The Notorious “Bull” Nelson: Murdered Civil War General by Donald A. Clark (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 82 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY The Notorious “Bull” Nelson: Murdered CivilWar General Donald A. Clark Aman of considerable size and temper , Union Maj. Gen. William “Bull” Nelson proved an enigma during the Civil War. At once hated by his contemporaries and beloved by his troops, Nelson was a navy man who served in the army. Raised on the tough discipline learned in the rough and tumble United States Navy, Nelson brought the code of the high seas to the battlefields of the Western Theater. However, students of the Civil War best know Nelson not for his military career, but for his murder by fellow Union officer, Jefferson C. Davis, in Louisville, Kentucky, in September 1862. Donald A. Clark’s The Notorious “Bull” Nelson sheds light on Nelson’s military career beyond the incident for which he is most famous. Clark demonstrates that Nelson’s family, starting with his grandfather, pushed him into a life in the military. Nelson entered Norwich University, a military prep school, at thirteen at the urging of his father. At fifteen, young Nelson received his first taste of military life aboard the U.S.S. Delaware. Clark details the various adventures of Nelson’s career before the Civil War, including his action in the Mexican War as a navy officer ; his participation in the intrigues that surrounded Hungarian revolutionary Lajos Kossuth; and his role in repatriating slaves taken from ships policing the international slave trade. During the secession crisis of 18601861 , Nelson raised money and munitions for Kentucky’s Union-leaning state militia. As the crisis deepened, Nelson received the blessing of President Abraham Lincoln to raise a home guard of Unionists to counteract the state’s Confederate sympathizers. In 1861, Nelson’s volunteer unit conducted a number of missions and achieved various victories in Kentucky before moving into Tennessee and participating in the battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862. Nelson’s regiment was among the first Union troops to enter the city of Corinth, Mississippi, and helped to protect the city of Nashville from Confederate forces. After his stint in Tennessee, Nelson returned to Kentucky to take command of the Army of Kentucky. During the Union defense of Richmond in late August 1862, Nelson ordered his officers not to attack Confederate forces outside the city, but in the excitement of battle his order was ignored. When Nelson arrived on the battlefield, he exhorted his men to fight, but was shot in the thigh. Clark argues that subordinate officers’ failure to follow Nelson’s orders led to the fall of Richmond. While recovering from his wounds, Nelson received information that a Confederate army led by Gen. Braxton Bragg was moving north toward Louisville with Union forces under the command of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell in pursuit. Nelson employed an impressive strategy of checkpoints and passes to police the city. He also assembled a volunteer system to set fire to the city of Louisville at a moment if it fell under Confederate assault. Maj. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis had responsibility for defending the city and drilling the townspeople, but according to staff officers he spent more time gossiping about Nelson and complaining than doing his job (144). As a result, Nelson relieved Davis of his command. But Davis would not go quietly and demanded an apology . Nelson rebuffed the aggrieved Davis, and during the ensuing altercation Davis shot and killed Nelson. Because of Nelson’s reputation as a brutish taskmaster who did not broach any insubordination among his officers, the army and government officials quietly pushed the murder to the side. BOOK REVIEWS SUMMER 2011 83 Clark does a commendable job telling the story of this secondary Civil War general , having consulted all relevant archival and secondary works. Unfortunately, Clark’s narrative does not always flow logically, instead jumping from one subject to another in an effort to relate all the details he has uncovered. Better organization would have improved The Notorious “Bull” Nelson considerably . Nonetheless, Davis’s book provides a good introduction to the life of a relatively unknown Civil War officer. C. Wesley Pagles University of Louisville Donald A. Clark. The Notorious“Bull”Nelson : Murdered Civil War General. Carbondale : Southern Illinois...