Friday, June 24, 2011

"The Yankee Hounds after the Reb Fox" - Civil War in Wolfe and Morgan Counties

Eastern Kentucky was never the place for large scale battles like Gettysburg or military operations like the Atlanta Campaign. Aside from battles like Ivy Mountain, Middle Creek, Half Mountain, which were small in comparison, most activities were mainly skirmishes or hit and run affairs between small bodies of soldiers. The character of warfare was greatly influenced by the character of the land...mostly mountainous it lend itself to bushwacking. Even though Kentucky remained a Union state throughout the Civil War, sympathies were divided. The division went through counties and neighborhoods. In certain instances, it placed families and their associated branches on opposite sides. Passions flared and resulted in brutal warfare which was carried out without mercy. This was especially evident in Morgan and Wolfe Counties.

When the Civil War began, Wolfe County was less than a year old. Created on July 1, 1860, it was formed from parts of Morgan, Breathitt, Owsley, and Powell Counties. It included parts of present-day Menifee and Lee Counties which were formed in 1869 and 1870, respectively. The two principal towns were Hazel Green and Compton. Hazel Green was founded by William Trimble, a veteran of the War of 1812, on land he had bought for 5 cents/acre. This tract of land was originally called Trimble's Store, which was located on the corner of present-day Main and State streets. William laid out the streets, sold lots, and was the town's first post master, a position he held for 24 years. William Trimble was a true entrepreneur, who farmed, raised hogs and cattle, dealt in land and slaves, and sold fur and farm products. He also established several industries such as tanneries, lumber mills, and spinning and weaving works. By the time Hazel Green became an established town in 1849, with 27 lots, William Trimble had become a very wealthy and influential citizen.

Intersection of State and Main Streets, Hazel Green

During the Civil War, William Trimble's family, including his sons David Shelton, James Greenville, Stephen Asberry and William Preston Trimble, clearly sided with the Southern Cause. One exception was Edward Hensley, Trimble's son-in-law, who had married William's daughter Rose Ann. Edward Hensley, a native Tennesseean, was a merchant who had settled next door to his wife's family. It was a tragedy in the making...

When Union forces under General William "Bull" Nelson arrived at Hazel Green on October 23, 1861, Nelson commandeered William Trible's home as his headquarters. At the same time, part of his troops moved on a Confederate force under Capt. A. J. May at West Liberty, taking the town after a sharp fight. Nelson noted, "The jail at that town was found with sixteen Union men in it, also five others who had just been captured were in the street under guard. Of course they were promptly released. At this town, the surprise was complete - We captured a few notorious fellons, amongst whom were several Trimbles. One of them Shelton Trimble had been out on a "Man hunting expedition," only a week since and had taken a Mr. Hurst, a man of 50 years of age and had taken him to the West Liberty jail, where we found him. Mr Shelton Trimble can now ruminate upon the mutability of human affairs in general, and his own case in particular, for he is in chokey now, and Mr. Hurst is at liberty."

Aside from David Shelton Trimble, his brothers Green and William Trimble, as well as several other wealthy and influential men who were residing in and near Hazel Green, Kentucky, were arrested by Nelson and charged with treason. According to an article in the Richmond Daily Dispatch, the men, "were brought before US Commissioner R. Appleton, at Mt. Sterling, for trial. All the accused were discharged by the Commissioner excepting David S. Trimble, who was held to answer to the charge of treason in the United States Court at Frankfort next May.--His case was brought before Judge Ballard in Louisville. After hearing the testimony, the Judge allowed him to give bail to appear and answer the charge at Frankfort, in May, in the sum of $5,000. He executed the bond, and was discharged from custody."

Mr. Hurst refered to by General Nelson was Samuel Henry Hurst, the 61 year old patriarch of the Hurst family who lived a few miles from the Trimbles on Stillwater Creek. Samuel Hurst was described as "one of the strong, two-fisted men of his generation, usually settling disagreements in physical combat." Samuel left his native Virginia in 1818 after biting off another man's ear during a fight. Samuel fled into Kentucky and first settled in Breathitt County. He married Sarah Sally Landsaw, on July 11, 1825, in Morgan Co. KY and later settled with his family on Stillwater Creek in Wolfe County. The Hurst family was prominent in public and business affairs in Eastern Kentucky. When the Civil War began, Samuel and three of his sons, William L., Henry C. and Daniel D. Hurst fully embraced the Union cause. Noted William, "Notwithstanding the fact that my father Samuel H. Hurst, and myself were owners of slaves and fully realized that the freedom of them would seriously cripple us financially, we together with my brothers and other members of our family decided to uphold the Union and were opposed to the Confederacy."

After "scouting and dodging around till the early part of 1862", William L. Hurst received a commission to raise a Company of 100 men. Recruiting began immediately and by early May 1862, Hurst had 23 recruits. On May 5, 1862, supplied with arms at Mt. Sterling, Hurst and his group were on their way from Stillwater Creek to Red River country to rendezvous with another group of recruits, when they were ambushed a few miles below modern-day Lee City, by a group of Confederate recruits, led by Captain John J. Marshall. After a sharp skirmish, the Confederates retreated but it left Hurst badly wounded, with a shot through the eye. Later that night, Hurst and his father Samuel were captured by a group of 43 Confederates and taken prisoner. Despite William's desperate condition, they were taken to Abingdon and later to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. For the next eight months, Samuel Hurst and his son William would be guests of the Southern Confederacy until exchanged in November 1862.

Back home in Wolfe County, Daniel D. and Henry C. Hurst were continuing the fight. Noted William L. Hurst, "My brothers were driven from home and were fighting the enemy. They were trying to combat the Rebel Guerrillas and other Rebels, who were murdering loyal citizens, not in arms, and taking their property and burning their homes. Their's was a strenous life, always on the go, dodging and fighting." Members of this group, numbering about 100 men, included John M. Gose, Francis Marion Vaughn, Arch Childers, Sam Taulbee, Charles Little, Dock Trimble, Sanders Halsey and Jerry King.

Meanwhile, the Trimbles had not been idle, either. Nelson's visit did obviously little to deter the family from continuing their support for the Southern Confederacy. Documents from the Confederate citizens files show that the Trimbles aided the Confederates throughout the war, from 1862 to 1864 supplying goods and services to the Southern Army.

Payment to Wm. Trimble, March 20, 1862,by Capt. W. W. Cox, Asst. Quartermaster, CS Army

Payment to Wm. Trimble for hay, corn and oats, March 10, 1863

In 1863, guerrilla activity was on the rise and the warfare grew in intensity. One of the main players was John T. Williams who was born October 24, 1822, a son of Squire John T. Williams. He owned a 1,000- acre tract of land In Morgan County, at Liberty Road, near the mouth of Caney Creek, a few miles from the county seat town of West Liberty. In addition to operating his large farm, he ran a watermill and dealt in livestock. By the time the Civil War began, John T. Williams was a well-to-do citizen. In early fall of 1862, he raised Company A, 2nd Battalion KY Mounted Rifles. According to Williams, his company was "engaged in fighting the Home Guard of KY ever since its organization during the time killing 30 and taking forty prisoners. One member of (the) Co. was shot by the Enemy in retaliation for the death of a notorious leader of the Home Guard."

