By Todd Hatton
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Murray, KY – Each week, WKMS' own Civil War correspondent Todd Hatton brings us stories written by author and historian Berry Craig detailing the Commonwealth's role in the American Civil War. On today's Kentucky Civil War Dispatch, we look at Louisville and its place as a bastion of Unionism in the Bluegrass.
On this date in 1861, Louisville was emerging as the most important center of pro-Union sentiment in Kentucky.
In his book, City of Conflict: Louisville in the Civil War 1861-1865, historian Robert Emmet McDowell wrote that following the Unionist conventions of Bell and Douglas supporters in January "Union meetings were held all over town. The Star Spangled Banner was sung with fervor and military companies sprouted like mushrooms."
McDowell conceded that Dixie could also be heard in the Falls City and that "not all these companies were raised for the preservation of the Union."
McDowell said the great majority of ordinary Louisville citizens were for the Union, while secessionism prevailed among upper crust folk. "Assertive, opinionated, boisterous and defiant," he wrote, "they made considerably more noise than their numbers warranted."
McDowell also says the subversive, pro-Confederate Knights of the Golden Circle started up in Louisville. The group did not attract many followers, according to the author.
"However, it made up for its numerical weakness by its arrogance," he explained. "Among other presumptuous actions, the Knights took it upon themselves to serve anonymous notices on several men who were known to be active Unionists."
Boosted by George D. Prentice, sharp-penned editor of the Unionist Louisville Journal, a secret Union Club was organized to offset the Knights. According to McDowell, from seventeen charter members, the group literally exploded until in a few short weeks it claimed more than 6,000 members in Louisville alone.
McDowell continues. "Its power was considerable. The clerks and bookkeepers, small tradesmen, master printers, tobacconists, and small manufacturers at last were able to present a united front to the Secessionist. The city's wealthy and socially influential Rebels, who had been used to having things pretty much their own way, suddenly found themselves being frustrated on every side and helpless to do anything about it."
McDowell added that not all rich Louisvillians were pro-Confederate. He writes that "the Speeds, for instance, one of Louisville's oldest and most respected families, were not only pro-Union, but were abolitionist in sentiment besides."
James Speed was a Douglas Democrat and member of the Union State Central Committee, which came out of the Bell and Douglas conventions. Ultimately, he became a Republican and Lincoln named him attorney general in 1864.
"Louisville was a Union bastion during the Civil War," McDowell wrote. "No later twisting of the facts can change that simple truth."
WKMS produces Kentucky Civil War Dispatches from West Kentucky Community and Technical College history professor Berry Craig. The Murray State alumnus is the author of Hidden History of Kentucky in the Civil War and True Tales of Old-Time Kentucky Politics: Bombast, Bourbon, and Burgoo.