Conclusion
The roster of each regiment
is copied from the adjutant-general's report, and is official.
The proportion of the Union
voters in Kentucky, which entered the military service is noticeable.
At the
presidential election in 1860, 93,000 votes were cast for the three
tickets
which stood for the Union---Bell, Douglass, and Lincoln, while 52,000
voted for
Breckinridge, the Southern rights candidate. Again in May, 1861,
110,000 voted
for the Union delegates to the Border State convention to be held that
month at
Frankfort, Kentucky. The remarkable spectacle is presented, therefore,
of more
than two-thirds of these Union voters enlisting in the Union service.
Of these soldiers it may be
said generally, that while serving their country they also obeyed the
behests
of their own state. The steps they took was beset with difficulties,
and much
that was disagreeable. Yet in response to every call they promptly
filled up
the required quota. The enlistments were from all parts of Kentucky.
The
counties along the Tennessee line, along the course of the Green river,
and
through all the central portions of the state, were not behind those
which
bordered on the Ohio, and in the mountain region.
By the act of enlistment
these Kentucky soldiers placed themselves under orders, and were
responsible to
the appointed commanders of the armies. If called to the front to do
battle in
connection with the great military organizations, there they were
found. If
required to guard long lines of communications they performed that
duty. If
ordered to police their own state to protect the national interests,
they
engaged in that service. The entire body of these defenders of the
Union acted
throughout under the orders of the constituted authorities, and were
never
found engaged in self-appointed work, nor acting in partisan or
independent
bands. The records of their service as shown by the official reports,
are
singularly free from any conduct inviting criticism. Their bravery was
conspicuous on hundreds of battlefields, and their readiness to perform
every
duty assigned to them was noticeable wherever they were employed.
When the war ended the
survivors re-entered the avenues of peace, satisfied with the grand
results,
and willing to cast into oblivion all the bitterness animosity
engendered by
four years of strife and bloodshed.
They had no hatred of their
brethren of the Confederate cause when they took up arms, and they had
none
when they laid them down. On the contrary there was a natural sympathy
for the
people of the South, which had to be overcome in taking a stand against
the
dismemberment of our National Union. It may be truly and emphatically
said that
the defense of the Union was the inspiration of the Kentucky Unionists.
Their
expression was "Secession is a remedy for no evil." To them the
calamity of the dismembered Union was too appalling to be permitted.
They threw
themselves into the ranks of its defenders, assured that it is only in
national
unity that this country can have peace and order, and accomplish its
great
destiny.
Notwithstanding the heroic
service of the Kentucky Union regiments, they have received but scanty
mention
in the general histories of the state. As shown in the preface, they
have had
but little justice, and much injustice, done them.
It is hoped that this work,
though it appears late---more than thirty years since the close of the
war---will serve a useful purpose in leading to correct views
concerning the
position and conduct of the Kentucky Unionists, as well as prove
interesting to
the survivors and to the descendants of those who have passed away.