Captain John T. Williams

On February 7, 1863, John Desha Nickell, a known Morgan County Union sympathizer, was killed at his home by members of Williams' Co. A, 2nd Battalion KY Mounted Rifles, lead by his second cousin John J. Nickell. Two days later, John J. Nickell, Lewis Henry, Jr. and John Calvin/ Colvin, under orders from Capt. John T. Williams, were sent to arrest Logan Wilson, another Union sympathizer from Morgan County. They returned without the prisoner, claiming that Wilson had been shot trying to escape.

On September 28, 1863, a squad of rebels, led by Jacob L. Edwards, a deserter from the 1st Battalion KY Mtd. Rifles, ran into Camargo and captured Pleasant Martin, Asbury Nickell, Charles Little, Reason Grayson and Robert Nickell, and took them to Sycamore bridge near Ticktown. Here the prisoners were lined up and told that they were to be paroled. The rebels had the men cross their hands on their breasts, telling them they were about to administer the oath but instead they placed their guns against them and fired. All were killed dead except Robert Nickell who was shot near the right nipple, the bullet exiting about five inches lower in the back. He fell off into the creek and they fired three more shots at him, one bullet struck his arm. He played off dead and they left him. Next, the rebels reached the home of Jacob Stephens and robbed him of his pocket book with about $30.00. Then the rebels shot him and left him for dead. Fortunately, Stephens survived the assault. Edwards and his men went on and caught a man named Jenkins. According to sources, "the treatment they gave him was much worse than death. They took all privileges from him that was allowed a man by nature and told him that if that did not kill him they would come back and finish the job."

The Union authorities made a concentrated effort to deal with the increased guerrilla activity and employed the newly formed 40th KY Mounted Infantry, 45th Mounted Infantry KY and the 5th OH Independent Cavalry Battalion to scout the area.

On October 2, 1863, 50 men of the 5th OH Independent Cavalry Battalion left Mt. Sterling and went on a scout expedition. The squad proceeded as far as West Liberty, where they arrived on October 5, 1863. The troopers stopped at Green Howard's cabin, "the place where guerrillas resort", but found the place deserted. According to reports, Howard had whipped an old Union man nearly unto death, and scalped a soldier of the Tenth Kentucky Cavalry the day previous. The troopers burned everything visible, and as soon as the fire began the rebels commenced firing from the mountain at long range but they were too far to do any damage. The squad returned a few shots and left.

The following morning, the squad had passed through West Liberty en route to Morehead, and were crossing McClannahan Hill, about four miles northwest of West Liberty, when they were ambushed and fired upon from a concealed point by John T. Williams' men who had cut across the river and reached McClannahan Hill ahead of them. The shots killed one man and wounded two. When the squad returned fire they, "killed the notorious Asa Swin, a most daring and desperate man, and the only one that dared to show himself."

The Union forces continued to bring in guerrillas but not all of them were necessarily turned over to the proper authorities. At the beginning of November 1863, two guerrillas were executed in Mt. Sterling without a trial.

In the early morning hours of November 12, 1863, while on another scout in Morgan County, the 5th Ohio Cavalry Battalion was attacked by Captain John T. Williams, from the bluffs across Licking river overlooking West Liberty. A few shots were exchanged and the 5th Ohio went into hot pursuit. Noted one of the troopers, "We followed over mountains, down ravines and through pleasant vallies, exchanging shots every opportunity, but we could not catch him, his horses being used to the mountains while ours were not. At one place his command was going up a mountain and we were going down one facing it, when a lively little fight ensued across the hollow. J. T. was wounded in the arm and on he went again. We learned of his wound afterwards from a lady at whose house he stopped to have it dressed, and he asked her "if she had seen the Yankee hounds after the reb fox." The chase was finally abandoned ten miles from West Liberty.

On January 27, 1864, part of the 45th KY Mounted Infantry, supported by Captain Henry C. Hurst's company of homeguards went on a 13 day scout into the area of Wolfe, Morgan and Magoffin counties. Their first target was the home of Wash Goodpaster, where they made a charge on the house and captured some nine or ten prisoners. The men continued on and put up for the night at the house of James Milton Cecil. Meanwhile, the Guerrillas had come in behind them and set fire to the home of Marion Vest's widow Mary Ann, which was some miles away. 20 men were at once detailed and went in pursuit of the guerrillas and surrounded them in the home of Big Jim Stamper. In the fight that ensued, Stamper was killed. The guerrillas surrendered and were taken prisoner, including Jacob L. Edwards. Noted Daniel D. Hurst, "We were all very happy over getting Edwards in our custody. Many of the boys wanted to kill him on the spot; but our Captain would not permit it. He said not to worry that he would get what was coming to him when we turned him over to the proper authorities."

The next morning, the scout resumed. Proceeding to the ford of Caney Creek, they encountered Green Sexton and a man by the name of Thomas, two regular Guerrillas. Shots were exchanged but Sexton and Thomas managed to escape. Next, the men went to the home of William Cox and surrounded the house. A man by the name of Hamilton ran out and fired on the soldiers who immediately opened fire on him, killing him instantly. When his body was examined it was found that he had been struck by 27 bullets. The following morning, part of the force proceeded to Salyersville but abandoned any plans to continue the scout upon hearing the news that Peter Everett was only a few miles away with a much larger number of men. The men returned to Mt. Sterling on February 9, 1864, having captured 19 prisoners and 25 good horses. Noted Captain Henry C. Hurst, "We gave the Guerrillas a plain hint of what they would get next time. There are plenty of them in the mountains and we intend to keep them in hot water."

Thomas P. Collinsworth, Co. B, 10th KY Cavalry. One of the men captured at Big Jim Stamper's house, Jan. 28, 1864.

As the Union forces were keeping up the pressure, the effects were starting to become apparent. "They bring prisoners in almost every day," wrote Captain Henry C. Hurst on February 25, 1864 from Mt. Sterling, "and many others come in and take the oath of allegiance." Nevertheless, Union sympathizers did not feel safe at their homes and many of them were moving from the mountains to the relative safety of Mt. Sterling and beyond. Being driven from his farm in Wolfe County by John Osborn, Arch Childers moved to Boyd Station in Harrison County, KY. After being robbed by the rebels, George Phillips and his family, as well as Dick Wilson and Morris Nickell, left and went to Mt. Sterling in February of 1864. On February 11, 1864, Samuel Hurst's son-in-law James S. Kash, who lived on Rockhouse Fork of Stillwater Creek, wrote, "The Rebels keep up their game of robbing and killing in that part of the country and it is going on at such a rate that I intend to leave Wolfe County till the War ends some way or the other. I am now in Mt. Sterling for the purpose of renting a farm."

