, supported by their artillery, at every dis Advancing from Tennessee he had in-charge of which they screamed like flicted various injuries upon an unoffending population, plundering. Barboursville and London, when on the 21st of October he made his appearance before the Union encampments on Rock Castle Creek, which bore the characteristic appellation of Camp Wild Cat. Colonel Garrard had held command of the place with a single Kentucky regiment, but it was now strengthened by the 17th Ohio Infantry, and Colonel Woolford's Kentucky cavalry. Brigadier-General Alvin Schoepff, a recently appointed Hungarian officer, had also just arrived and was in command. We have no information of the exact number of Zollicoffer's force confronted by General Schoepff, but it is represented as large-the newspaper accounts say six thousand-and well supplied with cavalry and artillery. A correspondent of the Boston Courier, writing from the camp the next day, gives this account of the fight: "Colonel Garrard was encamped at the junction of the three roads,-the Mount Vernon road leading to Camp Dick Robinson, along which the reinforcements came; the London road by which the rebels approached, and the Winding Blades road leading to Richmond. Between the last two roads, and commanding Colonel Garrard's position, is a high conical hill. The whole face of the country is covered with a heavy growth of timber, except where it has been felled by the soldiers since they fiends. A shell from the first of our guns silenced both their shouts and their cannonade, and sent them flying again with astonishment and consternation. Retreating out of sight they deliberated a third attack, this time selecting the conical hill as the point of approach. With much labor they opened a road through the woods along the side of a high ridge on the other side of the London road, and planted a piece of their artillery. On our side, the 14th Ohio regiment, under Colonel Steadman, came into the field by a forced march, and took position. One piece of cannon was taken on the shoulders of the men to the top of the hill and every preparation made to give the rebels a handsome reception. As they approached on the rear of the hill, they came in the guise of friends, bearing their hats on the points of their guns and calling out as they approached, We are Union men!' 'Then,' said our men, lay down your arms and come along.' Approached now within twenty yards of our lines, they cried, 'Now, d―n you we've got you!' 'Give 'em the lead!' was the fierce reply. The conflict was obstinate and the carnage terrible. Volley after volley was delivered into the tottering ranks of rebellion, until, throwing aside their muskets still loaded, they fled the third time. The first fire of their cannon, planted with such infinite. pains, drew forth a reply from our piece on the hill, which disabled and silenced PURSUIT OF THE REBELS. 93 it. The battle was now over and the beyond Prestonburg to Pikeville, where victory won." The retreat of the rebels to Barboursville is described as most disastrous to them. All along the road farmers and others, indignant at the outrages which they had practiced, came forth with their guns to harass their flight. " You start 'em," is said to have been the exclamation of these resolute yeomen to Colonel Garrard, "we'll keep 'em going ;" and every where they poured their fire upon them, as the New England farmers once smote the British in their retreat from Lexington. The loss of Zollicoffer's troops, loosely estimated at a thousand to fifteen hundred, was certainly severe; that of the defenders was slight, less than ten, it is said, killed, and but fifty in any way wounded. Colonel Williams, an insurgent officer, was at the head of a considerable force. General Nelson's advance met the enemy at a narrow defile of Joy Mountain, near Pikeville, where they were lying in wait at the turn of the road, in the mountain side above and on the opposite bank of the creek which skirted the sharp declivity of the narrow pathway. Four were killed and thirteen wounded of Colonel Marshall's Kentucky Battalion, on their sudden approach to the enemy. A charge was then ordered; the Ohio Volunteers as they came up deployed along the mountain, and two pieces of artillery were got in position on the road and opened fire. The skirmishing lasted an hour and twenty minutes, when the insurgents were thoroughly routed. Thir"I have called this," says the writer ty of the enemy were found dead on the whose account of the battle we have field. The Union loss was six killed and cited, "an important action. Such it is twenty-four wounded. From his Headfor the number of the troops and obsti- quarters, Camp Hopeless Chase,' Pikenacy of the fight, but far more for its ton, General Nelson, on the 10th of moral effects. It is the first battle upon November, issued this order to his solthe soil of Kentucky, the first resistance diers :-"I thank you for what you have to an invasion that for enormity and done. In a campaign of twenty days atrocious barbarity has seldom been you have driven the rebels from Eastern equalled. While Zollicoffer has created Kentucky, and given repose to that porbut little solicitude among military men, tion of the State. You have made conhis name will live among the dwellers of tinual forced marches over wretched these mountains for generations as a sy- roads deep in mud. Badly clad, you nonym of terror and distress, desolate have bivouacked on the wet ground in houses, ravaged fields, and fugitive old the November rain without a murmur. men, women and children. If history With scarcely half rations you have preserves his name, it will be in the ex-pressed forward with unfailing perseverecrable category with Claverhouse, and ance. The only place that the enemy Tarleton, and Haynau, the oppressors and enemies of the human race." About a fortnight after a second lesson was administered to the rebels in Eastern Kentucky, in the onward march of General Nelson, with a body of Ohio and Kentucky Volunteers, through and 90 made a stand, though ambushed and very strong, you drove him from you in the most brilliant style. For your constancy and courage I thank you, and with the qualities which you have shown that you possess, I expect great things from you in the future." |