THE BORA BULLETIN!
4TH QUARTER 2011
The BORA
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BULLETIN
WHAT’S AHEAD
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION,
Dec. 10-11 - at Irvington, 7-9
p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10; 1-4 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 11.
PLEASANT VIEW
RENOVATION, Jan 1 Renovation of utilities at Pleasant
View Estate at Battlefield Park is
expected to begin Jan. 1.
LIVING HISTORY, May 3-4 The Battle of Richmond’s 11th
Annual Living History program
is scheduled at Battlefield Park
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday
and Friday, May 3 and 4.
Lambert winner
BORA Director Pat Ballinger (center) accepts the D. Warren Lambert Award
presented to Peoples Bank of Madison County for its 10 years of continuous
support for Battle of Richmond activities. The award was presented Aug. 26 at
the BORA Preservation Classic Golf Tournament. BORA Director George
Ridings (left) and Coach Roy Kidd made the presentation. - Doug Brewer photo
Nearly 8,000 attend
Re-enactment
sets record
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! Attendance at the Battle of Richmond Re-enactment Weekend
reached an all-time high as 7,889 attended the Aug. 27-28 event.
! The turnout surpassed the previous record of 5,000 set in 2010.
! An estimated 2,500 viewed battlefield re-enactments each day
and an additional crowd of 1,650 was on hand for Saturday (Aug.
27) activities. On Sunday, an additional 1,239 were in attendance.
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see RECORD, back page
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GOLF TOURNAMENT, Aug.
24 - The Eighth Annual
Preservation Classic Golf
Tournament is scheduled at
Battlefield Golf Course Friday,
Aug. 24, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
RE-ENACTMENT
WEEKEND, Aug. 25-26 - The
11th Annual Battle of Richmond
Re-enactment Weekend is set
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday
and Sunday, Aug. 25-26.
LOCATION - Battlefield Park is
located on Battlefield Memorial
Highway (U.S. 421, the Old State
Road) across from the Blue Grass
Army Depot. The park is about
seven miles from I-75 Exit 87 and
four miles from I-75 Exit 83.
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THE BORA BULLETIN!
4TH QUARTER 2011
Churchill’s Draw
featured units
of Cherokees
! The Confederate flanking action
from Churchill’s Draw - the
manuever that won the day at
Richmond - most likely included two
units from the Cherokee Nation.
! Members of the 1st Arkansas
Mounted Rifles and the 10th Texas
Dismounted Cavalry probably
included fighting units from the First
Cherokee Mounted Rifles, a
Confederate group organized by
Chief Stand Watie, according to Paul
Rominger.
looking good
Kati Lippman (above)
and Mary Elliott were
Southern Belles who
were hits with the
crowd at the BORA Reenactment Weekend.
Kati sang at the
Ladies’ Social and
Mary portrayed Mary
Todd Lincoln. - Lippman
photo by Doug Brewer,
Elliott photo by Don
Morgan.
Four represent BORA at State Fair
! Four Battle of Richmond Association members were among
the Kentucky Civil War Sites Association representatives who
helped staff the Civil War exhibit at the Kentucky State Fair.
! On hand for the August project were President Paula White,
Director Ed Ford and members Phil Seyfrit and Bob Moody.
! The exhibit, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall: Kentucky
and the Civil War + 150,” included a 10,000-square-foot
exhibition featuring encampments as settings for living history
re-enactors.
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Stand Watie
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! Speaking recently at the Madison
County Civil War Roundtable,
Rominger - managing director of the
Battle of Richmond Association noted that the Cherokees sided with
the South early on in the Civil War.
Watie, in fact, gained the rank of
brigadier general.
! Watie organized the Cherokee
Mounted Rifles in 1861 and his
troops participated in 27 major
engagements. At the 1862 Battle of
Pea Ridge, Ark., Watie’s men
covered the retreat of Confederate
forces and captured federal artillery
despite the Union victory.
! “In both the Southern and
! !
see CIVIL WAR page 3
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THE BORA BULLETIN!
4TH QUARTER 2011
‘Yeah... I’m ready...’
‘then.. I pull this?’
‘then what... GOOD GRIEF!!’
‘WOW!!... I did it!!’
When Sarah Combs asked what it was like to fire a
cannon, Artillery Specialist Gaye Clark said she’d
show her. The first-time experience, however, didn’t
prepare Sarah for how loud a report would result.
But, she obviously was pleased with her accomplishment. Sarah,
a Ridings Insurance employee, fired the Mountain Howitzer to
open the Battle of Richmond golf tournament Aug. 26. She also
was one of the tourney volunteers. - Tim Webb photos
Civil War Indians generally used their own familiar weapons
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continued from page 2
Northern armies, Indians were issued little
military clothing, probably only jackets, and
were generally expected to use weapons they
had brought from home,” Rominger said.
“At Pea Ridge, Gen. Pike gave the First
Cherokee Mounted Rifles permission to fight
in their own fashion.”
! Gen. Albert Pike was Confederate
Commissioner of Indian Affairs and had
!
sought the Cherokee’s involvement.
! Gen. Watie’s troops often used long bows (nearly
six-feet tall) and deadly Cherokee fighting knives.
The knives featured a long blade (some eight inches
in length) and a sharpened top clip that could
effectively disembowel an opponent.
