Thompson and Powell Martyrs Monument | |
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| Location | St. Joseph, Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Built | 1880 |
| MPS | Civil War Monuments of Kentucky |
| NRHP reference No. | 97000707 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | July 17, 1997 |
The Thompson and Powell Martyrs Monument is a memorial to two Confederate soldiers in St. Joseph, Kentucky. It is on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), one of only three NRHP locations in Daviess County, Kentucky that is not in Owensboro, Kentucky.
The memorial honors two Confederate soldiers who were killed in accordance with the standing order of the Union general in command of Kentucky, Stephen G. Burbridge, known as Order No. 59. This called for the execution of four Confederate prisoners for every unarmed Union civilian killed by the Confederates. The two men honored on the monument were Charles W. Thompson (aged 18) and Pierman Powell (aged 25), who were executed in retaliation for the fatal wounding of a prominent resident of Henderson, Kentucky, James E. Rankin. They were originally held in Daviess County, but were taken to Henderson by Federal troops to be killed. The two men were executed on July 22, 1864. [2] [3]
Confederate Colonel Lee A. Sypert of the 16th Kentucky Cavalry (unofficially called the 13th Cavalry) tried to rescue the two men on July 21, using a bluff to draw away Union forces. However, the defenders held on until Union gunboats arrived, forcing Sypert to withdraw. The two Confederate prisoners were killed by firing squad on the banks of the Ohio River in Henderson, immediately after which the Union gunboats left the city, along with all the Union soldiers in the city. [3]
Fearing retaliation, many of the Union-sympathizing citizens of Henderson fled the city, even though Sypert sent a proclamation to the city, stating:
...They are gone, and their murder is another crime added to the damnable catalogue of the despotism that rules you. We are Confederate soldiers. We fight for the liberty our sires bequeathed us. We have not made, nor will we make war upon citizens and women. Let not your people be excited by any further apprehension that we will disturb the peace of your community by the arrest of Union men, or of any interference with them unless they place themselves in the attitude of combatants. Such conduct would be cowardly, and we scorn it. [3]
Like most monuments dedicated in the memory of the Confederacy, the letters CSA are at the bottom of the monument. Due to the placement of the lettering on the monument it is possible to misconstrue that Burbridge was a Confederate general, not a Union one. Burbridge spent years trying unsuccessfully to have those letters removed, as it angered him to have those letters after his name. [2]
On July 17, 1997, the Thompson and Powell Martyrs Monument was one of sixty-one different monuments related to the Civil War in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission. The Confederate Monument in Owensboro is the only other monument on the list in Daviess County. Other monuments to victims of Burbridge so honored are Confederate Martyrs Monument in Jeffersontown, Confederate Soldiers Martyrs Monument in Eminence, and Martyrs Monument in Midway. [4]
Stephen Gano Burbridge, also known as "Butcher" Burbridge or the "Butcher of Kentucky", was a controversial Union general during the American Civil War. In June 1864 he was given command over the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where guerrillas had carried out attacks against Unionists. He imposed martial law and was criticized for punitive actions against persons accused of being guerrillas.
Kentucky was a southern border state of key importance in the American Civil War. It officially declared its neutrality at the beginning of the war, but after a failed attempt by Confederate General Leonidas Polk to take the state of Kentucky for the Confederacy, the legislature petitioned the Union Army for assistance. Though the Confederacy controlled more than half of Kentucky early in the war, after early 1862 Kentucky came largely under Union control. In the historiography of the Civil War, Kentucky is treated primarily as a southern border state, with special attention to the social divisions during the secession crisis, invasions and raids, internal violence, sporadic guerrilla warfare, federal-state relations, the ending of slavery, and the return of Confederate veterans.
Louisville in the American Civil War was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting and transportation for numerous campaigns, especially in the Western Theater. By the end of the war, Louisville had not been attacked once, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby.
The Confederate Martyrs Monument at the Jeffersontown City Cemetery in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, marks where four Confederate soldiers were executed "without cause or trial". Their execution was under Order 59, created by Union General Stephen G. Burbridge, known as "Butcher Burbridge" in Kentucky, which called for the execution of four Confederate prisoners for every unarmed Union citizen killed. The total number of executions performed as a result of this order was fifty. The four soldiers commemorated on the stone were Wilson P. Lilly, Rev. Sherwood Hatley, Lindsay Duke Buckner and M. Blincoe.
The Confederate Soldiers Martyrs Monument in Eminence, Kentucky, notes the burial spot of three Confederate prisoners who were shot while imprisoned. The names of the victims were William Datbor (Darbro), William Tighe, and R. W. Yates. It was done in retaliation for the killing of two unarmed African-Americans and authorized by Union General Burbridge's Order 59, which allowed for the execution of Confederate soldiers even if they were not directly involved in the earlier execution.
The 32nd Indiana Monument, also known as the August Bloedner Monument, honors the Union soldiers of the 32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also known as Indiana's "1st German" regiment, who died in the Battle of Rowlett's Station on December 17, 1861, near Munfordville, Kentucky. Originally placed at Fort Willich, near Munfordville, in January 1862, the monument was moved to Cave Hill National Cemetery at Louisville, Kentucky, in June 1867. Due to its fragile condition, the monument was removed from the national cemetery in 2008. After undergoing conservation treatment at the University of Louisville, it was placed on display at the Frazier History Museum lobby in August 2010. Although it is no longer in its original location, the 32nd Indiana Monument is generally considered to be the oldest surviving memorial to the American Civil War. A replacement monument at Cave Hill National Cemetery was dedicated in December 2011.
The Confederate Monument of Bowling Green, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is among the sixty-one monuments of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission, all of which became part of the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997. It is within Bowling Green's Fairview Cemetery, on the east side of the old/northern side of the cemetery.
