Gordon Mellish

Guerrilla War in Kentucky: Burbridge and Berrys Gordon Mellish

The North with five times the white population of the South, was never able to put more than 1 * times the men into any major battle than the South. The reason for this was due to the large area of the South. This hostile area had to be garrisoned at every town, depot, bridge and railway track to protect them from cavalry raiders and guerrillas.

In 1864 Major General Stephen Gano Burbridge, a native of Kentucky, was made commandant of Kentucky to police the area, keep it free from guerrillas and make all decisions concerning the administration of Kentucky. In his effort to administer Kentucky, he stated that four guerrillas would be shot for each Union person killed. In the application of this ruling he had innocent Confederate soldiers shot. After the war he became persona non grata.

To have sufficient soldiers to supply Grant with men and put down guerrilla attacks, Burbridge trained and armed Negroes. This was a mistake and turned many formerly Unionist sympathizers against him. In addition, Burbridge required farmers to sell their hogs to the government below market prices. This turned the balance of the Kentucky Unionists against him.

This book is the only published story of Burbridge?s career and of the guerrilla war in Kentucky. During his reign the famous Missouri guerrilla, Quantrill and 49 of his men crossed the Mississippi River and rode thru Kentucky. Here they joined the home grown guerrillas of Henry Magruder, and ?One-Arm? Berry.