“The most moving part was getting to see Mary Edelen, my 3rd Great-great grandmother’s mark on multiple documents. Seeing the X in place of her signature made the X, from a legal name change in my own name, even more significant.” Frank X Walker
In 1865, John Kean’s regiment was involved in many campaigns, including the Battle of Fair Oaks, the Occupation of Raleigh, and the “Surrender of Johnston and his army.”
The “Battle of Saltville” became a “Massacre” as Confederate troops retook the salt works, murdering in cold blood any Black servicemen left behind instead of taking them prisoner. Tragically, John Hunter was among the brave men who perished.
The 1864 amendment allowed Black men in Union slave states to become soldiers and compensated enslavers. Many Kentuckians, like Barney Stone, didn’t wait for their enslaver’s permission to join the military.
Burks was stationed from 1866 to 1867 at Fort Craig, New Mexico, home to Buffalo Soldiers of the 125th Infantry. After the War, troops were used in conflicts with Indians deemed at the time to be hostile.
Bettie says the most surprising thing about her second great-grandfather John’s interview was that his brother Edward had killed their original enslaver, a man named Bob McFarland.
Elijah P. Marrs became a well-known politician, educator, and minister after the Civil War, but like many Black people born in Kentucky before 1865, he started his life enslaved.
Marrs eventually moved to Louisville where he convinced his brother Elijah to join him in forming the Baptist Normal and Theological Institute, which would become today’s Simmons College.
Although small in stature, Brown was a giant in Company F of the 108th U.S. Colored Infantry. His fighting spirit outweighed any physical limitations he might have had. He “does his duty—shaming larger men,” wrote the same company officer.
Lewis Chapman tended his enslaver’s fields on a farm near Munfordville, strategically located along a railroad and a vital federal supply line that ran into middle Tennessee. He probably glimpsed his first Union soldiers in late 1861…
In the summer of 1864, Charley left his family and enlisted in the 108th Infantry, without the consent of his enslaver. Two days later he became a sergeant and added chevrons to his uniform coat sleeves to designate his rank.
According to Sgt. Taylor, Finley “received an injury in his bowels. He was sent to hospital and remained about two weeks. When he came out he was excused from but would insist on doing duty” despite constant abdominal pain.
In June 1864, Abram traveled about seventy-five miles north to Louisville and joined the Union army with his enslaver’s consent. He soon received his sergeant’s stripes and assumed a leadership role in Company F.
Jackson had left his job as an army teamster two months earlier and enlisted. Soon afterward, half the regiment, including Jackson and his company, traveled to Owensboro, where the reported slaughter occurred.
Many became sick, including Lively, who fell ill with malaria. The chronic fever and chills symptomatic of the disease took many men out of action, but not Henry. He remained in the ranks despite his infirmity.
The beginning of the end of the military service of Dave Long can be traced to a single march. “We went double quick,” he remembered of the journey. He fell ill with fever and diarrhea and was admitted to the post hospital at Meridian.
The formerly enslaved private, who had labored in his enslaver’s fields about sixty-five miles away in Washington County, joined the newly formed 108th U.S. Colored Infantry without his enslaver’s consent.
Wilson Weir left his home in Greenville, Kentucky, and joined the Union army with the knowledge and consent of his enslaver, Edward Weir, who, despite owning human beings, supported emancipation.
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