Bennett H . Young Bennett Henderson Young ( 1843 – 1919 ) was an Confederate officer who led forces in the St Albans raid ( October 19 , 1864 ) , a military action during the American Civil War . As a lieutenant of the Confederate States Army , he entered Vermont from Canada and occupied the town of St . Albans . Early life . Young was born in Nicholasville , Kentucky ; his birthplace is now on the National Register of Historic Places . He was 18 years old when he enlisted as a private in the Confederate 8th Kentucky Cavalry , a unit that became a part of General John Hunt Morgan ' s cavalry command . The St . Albans Raid . Young had been captured in John Hunt Morgan ' s 1863 raid in Ohio , but escaped to Canada in the fall of that year . Young went to the south via Nova Scotia and Bermuda , where he proposed Canada - based raids on the Union as a means of building the Confederate treasury and forcing the Union army to protect their northern border as a diversion . Young was commissioned as a lieutenant and returned to Canada , where he recruited other escaped rebels to participate in the October 19 , 1864 raid on St . Albans , Vermont , a quiet town 15 miles ( 25 km ) from the Canadian border . Young and two others checked into a local hotel on October 10 , saying that they had come from St . John ' s in Canada for a " sporting vacation . " Every day , two or three more young men arrived . By October 19 , there were 21 cavalrymen assembled ; just before 3 : 00 p . m . the group simultaneously staged an armed robbery of the three banks in the town . They announced that they were Confederate soldiers and stole a total of $ 208 , 000 . As the banks were being robbed , eight or nine of the Confederates held the townspeople prisoner on the village green as their horses were stolen . One townsperson was killed and another wounded . Young ordered his troops to burn the town down , but the four - ounce bottles of Greek fire they had brought failed to work , and only one shed was destroyed . The raiders fled with the money into Canada , where they were arrested by authorities . A court decided that the soldiers were under military orders and that the officially neutral Canada could not extradite them to America . They were freed , but the $ 88 , 000 the raiders had on them was returned to Vermont . Later career . After the end of the Civil War , Young was excluded from President Andrew Johnson ' s amnesty proclamation . He could not return home until 1868 . Thus , he spent time studying law and literature in Ireland and at the University of Edinburgh . After being permitted to return to the United States , he became a prominent attorney in Louisville , Kentucky . His philanthropic works were legion . Young founded the first orphanage for blacks in Louisville , a school for the blind , and did much pro bono work for the poor . He also worked as a railroad officer as President of the Louisville Southern Railroad , author , and National Commander of the United Confederate Veterans . Notes . The still standing railroad bridge over the Kentucky River at Tyrone , Kentucky was named Young ' s High Bridge for him and Youngstown , Kentucky was also named for him .