1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910794565403321

Autore

Asher Brad <1963->

Titolo

The Most Hated Man in Kentucky : The Lost Cause and the Legacy of Union General Stephen Burbridge / / Brad Asher

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Lexington, Kentucky : , : University Press of Kentucky, , [2021]

©[2021]

ISBN

0-8131-8138-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource

Soggetti

Generals

Generals - United States

History

Biographies.

United States

Kentucky

United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Biography

Kentucky History Civil War, 1861-1865 Biography

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Gentleman -- Soldier -- Commander -- Liberator -- Tyrant -- Butcher -- Pariah -- Exile -- Appendix A: Retaliatory Executions of Guerrillas per Burbridge's General Order No. 59 -- Appendix B: Actions Involving Irregular Forces in Kentucky, 1864-1865.

Sommario/riassunto

"For the last third of the nineteenth century, Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge enjoyed the unenviable distinction of being the most hated man in Kentucky. From mid-1864, just months into his reign as the military commander of the state, until his death in December 1894, the mere mention of his name triggered a firestorm of curses from editorialists and politicians. By the end of Burbridge's tenure, Governor Thomas E. Bramlette concluded that he was an 'imbecile commander' whose actions represented nothing but the 'blundering of a weak intellect and an overwhelming vanity.' In this revealing biography, Brad Asher explores how Burbridge earned his infamous reputation and adds



an important new layer to the ongoing reexamination of Kentucky during and after the Civil War. He explains that Burbridge's use of measures, including retaliatory executions, to quell guerrillas and Confederate partisans fell within the range of tactics used by Union commanders faced with irregular fighters in other areas and within the bounds of the laws of war as articulated by the Union high command. Burbridge jailed, banished, and harassed those who expressed anti-Lincoln, anti-war, or pro-Confederate political sympathies. Most importantly, however, he oversaw and sped along the destruction of slavery by administering the recruitment and enlistment of enslaved people as soldiers. This reassessment illuminates how Burbridge--as a Kentuckian and the local architect of the destruction of slavery--became the scapegoat for white Kentuckians, including many in the Unionist political elite, who were unshakably opposed to emancipation. Beyond successfully recalibrating history's understanding of Burbridge, Asher's biography adds administrative and military context to the state's reaction to emancipation and sheds new light on its postwar pro-Confederacy shift"--