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A stop over in Waynesburg in
November 1863 resulted in 13 local men being added to
the ranks of the 49 Regiment of the Kentucky Infantry of
the Union Army. Col. John G. Eve commanded
the 49th; according to the Adjutant General’s Report on
the Civil War in Kentucky. His second in command was Lt.
Col. Philos Stratton.
The regiment was originally formed
as a cavalry unit but due to a shortage of horses was
relegated to infantry duty. However, several of the men
would later achieve their desire to in the cavalry when
they transferred to the lst KY Cavalry.. The
Adjutant’s report does not provide a great deal of
details concerning the 49 role in the war except to say
the entire unit would make camp at Camp Burnside in
Pulaski County.
The stop in Waynesburg came over a
year after the major fighting in Kentucky had ended In
October 1862, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg left
Kentucky after the Battle of Perryville. His departure
ended most of the large scale fighting in the state.
However, the war still raged throughout the Bluegrass as
Union home guard troops fought off guerrilla attacks.
which were for the most part, led by Confederate
John Hunt Morgan of Lexington..
Records indicate that at least one
company of the 49th spent time in Waynesburg. All l3 of
the men mustered in the Union Army Waynesburg on Nov. 4,
1863, were placed Company “D” under Capt. John. M. Cook.
William Carson was the company’s first lieutenant and
Henry S. Branaman was second Lieutenant..
Only two of the men, who were
mustered in at Waynesburg, rose above the rank of
private John R. Hicks achieved the rank of sergeant and
John W. Berry became a corporal. Hicks served in the
49th until Jan. 15, 1861 when he transferred to the 19TH
Kentucky Inf. Six of the 11 privates who joined the
Union cause in Waynesburg also transferred out of
company on April 7, 1864. All six became members of the
7 Kentucky Cavalry. Those six were: James W. Durham,
James H. Durham, Geo. W. Darrel, John Giles, Charles
R.and Joseph M. Reynolds.
Five of the privates
mustered in Nov. 4th, 1863, at Waynesburg
followed suit and ended their service in the war on Dec.
26th, 1864, in Lexington. Those five men were
Geo.W. Abbott, Joshua Boering, Elijah, Wm. M. Hayes and
John C. Hicks.
The records of company “D” show
that of its members died while in the service of
regiment and seven were listed as deserters. However,
none of the Waynesburg men were killed and to their
credit, none deserted
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