The Martyrs Monument in Midway, located in Midway City Cemetery outside Midway, Kentucky, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission. It honors four Confederate prisoners who were killed due to the standing order of Union General over Kentucky Stephen G. Burbridge, known as Order No. 59, which declared: "Whenever an unarmed Union citizen is murdered, four guerrillas will be selected from the prison and publicly shot to death at the most convenient place near the scene of the outrages." The Confederate prisoners, whose names were M. Jackson, J. Jackson, C. Rissinger, and N. Adams, were executed on November 5, 1864 northeast of Midway, the precise location of which is unknown. This was due to the actions of Sue Mundy, a former trooper under John Hunt Morgan who terrorized Union forces in Kentucky during the later years of the American Civil War. They were buried in shallow graves originally, then re-buried in a Presbyterian cemetery, and finally in 1890 moved to their current location, with the dedication of the Martyrs Monument.
The Confederate Monument in Georgetown is within the Georgetown Cemetery of Georgetown, Kentucky. It is an unpolished granite obelisk that is twenty feet tall, surrounded by the graves of eighteen former Confederate soldiers. The various reliefs upon the obelisk include crossed cannons, crossed muskets, a drum, an azid, and flags. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997 as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission.
The Confederate Monument in Glasgow, Kentucky, built in 1905 by the Kentucky Women's Monumental Association and former Confederate soldier John A. Murray, commemorates those who gave their lives in service for the Confederate States of America. It is located on the side of Glasgow's courthouse. The Confederate soldier, made of bronze, is at parade rest, and features details such as a bedroll, canteen, kepi hat, and rifle. It stands on a limestone pedestal.
The Confederate-Union Veterans' Monument in front of the Butler County Courthouse in Morgantown, Kentucky, was built in the aftermath the Spanish–American War, which helped alleviate the bitterness both sides felt toward the other when it was dedicated to the sacrifice of veterans of both sides of the Civil War. It is one of only two monuments in Kentucky that reveres both sides, instead of only one, and funds to build it came from both sides. Butler County had mixed loyalties in the War, with both sides well supported by the county.
The Battle of Tebb's Bend Monument in Taylor County, Kentucky, near Campbellsville, Kentucky, commemorates the Battle of Tebbs Bend, which occurred on July 4, 1863, during the Civil War. The battle was essentially a Union victory, as it greatly delayed John Hunt Morgan's famous Raid that would later go into Indiana and Ohio.
The Confederate Monument of Morganfield, Kentucky is a monument to Confederate soldiers from surrounding Union County, Kentucky, of which Morganfield is the county seat. It is in the northernmost corner of the City Cemetery/Odd Fellows Cemetery just outside downtown Morganfield. During the War "Union" County was mostly a Confederate-sympathizing county. The county produced 657 soldiers for the Confederacy, but only 187 for the Union, although 131 African-Americans joined the Union forces in 1864. In July 1862, Union forces at Caseyville, Kentucky threatened to arrest everyone in the town of treason, eventually freeing all but nineteen citizens. A skirmish in Morganfield on September 1, 1862, resulted in a Confederate victory.
The Confederate Monument in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky is an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) carved granite figure on a granite pedestal which was built in 1894 by the Kentucky Women's Monumental Association, a predecessor of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization founded in that year. Its governing body is the government of Lawrenceburg.
The Union Monument in Perryville is an historic monument located by the visitor center of the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, in the vicinity of Perryville, Kentucky, in Boyle County, Kentucky. It was built in 1928, sixty-six years after the Battle of Perryville, the bloodiest battle in Kentucky history, on October 8, 1862. There were 16,000 Union soldiers at the Battle of Perryville, with 4,276 combined killed, captured, wounded, and missing.
The Confederate Monument in Owensboro, Ky., was a 16-foot-tall, two-part object — a 7-foot-tall bronze sculpture atop a 9-foot-tall granite pedestal — located at the southwest corner of the Daviess County Courthouse lawn, at the intersection of Third and Frederica Streets, in Owensboro, Kentucky. Nearly 122 years after the monument was dedicated in September 1900, the monument was dismantled in 2022, beginning with the removal of the sculpture in May 2022; the sculpture was placed in storage, pending a decision on what to do with it.
The Confederate Monument in Bracken County, Kentucky, in Augusta, Kentucky, honors eight unknown Confederate soldiers who were killed attacking Augusta in September 1862. Confederate Colonel Basil W. Duke led a force of Confederate soldiers to raid the town, on September 27, 1862, only to be driven back by a home guard force numbering 100 and backed up by gunboats. Eight Confederate soldiers of the 21 who died were buried in Payne Cemetery. In 1903 the present monument was placed at their burial spot.
Rice Evan Graves, Jr. was an artillery officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in the Battle of Chickamauga.
Thomas Stevenson Pettit was a newspaper publisher and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. Orphaned at age ten, he found work in a printing house in his hometown of Frankfort. In 1864, he moved to Owensboro, Kentucky, and purchased a newspaper called the Monitor. He incurred the wrath of Union Army General Stephen G. Burbridge because he vigorously criticized the Republicans' policies during the Civil War; Burbridge ordered Pettit arrested and relocated behind Confederate lines for the duration of the war.
The Battle of Sacramento was an engagement of the American Civil War that took place in Sacramento, Kentucky on December 28, 1861. Confederate cavalry under Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, numbering between 200 and 300, attacked, encircled and defeated a Union force of 500 under Major Eli H. Murray which had been watering south of the town after moving across the bank of the Green River. Though exact casualty information is disputed, with differing accounts from each side, several eyewitnesses attested to the personal courage of Forrest, and the Confederate commander was praised by his superiors for his bravery.
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