! Citizenship was promised Indians, but didn’t
come until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1824, the
speaker noted. Even then, the right to vote in seven
states did not become legal until 1948.
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THE BORA BULLETIN!
4TH QUARTER 2011
‘hey, Dad!’
This youngster
was somewhat
disturbed as
her father
prepared to
enter the Aug.
27 reenactment
battle at
Richmond. She
found him,
however,
before the
confrontation
began. - Doug
Brewer photo
Richmond leads effort to place
Nelson marker at cemetery
!
! Representatives from the Battle of Richmond were instrumental
in placing an interpretative marker in Jessamine County recently that
honors Union Major Gen. William (Bull) Nelson.
! Madison County Historic Properties Director Phillip Seyfrit was
among a Civil War delegation that pooled their resources to place the
marker Sept. 27 at the Camp Nelson National Cemetery. In addition
to Richmond, other participants were the Kentucky Department of
the Sons of Union Veterans, the Nelson-Garfield Camp No. 3 - Sons
of Union Veterans and the Sgt. Elijah P. Marrs Camp No. 5 - Sons of
Union Veterans.
! Nelson, who commanded the Federal Army of Kentucky at the
1862 Battle of Richmond, established Camp Dick Robinson - a
Garrard County Union recruitment center - in September 1861.
Camp Nelson, a Union recruitment center near Nicholasville, was
named in Nelson’s honor. The Maysville native was the only
individual during the war to achieve the rank of major general in the
army while also being a naval officer.
! Seyfrit said a duplicate marker of that placed at Jessamine
County would be located at the Battle of Richmond Visitors Center.
! Nelson was shot and killed by a fellow Union general over a
“matter of honor” shortly after the Battle of Richmond.
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! Gift Shop open
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The Battle of
Richmond Gift Shop,
which opened in April at
Pleasant View Estate at
Battlefield Park, is
expected to remain open
through November,
according to BORA
Managing Director Paul
Rominger.
! The shop will be
closed with the beginning
of cold weather and house
utility renovation.
! Current operating
hours are 1-4 p.m.,
Tuesday-Saturday. A
variety of Civil War items
and books are available
to the public.
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THE BORA BULLETIN!
4TH QUARTER 2011
At Battle of Richmond...
Smith effective substitute
when Cleburne was wounded
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Retractable banner
tells BORA story
!
! A 32x80 retractable banner (above)
that capsulizes the Battle of Richmond
story is being used for displays to
promote BORA at various fairs and
festivals.
! The banner, designed for both
indoor and outdoor use, features six
color photos and gives viewers a quick
overview of the 1862 conflict.
! Highlighted are the opening artillery
assaults, the soldiers, cavalry,
Churchill’s Draw, the last stand and the
effect on Madison County.
!
Tennessee-born Preston
Smith hit the ground running
- and did it effectively - when
he was called on to take over
command from a wounded
Patrick Cleburne at the 1862
Battle of Richmond.
! Colonel of the First
Brigade of the Confederate
Fourth Infantry, Smith also
was acting brigadier general
of the division. When Gen.
Cleburne was struck in the
mouth by a minie ball, he lost
four teeth and found it difficult
to communicate. But he was ! !
Col. Preston Smith
able to call for Smith to relieve him.
! Smith followed Cleburne’s planned maneuver to the letter. He
struck the weakened Union center as the flanking action from
Churchill’s Draw sent the Federals into a panic and turned the tide
for a Southern victory.
! A lawyer and soldier from Giles County, Tenn., Smith was
educated at Jackson (Tenn.) College and saw his law practice
flourish in Memphis.
! In May 1861, he was elected colonel of the 154th Tennessee
militia regiment and soon was mustered into the Confederate army.
He led his regiment at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh where he
sustained a severe right shoulder wound, but returned in time to
participate in the late summer 1862 invasion of Kentucky.
! Following the Battle of Richmond, he was promoted to brigadier
general in October 1862 and given a command in the Army of
Tennessee. During a night attack at Chickamauga, Smith and his
staff inadvertently rode into Union lines and he and an aide were
shot. The general’s gold watch diverted a bullet that would have
entered his heart, but his injury was mortal.
! Carried to the rear, Smith, 39, died within the hour. His body
was transported to Atlanta for burial, but later the body was
exhumed and re-interred at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.
Smith’s divisional commander described him as one “who was
active, energetic and brave” with “a rare fitness to command.”
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THE BORA BULLETIN!
4TH QUARTER 2011
Record crowd attends
re-enactment weekend
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continued from page 1
! Nearly 1,000 cars were parked
during the weekend - 963 - with
239 bearing Madison County
plates. Autos from 87 other
Kentucky counties also were
recorded with 144 from out of
state.
! Alaska and California drivers
traveled the greatest distance.
Vehicles parked prior to 9 a.m.
Saturday were not included in the
totals.
! Clark Moores Middle School
students were among the weekend
volunteers.
‘we won’
Confederate Commander Steve Glaza salutes an appreciative crowd
following the Aug. 27 Battle of Richmond re-enactment - Doug Brewer photo
The Battle of Richmond Association
101 Battlefield Memorial Highway
Richmond, KY 40475
www.battleofrichmond.org
Dr. Paul Rominger, managing director
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859/248-1974, [email protected]