Samuel H. Hurst, too, left Wolfe County in February 1864, and bought a farm at Mt. Sterling, moving his family and belongings by wagon, under protection of a guard. Hurst's new home at Mt. Sterling served as a safe haven for many. Noted his son Henry, "Many of the kinfolks from the mountains stay with us when the Rebels run them away from home. Father is always glad to see them and give them shelter till they can make other arrangements."

Shortly before his move to Mt. Sterling, Hurst was approached by William Trimble. "Old Bill Trimble solicited me strong, to come back and live at home," noted Samuel, "and he said he would get from 50 to 100 signers and send it to the Southern Headquarters and have it confirmed so that I should be protected for he said he also wanted me back to protect him. I told him that did not suit me, the hardest might fence off. I was going to take my family off and he might shift for himself. I made no compromises." Trimble and his daughter-in-law Eliza then pleaded with Hurst to spare his son Asberry, "and let him come in and talk with me a little while. Berry was then laying out. I told them to fetch Berry in and I would not hurt him."

Samuel's son Daniel agreed to the deal but his son Henry was not in favor of the suggestion, "so Berry did not appear." Hurst was in company of Lt. Hendrickson of the 45th KY and his men. Hendrickson told the Trimbles, that, "he was going back to Salyersville and he was going to send me home with 10 bodyguards with me and he wanted them to understand that if any on interrupted me or hurt me in any way whatever, on his return that he would kill 50 cecesses and if he could not find men enough he would make his number out in women and children and he would begin in Old Bill Trimble's house first. Old Trimble said good God Sam, stay with me till the Company returns for if any thing happens to you he will kill us every one. I went home and stayed two days and nights unhurt."

Asberry Trimble finally met his end on the morning of Oct 15, 1864, when he was shot and killed by his brother-in-law Edward Hensley, while hurrying to put some blacks to work at the vats in the Trimble tannery. The tannery was located about 100 yards from his house at the west end of his homestead near the Red River bridge on Main St in Hazel Green. He left behind a widow and a six months old son, South Trimble.
In 1870, his widow moved from Hazel Green and purchased a bluegrass farm in Franklin County, KY. South Trimble later was the leader of the legislature during the Goebel dispute and afterwards Clerk of the US house of Representatives.

Location of Trimble's Tannery, Hazel Green, Wolfe Co. KY

When the war finally ended, hostilities did not necessarily cease between the opposing parties. As the majority of people settled down into their lives, some incidents still occured that illustrate how unsettled things still were.
Floyd Wesley "Wes" Purcell was a member of Co. B, 10th KY Cav. (Diamond's) when he was captured on Feb. 15, 1864 in Morgan Co. KY. He was received at the Military Prison Louisville from Mt. Sterling, on March 18, 1864, with the following remark in his papers, "committed murder and has been guerrilla". On October 25, 1864, he escaped from the hospital in Louisville and managed to stay hidden until the war's end. He returned to Morgan County and settled in the part of the county which is now part of Menifee County. Purcell still had some scores to settle with the Coopers from Magoffin County who he hated intensely and sent word to the family that he had killed one of the damn Coopers and that he would kill John E. Cooper next. His great-nephew Cyrus R. Cooper related, "Uncle John was not afraid of him man to man but he was afraid of being ambushed. After receiving several threatening messages from Pirsell and his gang, he and Uncle Milton decided to take things in their own hands. Hearing that Pirsell was staying in some 20 miles of West Liberty, they set out to pay him a visit. Needless to say they were well armed and had good horses to ride. They arrived at the house where Pirsell was staying about 2 o'clock in the morning. They yelled for Pirsell and opened fire on him. They shot him seven or eight times. Uncle Milt used to say that he bounced every time he was hit. After examining Pirsell to be sure he was dead they got on their horses and rode back to West Liberty. They were never indicted for shooting Pirsell. Most everyone thought it was good riddance."

William Osborn, known as "Bad Bill", swore to avenge the death of his father John Osborn, who was killed during the war. He eventually was able to determine the names of some of the men who were present when his father was killed and thus began the work of attempting to eliminate them. It is said that he kept continuously after them and that after a few years he had succeeded in killing three or four, and others felt compelled to leave the area, including Francis Marion Vaughn and John M. Gose. Arch Childers never returned and remained in Harrison County, Kentucky for the rest of his life. "Bad Bill" made many plans and attempts to kill Henry C. Hurst, but never succeeded.

G. W. Long was deputy sheriff of Wolfe County since the war. Noted Thomas Treadway, "I heard a few Yankees say that they did not like to be dunned by a rebel that was opposed to law and order.." It was general rumor that Long had harbored two rebel guerrillas during the war, Henry Wells and "Red" James Spencer, who murdered Miles Kincaid, at his rock house in his bed, on August 16, 1864. Noted Treadway, "The intimation was that if he (Long) came into our neighborhood collecting taxes, they would bushwack him."

Existing difficulties also became apparent during the elections of 1867 and 1868.
In the 9th Congressional District, which embraced the counties of Lewis, Greenup, Fleming, Morgan, Rowan, Carter, Boyd, Magoffin, Pike, Johnson, Lawrence, Floyd, Montgomery, and Bath, voters were discouraged from casting their vote for Republican Candidate Samuel McKee, a former Union captain. In Morgan County, a man named Absolom Candill told Frank Hunter that he was afraid to vote for McKee, for fear he would be killed. "Since that time he has been driven from his home, noted Hunter, "in consequence of his Union sympathies; lay out in the woods to keep him from being killed and has left his home and moved away on this account, as he told me. Candill had been a soldier in the Union army for four years, and I was very anxious for him to vote."

In Johnson County, the majority of voters voted for McKee, except at Flatgap, where a large majority voted for the opposing candidate John D. Young and Union men were run away from the polls by returned rebel soldiers.

Difficulties also arose during the November elections of 1868 in the 8th Congressional District, which included the counties of Breathitt, Clay, Estill, Garrard, Harlan, Jackson, Josh.Bell, Knox, Laurel, Letcher, Madison, Owsley, Perry, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Whitley, Wayne and Wolfe.
James Dixon recalled the election at Breathitt Co. KY, "I was with some five men on the evening before the election who were good Union men. William McIntosh, Henley McIntosh, Jonathan Stamper, Wesley Stamper, and Bud Stamper; they all told me they were coming the next day to vote for Grant and the party - Grant party - and for Barnes...I assured them that if they would come on and vote that they should not be hurt if I could help it. They did not come...I was told by some good Union people I believe as ever lived, that if they were me they would not go to the polls to vote; that I would be bullied away from the polls. I told them if I was kept away from the polls, I would be kept away dead."

