The Big Sandy Valley on the Eve of the 1862 Confederate Invasion of Kentucky

On June 20, 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg replaced Beauregard as commander of the Confederate Army of Mississippi, later renamed the Army of Tennessee. He devised a plan to shift the focus of the war in the Western Theater by invading Kentucky. This became known as the Confederate Heartland Offensive, the Kentucky Campaign and the Confederate Invasion of Kentucky. Once in the state, Bragg planned to combine forces with Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith's forces and move against Buell's Army of the Ohio. 

On August 15, 1862, the first Confederate troops under Scott entered Kentucky near Monticello. The following day, Heth's column passed through Big Creek Gap while Kirby Smith moved through Rogers' Gap. On August 17, Stevenson's division arrived in front of Cumberland Gap which was occupied by federal forces under command of General George W. Morgan. On the evening of the same day, Kirby Smith struck Morgan's line of communications at Barboursville and Cumberland Ford, effectively isolating Cumberland Gap from the outside world. General Humphrey Marshall was still in Abingdon, Virginia, but expected to cross the border into Kentucky at any given time.

Preceding these movements were reports of increased activity and "a general uprising for the invasion of Kentucky all along the Virginia border." During the first week of August, the Pike County home guards encountered Confederate troops under Moore, Witcher, Menifee and Harmon on three occasions. Citizens were robbed and killed and stores plundered. Eventually, the Home Guards were  driven from Piketon. A few days later, a small group of rebels made their way to Prestonsburg and burned some US Government supplies and stole a number of horses from the citizens. On August 16, 1862, according to historian Damian C. Beach, Confederate cavalry repulsed and defeated a unit of Home Guards near Warfield, Lawrence County.  

Marshall finally entered Kentucky on August 19, 1862, through Pound Gap. As the situation in Kentucky quickly became unraveled,  rumors were rife. According to newspapers reports, "There is said to be no doubt but that the Confederates intend to take possession of the Big Sandy region, drive the Federal force out, and carry the war to the Ohio border." 

A letter from Camp McClure in Louisa, Kentucky, clearly illustrates the impending danger that Eastern Kentucky was facing during those days of uncertainty in August of 1862. Written by a soldier to the Cincinnati Commercial, it was re-published by the Louisville Courier-Journal on August 21, 1862.

Lower Big Sandy Valley
Map by Campbell & Barlow, ca. 1861

Upper Big Sandy Valley
Map by Campbell & Barlow, ca. 1861
Library of Congress

THE SITUATION IN NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY.

Camp McClure, Louisa, KY., Aug. 16.

A word in reference to the excitement in Eastern Kentucky, caused by the threats of the secesh to "wipe us out in the Sandy Valley, and follow it up by the invasion of Ohio." Is there reason to fear the execution of these threats? I will give a little of what we know of their proceedings, and let you judge.

A few days since, fifty of the 4th Virginia V. L., in charge of their Major, were recruiting, seventy miles above here, on Tug Fork, and while leisurely eating dinner, disarmed, were fired upon by two hundred mounted rebels. ** They seized their arms, and fought for half an hour, when the Major, with two privates, fell, mortally wounded. By this time the little party, being nearly surrounded and overpowered by numbers, saw their doom if they did not fight their way out. So, with one determined effort, most of them made their escape, leaving but few taken prisoners. Being rapidly pursued, they scattered, every one for his own safety. In the course of a few days, twenty-six of them had wandered into our camp, bringing one severely wounded.

The 200 guerrillas are the companies that so terrified that part of Kentucky by stealing and murdering before we drove them out last winter, and have long deserved the fate Strutton met in this last affair. He was Captain of one of the companies, and was not only killed, but the "Devil of the Mountains," Witcher, Captain of the other company, was severely, and though to be dangerously wounded.

At about the time of this engagement two or three other rebel companies came down the other fork of Sandy to Piketon, took possession of the town, not, however, without some considerable resistance from the Home Guards, who gave them a war on reception from the bushes, killing and wounding several; but their number was so small they were compelled to retreat to the rocks and caves. They were not satisfied with the appropriation of everything, belonging to Union citizens, but had the daring impudence to come down to Prestonsburg and burn all the provisions we had not yet moved from there. The loss was but small, as the stuff had been condemned.

