'Talks' at the McHenry County Civil War Round Table 2024: 'Last Man Standing'

Earlier this month I listed the presentations that have been and will be given to the Rock River Valley CWRT.

I decided to list the ones at my Civil War Round Table.

JANUARY:  Morgan's Great Raid:  Taking the War to the North--  Dave Mowery

FEBRUARY:  "Last Man Standing" the 20th Indiana--  Chuck Rebesco

MARCH:  Confederate Railroads--  Charlie Banks

APRIL:  Central Florida's Civil War Veterans--  Bob Grenier

MAY:   Charles River Ellet, the Queen of the West and USS Indianola--  Ed Urban

JUNE:  John Brown:  Hero or Terrorist?  Martyr or Madman?--  Bob Pressman

--Old Secesh

Edward Kittoe Inspects Chicago's Camp Douglas Prison in 1864-- Part 3

"The barracks and grounds in the northwest square, occupied by Morgan's men (John Hunt Morgan), were pre-eminently  filthy."

Things are also bad in the center square.  "The old privies have been removed, and the sinks have been but imperfectly covered, so that the filth is seeping up through the ground.  When there is a rain the grounds are flooded with an infusuion of this poisonous matter...."

The hospitals are in good order and a new one is being built.

When Edward Kittoe was there, the prison held 5,616 Confederates of whom 225 were sick in the hospital.  The previous month, December 1863, there was a total of 2,011 with 57 deaths. Most prevalent camp disease is diarrhea, arising from poorly cooked food and conditions.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Discussion Group: The Perryville Campaign

Opening Questions continued.

6.  What were the reasons for Bragg's invasion of Kentucky?

7.  Bragg started from what Tennessee city?

8.  Who's July Raid through Kentucky served as a factor in Confederate plans that led to the Battle of Perryville?

FRANK QUESTION  (These are generally impossible to answer, but in honor of our good buddy Frank who is out of state these days.)

One of the main Union commanders at the Battle of Perryville was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and a member of the West Point class that included 20 future Civil War generals.  What was his name?   (Also, what class from the USMA had all those generals and how many members were in it?)

Answers below.

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6.  Gain support of Confederate symphatizers.  Draw Union Gen. Carlos Buell back across the Ohio River.

7.  Chattanooga

8.  John Hunt Morgan

FRANK QUESTION:  Charles Champion Gilbert.  Class of 1846.  59 members.

--Old Secesh

The Confederate Monument in Danville, Kentucky: Robert D. Logan

From Wikipedia.

This monument is located between Centre College and the Presbyterian Church of Danville at the corner of Main  and College streets in Danville, Kentucky.  It is dedicated to the Confederacy and on the National Register of Historic Places.

It was dedicated in 1910 by the surviving  veterans of the Confederacy of Boyle County and the Kate Morrison  Breckinridge Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The statue consists of a granite pedestal and a marble statue depicting Captain  Robert D. Logan, who was actually from Lincoln County, but lived in Boyle County after the war. Captain Logan served with John Hunt Morgan in the 6th Kentucky Cavalry's Company A and was captured during Morgan's Raid in Cheshire, Ohio,  on July 20, 1863.

He spent much of the rest of the war in various Union prisons, including the Ohio State Penitentiary.

Robert Logan died  on June 25, 1896, fourteen years before the construction of the monument.

--Old Secesh

What Do Lexington Cemetery and the Battle of Kingsport Have in Common-- Part 4: Confederates Routed

Colonel Richard Morgan as John Hunt Morgan's younger brother and at one time commanded the 14th Kentucky Cavalry.  Earlier in the war, he had served as an aide on the staff of General Breckinridge.  Now it was the younger Morgan's job to delay the Union advance long enough for Confederate forces to be gathered and deployed to defend Saltville.

Col. Morgan had a strong position at Kingsport, but hadn't counted on two things:  the speed with which the federals were moving and who would be leading the way.

The Federal cavalry pushed their way through Rogersville very quickly and the Confederates were surprised when they awoke to find Union forces on the other side of the river on December 13.

Leading the Union attack were the 8th, 9th and 13th East Tennessee Cavalry, whose knowledge of the area enabled them to get around the Rebels  and attack from behind and in the front at the same time.

The Confederates were routed.

--Old Secesh

What Does Lexington Cemetery and Kingsport Have in Common-- Part 3

Taking command of Morgan's forces after his death is the man who is buried in front of John Hunt Morgan's grave at Lexington Cemetery:  Gen Basil W. Duke.

Duke was Morgan's brother-in-law and had trained many of Morgan's raiders in the Ohio raid and was captured along with Morgan at the end of it.  He was later exchanged and  commanded the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry at Greenville before assuming overall command in the region.

At the end of the war, he was part of the group of Confederates who fled southward with Jefferson Davis.

After the war, he wrote a book about Morgan's Ohio raid and he also played a part in the preservation of the Battle of Shiloh land.

But, on the day of the Battle of Kingsport, Duke was in Bristol, Tennessee, so ill with influenza that eh was unfit for duty.  Command of Confederate forces then went to Col. Richard Morgan.

--Old Secesh

4th Kentucky Cavalry: Col. Green Clay Smith's Short Command

Continued from November 13, 2018 blog entry.

Green Clay Smith was the commander of this regiment for a short time in 1862.  Its first commander was Colonel Jesse Bayles.

While in Tennessee, Colonel Green Clay Smith took command in May 1862.    While he commanded the regiment, they were involved in several engagements with with Confederate cavalry in Tennessee.

Lebanon, Tennessee, was an especially hard fought engagement with the Confederates under John Hunt Morgan.  For gallant service, Smith was made a brigadier general the same month he took command.

--Old Secesh

Confederate Veterans Settled in McLean County After War-- Part 1

From the October 9, 2016, Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph "PFOP: Confederetae veterans settled here after the war."

Twenty-five or more Confederate veterans are buried in Illinois' McLean County (Route 66 ran through it).

William B. Strode is buried at Wiley Cemetery.  He was with John Hunt Morgan during his raid on Indiana and Ohio in the summer of 1863.  Captured by Union forces in July 1863 and sent to Camp Douglas in Chicago.

After the war he settled in Shirley.  While living there, he recognized a local resident named John Foster.  During Morgan's Raid, Foster's family was living in Ohio and Strode had taken an uninvited and unwelcome nap at their home.

Strode died in 1892 and was buried at the Shirley Cemetery but later was reinterred at Scrogin Hill.  (Scogin Hill Cemetery).

--Old Secesh

"Lorena" Songwriter-- Part 5: Gen. Morgan Wants Joseph Dead

Even though his military career didn't bring him to the front lines, Joseph Webster's best weapon in the war was his songwriting.  He established a singing school in Elkhorn and it was there that he met Henry DeLafayette Webster, who was a teacher and principal of the Elkhorn schools.  This other Webster, a minister collaborated with Joseph as lyricist for several songs, notably "Lorena," Webster's first hit.

I was not able to find anything about Henry Webster being in Elkhorn.  Also, Find A Grave does not have his final resting place.

The mournful and sorrowful song was sung by the soldiers of both North and South who would sit around their campgrounds at night and sing it.  It is also sometimes blamed for causing desertions because of homesickness.  Confederate General John Hunt Morgan was reported as saying, "I will pay a bounty to the man who kills the scoundrel who wrote that song."

--Old Secesh