Hidden History of Kentucky in the Civil War
This is not a comprehensive history of Kentucky’s role in the war. Instead, Barry Craig concentrates on the state’s “hidden” history, including stories “not found in other history books.” The result is a very interesting collection of vignettes gathered into this attractively presented short work. In dozens of stories, ranging from a few paragraphs to several pages, Craig tells of divided families, heroism, cowardice, sacrifice and loss. Story titles include such attention-grabbers as “The Great Graves County Gun Grab” and “Rebel Pirates Helped Make Kentucky a Yankee State.” Some of the historical personages Craig profiles are well-known — Lincoln, U.S. Grant, Leonidas Polk, Simon Bolivar Buckner, James J. Andrews, John Hunt Morgan and John Buford, just to name a few. Others are obscure, including Molly Morehead, who warned Nathan Bedford Forrest of the presence of nearby Federal troops; Sister Mary Dosh, a nun who nursed the sick and wounded of both sides; and Andrew Jackson Smith, the only African-American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient from Kentucky. The variety of tales is refreshing. Some are humorous, such as ones about Confederate “Stovepipe” Johnson’s successful bluff of some gullible Hoosiers in Newburgh, Ind., and another about William R. McEntire, who carved his name into a boulder before his capture at Cumberland Gap and on his deathbed in 1917 made his grandson swear he would return to that site and “curse the Yankees for five minutes.” Others are far grimmer, reflecting the brutal nature of many of the actions in Kentucky, including the massacre of Union African-American soldiers near Simpsonville. Many of the stories are tied to locations one can visit today, including buildings pockmarked with bullet holes, obscure historical markers, burial sites, monuments and county parks. Barry Craig deserves credit for sharing many little-known stories and sites from this border state’s turbulent Civil War history. This well-written book will prove entertaining to anyone interested in the history of “the dark and bloody ground.” Reviewer: Jeff Patrick Jeff Patrick is an interpretive specialist with the National Park Service at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Republic, Mo. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in American history from Purdue University.
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Illustrated, photographs, bibliography, 128 pp., 2010, The History Press,