Lt. William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield of the 45th under Capt. John Buchanan The 45th Battalion Virginia Infantry was raised by Lieutenant Colonel Henry M. Beckley, mainly with men from the Virginia State Line, under the previous command of General John Buchanan Floyd, in late 1861. Floyd’s early measures at Bowling Green,

Camp Brownlow, Piketon, Kentucky 1862 The JSR Letters are from the collection of Josh Branham and transcribed by Josh Branham Letter 1 Camp Brownlow, KetuckySunday afternoon, February 9th [1862] Brother Enoch, Although I have not received any answer to my last letter, yet I attribute it to irregularity of the

General John B. Floyd’s 119 Unionist Prisoners Captured During the Raid of the Virginia State Line Up in the Big Sandy Valley in December of 1862 Sources and Works Consulted: The Richmond Daily Enquirer, Dec. 29, 1862. (Published between 1804 and 1877.) Typescript of a letter dated Aug. 7, 1863,

Joseph Bouney – S35,782 Service; Virginia Revolutionary Claim Act March 18, 1818 Kentucky Joseph Bouney of Floyd County in the state of Kentucky who was a private in the regiment commanded by Colonel Phebicker [Col. Christian Febiger] of the Virginia Line, for the term of __. Inscribed on the Roll

Camp Brownlow, April 13, 1862 Apr. 30, 1862, The Marysville Tribune (40th Ohio, Piketon, Buchanan)Letter from a Soldier in the 40th Regiment – The following letter from G. P. Robinson to his father, A. R. Robinson of Darby Township, has been handed us for publication. It will be found to

The plaintiff, John Dils, Jr., states that the defendants Henry May and David May on the ___________________ day of ___________, 1862 in the county of Pike with force and _____________________ entered the plaintiffs tan yard in the town of Pikeville and took therefrom leather of the value of $2,500.00. The

INTRODUCTION The Civil War had its roots in animosity, antagonism— call it what you may.  Peace officially came April 1865, but that did not mean that good will and brotherhood were part of the package.  This was especially true along the Big Sandy.  Lawsuits were the order of the day.  Legal complaints were being

By Robert Baker Strange events sometimes occurred during the Civil War.  One involved a member of a Big Sandy Union regiment, the Thirty-ninth Kentucky.  Alfred Carter Hailey was one of several soldiers chosen to escort two Kentucky ladies to the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia.  One of the ladies had a

From the end of October 1861 forward, there was no civil rule in Pike County. The military occupations of Pikeville, first by Colonel John S. Williams’ Confederates, followed by General William “Bull” Nelson’s Union army, compounded by the January 1862 murder of Judge William Cecil, made every man a law

Beginning on the next page is an autobiography of JOHN DILS, JR. which was published in William Ely’s 1883 “The Big Sandy Valley”.  Photos are from my collection, not from Ely’s book. In the autobiography Dils concentrated on his family history, his early days in Pikeville, his marriage, his business associations,