In the years after the war, some places were plagued with feuds, which in many cases were simply a continuation of hostilities between families who were on opposite sides during the Civil War. As for the remainder of the population, people tried to pick up the pieces and get back to work. Eventually, peace once again returned but memories of the war remained vivid and would never be forgotten by those who had lived through the nightmare.

Researched and written by Marlitta H. Perkins, June 2011. This specific article is under full copyright. Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved.


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Eastern KY Mountains 1861 - 1865

The War on Civilians - Breathitt, Letcher, Perry, Owsley, Leslie & Wolfe Counties

June 1862:
A newspaper, the Lynchburg Virginian, reports that a Unionist named James Gilmore is killed in Wolfe County by William and Andy Martin. Gilmore's son, William, was wounded. Other Union men in Wolfe County were reported as being lynched.

Late August 1862:
Col. Benjamin E. Caudill begins recruiting for the 13th KY Cavalry [CS]. His camp is near Whitesburg, Letcher Co.
"I have not been at home sins the first of November Caudill came to that settlement about the last of August and was there the last I heard of them. What we all raised there is all destroy, I have to move my family from there..."
[Hiram Hogg Letter #1]

While Capt. South and Lieut. E. C. Strong were recruiting, some of their men had gone over on the South Fork and shot at Bill Strong, then a soldier just out of the Union army, having deserted and returned home. That fired him up, and he went to making up a company of his own men and killing nearly every Southern citizen he found.
[G. W. Noble, pp. 23/24]

October 1862:
Henry Maggard, brother-in-law of Gilbert Creech [see April 14, 1863], is killed by Talt Hall, a new recruit of the 13th KY Cavalry [CS]. Henry Maggard had erected a full 2 story hewed log home in a bottom just above the old Oven Fork Church, in Letcher Co. "His farm was later known as Polk Day place, then later it was called the widow Day house. When the war years came, Henry was too old to serve but he championed the Union cause as did most of his family and many neighbors. To make ones choice known was dangerous and to openly speak for and defend it was almost sure to place one in extreme danger. But Henry spoke out openly and often, despite warnings from family and friends. It was not long until a band of bushwhackers descended on his home. Some say that they were led by a Captain Hawk. Henry was captured, taken down by the river and there made to kneel in the daisies by a fallen sycamore log. Mockingly they told him to say his final prayers as discussion was held to determine who have the "honor" of ridding the country of another "Union Man". In the group was a new recruit, a 16 yr old boy named Talt Hall. One of the older men suggested that it would be a good time to allow the boy to kill his first man. Henry was murdered by Talt Hall. He was thrown in a patch of weeds where his body lay until vultures indicated the location of his body." Hall was later acquitted of Henry Maggard's murder.
[Coming Down Cumberland, by V.N. Phillips]
Note: Thomas Talton Hall enlisted in Co. D, 13th KY Cavalry [CS] on October 4, 1862, at Whitesburg, Letcher Co. KY.

October 1862:
George Washington Noble is killed by Captain Bill Strong's men, 14th KY Cavalry [US], on Barge Branch, Breathitt Co.
...We had not been at home long before an old slave by the name of Bailey came and told us that the Yankees waylaid the house of Uncle Washington, and when he came out had shot him right thru the body, and had shot at the old man. That was James Noble, his master. The old man had started up to see his brother, Washington, whom they had shot. His little boy had run down for the old man, and they were waylaying for him. They knew he would come that way. They were on a point at the mouth of a hollow where they were going to turn off to go to the river and as he came up opposite to them they began firing at him with out even saying a word to him. He was an old graybearded man. He turned around and looked at them and said, " Look at my gray hairs; you can't kill me, for God is with me." He said the Lord showed him that they could not hurt a hair on his head. He said there were about 15 in the crowd, and they just shouldered their guns and walked off, and he never moved until they got out of sight. About 12 o'clock Washington Noble died.
[G. W. Noble, pp. 22/23]
He was killed by Kim McIntosh and Hen Kilburn.
[William Murphy]
Note: George Washington Noble was the son of Nathan Noble and Virginia Neace.

Lesson Noble killed....they had the night previous taken Lesson Noble...a prisoner. They took him off, and his son-in-law was there and knew them all. He was a Union man and they inquired of him about the country. He was out with them a good while, the family said. After that we could never hear anything about Lesson Noble. Richard Haddix, his son-in-law, said that he knew them all. It was Capt. William Strong with a company of men he was recruiting for the army......John Little's creek, about two miles from his home...They had kept him over on that branch as a prisoner until they came back, and when Capt. Strong came to the men and told them that they had killed Washington [Noble], they killed Lesson Noble, for they thought if they turned him loose he would go to the army and they would have him to fight.
[G. W. Noble, pp. 23/24/25]
Note: Lesson Noble was the son of Nathan Noble and Virginia Neace.


October 14, 1862:
Major John C. Eversole's House, situated between Krypton and Chavies in Perry Co., is ambushed by Captain Anderson Hays and Capt. William Smith, both 13th KY Cavalry [CS], with 100 men.
"The Rebels got in about half a mile of Major Eversole's house and halted to send out spies to see what they were doing. The spies came back and reported that they saw the soldiers; that there were about fifty from what they could learn....We lay there all night, keeping pickets out. The next morning at the break of day we marched down to the house, aiming to surround it, but a man came out of the house toward where we were, and Shade Duff shot at him, and he ran back into the house, and the Yankees began shooting at us from the house. The Rebels shot thru the windows and the doors and were charging toward the house, when the Yankees ran out in their drawers and ran across the Kentucky river and up the hillside into the timber, and shot back at the Rebels. Capt. Hays with his men charged down the bank of the river. Dick Duckam said that he shot at a man and saw him fall. Dick afterwards deserted the Rebels and joined the Yankees, and so did Bill Deaton. We fell back to the point out of reach of their guns. While there I saw a man walking about 300 yards down the river in a field. I had a Springfield rifle. I raised the sights to 900 yards and laid my gun on top of the fence, and said " Watch me make that man run. "When the gun fired--you ought to have seen him run. I did not care then if I did kill him, for the Yankees had shot Ephrem Sizemore in the head, and his brains were running out. He was a brother-in-law of Capt. Noble. We left him where he was shot. We heard that he lived until the next day...All the soldiers got back to camp safely except Ephrem Sizemore. It was not long until Capt. Hays and Capt. Smith left the country for Letcher county.
[G. W. Noble, pp. 26-27]
Note: Ephraim Sizemore, Pvt. Co. G, 13th KY Cavalry [CS] is buried in the cemetery near the Eversole cabin.
[Sherry Baker Frazier]

