Among the Enemy: A Michigan Soldier’s Civil War Journal

2. Kentucky: December 16, 1861–February 27, 1862

2 + Kentucky December 16, 1861–February 27, 1862 By mid-December the Michigan Engineers were under orders for Kentucky, and they left Marshall amid great ceremony on the 17th. They marched as a body to the train station, loaded up onto a special train placed at their disposal, and said their good-byes. Kimball’s account of that day reflected the mixed emotions of finally leaving for the front, knowing that many would not be coming home again. Two of his comrades didn’t even survive the trip to Kentucky. Their route by train was through southern Michigan and then on into Indiana to the Ohio River. At Louisville the regiment was divided into detachments of two or three companies each.The detachments were assigned to the scattered divisions of General Don Carlos Buell’s Union Army of the Ohio.The Michigan Engineers were frequently divided into detachments and the terminology describing them can be confusing. In early 1862 they were often referred to as divisions, but this bore no relation to the usual use of that term to describe a force thousands of men strong.Likewise,the term battalion was frequently used to describe these temporary groupings of companies, even though the term did not officially apply to parts of the regiment until much later in the war. Buell was organizing his command for an expected movement against Nashville, the capital of Confederate Tennessee and a major supply and manufacturing center. Confederate forces were arrayed against them on the likely avenues of advance through Kentucky and into Tennessee. Company H was to be part of a two-company 22 chapter 2 detachment, commanded by Major Hopkins, joined by Company C. They were ordered to report to Camp Wickliffe, riding by rail from Louisville to New Haven, and then marching the final ten miles over several days. Hopkins and his men found themselves serving in Buell’s Fourth Division, commanded by one of the sternest taskmasters in the Union army. General William “Bull”Nelson, a native Kentuckian, was a naval officer noted for his mercurial temper and large physical bulk. He had little patience for green troops and drove the men in his command hard, drilling them daily in the formations necessary for coordinated movement on the march and in battle. Despite the regular drill, the men still demonstrated their clumsiness with their weapons and Kimball notes several near escapes when their weapons discharged accidentally. One of the most important jobs the men had in Kentucky at this time was the improvement of roads around nearby New Haven and New Buffalo. Designed for lower volumes of foot and vehicular traffic, these routes did not stand up to the hard wear of columns of Union troops. Kimball and the other Michigan Engineers especially enjoyed these work details because it got them away from the strict discipline of Nelson at Camp Wickliffe and the nonstop drilling. Kimball’s journal entry for December 17, 1861, when he and the regiment left Marshall’s Camp Owen en route to Kentucky. (Tom Sherry) Louisville to Nashville. (Map by Sherman Hollander) 24 chapter 2 In addition to their first taste of military discipline and duties,these early weeks in Kentucky also exposed Kimball and his comrades to the complex relationship that existed between occupiers and occupied in wartime.This was especially true in divided Kentucky—a slave-holding state that remained loyal to the Union, but with its sons serving in both the Union and Confederate armies. For most of the Michigan Engineers, this was the first time they had set foot in the South. In a war brought about by intense sectional rivalries, the Michigan men were quick to comment unfavorably on what they found, with Kimball no exception. His journal is replete with negative assessments, either from firsthand observations or stories told by others.The language, education, and manners of Kentucky residents all come in for criticism. Kimball’s journal is also filled with examples of how soldiers stole from local civilians, especially those considered to be sympathizers of the Confederate cause. He employs different words for the activity— “cramped” (January 23), “borrowed” (January 31), “captured” (February 11), for example—but they all had the same result. At the same time, Kimball and his comrades were frequently greeted warmly and fed well by local pro-Union civilians. This reflected how soldiers actually operated within an official army policy that sought to bring...