The guerrillas are making great efforts at recruiting men, but secure many by telling them they will be sent to Richmond if they don't enlist, and that they will not be allowed to stay at home as long as they can carry a gun.

Captain Ford *, of the Home Guards, above Piketon, has just arrived with the news that Col. Williams's regiment of 700 mounted men had also crossed the mountain, and have now taken up quarters in Piketon, not, however, without first giving him a call, and that too with a volley of musketry which told him and his squad to skedaddle for their lines. The Captain was exposed to a perfect shower of bullets for one-fourth of a mile, some of them hitting his horse and saddle, but leaving him unhurt. What became of the rest of his men is yet unknown. The Captain is confident, from the number he saw and from the most reliable information, that there is at least one full regiment of mounted rebels.

This is not all. It is believed, and most reliable accounts lead to the conclusion, that these are only the advanced scouts of Humphrey Marshall's expected large army, with which he has so violently threatened Eastern Kentucky.

They are now committing more desperate outrages than ever. Beyond the mountains, every man that does not join the army is sent off as a prisoner, and his family driven from whatever possession they have, which is confiscated to "Southern rights." Capt. Ford saw a party of these poor, unfortunate, home-robbed families that had crossed the mountains, seeking a place to keep from starving to death.

The efforts made to penetrate Kentucky through Cumberland Gap and Pound Gap simultaneously only go to verify their threats of the conquest of Kentucky and the invasion of Ohio. Any one acquainted with the geography of the country through Eastern Kentucky well knows that the Sandy Valley is one of the best natural inlets from Dixie to the Northern States, and that the rebels want no better place than the mountains and hills at the head of Big Sandy to gather and conceal a strength sufficient to annihilate us, and make a march into Ohio in less than three days.

All we want is more force, especially cavalry, and we will wipe them out so effectually that they never again will want to avenge their defeats at Ivy Mountain, Middle Creek, and Pound Gap. Col. Cranor, having been in this part of Kentucky ever since he led the gallant charge at the battle of Middle Creek, is well acquainted with the hills, roads, and creeks, and the people from here to the mountains. His fighting qualities and good generalship make him well prepared to take command of whatever force is sent here. This is an important item, as our success or defeat depends to a very great extent on a perfect knowledge of the geography of the battle ground. To fight these skulking rascals considerable marching  must be done - of this we had experience enough to know we might have accomplished tenfold more had we had a more intimate knowledge of the country.

-Cor. Cin. Com.

Notes

* Pike County Home Guard Captain William Ford later enrolled as Captain in the 39th Kentucky Infantry (US), Company B, on September 2, 1862. He was 41 years old. He died on November 24, 1864, of dysentery, at Lexington, Kentucky.

** This engagement is known as the Battle of Beech Creek and took place on August 6, 1862.

Links of Interest

The Murder of Peyton Justice 

Excellent article by Randall Osborne, Pike County Historical Society

The Battle of Beech Creek, August 6th, 1862

While on a mission which had previously seen them trek across McDowell and Wyoming counties in West Virginia, a group of Confederate soldiers from Virginia, led by Lieutenant Colonel Vinson A. Witcher, making up the 34th battalion under his command, encountered and clashed with a portion of the 4th West Virginia Union regiment under Major Hall, resulting in a battle. The two groups confronted each other near the Cannaday farm on Beech Creek in what was then Logan County, West Virginia but is now considered Mingo County. During the battle, Witcher's right hand man, the 34th battalion's Major William Straton, was severely wounded in both his right arm and his chest, though he later recovered and was able to rejoin the Confederate army.

Major William Straton 34th Battalion Virginia Cavalry

By Brandon Ray Kirk

4th West Virginia Infantry

On the 6th of August, 1862, Major Hall, with a force of forty-eight men, at Beach Creek, near Logan Court House, encountered 200 Confederated mounted infantry, under Colonel Stratton and Major Witcher. The fight was a stubborn one, Major Hall and two enlisted men were killed and twelve wounded. Of the Confederates, Major Witcher was killed; upon the death of their commander the Confederates retreated. In the death of Major Hall, the 4th Regiment suffered a great loss. He was a graduate of West Point, was young, brave, and of course well qualified for all the duties of a soldier.

Union Civil War Pass for Mrs. G. Vincent, Camp McClure, Louisa, from July 21, 1862 to August 1, 1862.

Researched, transcribed and written by Marlitta H. Perkins, December 2022. Copyright © 2022, All Rights Reserved.