End Oct./Early November 1862:
Members of the 13th KY Cavalry [CS] at the farm of Elisha Breeding on Breeding Creek, Letcher [now Knott] Co. They confiscated most of the family’s food supply, then took Elisha to a spot near the pass between Knott and Letcher Counties, near where the Highway No. 15 crosses the hill. On the way, Elisha was able to throw down his pocket-book near a gate, where it was later found. He was then shot in the back. Then the family was allowed to haul his body away in a sled, and they buried him on Breedings Creek, near his home.
Identity of the members of this band was known. They were: S. Sexton, A. Amburgey, Steve Sexton, Willy Moore, Francis Amburgey, Willey Amburgey and Ben Caudill.
[Hiram Hogg, Carl Breeding, Marie Fetter]
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jvoyles/alliedkiserfamilies/bryantbreedinggen4.htm


November 1, 1862:
Hiram Hogg is forced by threats from Col. Benjamin E. Caudill's men [CS] to leave his home in Letcher Co. "I left home they ware threatening me and about that time they took old Elisha Breeding and drove him out and two shot hime at one time...
[Hiram Hogg Letter #1]

Briant Collins has went and gave himself up to them they waylade him and shot him"
[Hiram Hogg Letter #1]
Note: Possible motivation for the murder of 49 year old Briant Collins by Caudill's men may have been the fact that two of his sons, Jesse and Fielding Collins, were members of the 14th KY Cavalry [US]. On the other hand, a third son, Carter Collins, was a member of Co. H, 13th KY Cavalry [CS].


January, 1863:
Perry, Breathitt, Letcher and Owsley...The rebels are still in possession of the counties named above, having driven off the families of the Union men in that vicinity, but, with the proper arms and the necessary drill, Major Eversole's hardy mountaineers will lose but little time in retaking their homes and inflicting punishment upon the rebel vandals who have temporarily dispossessed them. The rebels in that region of country number four or five hundred, under command of the notorious Jack May and the robber-chief Benj. E. Caudelle.
[Louisville Daily Journal, Jan. 29, 1863]

Jan. 9, 1863:
Captain Henderson Matthew Combs, Co. G, 13th KY Cav. [CS] shot and killed on a barge by men from Company K, 14th Kentucky Cavalry [US] while home on furlough [?], Clayhole, Breathitt Co. KY.
Darlene Gray
"Capt. Strong's men killed him [Combs; MP]. They would not let him surrender, but killed him in his own house, and went on a mile and killed David Barnett, an innocent man."
[George W. Noble, p. 78]
Note: According to Gordon Barnett, David was shot (reason unknown) down along Troublesome, where he owned 50 acres.

January 22, 1863:
50 year old Joseph Bowman is killed by Lt. Smith and his men of the Confederate Army at Rocky Gap, near Bear Creek, Breathitt Co.
[http://www.acetipton.net/bowman.html]
Note: "Lt. Smith" may have been Samuel B. Smith, Co. B or Lt. Isaac Smith, Co. I, both 13th KY Cavalry [CS]. May also have been possibly Captain William Smith, 13th KY Cavalry [CS]

March 1863
After the Major [Eversole] returned to war, his family moved two miles down the river, and it was here that a band of marauding guerillas descended on the helpless wife and children. The marauders took all the cattle and horses except one blind mare and one yearling steer which were hidden in the woods, they took all the meat from the smokehouse; they killed the geese and threw them in the river to float downstream; they ripped the featherbeds and let the feathers blow away on the March wind.
[Etta J. Eversole, This Old House]
Note: This took place in Perry Co., near Krypton.


April 7, 1863:
Andrew Jackson May's Company of the 10th KY Cavalry [CS] at the house of Abijah Gilbert in Owsley County: "(May) took every horse and mule I had, numbering thirteen...They got after my two oldest sons, up the branch from my house, and shot most of their ammunition at them: (William P.) Lacy then charged upon my oldest son, with his musket in hand, cursing him - swore he would hang him. My son drew his pistol, shot Lacy through the arm, and into his canteen. Lacy threw up his hand, hallowed out, don't. My son fired again, took Lacy under the ear, dropped him off his horse dead. The boys then broke - the musket balls cutting all round them - ran down a steep cliff...and made their escape....The rebels then set fire to my houses; burned everything I had, leaving my wife and children with nothing but the clothes they had on. My wife got on her knees to them and offered them one thousand dollars in cash, not to burn our houses. They kept her off with their muskets; some few things, however, which she did get out were taken from her by the rebels...The balance all went to the flames."
[Gilbert letter, April 13, 1863, Louisville Daily Journal]
Note: In April 1863, Andrew Jackson May's Co. of the 10th KY Cavalry [CS] was part of General Marshall's command.
"I was elected to the Senate in 1860 to fill the unexpired term of (blank). I voted against Kentucky seceding and for this my house was burned during the war. I removed then to Clay's Ferry, in Fayette County."
[Abijah Gilbert, John Jay Dickey Diary, transcribed by Sherry Baker Frazier]


April 6 - 12, 1863:
Edward "Ned" Begley is hung at the Nigh Way Point on Cutshin Creek, Leslie Co. by a man named Wells from Captain Bradshaw's Co., 2nd Battalion KY Mtd. Rifles [CS]. Edward had been doing some carpenter work for a neighbor and had his hammer and saw in his hands. The rebels, acting as though they were Union men, betrayed Edward into revealing his sympathies. He remarked that his family was expecting the Union men and had been cooking for them all day. Immediately the rebels fell upon Edward, taking the rawhide bridles from their horses and hanging him on a paw paw tree right beside the road.
[Clarence B. Davis, Malvery Roberts Begley, Amanda Begley Carner, John & Maudie (Nave) Roberts & B.G. Coomer in "Clay Co. Ancestral News 10-1999"]
Comment by Edward O. Guerrant, Adjutant of General Humphrey Marshall, regarding Ned Begley's murder. Guerrant noted that Begley "was most cruelly hung by a man named Wells in Bradshaw's company; men whose last act is the consequence of former ones. Old man Begley was a Union man, in connection with the Bushwacking Home Guards who are waylaying us every day & betrayed himself unsuspectingly to our soldiers..."
[Edward O. Guerrant Diary, Vol. 4 (manuscript)]
Note: In April 1863, the 2nd Battalion KY Mtd. Rifles [CS] were part of General Marshall's command.

April 9/10, 1863:
Patrick Howard, Sgt., Co. K, 14th KY Cav[US, at home on sick-leave,] "murdered by the enemy commanded by Jack May, while a prisoner."
[AGR]
Note: In April 1863, Andrew Jackson May's Co. of the 10th KY Cavalry [CS] was part of General Marshall's command.

