Overview
On April 22, 1861, within weeks of the surrender at Fort Sumter, fresh recruits marched to the Cynthiana, Kentucky, depot -- one of the state's first volunteer companies to join the Confederate army. The soldiers boarded a waiting train as many sympathetic city and county officials cheered. A Confederate flag was raised at the Harrison County courthouse but it was taken down within six months, as the influence of pro-Southern officials diminished. However, this ""pestilential little nest of treason"" became a battlefield during some of the most dramatic military engagements in the state. In this fascinating book, William A. Penn provides an impressively detailed account of the military action that took place in this Kentucky region during the Civil War. Because of its political leanings and strategic position along the Kentucky Central Railroad, Harrison County became the target of multiple raids by Confederate general John Hunt Morgan. Conflict in the area culminated in the Second Battle of Cynthiana, in which Morgan's men clashed with Union troops led by Major General Stephen G. Burbridge (the ""Butcher of Kentucky""), resulting in the destruction of much of the town by fire. Penn draws on dozens of period newspapers as well as personal journals, memoirs, and correspondence from citizens, slaves, soldiers, and witnesses to provide a vivid account of the war's impact on the region. Featuring new maps that clearly illustrate the combat strategies in the various engagements, Kentucky Rebel Town provides an illuminating look at divided loyalties and dissent in Union Kentucky.
Full Product Details
Author: William A. Penn
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
Imprint: The University Press of Kentucky
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 3.00cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.726kg
ISBN: 9780813167718
ISBN 10: 081316771
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 07 October 2016
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
Penn's work is likely the most detailed account of Harrison County in the Civil War ever written."""" - Berry Craig, author of Kentucky Confederates: Secession, Civil War, and the Jackson Purchase. """"William A. Penn's treatment of the two great battles of Cynthiana are, without question, the best ever done. Not only does Penn clearly describe the troop movements in great detail, he provides a glimpse of the appearance of the combatants on both sides, as well as the equipment and weapons they used."""" - Kent Masterson Brown, author of Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander
William A. Penn's treatment of the two great battles of Cynthiana are, without question, the best ever done. Not only does Penn clearly describe the troop movements in great detail, he provides a glimpse of the appearance of the combatants on both sides, as well as the equipment and weapons they used. -- Kent Masterson Brown, author of Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander
Author Information
William A. Penn, editor of the Harrison Heritage News, has published articles in Northern Kentucky Heritage and the Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly.
