The Notorious "Bull" Nelson: Murdered Civil War General

The Roots of Imperfection

1 The Roots of Imperfection [1] William “Bull” Nelson was an ox of a man who carried his three-hundred -pound weight on a sturdy six-foot four-inch frame. A meticulous dresser who always stood ramrod straight, this dashing tar had a booming voice, long curly black hair, and piercing black eyes that gave the appearance of someone who was ready to fight at the drop of a hat. One newspaper reporter captured the essence of his manner when he described him as “a go ahead, driving person, full of impatience and energy, a good soldier, and a profane man, with as little of the gentleman about him as well can be.”1 Harvard-educated Nicholas Longworth Anderson took no comfort in the brutal way in which Nelson reprimanded subordinates, but this volunteer commander accepted it as the only way “to exact that iron discipline which makes an army” capable of overpowering the foe. No one impressed Lieutenant Colonel Anderson with the idea of genius as much as Nelson did, and he noted that Nelson’s “faults were those of a commander anxious to secure the highest efficiency of his troops by the most rigid discipline of his officers.” That latter practice caused him to be “beloved by his men,” but despised by the volunteer officers that he publicly humiliated in a way they would never forget or forgive.2 Those victims had no appreciation for how a demanding heritage and brutal training helped make Nelson a martyr to that “severe duty.” They did not care about the influence Dr. Anderson Doniphan had on his maternal grandson. As a young man, that Virginia aristocrat was known as a “rather fast young blood” who loved to engage in “fun and frolic of almost any kind.” Doniphan’s rash behavior is seen in a story about a chance encounter he had with a deer grazing by the side of the road. Without hesitation, Doniphan leaped off his horse, took a hurried shot, and missed the target. At this same time, his valuable horse dashed off into the woods. Doniphan tried to entice 2 The Roots of Imperfection the high-spirited steed to return, but his impatience got the best of him. Throwing all common sense aside, he shot the defiant animal and returned home—with no apparent regrets.3 Throughout any given day, Anderson Doniphan enjoyed sipping toddies and taking snuff to extreme excess. He relished visits from the grandchildren and treated them to sumptuous meals prepared by the household slaves. Afterward , Doniphan would tell grand tales about forebears with dubious connections to Ireland, Spain, and Scotland. The actual records leave no doubt that he was a descendant of Alexander Doniphan, who migrated to Virginia in 1674.4 In 1793, Anderson and his brothers, George and Joseph, took a flatboat down the Ohio River to Limestone Landing (Maysville, Kentucky). At Germantown , a small village on the Mason/Bracken county line, Anderson established a thriving medical practice. By1803–4, he had gained the acquaintance of Thomas Nelson, a merchant trader from Baltimore who had set up a retail dry-goods store in Augusta, Bracken County, Kentucky. In 1805, Nelson’s wife Matilda died, leaving behind four young children. That same year he acquired $3,200 by flat-boating goods to New Orleans, and on his return trip through Scott County, highwaymen took that money from him. Four weeks later, Nelson recovered nearly half of the stolen funds when authorities apprehended one of the thieves. As a booming trade with New Orleans continued to increase the wealth of many Kentuckians, that eased the way for Nelson to become a town trustee, buy slaves, purchase in-lots, and acquire thirty-six acres near town.5 During the second year of the War of 1812, Thomas Nelson enrolled as a surgeon’s mate under Dr. Anderson Doniphan in Col. John Poague’s Fourth Regiment of Volunteers. That regiment assembled in Mason County on August 31, 1813. At Newport, Kentucky, they became part of the 3,500 mounted volunteers who marched to Detroit for the advance into Ontario, Canada. Under the cry, “Remember the Raisin,” two thousand Kentuckians defeated the British, overwhelmed their Indian allies, and killed Tecumseh, leader of the Shawnee. Several years later, Andrew Jackson expressed the true significance of the war when he noted how eighteen discordant states had cast aside their distrust for each other and formed the first true union.6 That cooperation brought increased trade and unprecedented wealth to the...