April 14, 1863:
Gilbert Creech and his brother Elijah, as well as roughly 50 other Union Home Guards, are captured by Benjamin Caudill's men under command of Major Thomas J. Chenoweth, 13th KY Cavalry [CS] on Leatherwood Creek, Perry Co.
They were all tried for various crimes and paroled, with one exception - Gilbert Creech. He was brought to trial at the Confederates' camp and it was proven that he had killed an old man and woman and robbed them. He was found guilty of other crimes as well. Major Chinaworth asked him if he had been bushwhacking his men and Gilbert answered, "Yes, and I will bushwhack again". Chinaworths answer was, "It's damned uncertain." Gilbert was sentenced to be shot by a firing squad. Isaac Collins, Ben Smith, and Dan Howard, whose brother had been killed by Creech, were among the selected men of the firing squad. Franklin Allen volunteered. Before he was shot, the men were told to take aim, and Creech patted himself on the chest and told the men he was ready. He was shot on April 14, 1863, at Brashear's Salt Works in Perry County (now known as Cornettsville, located at the mouth of Leatherwood in Perry County on Highway 699, just off Route 7), on the lot where M. C. Cornett's dwelling now stands. It was said by those present that Creech was one of the most daring and courageous men to ever face a firing squad. His body was buried in the P. H. Hall cemetery.

Note: Also known as "Scritch", Gilbert Creech, born 1815, was the son of John Creech, Sr. and Sarah Armstrong. He married Elizabeth Maggard, daughter of Old Sam Maggard, who lived above Hindman, on July 13, 1843. During the war, Creech associated himself with Clabe Jones.
His brother-in-law Henry Maggard was killed in October 1862, by Talt Hall, a member of the the 13th KY Cavalry [CS][see above]

June 4, 1863:
Miles Spurlock shot by the 14th KY Cavalry [US]. "They came to Samuel Spurlock's and his son, Miles, who was an ex-Confederate soldier in Capt. Swango's company with me, started to run and they shot him and he fell...
[G.W. Noble, p. 32]


Sept. 15, 1863 - Oct. 5, 1863:
Brittain Helton, enrolled as Pvt. in Co. F, 47th KY Infantry [US], is shot by rebels before muster-in and left at Irvine KY and has never been heard from since.
[AGR]

November 1863:
Capt. Bill Strong's house is being plundered.
[At Rest Among Thorns]


Jan. 20, 1864:
Captain Bill Smith, 14th KY Cavalry [US] stops at the house of Hiram Miller, a prominent Breathitt County man who lived in the upper region of the County, and "quickly and without ceremony" killed him.
[Herbert W. Spencer]

Jesse Spencer is shot and killed at his home, across the North Fork of the Kentucky River at a place now known as Wolverine, Breathitt Co. by Captain Bill Smith, 14th KY Cavalry [US]. When Captain Bill and his men came riding up to the Spencer home they shouted for the Spencers to come out. Jesse and Elizabeth came to the door and the Union Raiders searched their home looking for William. Then they told Jesse they would kill the "Rebel scout."
Elizabeth pleaded with Strong and his men for her husband's life. She said that he was an old man and was not active with either side in the war. Strong insisted that Jesse Spencer was a "Rebel Scout" so he was taken out to the fence gate, stood up against the fence, and shot to death in the presence of his wife.
They then drove away most of Spencer's livestock, went into the house, split open the featherbeds with their knives, and poured jugs of "sorghum" molasses into the "Feather ticks." Hams, middlings, and shoulders were taken from the smokehouse. They also destroyed what other property they could not take with them and carried away one of Jesse Spencer's slaves.
[Herbert W. Spencer]

Captain Bill Smith, 14th KY Cavalry [US], and his men went to "Holly" on the Frozen Creek section of Breathitt County. Here they shot Nathan Day but he was able to escape into the darkness.
[Herbert W. Spencer]

Captain Bill Smith, 14th KY Cavalry [US] rode up to 1. Lt. Jeremiah Weldon South, Jr., Co. B, 5th KY Inf. [CS, Orphans], - Jerry "Old Jerry" South 's home. Jerry, seeing the raiders in the distance, started to run into the woods nearby, but a member of Captain Bill's band shot Jerry in the leg above the knee. The shot broke his leg but South managed to hide from the raiders in the darkness. South was taken to the woods by some of his friends and hidden. They also informed his wife, Caroline South, and she went to her husband and nursed him to a partial recovery.
[Herbert W. Spencer]

Feb. 7, 1864:
1. Lt. Jeremiah Weldon South, Jr., Co. B, 5th KY Inf. [CS, Orphans], shot and killed at Holly on Frozen Creek in Breathitt County, Ky. by Captain Bill Strong's men, at the homestead of John and Polly Hollon. They had taken Jeremiah into their home to care for him. During the night, Kentucky "Home Guards" came upon the home. When Polly came out with a lamp, they shot it from her hand and asked if any wounded soldiers were being harbored in the home. The Home Guards entered and killed Jeremiah, while their children were in the home. The Hollen home was located on Holly Creek.
[Bill James, via Timothy J. Barron ]
http://hometown.aol.com/BellwareD/allen.html

February 20, 1864:
Sanford Shackelford, a strong Union man, is slain by guerillas in the doorway of his home on Upper Devil's Creek. (also see June 1864)

April 14, 1864:
Citizens of Booneville [Owsley Co. KY], 40 strong, whipped, on the 14th instant, Fred Gray's guerrillas, numbering 75. Citizens report no enemy in Perry or Breathitt Counties. Whitesburg, in Letcher County, evacuated by rebel forces lately there.
[O. R., Ser. I, Vol. 32, pt. 1, p. 646]
...The only man killed was a guerrilla shot by Perry Bishop. It is reputed that Perry said afterwards, "I knew the man I shot. He had been a friend of mine but I knew we had to kill some of them or they would kill some of us and I had too good a bead on him to let him go."
Note: Perry Bishop, b. 1834, married Vicey Baker.
[When They Hanged The Fiddler, by Jess Wilson, pp. 75/76]

May 2, 1864:
Major John C. Eversole and his brother Joseph reportedly had left the service by this time and returned home to Krypton, Perry Co. The Rebels either were not convinced that the Eversoles had in fact given up the fight or sought out retribution for the Yankees earlier action. A substantial group from Caudill's 13th Kentucky Cavalry [CS] (then under the command of Major Thomas Chenowith) attacked the Eversole house with great force that spring day and were successful at killing both Major Eversole and his brother Joseph. The Eversole house was riddled with hundreds of bullet holes throughout the thick poplar logs. Many bullet holes remain obvious today.
[Sherry Baker Frazier]
Lieut. Hawk had come in with his soldiers and killed Major Eversole and his brother, Joseph Eversole. They had quit the army and were staying at home, and were just shot down in retaliation for John Gambill and others.
[G. W. Noble, pp. 53/54]