Union Burials in Eastern Kentucky - Louisa

This post will be the first in a series dealing with Union burials in Eastern Kentucky, beginning with Louisa, Lawrence County.

Throughout the years I have received numerous inquiries regarding the burial sites of Union soldiers who died in Eastern Kentucky during the Civil War. Contrary to popular (or logical) assumption the majority of these men are not resting in Kentucky soil but were taken to Indiana to be re-interred in the New Albany National Cemetery. Why, you may ask?

On July 17, 1862, Congress passed an act that those who gave their lives in defense of the Republic should rest forever within the guarded confines of a national cemetery. Immediately following the end of the Civil War in 1865, the Quartermaster Department, being tasked to care for the Army's dead, initiated plans plans to locate and exhume human remains from battlefields and other temporary graves to concentrate them in national cemeteries. General Orders No. 40, issued July 3, 1865, sought lists of interments registered during the war, but only documentation for less than 30 percent of the dead was produced; it then became necessary to review casualty reports. As a result, General Orders No. 65, issued on October 30, 1865, requested the locations of cemeteries and gave recommendations for their preservation.

A joint resolution of Congress, approved April 13, 1866, authorized and required the Secretary of War “to take immediate measures to preserve from desecration the graves of soldiers of the United States who fell in battle or died of disease in the field and in hospitals during the war of the rebellion.” National cemeteries were officially established with the Act to Establish and to Protect National Cemeteries, approved February 22, 1867.

The work of the Quartermaster Department proved to be enormously challenging. The vast majority of the graves were marked with temporary wooden headboards which were either decaying, had fallen to the ground  or were completely destroyed. Efforts were made to locate witnesses who could point out the graves and/or identify the soldiers and the circumstances of their deaths. However, only 58% of the disinterred and reburied soldiers were identified. Despite the difficulties encountered the work went forward so rapidly between 1866 and 1870, that the Cemeterial Division had disinterred the remains of nearly 300,000 war dead and laid them to rest in 73 newly created national cemeteries. In September 1871, the numbers had risen to seventy-four national cemeteries containing the remains of 303,536 Union soldiers.

During the war, Louisa developed into a Union strong-hold. It was here, where the 14th Kentucky Infantry was organized in 1861 and from where Garfield launched his Eastern Kentucky Campaign. Louisa became the seat of the Military District of Eastern Kentucky which included a Provost Marshall's office, and thus functioned as a main point for prisoner transportation down the Sandy River for transfer to Camp Chase, Ohio, as well as other military prisons. When the organization of US Colored Troops began in Kentucky, Louisa was designated as a camp of reception for recruits for the Ninth Congressional District on June 13, 1864. However, on July 13, 1864, the point of reception was changed to Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky, by order of the Secretary of War.

During the summer of 1864, the US military began construction of Fort Bishop on the hill towering above Louisa to protect the town against Confederate raids. A detail of forty-seven soldiers of the 109th USCI supplied the labor for the construction of Fort Bishop, which, partially finished, occupied a commanding position above Louisa from the top of town hill.  The fort was 3/4 completed, including the magazine, and was armed with 7 field guns, when the project was finally abandoned in 1865, due to the end of the war.

Between 1861 and 1865, various Union regiments encamped at Louisa, including the 14th, 22nd, 30th and 39th Kentucky Infantry, 10th Kentucky Cavalry, 11th Michigan Cavalry, 4th VA Infantry, 5th VA Cavalry, 21st OVI, 40th OVI, 42nd OVI and 59th OVI, McLaughlin's Squadron of Cavalry, and the 65th Illinois Infantry, 2d Illinois Artillery (1st and 2d section, Company M), 109th USCI, 114th USCI and the 68th Kentucky Enrolled Militia.

Five burial locations were identified by the US Quartermaster Department at or near Louisa, with a total of 86 graves. Two burial sites were located on a hill above the town, site of present day Pine Hill Cemetery - Section No. 1 was designated for white soldiers, Section No. 2 for US Colored Troops, located 200 yards north of Section No. 1. The third location was on Judge Clayton's Farm. Locations four and five were situated on the farms of Mr. Vinson and Mrs. Davidson, respectively. Plat maps were furnished for each location and are included here.

Legend
NANC = New Albany National Cemetery
Sec. = Section
# ABC/XYZ = old/new site number in New Albany National Cemetery

Note: Burial numbers without any additional information indicate unknown soldiers.

