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The following
stories and releases focus on recent news events concerning the Battle of
Richmond and the Battle of Richmond Association (BORA).
~ click on the links below to jump to stories ~
Firing cannons,
amputating legs
Teachers
learn some new angles to teach Civil War history
(Richmond Register, 7-16-07)
By Bill Robinson
Register News Writer
This fall,
when returning students ask teachers what they did during their summer
vacation, some can offer a surprising answer.
“I listened to Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. I watched a Civil
War skirmish as an artist sketched the action. Then I saw a surgeon
amputate a wounded soldier’s leg.”
The 13 teachers who attended the Battle of Richmond Association‚s first
Civil War Institute on Sunday could give those responses, even if the
events they observed and the people the people they met were portrayed
by re-enactors.
Tom Jones, a member of the Rose Barn Theatre based at Battlefield Park,
delivered President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address. The only
Kentucky native to occupy the White House, Lincoln told Congress he
hoped to “bind up the nation’s wounds” during his second term.
Douglass, portrayed by Michael Crutcher of Camp Nelson in Jessamine
County, told how he was initially turned away from a post-inaugural
reception. “Mr. Lincoln noticed me and called out, ‘That’s my good
friend Frederick Douglass, let him come in.’”
Later as re-enactors met with the public, Crutcher was introduced to
some Korean exchange students from Eastern Kentucky University.
Slavery was the underlying cause of America’s Civil War, said Douglass.
“Before the Civil War, some 4 million people of African descent labored
without freedom or wages in America.”
Abolition of slavery was not Douglass‚ only cause, however. “I worked
for the equality of the sexes as well as for equality of the races,” he
said.
Douglass, who was instrumental in persuading President Lincoln to give
black soldiers combat roles in the war, had two sons who fought with the
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, Crutcher said. In the 1989 movie
“Glory,” viewers get the impression that all soldiers in the mostly
black 54th regiment were killed in the Union attack on Fort Wagner,
S.C., Crutcher said. “While losses were heavy, two-thirds of the mostly
black regiment survived and fought in other battles.‰”
Crutcher, who bears a striking resemblance to photographs of Douglass,
sat while Daniel Colon of Louisville sketched his portrait. Battlefield
artists often followed the movement of Civil armies, Colon said.
The teachers heard lectures about the 1862 Invasion of Kentucky and the
Aug. 29-30 Battle of Richmond. They toured the battlefield and visited
Mt. Zion Church that was used as a hospital during and after the battle.
They watched and listened as re-enactors from Springfield demonstrated
how Civil War soldiers moved, maintained and fired a wheeled cannon that
fired a 12-pound shot.
Mounted re-enactors explained the used of cavalry in Civil War battles
as others gave details of how infantry lived and functioned.
Dr. Don Dawson of Carlisle, Ohio, who portrays a Civil War surgeon,
explained the state of Civil War era medicine and displayed a collection
of medical instruments from the period.
A bucket near Dawson’s field hospital contained replicas of a soldier’s
amputated feet and lower legs.
The teachers also saw presentations on period clothing, cooking, music,
flags and uniforms and heard what archeologists can learn from their
digs in Civil War battlefields.
Karen Clark, Sharon Graves, Rick Miller and Jim Peavley of Clark-Moores
Middle School attended the institute as did Marilyn Bailey, Sherry
Bryant and Mary Kuhn of Madison Middle School. Teachers from Clark,
Garrard and Perry counties also attended.
The institute, sponsored by the Battle of Richmond Association,
coincided with a series of observances by the Central Kentucky Civil War
Heritage Trail marking the Confederate invasion’s 145th anniversary.
The teachers‚ institute was a pilot program to gauge interest in the
program, said Ed Ford of the Battle of Richmond Association. “We’d like
to expand the institute next year and offer a program for college
teachers, too.”
The association’s annual re-enactment of the Battle of Richmond will
take place Aug. 25-26.
Bill Robinson can be reached at
brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.
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Preserving Our Heritage
Richmond battlefield last stop on Civil War trail
(Richmond Register, 7-24-06)
By Bob Flynn
Register News Writer
Civil War buffs
from several states were treated to a glimpse of Richmond’s past
yesterday, when the Central Kentucky Civil War Heritage Trail made a
stop in Madison County at the site of the Battle of Richmond.
The Heritage Trail, in its third year, is a week long event and a
cooperative effort among several Central Kentucky Civil War sites, to
conduct in-depth interpretations and events to showcase the Civil War
heritage of Central Kentucky.
The Battle of Richmond, though lasting only two days, was the second
largest Civil War battle in Kentucky, and records show it was the most
overwhelming Confederate victory of the entire war.
Sunday’s event attracted people from as far away as Green Bay Wis. and
Washington DC, and included a guided tour of the battlefield led by Bob
Moody, one of the founders of the Battle of Richmond Association.
The association, which began in 2000, is trying to preserve and protect
as much of the battlefield as possible, and has acquired several parcels
of land and buildings that were an important part of the battle.
Moody, who has been a Civil War buff for about eight years, said his
involvement with the association is a matter of pride in the history of
Madison County, and an effort to promote tourism in the area.
“I was at an auction one day and saw that the Herndon farm was going to
sell and I just drew the line. This stuff needed to be saved. Too much
of the battlefield had already been developed,” Moody said. “We try to
acquire land when it comes up for sale, and artifacts when we find them,
and just promote tourism and a general knowledge of the area.”
The Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon farm was the cornerstone in the establishment
of the Richmond Battlefield Park.
The park continues to grow, with a visitor’s center and museum planned
for the Rogers-Terrill house, which is being deeded to the Madison
County Fiscal Court by the Bluegrass Army Depot.
Chris Kolakowski, executive director of the Perryville Battlefield
Preservation Association, and organizer of the Heritage Trail, called
the job done by the local preservation group “amazing.”
“They’ve done a lot in the five years they’ve been in existence,”
Kolakowski said. “They have established something that the community can
be proud of and it will preserve an important part of the county’s
history.”
Events like Sunday’s help to showcase the park and also to promote the
associations fifth annual reenactment of the Battle of Richmond to be
held Aug. 26 and 27.
All proceeds from the reenactment go toward the preservation of the
Richmond Battlefield Park and the development of the visitor’s center
and museum.
More information about the reenactment and the park can be found at
www.battleofrichmond.org.
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PAINTING RECALLS SOLDIERS AIDING
WOUNDED WHETHER GRAY OR BLUE
(Lexington
Herald-Leader - June 28, 2006)
By Emily Yahr
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
There is one thing Richard Deane hopes people
remember about his Civil War mural hanging in the Battlefield Golf Club
Pro Shop -- even though the soldiers depicted are both Union and
Confederate, they are all Americans.
"Once the battle was over and the animosity
was gone, we all took care of each other," said Deane. He painted a
detailed scene of wounded soldiers being taken to the Palmer House,
which was used as a hospital after the Battle of Richmond. The house is
now the pro shop.
Paid for by the Richmond Kiwanis Club, the
painting is one of the many steps the Battle of Richmond Association has
taken to raise public awareness of Madison County's historic sites.
The association, founded in 2001, has bought
hundreds of acres of land to preserve the battlefield and Palmer House,
where the wounded soldiers received care, said historian Robert Moody.
The Battle of Richmond was the second-largest
Civil War battle in Kentucky, and one of the Confederacy's most
overwhelming victories, said Moody.
Deane, a retired Eastern Kentucky University
art professor, researched and worked on the mural for more than two
months. He said his family history and connection with Richmond made the
project especially meaningful. His great-grandfather fought in the Civil
War.
"I wanted to put the Palmer House in
historical perspective as an integral part of the Civil War," Deane
said. "I didn't want the building to sink into obscurity."
Historical accuracy was an important part of
the painting, even though artistic license was allowed, he said. Details
show damage to the house from Confederate artillery, one of Palmer's
neighbors taking two of her children to safety, and prominent Richmond
citizen John Miller being carried on a stretcher.
Members of the association said they were
thrilled with the painting, which cost the Kiwanis Club $2,500.
"It's one of the first things I've seen that
really tells the human side of what the Civil War was about,"
association president Ed Ford said.
In addition to restoring the historical area,
Battle of Richmond Association members work hard to educate the public
about the city's history, said Megan Hans, communications director for
the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.
The group's biggest event is the Battle of
Richmond re-enactment, said Paula White, a coordinator for the
association. About 300 people participate in the event and 1,200 watch
it, with more every year.
"We hope people get a sense of the tremendous
amount of history here in Madison County," White said. "If they come
away with even a little spark of interest, then we've done our job."
The association's next goal is raising $2.1
million to purchase 300 acres for a park that will have walking trails
and historically informative signs, Moody said.
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Mural Unveils
Madison History
(Richmond Register - June 28, 2006)
By Bill Robinson
Register News Writer
A golf course and some stately homes today cover a
portion of the rolling landscape a few miles south of Richmond.
In the middle of this modern, tranquil scene sits a reminder of some
turbulent times during the 19th century. When the Union and Confederate
armies clashed there in late August 1862, they left a path of
destruction. Dead and wounded men lay on the battlefield. Instead of a
subdivision full of homes, only a few farmhouses dotted the countryside.
Some of the homes were damaged in the fighting, but even buildings that
took direct hits from cannon balls were used to shelter the wounded.
At least one soldier sketched a portion of the battlefield from memory,
but no known photographs were taken of the battle’s aftermath.
The Thomas Palmer House, built in 1834, was damaged by cannon fire
during the battle. After the battle had passed by, wounded men from both
armies were carried inside. A few died there, including Gen. John Miller
of Richmond.
That scene, and its many emotions, has been captured by Richmond artist
Richard Deane in a 6x8-foot mural that now hangs in the Palmer House.
The painting was unveiled Tuesday by officials of the Battle of Richmond
Association and members of the Richmond Kiwanis Club, which commissioned
the painting.
Today, the house is painted white and serves as the clubhouse for the
Battlefield Golf Course.
The battlefield stretched for several miles south of Richmond into town.
It was too big to be encompassed in a single mural, Deane said. While
battlefield action is fleeting, its aftermath long enduring. That
message comes through in Deane’s painting.
A wounded soldier being carried on a stretcher towards the house
represents Gen. Miller, Deane explained. Miller was a prominent
descendent of Richmond’s founding family. He had been a general in the
Kentucky militia, but at the time of the battle he had been appointed by
President Lincoln as the internal revenue commissioner for eastern
Kentucky.
He volunteered to serve as a civilian aide-de-camp when the Confederates
invaded Kentucky but ended up in the thick of the fight. He was wounded
in action and died six days after the battle.
Barefoot Confederate soldiers depicted in the painting are realistic,
Deane explained. According to the book “When the Ripe Pears Fell,” many
Confederates wore out their shoes as they marched and dragged cannon and
wagons through the mountains to reach central Kentucky.
The resolute Confederate officer directing action in front of the Palmer
House is realistic, Deane said. The Confederate army had a professional
officer corps. Many were trained at U.S. Military Academy at West Point,
the Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel in South Carolina.
Military uniforms portrayed in the painting are authentic, Deane said.
Phillip Seyfrit of Richmond, who takes part in the annual Battle
Richmond re-enactments, was the model for the officer. Deane did not
copy Seyfrit’s face, however, only his uniform.
A woman leading two children toward the house, even as wounded soldiers
are being carried in, represents Elizabeth Armstrong, a neighbor who
brought her children to the house for safety, Deane said. Two slaves
accompany the Armstrongs, intimating that slavery was behind the bloody
military strife.
A former Eastern Kentucky University art professor who still teaches
privately, Deane completed the mural in about two months this spring, he
said. Deane painted the mural in his teaching studio, and he benefited
from comments and questions from his students, he said. “At least now
they know I do paint,” Deane joked at the unveiling.
The idea for the painting originated when Charles Hay of the Battle of
Richmond Association approached the Kiwanis Club about supporting
battlefield renovation, said former Kiwanis treasurer Brenda
Blankenship. Blankenship and her husband, former Eastern Kentucky
University assistant football coach Joe Blankenship, reside in
Battlefield Estates. She also works at the clubhouse.
The Kiwanis Club donated $2,500 to commission the painting. The club
also sponsored an interpretive marker that stands outside the Palmer
House.
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Smithsonian Institution Civil War
Tour
Leader Lauds BORA Efforts
(Richmond Register, Nov. 24, 2005)
In the five years since
he last visited Madison County, “no other group in the United States has
done more to save and preserve their battlefield and related sites” than
the Battle of Richmond Association. “I applaud their efforts.”
That compliment was
voiced by Ed Bearrs, chief historian emeritus for the National Park
Service. Bearrs was in Richmond this fall leading the Smithsonian
Institution’s annual Civil War Tour.
With participants from
as far as Maine, Michigan and Florida, the tour visited Pleasant View
Farm at Battlefield Park, Richmond Cemetery and the Confederate cemetery
at the foot of Big Hill.
Bearrs, who the History
Channel has called “a walking encyclopedia of the Civil War,” is perhaps
the best-known Civil War guide in the United States, said Phillip
Seyfrit of the Battle of Richmond Association.
Bearrs is recognized as
an authority on Confederate Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne, who fought at the
Battle of Richmond, Seyfrit said. Bearrs also sits on the board of the
Civil War Preservation Trust, which has lent its support to Madison
County preservation efforts.
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By Bill Robinson
Register Feature Writer
As the Battle of Richmond Association prepares to enter its fifth year,
it can take pride in several accomplishments and look forward to some
great new challenges, said Ed Ford, the group's president.
The association met Thursday evening
at Acres of Land Winery to take stock of what it has achieved and to
talk strategy for 2006.
In the past year, the association
received the offer of a matching grant for $1 million to purchase
additional land for Battlefield Park, which it manages for the county.
That grant was in addition to $654,000, the association secured to
renovate the Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon house and slave quarters as well as
develop the battlefield's interpretive plan.
The county was also notified this
year that the federal government will donate an historic house that was
once home to the Blue Grass Army Depot Commander.
“All the paperwork has been done, and
the county should be receiving the deed for the property any day now,”
Ford said.
The house, which was standing when
the 1862 battle took place, will serve has a welcome center to the
county as well as the battlefield. After Duncannon Lane is rebuilt and
connected to Interstate 75, the welcome center will serve as a gateway
to central Madison County.
“We're very encouraged by all the
good news we received in 2005, but $1 million to match the federal grant
is not going to be easy,” Ford said. If successful, however, the
association can add more than double the size of the park with the
purchase of an additional 300 acres. The option it holds on the property
will run for another 15 months.
“The battle took place on this land,
and we'd like to acquire as much of it as possible,” Ford said.
“Addition land will also shield Battlefield Park from encroachment by
other development.”
While the association hopes to raise
as much money as possible from private donors in Kentucky as well as
from local and state governments, it is pinning much of its hopes on the
Civil War Preservation Trust. The trust is a network of preservationists
who want to maintain the nation's Civil War Heritage.
Since Battlefield Park is home to a
county-owned golf course, the association held a golf-scramble
fundraiser there for the first time this year. “We look forward to using
the golf course for fundraising in the future,” Ford said.
In addition to hosting the fourth
battle reenactment in August, a living history event for middle
schoolers in May and the Civil War Heritage Trail in July, Battlefield
Park saw several other, smaller, activities take place this year.
The Rosebarn Theatre has a converted
a barn on the property into its main performing venue. Three productions
were stage this year -- The Music Man, Midsummer Night's Dream and the
Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The award-winning Madison Central
High School Band gave an outdoor concert at the park and a high school
invitational cross country meet was also held there.
The Smithsonian Institution's Civil
War Battlefield Tour stopped in Madison County this fall, and the park
was even used for a wedding this year.
The ladies' tea held at White Hall
during the reenactment was very popular again this year. And a worship
service at Mt. Zion Christian Church held in conjunction with the even
won praise from both reenactors and spectators, Ford said. These events
will likely continue to be part of the reenactment weekends.
Over the weekend of January 20-22,
the Boy Scouts of America will use Battlefield Park as the site of a
Klondike Camp.
Until recently, the Battle of
Richmond received little attention in many history text books, even
Kentucky history texts. A teacher's institute, to provide public school
history teachers with more information about the Battle of Richmond and
its role in the Civil War, are among the additional events that the
association has talked about. A Civil War brass band festival is another
event on the association's wish list.
The association, which has about 450
active members, is planning a membership drive early in 2006, Ford said.
Membership is $25 for individuals and $40 for a family.
The Richmond Chamber of Commerce
provides administrative support for the Battle of Richmond Association.
Information about events, membership and donations can be obtained by
calling 623-1720. Information can also be obtained from the
association's Web site,
www.battleofrichmond.org
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