June 1864:
James "River Jim" Allen, 13th KY Cavalry [CS], is killed on his farm in Wolfe Co. KY in retaliation for the murder of Richard Sanford Shackleford in February 1864. "River Jim" was taking some corn to a nearby mill for grinding when he was recognized by some of Shackleford's kin as one of the raiders. Jim was captured and killed in revenge. When his wife, Nancy, went to retrieve his body, it was gone. It is thought to have been weighted down rocks and thrown in the river or buried in the nearby woods. Either way, his body was never recovered. Three of Jim's brothers, John, Irwin and Emery Allen met a similar fate when they were ambushed by Union soldiers at the mouth of Drowning Creek in Estill Co., Kentucky in 1865 while walking home at the close of the war.
[Daniel A. Bellware ]
http://hometown.aol.com/BellwareD/allen.html

June 3, 1864:
Captain Bill Strong's brother, John C. Strong, 14th KY Cavalry [US], killed from ambush while returning home, near Canoe, Breathitt Co. KY.
"Jack Combs had taken charge of Alex's [Alexander Noble, brother to G.W. Noble; captured] Company of bushwhackers, and he and Hiram Sizemore had gone to the North Fork to waylay Capt. Strong. They went to a gap in the mountain called Hickory Gap and were secreted behind trees. Someone who lived in the neighborhood had told them how Capt. Strong passed thru that gap. His brother, Capt. Strong, came along and they shot and killed him. He was just nearly like Capt. Strong, but was a good man, and when the soldiers would be robbing houses Capt. Strong would stay outside and not go in. They were very sorry after they found out that they had killed the wrong man."
[George W. Noble, p. 54]

June 5, 1864:
Major Chenoweth and his men, 13th KY Cavalry [CS] set fire to a house on Troublesome Creek..."where Chenoweth's men had been after a bushwacker."
[Diary of E. O. Guerrant, p. 974 (manuscript)]

E. O. Guerrant passes up Main Quicksand and passes the body of William Day," a bushwacker - 'No more' - awful sight - a deserter from Chenoweth: run. Summary punishment. A dwarf woman looked at him."
[Diary of E. O. Guerrant, p. 974 (manuscript)]

Giltner's Cavalry brigade camps near Mr. Cope's, " father of Capt. A. C. Cope 5th K'y...Mr. Cope, Sr. being a Union man, sweetened our temper with a dozen or two fine stands of honey.
[Diary of E. O. Guerrant, pp. 974,975 (manuscript)]


June 16, 1864:
William Clark, Provost Marshall of Owsley Co., is captured by part of John Hunt Morgan's force, under command of Colonel Giltner, 4th Kentucky Cavalry (CSA), on their retreat from Cynthiana to Southwest Virginia. Clark had been on the Red Bird recruiting Blacks for military service when he captured. He was held prisoner for a time and then shot. Clark was the father of Colonel Andrew H. Clark, 47th KY Inf. [US]
[Biography of Col. Andrew H. Clark]
http://www.myoldkentuckyroots.com/AH_CLARKrow2col1.html

By August 5, 1864:
Elias Jent, Pvt in Co. I of 13th Ky Cavalry [CS] hanged in Perry Co. [now Knott Co.] According to family legend, Elias and his wife were going from Hindman to Lott's Creek and stopped at the home of a Mrs. Cornett and while there some soldiers came by, captured him and took him and his wife outside. In a few minutes the others heard shots rang out and when the soldiers had left they found him and his wife hung from a tree. They were buried nearby on Big Branch of Troublesome, Knott Co., under an old apple tree.
[http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/perry/court/j530-001.txt]

November 7, 1864:
25 guerrillas in command of Lieutenant Jerry W. South, Jr., made an attack upon 20 of the State militia on the Middle Fork of Kentucky River, in Breathitt County. After heavy fighting, the militia was compelled to retreat, having lost one man killed and six mortally wounded.
South’s men then started for Owsley County, made a raid on the town of Proctor, and robbed the stores of goods valued at 5000 dollars. The citizens were without arms an incapable of offering a defense. The marauders seem to care more for good horse flesh than anything else, and the best animals were “confiscated” by them at every point visited.
From Owsley County they moved into Wolfe County and made an attack on Compton, the county seat. The citizens had obtained information about their approach and were prepared to give them a warm reception. A brisk little skirmish ensued, in which the outlaws were speedily routed.
Captain J. A. Stamper of the militia learned of the movements of South, and, with twelve mounted men, started in pursuit of the band. At Devil’s Creek in Wolfe County, he had a slight skirmish with them and forced their retreat. Captain Stamper then made a sweep across the country and found himself in front of the marauders at Holly Creek, Breathitt County. He charged the outlaws and drove them back in confusion. Lieutenant South was made a prisoner.
[Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 18, 1864; article re-printed from the Louisville Journal]

November 1864:
Subsequent to the capture of Lieutenant South, a deserter from Caudill’s camp arrived at Irvine, KY, and stated that the advance of Rebel Colonel’s command, fifty men, had arrived in Breathitt County, and the main force was following a short distance behind. There are no federal troops in that portion of the state, and the militia could offer but feeble resistance to so formidable of an advance. It is presumed that the rebels have entered the state to obtain horses and supplies.
[Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 18, 1864; article re-printed from the Louisville Journal]

Late 1864:
Moses Cawood of Owsley Co. killed by order of Col. Andrew H. Clark, 47th KY Inf. [US].
He or troops under his command came to the Cawood plantation, located on the south fork of the KY River, at Fish Trap, seven miles north of Booneville, KY, and executed him, some say he was escorted across the river from his home tied to a tree and shot, and others believe he was hung, both versions have been told. Some said he was killed by Union Soldiers, and some just said it was a group of men.
[Winfred C. Tipton]

1865
Jehue Cody served as private in Co. L, 14th Kentucky Cavalry [US], during the Civil War, and either after his discharge, or having come home on a furlough, he was murdered by a band of marauding Rebel outlaws, at the home of his brother, Thomas, on Mace's Creek, Perry Co. in 1865.
[http://www.combs-families.org/combs/jhc/jhc-081.htm]

Jan. 2, 1865:
Capt. Combs, Capt. Hays and Lieut. John L. Noble, a brother of my father and who had lived in the States of Missouri and Indiana, marched to the Grapevine, and Jefferson Sizemore...captured Joel Duff and several others and shot Joel right in his father's house and left him dead. They went up the North Fork of the Kentucky river and over to Big Creek, in Perry county. They killed a man by the name of Fugate [Martin Fugate, see January 3, 1865] and came back.
[G. W. Noble, p. 65]
Note: Joel Duff's brother Henry was the husband of Capt. Bill Strong's sister Mahala.
Captain Combs = unclear as to identity; Captain Anderson Hays, Co. C, 13th KY Cav [CS].
John L. Noble was not an enlisted soldier at the time. He formerly served as 1st Lt. in Co. G, 13th KY Cavalry [CS]. He was under arrest June 1, 1863 and subsequently cashiered from the CS Army for stealing money.
[13th KY Cavalry Compiled Service Records]