Graveyard (now Pine Hill Cemetery) is noted on the 1865 map of Louisa
(US Engineer Department, June 27, 1865)

Louisa Graves, Section  No. 1 

Buried at Louisa Ky. 3/4 of a mile west of town in an old cultivated field in Citizens Graveyard ~ graves in very poor condition. Coffins in good order. The Graveyard is on Thomas Wallace's land ~ all graves marked "C" are Citizens graves

# 2371 - 2381 (19)
# 2390 Reuben Sparks, Private, Co. A, 39th KY, d. April 1863, NANC Sec. B, #1303/1556
# 2391 - 2393
# 2394 W. J. , 39th KY , headstone marked W. J., NANC Sec. B, #1307
# 2395 - 2398
# 2399 John Blackburn, private, Co. D, 39th KY, d. Aug. 15, 1863, NANC Sec. B, # 1312/1565
# 2400 - 2402
# 2403 Unknown, Lieutenant, unknown unit and d.o.d., NANC Sec. B, #1316
# 2404
# 2405 George W. Blackburn, private, Co. C, 39th KY, March 1, 1864, NANC Sec. B, # 1318/1571
# 2406 - 2410
# 2411 Dennis Coleman, 1st Lieutenant, Co. H, 39th KY, d. Jan. 1864; identified by citizen, NANC Sec. B, # 1324/1577 (Richard Dennis Coleman, d. 1/1/1864)
# 2412 - 2418
# 2419 Daniel Gullett, private, Co. I, 14th KY Inf., d. Feb. 24, 1863; initials &c. on Stone at head of grave; NC Sec. B, # 1332/1585
# 2420 - 2421
# 2422 Hiram Jude, private, Co. C, 39th KY, d. June 21, 1865; identified by citizen, NANC Sec. B, # 964/1217
# 2423
# 2424 J. R., Co. D; head stake marked J. R. Co. D; NANC Sec. B, # 969

(54 burials)

Louisa Graves, Section  No. 2

Buried 3/4 of  mile west of Louisa and 200 yards north of 1st graves on a rough hillside on Mr. Wallace's land and 100 yards north-west of an old Negro Cabin - graves in good condition ~ buried in two rows. Old stump between 8 and 9 ~ all are unknown. No headboards.

# 2425 - 2444 (via register)  ~ # 2425 - 2443 (via map)

All burials were listed as unknown colored.

(20 or 21 burials)

Graveyard on Judge Clayton's Farm

Buried on Judge Clayton's land 1 1/2 miles North West of Louisa in the woods and 350 yards North East of Small Pox Hospital - in poor condition - only two Headboards standing and they were defaced so that they cannot be identified. Graves marked "C" in plat are citizens. 

# 2445 - 2447
# 2448 Colored, NANC Sec. C, # 865
# 2449
# 2450 Isaac Elswick, Corporal, Co. D. 39th KY, d. Dec. 6, 1864, NANC Sec. A, # 6/6
# 2451 - 2452

(7 burials)

Burials on Mr. Vinson's Farm and in Mrs. Davidson's Family Graveyard

Buried 1 1/3 miles South East of Louisa on Mr. Vincan's farm on a rough side hill 350 yds. south from Mr. Vincan's house in family burying ground. ~ Black oak tree stands 9 yards South of graves on right side of old road.

# 2453 Jeremiah Hatfield, private, Co. E, 39th KY, d. May 10, 1863. Identified by Mr. Vincan's Daughter. NANC, Sec. A, # 2/2
# 2454 G. R., 39th KY, d. April 4, 1863. Identified by Mr. Vincan's Daughter. NANC, Sec. A, # 12/ (This may be Stephen W. Rowe, Private, Company D, 39th KY, who died April 2, 1863, at Louisa. MP)

(2 burials)

Buried on Mrs. Davidson's farm 3/4 of a mile South East from Louisa on opposite side of the road from Mr. Vincan's house.

