The American Civil War divided the nation and placed states against states - North against South. In border states like Kentucky which provided a geographical and ideological buffer between the combatants, sympathies were divided within. Fathers and sons argued over secession and husbands and wives struggled conflicting opinions about the war. It pitted families against families and brother against brother on the battle field.
Sometimes however, even for just a fleeting moment, the lines seem to become blurred. Such was the case with William Tipton from Montgomery County, Kentucky and Dr. Thomas Winston who served as First Assistant Surgeon in the 92nd Illinois Volunteers, when their paths crossed in the fall of 1862.
Dr. Thomas Winston was born in Devynock, Breckonshire, Wales on October 17, 1829 and came to the United States with his parents in 1831. Orphaned by the age of 11, he apprenticed with a Milwaukee tailor and owned his own shop by the time he was 17 years old. After moving to Illinois, he studied medicine and graduated from Rush Medical college in 1858. He was living at Mt. Morris, Illinois, when the Civil War began.
William Tipton was a first generation Kentuckian whose father came from Maryland after serving in the Revolutionary War. His mother was Mary Elizabeth Porter. William Tipton was born on June 16, 1794 in Montgomery County. He served in the War of 1812 in General William Henry Harrison Brigade, Colonel William Dudley's Regiment, Captain Archibald Morrison's Company (5th), Kentucky Volunteer Militia. He served two tours and was a survivor of Dudley's Defeat.
He married Sarah Brown and the couple became the parents of nine children. By the time the Civil War began, Tipton was a widower and most of his children were married and had gone their own way, including two of his sons who had migrated west. Edwin and Malissa were the only children who continued to live with their father on his farm on Spencer Creek, about one mile south of Mt. Sterling. Also living on the farm were Tipton's eight slaves, three of which were under 16 years old. Tipton owned 292 acres which were valued at $19,040. He kept 3 horses, 3 jennies, 35 cattle, and 10 hogs and raised 1 ton of hay, 1500 bushels corn, and 300 bushels wheat in 1862.
During the summer of 1861, a great number of picnics, barbeques and meetings were held in the central counties of Kentucky, ostensibly for the purpose of social enjoyment, but in fact to recruit soldiers for the Southern army. One such meeting took place on Aug. 27, 1861, on William Tipton's farm. One of the attendees, Dr. Luther Calvin Jeffries, noted, "Ann and I were at William Tipton's at a PicNic. Col. John S. Williams, R. W. Hanson spoke; both were good Speeches, there were a great many there. the day is fine." A year later, on September 10, 1862, Tipton's son William B. Tipton, enrolled in Cluke's 4th (subsequently 8th) Kentucky Cavalry and served as Captain of Company I.
By mid-October 1862, General Humphrey Marshall's forces moved through Mt. Sterling on their way back to Virginia as part of the Confederate retreat from Kentucky after the Battle of Perryville. By October 18, 1862, local home guards under the command of Colonel William H. Wadsworth, were still capturing some of Marshall's stragglers near Mount Sterling.
On November 1, 1862, the 92nd Illinois Infantry, commanded by Colonel Smith D. Atkins, marched into town to guard the place from rebel raids. The 92nd was a relatively new regiment which had been mustered into the United States service on September 4, 1862.
William Tipton's farm was chosen as campsite for the regiment and named "Camp Dick Yates." The soldiers bivouacked near Tipton's house. On the night of November 3, 1862, Dr. Thomas Winston was informed by Colonel Atkins, "that there was a Lieut of the rebel army sick in a house within steps of our camp. The Col. asked me to visit him and report his condition." Accordingly, Winston proceeded to Tipton's home and, "visited the poor felow and found him very sick. He is a Virginian and came to this state with the rebel Marchal (Marshall). When his friends left they dropped him here to die. After making an examination and finding that he had very strong symptoms of consumption, I told him that as he had no physician I would do all for him that I could, and that he must remember that sick men were not our enemies. The poor fellow's case is almost hopeless yet I think there a bear chance for him. What strange freaks dame fortune performs. I came to the South to assist others in destroying the rebels and find myself doing all I can and buying medicine at my own expense to save one."
A few days later, Winston, "passed the time in writing a letter for my rebel patient, to his friends. He has a father and mother in Virginia who have not heard from him for several months. I think it is doubtful whether the letter will ever go to Va., but I will try to have it sent through our lines. The poor fellow is better, but yet I have but little hopes for his recovery."