Jan. 3, 1865:
Sgt. Martin Fugate, Corporal Thomas Hoskins and Pvt. William Millam (all three men members of Co. C, Three Forks Battalion), as well as Layne Fields [Co. M, 14th KY Cavalry (US)] are ambushed at Fugate's house on Little Willard Creek in Perry Co., near Typo (across the hill from Second Creek, and Butterfly), by Confederate raiders under John L. Noble of Lost Creek, Breathitt Co. Noble's men kill Fugate, Layne and Millam and leave Hoskins for dead, who survives the attack and escapes.
[Raid on Willard Creek, Perry County, by Carlos Brock]
Note: John L. Noble was not an enlisted soldier at the time of the ambush. He formerly served as 1st Lt. in Co. G, 13th KY Cavalry [CS]. He was under arrest June 1, 1863 and subsequently cashiered from the CS Army for stealing money.
[13th KY Cavalry Compiled Service Records]


Jan. 7, 1865:
Robert Pleasant Davis and Andrew Jackson South killed by Captain Bill Strong's men, 14th KY Cavalry [US], at Davis' house, on the South Fork of Quicksand, Breathitt Co. KY.
[G. W. Noble, p. 62]
Note: Andrew Jackson South was rumored to be in the CS Army but no records have been found to support this assumption. His brother Lt. Jeremiah Weldon South, Co., 5th KY Inf. [CS, Orphans] was killed by Strong's men on Feb. 7, 1864; see above]. Both South and Davis were listed as civilian casualties in the Weekly Kentucky Yeoman , Frankfort, KY, January 7, 1879.


Feb. 7, 1865:
52 year old Ambrose Hollon is killed by Home Guards in Breathitt Co.
[Letter from the Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, Frankfort, Kentucky, January 7, 1879]

March 1865:
Fayette Bentley is shot and killed by Captain Ephraim Ratliff , at his house on Beef Hide Creek, in front of his wife and children.
[Harry M. Caudill, The Mountain, The Miner, and the Lord, pp. 67-71]
Bentley was a private, Co. D, 13th KY Cavalry.
[CSR/AGR]

July 14, 1865:
Major E. B. Treadway, commander of the Three Forks Battalion, writes to Kentucky Governor Bramlett, suggesting that three of his eight companies be retained for an additional two or three months. Treadway wrote that, "We have not yet established civil courts or even yet put down all the guerrillas in the counties of Harlan, Perry, Breathitt, Letcher, etc. There are reported to be three bands of guerrillas in those counties under the command of `Smith', `Osbern' and Dan `Jones.'
[Holly Fee-Timm]


After War's end: July/August 1865
Capt. Blankenship and his men had murdered Drewery Quinn, my brother-in-law; David Richison, Emery Allen, Irvine Allen and John Allen at the mouth of Drowning Creek, in Estill county, after peace was made.
[G. W. Noble, p. 74]


Events not dated exactly - After August 1862/1864
William Smith was at home on leave in Breathitt Co. when some soldiers came up and raided the farm. They supposingly took him behind the barn and executed him. They took so much that there was nothing left to eat. Later Nancy Jane Hounshell, his wife, remarried to a Hugh Johnson Turner.
[Belinda C. Allender ]
Bill [Smith], a Confederate soldier, was killed at the mouth of Ball Creek by guerillas while home on furlough.
[HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, KENTUCKY HAZARD CHAPTER DAR, 1953; Compiled by Eunice Tolbert Johnson]
Note: William Smith was a nephew to Zachariah "Ball Creek Zack" Fugate.

Colson Duff and wife Elizabeth (Gilbert) owned a large tract of land on Grapevine Creek, North Fk. KY River, Perry County - 1,500 acres. During the Civil War, a group of men came by his home and robbed him. He escaped to Owsley County, built a farmstead, and lived there until his death on March 18, 1911.
[http://www.dragg.net/sbrown/Caedmons%20Gilbert%20Family.htm]

Levi Eldridge lived about three miles from Blackey, Letcher County, KY, on Rockhouse Creek near the mouth of Perkins Branch. He was a farmer and owned a grist mill. He owned all the land in and around Letcher School. Levi was shot by guerillas during the Civil War and left for dead. He recovered and moved to Morehead, Rowan County, KY, where he died a few years later. When he left Rockhouse, all of his land holdings were sold for taxes, leaving him penniless. After Levi's death, Easter moved back to Letcher County, living at Roxana, KY. His son John C. Eldridge served as a Pvt. in Co. F, 5th KY Inf. [CS].
[http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/tturner/william.html]

John Maggard, son of Henry Maggard, killed by bushwhackers on Cowan Creek. He had 8 children. (His father Henry Maggard, brother-in-law of Gilbert Creech, was killed by bushwhackers during the Civil War, near his home in Letcher Co. [see Oct. 1862]).
[Phyllis Reynolds Goelz ]


William Landsaw Hurst's house in Jackson, Breathitt Co. is burnt down by Captain Pete' Everett's command. "I did not return to Breathitt to live after the beginning of the war. Pete Everett burnt my house where the Haddix Hotel now stands, and I determined not to try Jackson again. I had some rough experiences while I lived there and did not wish to renew them."
[William L. Hurst, John Jay Dickey Diary]
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/breathitt/hurst.wl.txt

Guerrillas destroy the entire property of Elisha Bowman Treadway [7th KY Inf. [US]] [before Sep. 1864?] leaving his wife and three children destitute. Upon his resignation from the 7th KY Inf. and his return home, Treadway raises the Three Forks Battalion [US], which he commands with the rank of Major.
[When They Hanged The Fiddler, by Jess Wilson, pp. 75/76]

Other casualties (Breathitt Co.)
Alex Overbee, John Pence, Lance Woods, John Chaney, John South, Wm. South, David Little, Pat Hounshell, John C. Little, Reuben Angel, Wm. Taulbee, Wayne Taulbee, and James Barnett. "All these were private citizens when killed."
[Letter from the Weekly Kentucky Yeoman newspaper of Frankfort, Kentucky, dated January 7, 1879]


Researched and compiled by Marlitta H. Perkins, Nov. 22, 2003; updated June 14, 2011.
Re-published from "Eastern Kentucky Union Soldiers", archived at: http://www.oocities.org/eastkyunion/Mountain_Chronology.html
This specific article is under full copyright. Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved.


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