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The Civil War Experiences of Alex Clevenger of Lawrence County, Kentucky
Union Vet, 95, Tells of Experiences in Kentucky During the Civil War
Editor's Note ---Alex Clevenger, a native of Cordell, Lawrence county, observed his 95th birthday in Oklahoma October 23 and during the occasion he related his experiences as a Union soldier in the Civil War to a representative of the Shawnee Morning News, Shawnee, Oklahoma, and the News has been permitted to republish the story from the Oklahoma paper. It follows:
In a corner of the living room Alex Clevenger sits by the fire and reminiscens into the past when he fought for the stars and stripes beside the friens and neighbors whose cherished names have long been crossed from the roll of life. As those few hardiest leaves cling to the barren trees after winter's blasts have torn the rest away so Alex Clevenger, who passed his ninety-fifth birthday Sunday, clings to life. He is one of the two living Union soldiers left in Pottawatomie County and one of the fast dwindling few hundred left from the nearly three million men that fought to preserve the Union. He now lives with his daughter, Mrs. Stella Barker of Tecumseh, who held a family reunion Sunday and an open house in the afternoon in his honor. Clevenger in an unwavering voice, recalled his boyhood in Kentucky and his choosing of the blue while many of his friends donned grey.
"You want to know something of my life and about my part in the Civil War?" he asked. "I have never talked much about it."
"I was born on a farm in Warfield, W.VA, October 23, 1843. My father was Joshua Clevenger. We moved to a farm in Lawrence County, Kentucky six months after I was born."
"When war began brewing, I joined the Union army in December of '60 (*) but wasn't mustered in until January '61 (**). I was 17 years old then (***). Kentucky was slow in deciding which side to fight on and many of our neighbors went with the South but the majority with the North. The men who fought for the South were good men, as good as the men who fought with the Union. We were all Americans, But we had both might and right on our side and that is why we won."
Kentucky With North
"Kentucky finally went with the north. I was a private in Company G of the 14th Kentucky Infantry, part of a brigade commanded by James A. Garfield."
"I was in good many battles, many of the smaller ones I can't remember the names now but the main ones were Middle Creek, Wild Cat, Fishing Creek, Tazewell, Tenn., Stone River, Atlanta, Kennesaw Mountain and Culps House. I was wounded twice but I guess I was lucky at that. I was always a good hand at making jokes with people but trying to be funny caused me to be shot. The old soldier moved to the edge of his seat as he talked with growing enthusiasm as he tried to live over his experiences."
"It was several days before the Battle of Atlanta. Me and two other fellows were sitting in a gopher hole. A gopher hole was what we called them. It was a small dugout for three or four men to shoot out of. They weren't using trenches much at that time but had lots of these holes dug to fight from. 'Well, as I was saying, we were sitting there talking back and forth to Confederates who were also in holes several hundred feet away. We had an agreement that between battles we could talk to each other and no shooting would be done. We had moved up just to talk to the boys on the other side."
"I was sitting out on the edge of the gopher hole and just as we were about through talking I called out, 'Goodbye, Johnny Reb.' I guess it must have made one of them pretty mad because he raised up and took a shot at me. The ball hit my hip and made a deep flesh wound. I was given first aid treatment and they tried to make me go back to the hospital but I wouldn't go."
Could Not Find Him
"One of my biggest ambitions has been to find that man who shot me. If we could get together I know we could straighten it out and have a good laugh over that day. But I never saw him and I don't suppose I ever will. "The other time I was wounded was at the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain. I always made fun of some of the other boys for burying their faces in the dirt every time they saw a bomb coming. The bombs were shot from cannon he same as balls but they had a fuse and powder in them and they would explode after they hit."
"This time one lit in front of us. The others dug into the dirt. When the bomb exploded the powder burned my face and head but none of the metal hit me. The concussion made me deaf in my right ear and I haven't been able to hear out of it since. Some of the others received bad injuries from the flying metal. After that I didn't make so much fun of the other boys for ducking for cover."
"As I said before, I guess I was about the luckiest soldier in the Union Army. The most exciting time I had during the war was once when we went out on a scouting party while in Eastern Kentucky.
All of the party except me were captured by the rebels. I was in rebel territory, unable to get back to my company and I had to layout for several days, hiding behind rocks and trees, before I found my way back."
Cavalry Men Ride Up
"On the second day I was sitting calmly behind a large rock near a road when suddenly two Confederate Cavalrymen came riding up the road. I raised my rifle, fired, and hit one of them. Then from the road came a whole unit of cavalrymen and who should be heading them but Gen. Humphrey Marshall, long long a thorn in the side of the Union forces. I raised my gun and fired but I had aimed too low. The bullet hit his saber belt on the side and tore it off."
"I ran through the woods to another bend in the road. Soldiers were warily combing the locality, not knowing how many members of the enemy force were there. I took one ast shot, not aiming at anyone in particular, and then began running. I could hear rebels on both sides of me but I guess I ran in the right direction because I got away from them and finally found my way back to my company."
"While I was on leave in '64 I married my boyhood sweetheart, Mary Curnutte." "After the war I went back to farming. In '70 we moved to Arkansas and then to Texas in '77. In 1898 we moved to Oklahoma and settled on a farm north of Tecumseh."
Met Confederate Veteran
"A little while after we moved here I ran into a fellow named Garner. I can't remember his first name. He lived on a farm west of Tecumseh. After I talked to him I found out that he had been in the rebel army and had fought opposite me in almost every battle I had been in and after the war he had moved to Arkansas, Texas, and then to Oklahoma the same we did."
"He is dead now but we became good friends and talked over the war with each other. But we never got mad when we talked as people of this generation have accused Civil War Veterans of doing. I have had many good friends who were Confederate soldiers and even attended Confederate conventions with other Union soldiers. They were always friendly with each oher because we were all Americans."
"I guess that's about all there is to tell except I am spending the rest of my days taking it easy here in this chair listening to the radio and smoking and chewing tobacco, which is my only bad habit."
Footnotes
(*) Alexander Clevenger joined the 14th KY, Co. G, on November 19, 1861.
(**) The regiment was mustered in on December 10, 1861.
(***)Alexander Clevinger gave his age on the muster-roll as 26.
Footnotes and transcription provided by M. H. Perkins
Source: Shawnee Morning News, Shawnee, Oklahoma; Re-printed in the Paintsville Herald, Paintsville Kentucky, Thursday, December 15, 1938, Section 2, Page 1.
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