Kentuckians in Gray: Confederate Officers and Field Officers of the Bluegrass State
Kentuckians in Gray is a collection of short biographies of 39 general officers and 127 field officers from the Bluegrass State, from Brig. Gen. Daniel Weisiger Adams to Col. Thomas Griffitts Woodward. The biographies are written by 28 contributors, among them William C. Davis, James M. Pritchard, Raymond Mulesky, Arthur W. Bergeron Jr., Nathaniel C. Hughes and Lowell H. Harrison. The biographies of the generals are a few pages, those for the field officers only a paragraph each. Many of the Kentucky generals are well-known to all Civil War buffs; they include men like Simon Bolivar Buckner, John Cabell Breckinridge, Basil Duke, John Bell Hood, Albert Sidney Johnston and John Hunt Morgan. Others, such as James Fleming Fagan, will probably be new to most readers. Each biography of a general includes a photograph. As I read through this volume, several things struck me. One was how many were related, either by blood or marriage: Daniel Weisiger Adams and William Wirt Adams were brothers; Basil Wilson Duke was married to the sister of John Hunt Morgan; James Fleming Fagan married the sister of William Nelson Rector Beall; John Cabell Breckinridge and John Breckinridge Grayson shared a famous grandfather. Another thing I noticed was the number who had family who remained loyal to the Union: George Bibb Crittenden’s two brothers served in the Union Army; Robert Weightman Hanson had four brothers, two in the Confederate Army and two in the Federal. Oddly, a third thing that struck me while looking through their photographs was the impressive quality of moustaches some of these Kentuckians grew: William Nelson Rector Beall, John Cabell Breckinridge, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Thomas James Churchill, George Blake Cosby, Charles William Field, Randall Lee Gibson, George Baird Hodge, Adam Rankin Johnson (by the way, the only blind field general in the Civil War on either side), Albert Sidney Johnston, Joseph Horace Lewis, John Hunt Morgan, Lloyd Tilghman – all had moustaches that would put Sam Elliott to shame. Kentuckians in Gray makes a good reference work for those interested in Confederate generals and field officers from the state. There are other reference books on Confederate generals, but some may like seeing all the Kentuckians grouped together in one book. Reviewer: Robert L. Durham is a computer specialist. A longtime Civil War buff, he is also interested in Old West history and has written articles and book reviews for Alamo Journal, True West, Journal of the Alamo Battlefield Association, and Alamo de Parras web site at www.flash.net/~alamo3 |
Illustrated, bibliographies, index, 336 pp., 2008. The University Press of Kentucky, 663 South Limestone St. Lexington, KY 40508-4008, $40 plus shipping.