# 2455 Isom Blankenship, private, Co. K, 39th KY, d. March 21, 1863. Identified by Mrs. Davidson's Son. NANC, Sec. A, # 3
# 2456 Joseph Taylor, Asst. Surgeon, 39th KY, d. March 22, 1863. Identified by Mrs. Davidson's Son. NANC, Sec. A, # 7/7

(2 burials)

Helpful Sources and Links

Roll of honor; names of soldiers who died in defense of the American union, interred in the national [and other] cemeteries. 27 volumes. (Available on Hathi Trust Digital Library)

Burial Ledgers. The National Cemetery Administration, Washington, D.C. (Original records transferred to NARA: Burial Registers, compiled 1867-2006, documenting the period 1831-2006. ARC ID: 5928352. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773–2007, Record Group 15. National Archives at Washington, D.C. (Available on Ancestry.com) 

Nationwide Gravesite Locator

National Cemetery Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs

New Albany National Cemetery

New Albany, Indiana

Pine Hill Cemetery, Louisa, Kentucky

Article researched and written by Marlitta H. Perkins, January 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication without express written notice by the author is strictly prohibited. 

Marlitta H. Perkins © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

Civil Disobedience - Calvin Wright and the IRS

The roots of the Internal Revenue Service go back to the Civil War. In July 1862, President Abraham Lincoln and Congress created the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to offset the rising war expenditures. Named the Revenue Act of 1862, it was passed as an emergency and temporary war-time tax.

Income subject to tax included wages and salaries, interest and dividends, and no exemptions were provided for children. Taxes were withheld on salaries of government employees and dividends paid by corporations, the first withholding system. Additional taxes were levied on public utilities, distilled spirits, tobacco, banks and insurance companies.

In 1862, the rate was 3% on income between $600 and $10,000, and 5% on income over $10,000. In 1864, the rate was 5% on income between $600 and $5,000, 7.5% on income $5,000–$10,000 and 10% on income $10,000 and above. By the end of the war, 10% of Union households had paid some form of income tax, and the Union raised 21% of its war revenue through income taxes.

Below is an alphabetical IRS Tax Assessment List of persons in Lawrence County (Division 7, Collection District No. 6) of the State of Kentucky, taken in July 1865, by William M. Patton, Assistant Assessor and Samuel L. Sanders, Assessor. (click on images to enlarge)








Since the Revenue Act was designed to finance the Federal Government’s war efforts against the South, it is not surprising that southern sympathizers refused to pay the tax levied against them. Such appears to be the case with Calvin Wright who lived in Lawrence County, on Little Fork of Dry Fork of Little Sandy - present-day KY Rt. 1 - near Webbville, Kentucky. Although a known Rebel sympathizer, Calvin Wright never enlisted in the Confederate army. On occasion he could be seen in company of rebel soldiers going to their camp, perhaps to visit his brother Bill Wright or seizing an opportunity to do some business. Calvin made a living distilling whiskey and brandy. At the end of November 1861, a federal patrol under Captain Oliver D. Botner appeared at his house, confiscated his stock of brandy and took Wright to headquarters in Louisa. He expected payment for his brandy but was disappointed in his hopes. Shortly after the war, Calvin Wright brought suit against Botner in the Lawrence County courts for compensation but Botner claimed that he “was acting under the orders of superior officer in whos [sic] command he was…”

Calvin Wright property near Webbville, KY
Meanwhile, a 5% Internal Revenue Tax was levied against Calvin Wright which he refused to pay. Considering his Southern leanings, and the fact that his brother William "Bill" Wright, a former Confederate soldier, was lynched in Louisa just a year earlier, Calvin Wright’s unwillingness to lend financial support to the federal government is certainly understandable. It is also conceivable that he felt that the government was indebted to him for the brandy that was taken from him and thus refused payment of the revenue tax.

Whatever Calvin Wright’s motives were, in September 1867, "after failing and refusing to pay his debt to the US government", his property was seized, to be sold at public auction. After advertising the sale at the post office nearest to Calvin Wright’s residence, plus two other public places in Lawrence County, the property was finally sold on October 1, 1867, at the house of George W. Webb, in Lawrence County, Kentucky. Nobody bid on the property so the US Government bought it for $392.58, the amount of taxes owed, plus penalties, interest and costs incurred.

The right of redemption, upon application, was granted once twelve months or more had elapsed after the seizure and sale of the property and payment could be made to have it returned by the US government. In all likelihood Calvin Wright availed himself to this option. He continued to live on his property until the time of his death at the age of 46, on August 11, 1872.


This specific article was researched and written by Marlitta H. Perkins, October 2011, and is under full copyright, including photographs taken by the author. Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved.