"The Kentucky Way, Whatever the Uniform"

Indexé : 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Hey all, Ron here from Military Images Magazine with a new episode of Life on the Civil War Research Trail.

[00:00:09]You know, one of the distinguishing features of the Civil War is the variety of names which the conflict has been referred to over the past 160 plus years.

[00:00:22]That list of alternative names is long.

[00:00:26]War of the Rebellion, War Between the States, the Slaveholders Rebellion, the War for Southern Independence, the War for the Union, the Confederate War, and many, many more.

[00:00:39]The name at the heart of this episode is the phrase Brothers War, which has its origins during the war itself, rising in popularity during the reunification period in the early 20th century, and according to a study in the spring 2024 issue of Military Images Magazine, having a resurgence over the last 25 years or so.

[00:01:05]The concept of the Brothers War, as you students of the Civil War know, is predicated on the reality that members of families with divided loyalties found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. By extension, cousins, neighbors, co-workers, former classmates, and old army comrades all fall under the umbrella of the Brothers War.

[00:01:29]In a broader context, the phrase captures the tragedy of a nation split in two, and the emotional disruption that tore apart families, resulting in great rents in the very fabric of society, all the result of a most uncivil conflict.

[00:01:49]Brothers War became popular during reunification because it focused on the shared sacrifice that both sides suffered.

[00:01:58]This is very different than emphasizing the war's deeper political causes which stirred hostility during and after the war and continues to be debated to this day.

[00:02:12]I want to share an example of the Brothers' War in the form of an anecdote from Kentucky, one of the border states. Though it adhered to the Union, significant numbers of Kentuckians joined the Southern cause.

[00:02:25]The anecdote appears in the 1898 book titled History of the Orphan Brigade.

[00:02:32]It's also known as the First Kentucky Brigade, was composed of soldiers recruited from the state for Confederate service.

[00:02:41]And as Kentucky did not secede, this brigade was effectively orphaned from its homeland.

[00:02:48]The author, Edwin Porter Thompson, his life dates 1834 to 1903, served in the 6th Kentucky Infantry, suffering two wounds in battle and a 5-month stint as a prisoner of war.

[00:03:05]Thompson titled the story The Kentucky Way, Whatever the Uniform.

[00:03:11]In the story, he quotes an Orphan Brigade soldier captured in battle and sent to Rock Island Prison, which was located on a government-owned island in the middle of the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa, and Moline, Illinois.

[00:03:29]Here's the anecdote.

[00:03:31]I was a very sick boy when orders were received by the Confederate prisoners of war confined in the barracks at 9th and Broadway, Louisville, about January 22nd, 1864, to get ready to go northward.

[00:03:46]Consulting my best interest, I would have asked to be sent to a hospital, but not wishing to be separated from my friends who had been captured with me, I went with them.

[00:03:58]Reaching Jeffersonville, we were put aboard a train for Chicago.

[00:04:03]The weather was intensely cold, and the best passenger cars in use in those days were uncomfortable.

[00:04:11]The officer in command was a captain in a Kentucky federal regiment whose name I'm not sure I remember rightly, and as soon as we had found places in the several cars, he went into each and calling for the sick men got seats for each of them near the stove, then in the center of the car, and ordered that they should not be disturbed during the trip.

[00:04:36]He had with him a large basket filled with food, and this he generously shared at each mealtime with the sick boys, none of whom were able to eat the tough rations issued to their stronger comrades.

[00:04:50]Arriving at Kokomo, Indiana, the train, a special one, was delayed for an hour or two, and the captain came into our car and said to the sick, "Boys, come with me. A gentleman who has a store nearby has given permission for you to sit by his stove while we are detained here.

[00:05:10]Of course, you will not attempt to escape." He added with a smile.

[00:05:16]Escaping was of course in the mind of each of us, but none would have taken advantage of the opportunity thus presented. Since being unguarded, we were upon our honor not to attempt to impose upon the soldierly officer who was responsible for our safekeeping.

[00:05:35]The merchant received us kindly and gave us seats by his red-hot stove, and in every way endeavored to make us comfortable. Soon several citizens came in to see what a real-life Confederate soldier looked like. And among them the inevitable man of words rather than deeds.

[00:05:53]This latter individual availed himself of the opportunity to assail us in the most abusive manner, though none of us dignified him by replying to his coarse tirade.

[00:06:04]We had been born and bred gentlemen and properly apprehended that this fellow could not insult us.

[00:06:12]The proprietor of the store, however, for the time being our host, came to the rescue promptly.

[00:06:18]"Look here, Bill Jones," said he, "these men are not only defenseless prisoners of war, but are ill besides.

[00:06:26]They are in my house by my consent, and as long as they remain here, they shall be treated with respect. If you have such a burning hatred for rebel soldiers, I suggest that you enlist and go to the front where they can be found prepared to defend themselves.

[00:06:43]You're a damned coward, else you would not attack these men who are in the hands of their enemy, ill and defenseless.

[00:06:50]The quicker you get out of here, the better it will be for your cowardly hide."

[00:06:56]As Bill Jones slunk out of the room, we clapped our hands in appreciation of the merchant's kindness, and it is doubtful whether anyone of us has forgotten the unknown gentleman who so quickly took our part.

[00:07:13]We reached Rock Island that night, and just before [clears throat] we were to leave the train, the captain came to me, whom he seemed to think the feeblest of the lot, and said, "You have a rough experience ahead of you, as you may have to stand in the open air for some time before you're assigned to quarters.

[00:07:31]You would better come with me for a minute."

[00:07:34]I followed him and was soon confronted with a large flask of Kentucky whiskey.

[00:07:40]"Take some of this," said he, "you are sick and need it."

[00:07:44]I was young and inexperienced in those days and modestly took a very light drink.

[00:07:51]"Here," said the captain, "I asked you to take a drink and you'd better do it.

[00:07:56]It will probably be a long time before you receive a similar invitation from anyone else and you must take enough to brace you up for an hour's stand in that cold."

[00:08:08]He was in command and of course it was my duty as a soldier to obey orders.

[00:08:13]I did so and when the flask was returned to him, there was a twinkle in his eye which seemed to say, "Now, that was better. That really was very well done for a chap of your tender years."

[00:08:26]And then, he put out his hand with a cheery goodbye and heartily expressed a wish that I might get through my prison life in the war all right and finally get back to my friends and God's country, Grand old Kentucky, the only state in the Union worth living in.

[00:08:44]And thus we parted, perhaps forever.

[00:08:47]I know not whether he is living or dead, but wherever he is, he was a gentleman and a soldier of that type which has made the name of Kentucky illustrious upon a hundred battlefields and may God bless him and his.

[00:09:03]So there you have the story of two Kentuckians, one on the Southern side, one on the Northern side, and how they looked out for each other during the war. Thanks for listening.

[00:09:16]We'll see you on the next episode of Life on the Civil War Research Trail.