During the time Dr. Winston was at Tipton's house, both men had a chance to get to know each other on a more personal basis. Dr. Winston noted about Tipton, "The Mt. Sterling Dr. had refused to attend the poor sick rebel and when I came and did all I could for him, as if he were one of our own men, I won his respect. During the time I passed in his company we talked about everything including slavery, with the exception of the rebellion. To this he never alluded and of course I had too much respect for his gray hairs to introduce this most disagreeable subject."
As time passed, Tipton also permitted the 92nd Illinois to place their sick in his house. "I shall always remember him with respect for his kindness to our sick a number of whom he took into his house and treated with all the kindness of a father. Well we were encamped on his land within a few feet of his house. He is a rebel. We took all the wood we wanted from his land. I do not suppose that he would have taken one thousand dollars for the wood we used."
The stay at William Tipton's farm may have been the first time Dr. Winston observed slavery up close. He noted, "The old man lives alone with his negroes, and I was surprised to find how the little negroes crowded and quarrelled among themselves who should mount his knee. This slavery is a strange institution. I observed the old man carry a small child in his arms frequently. For some time I supposed that it was one of his grand children, but yet there was something in the child's appearance that excited my suspicions. To day I learned that the child was a slave."
The 92nd Illinois remained on Tipton's farm until November 14, 1862 when they were ordered to move their camp to Colonel Thomas Johnson's farm, 5 miles north of Mt. Sterling. Dr. Winston noted, "I left our old camping with regret. While there, I attended the rebel prisoner, of which I have spoken at the house of a rebel named Tipton. This gentleman has suffered very much, for our regiment took all that we needed to feed our hundred and five horses and mules of corn, and his wood was used at the rate of many large trees daily. I think this is all right because most greviously has the old man sinned, yet I feel very sorry to see the old man who has lived sixty years in peace on his farm, become the victim of his own folly. Every thing that we took was paid for and our Quarter Master gave him government vouchers for the supplies. The old man knows very well that if he did not sell we would take all he had, and he knows that government will never pay him a cent." Winston also noted that, "at one time Gen. Marshall took five head of cattle from him and how much more I cannot say."
During their stay at Mt. Sterling, the regiment quickly gained a reputation for their anti-slavery sentiment. It became known as the "The Abolition Regiment. While at Col. Thomas Johnson's farm, the men were entertaining the thought that, "this would be our winter quarters and it would I think, but for the negro question. Our views on slavery have made us many enemies." At the solicitation of prominent slaveholders, the regiment was finally relieved at Mt. Sterling on November 16, 1862, and ordered to Danville, Ky. Winston noted, "While going to Mt Sterling Union flags were flying in many places but on our return I did see but two, although travelling over the same road. While going, slaves lined the fences, but returning very few were seen. Our fame had spread before us, and the slave holders keep the darkies in their fields and houses." Colonel Atkins was later indicted in several of the civil courts of the State for stealing, as was alleged, "men chattels."
Despite their obvious differences, Tipton and Winston managed to part on a warm and friendly note. Winston wrote, "The only property of a rebel that he ever guarded was Mr Tipton's of Mt. Sterling. I have spoken of this gentleman before. He was one of those fine venerable gentlemen that no one could approach without a feeling of respect ... He is one of the most pleasant and agreeable men I ever knew. I quite won the old man's affections. When we parted this morning he would not let me leave until I promised to call on (him) and stay one night before I leave this part of the country and then with a hearty God bless you, let me go."
It is not a matter of record whether both men ever met again or not. Dr. Winston continued in the service and eventually became surgeon of the 149th Illinois Infantry. He served in this capacity until the end of the Civil War. In 1906, he moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where he died on May 14, 1928, at the age of 98.
William Tipton lived to see the end of the Civil War and the return of his son Captain William B. Tipton from his service in the Confederate Army. William Tipton died on his farm near Mt. Sterling on the morning of December 4, 1871. Dr. Luther Calvin Jeffries noted in his diary the following day, "I am at Mt. Sterling. At William Tipton's burial. He was a Soldier of the War of 1812. An honest man, The noblest work of God."
Links of Interest
(Montgomery County History Museum)
Researched, transcribed and written by Marlitta H. Perkins, May 2022. Copyright © 2022, All Rights Reserved.
