Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1863-01-30
Fifteen Loyal Men Hung I'm Ken
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Fifteen Loyal Men Hung I'm Ken
Another chapter of horrors committed BY
the wretches who are seeking to overthrow
this Government, comes to us from Ken
lucky. A friend has handed us detailed &C
count, written by clergyman and published
in the New York Observer. Our friend sug
gested that we should request the Couriel
to copy this narrative as an Offset to that con
cerning the Palmyra guerrillas, over which il
made so much ado But Of course the Con-
rier will not do so. 1t has no tears to shed
except when rebels are hurt. b.....
After giving a narrative of the operations
of Capt. Harbut King, member of the Sd
Kentucky Volunteers, who led into Camp
Disk Robinson one of the first loyal compa-
MES raised in that State, the writer thus
speaks of his capture:
But at length, ON Sunday morning, Sept.
9th, while leisurely retiring from Crab Or
chard, before force of one hundred and fifty
of the enemy, under Lieut.. Col. Napin, "a
renegade from this county, he and twenty
five others were surprised by large force of
Ashby's cavalry, whom they unexpectedly
met in the road leading to Mount Vernon,
three miles from Crab Orchard. The little
band of patriots had alighted at house on
the roadside to obtain water, when a friend,
who happened to be coming up the road, hast
lily approached and told them that the enemy
in large numbers were Immediately over the
hill and would be upon them in very few
moments. Scarcely had King and his COM
rades vaulted into their saddles when the ad
vanced guard of the enemy appeared over the
hill, not thirty yards distant. King, suppos-
ing these to be all, (there were twe'ye of the
guard, motioned to his men to form and pre-
pare to attack them. In moment more,
however, the main body Of the enemy hove
in sight, and, panic-stricken at their appear
ance, all but six of the little company turned
their horses and dashed away. Capt. King,
together with his two sons, John and William,
and young Singleton, ard true hero named
BridgewaterS, were all captured after main
tanning the unequal contest for few moments
King was riding the splendid mare he had
captured in his first contest with Morgan's
men, and when he found that further resist
ance was useless he attempted to escape; and
amid shower Of bullets from at least hun
dred muskets, he sped like an arrow across an
open field, but in attempting to clear the
fence at the farther side, his mare stumbled
and threw him to the ground. He still might
possibly have escaped, but seeing his two no.
BILE boys in the hands of his foes, young Sin
gleton wounded, and Bridgewaters surround
ed, he returned and gave himself up.
The prisoners were all il: mediately dis
armed and started on foot toward Danville,
to which place they were compelled to march
without food or drink, though the distance
was over twenty miles and the weather was
exceedingly warm. Bridgewaters, being very
corpulent, fell down on the road completely
and was then taken up and per-
mitted to ride on horse the remainder of
the distance When they reached Danville
they were thrown into the common prison and
kept there on less than half rations until after
the battle of Perryville, their wives and all
friends being denied access to them or any
with them whatever. After
the battle of Perryville, King and his fellow
prisoners were transferred to Camp Dick Rob-
inson, thence to Richmond, (near which place
Bridgewaters escaped,) thence, as the army
advanced, to Cumberland Ford, during all of
which time they were treated with the great
est indignities and compelled to subsist on the
scantiest and poorest fare. When they reach
ed Barboursville they had the form of mill
tary trial and were condemned with eleusn
Others to be hanged as "Bushwhaekers,"
which sentence was carried into execution on
the following day, Oct. 22d, where Captain
z,:x oft b,,ox
contrary to all the laws of civilized warfare,
to every dictate Of humanity and justice, was
hung until he was dead, and his lifeless body,
together with those of his compatriots, were
thrown into ravine and a small quantity of
earth thrown over them, but not enough to
hide them from view The true men of that
neighborhood, hearing of the occurrence, went
to the spot as soon as the rebel army moved,
and put around the place a stone wall and
then covered the bodies sufficiently deep by
heapiug up earth over them. When the re-
port of the fact was brought back to Crab
Orchard, the heart of every one not utterly
dead to all noble feelings was filled with hor
ror and indignation. Capt. Kings brother,
with several of his neighbors, started at once
for the scene of the sickening tragedy, where,
when they had arrived and removed the COW
ering of earth, sight presented itself too
horrid to contemplate. There thrown togeth-
er-some with their faces downward, some
entirely stripped Of their clothing, most Of
them with the ropes still around their necks
lay the purifying bodies of their kindred
and friends, whose only crime was that they
loved their country and its Government
No wonder that the mind of the surviving
brother was excited to frenzy no wonder
that he and his friends vowed vengeance and
retaliation upon the heads of all who had to
do with bringing Captain King and his asso-
ciates to so sad fate.
His brother was enabled to recognize the
body of the Captain, and also of his two sons
and that of young Singleton, all Of which
were taken up, placed in metallic cof6ns and
brought to this place. And now, thres newly
made graves, (the two brothers lie together
in one, a few hundred yards from the cele-
brated springs of this place, on the west side
of the road leading to Lancaster, point out to
the passer-by the resting place of these four
heroes, who were together in their achieve
ments and sufferings, and now in death are
not divided. es
W As the Courier is fond Of quoting
from the Newburyport Herald, when it suits
its purposes, we commend to it the following:
1.-The Newburyport Herald, talking about
the plan Of reconstructing the Union with
New England left out, says it would be like
a mans knocking off the top of his head to
improve his intellect"
By-the-way, didn't the Judge come from
the down-east corner Of New England
Don't wonder he wants the Northwest to
aoooda and loauo his xat;s,o Stafo ont in the