QUANTRILLSGUERRILLAS.COM
Our recap of the Memorial Service for Quantrill’s Men at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, April 10, 2010, held in Confederate Section of Spring Hill Cemetery in Harrodsburg, Ky.
One hundred and forty-seven years ago six of Quantrill's men were killed in a skirmish near the Oakland Church five miles west of Harrodsburg, Kentucky. They were 2nd Lt. Chat Renick, Sgt John Barker and Privates Henry, James and William Noland who died in January 1865 while serving in Quantrill's Missouri Cavalry. For all this time their graves had been unmarked. Thanks to the generosity of those who wished to honor these brave men a gravestone has recently been placed in the Confederate section of Springhill Cemetery in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. On April 10, 2010 historians from across the nation came together to hold a memorial service for these brave men. Speakers at the Memorial Dedication included Marsha Noland Bergman, a blood relative of the Noland's who were honored and a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Quantrill Society. Nancy Hitt who was most instrumental for getting the gravestone placed and the memorial service organized also spoke. Nancy's dedication and hard work in preserving history has earned her numerous awards around the country. Harold Edwards of Perryville, Kentucky noted Civil War historian was also a speaker at the services along with Lt. Colonel Captain Patrick Marquis, descendant of the James family of Kearney, Missouri who addressed the crowd and also presented an award to Major Emory Cantey in behalf of gallant service rendered by his ancestor General James Cantey a noted Civil War hero who served under Generals Stonewall Jackson and Joseph E. Johnston. Below is the eulogy given by Colonel Petersen of quantrillsguerrillas.com during the memorial service. We of quantrillsguerrillas.com are proud to offer the texts of this historical occasion. Below is an image of the Memorial stone.
Below is the address delivered by Nancy Hitt: Welcome Everyone. I am Nancy Hitt, a member of the Quantrill Society and a resident of Louisville, Kentucky. We are assembled here at the Spring Hill Cemetery in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in order to honor the memory of six Confederate soldiers who were killed 145 years ago.
These six battle-scared Confederates had followed Captain William Clarke Quantrill from the state of Missouri into the state of Kentucky in January of 1865. They were destined to die far from their homes and families.
This memorial event is due to a chance conversation I had with Marsha Noland Bergman in June of 2009 in Waverly, Missouri. She and her husband, Mike, are also members of the Quantrill Society and they live in Independence, Missouri.Marsha is a Noland descendant and she was interested in learning more about the various Nolands who fought and died in Kentucky under the leadership of Captain Quantrill.
In addition to the valuable information that Marsha had accumulated, several of us tried to determine from additional sources the most logical answers to her inquiry.
Unfortunately, many questions still remain due to the lack of surviving military records. Our analysis of events often had to be made based upon unreliable and conflicting newspaper reports of the period and from publications written years after the war.
Even now, some of Quantrill’s men who were killed in Kentucky remain in unknown and unmarked hills and valleys of the state.
These six soldiers were part of about 40 Confederates who had followed Quantrill into Yankee-occupied Kentucky in an attempt to get to Virginia where they might safely surrender.
They knew full well their chances of surrendering and remaining alive were unlikely in blood-drenched Missouri. Unfortunately they faced many enemies in their attempt to cross Kentucky.
Frank James rode with Quantrill into Kentucky. He was a witness to the skirmish at the widow Sallie Vanarsdale’s home on Oakland Lane which is about 5 miles southwest of Harrodsburg.
Frank saw the Federals kill Chatham Renick and the brothers Henry and William Noland. He believed that John Barker probably died on the way to Harrodsburg.
Frank’s undying devotion to these men and those he termed “mere boys” is the reason we are standing here today on the grounds of the Spring Hill Cemetery.
Colonel Jack Chinn, a local man, was able to fulfill Frank James’ request to have the remains of the three killed at Oakland and previously buried at the Oakland Cemetery moved to this cemetery in 1904. We are not sure if they ever received permanent markers.
The remaining three men we are honoring today are likely still buried in unmarked graves.
This new marker is in memory of:
2nd. Lt. Chat Renick
Sgt. John Barker
Private Foster Key
Privates Henry, James and William Noland.
This granite marker was purchased with donations from various individuals and organizations located in six different states.
Patrick Marquis – of California
Duncan Hansen – of Iowa
Nancy Hitt – of Kentucky
Marsha and Michael Bergman,
Paul Petersen, The Quantrill Society, and Rosa Rogers with the U.D.C – of Missouri
The Quantrill’s Raiders SCV Camp #2087 – of Ohio
Emory Cantey – of Texas
During the past ten years, I have been fortunate to have had the loyal assistance of Junie Fields, Charlie Harper and Gary Davis. The ladies of the Mollie Morehead UDC have also been very helpful with Confederate memorials I have organized. Not all these folks could be with us today due to other obligations.
I would like to thank the citizens of Harrodsburg who have been so hospitable, the folks at the Tourist Commission, Mildred with the Harrodsburg Historical Society, Jerri Carter the Supervisor of the Spring Hill Cemetery, Terry Orme with the San-Wil Monument Company, Mr. and Mrs. Dedman of the Beaumont Inn and Debbie Cook, editor of The Harrodsburg Herald.
If this is your first visit to the pioneer city of Harrodsburg, I want to point out the grave of our Kentucky War Governor. Honorable Beriah Magoffin, Jr. is buried directly behind me. The magnificent home where he was born is a showplace in Harrodsburg.
I am flying the General Leonidas Polk flag in recognition of his visit to the Saint Philips Episcopal Church on Chiles Street in Harrodsburg after the battle of Perryville. General Polk, an Episcopal Bishop, prayed there for both friend and foe. A historical marker sits outside of Saint Philips Church to mark the General’s sermon.
In order to understand the so-called Missouri partisan, guerrilla, bushwhacker warfare, one must study the border wars that preceded the War. There was a blood feud brewing long before the first shots were fired at Sumter.
When your home has been burned down or your stock has been stolen or your father murdered, it will create a desire for revenge.
In closing, I would like to make a point especially to the youngsters not to drink too deeply of the Yankee Kool-Aid you might be offered by your instructors at school.
These men were not traitors. They were not cowards. They were not common thieves. These Southern men were in a life or death struggle against tyranny. Thousands, in fact more than 300 thousand Confederate graves now cover the South as a testament to their courage
.
Our Southern citizen-soldiers who took up the dirk, the pike or the pistol in defense of their homes were the true Patriots during the War for Southern Independence.
The blood that flowed within the veins of many of these ragtag, desperate men descended to them from the bold-blood of their Revolutionary War grandfathers and fathers.
Let us never forget that the mortal remains of freedom-loving men are buried within this small enclosed Confederate section. Thank you all for being here today to honor six Confederate Patriots.
Next we have the eulogy given by Colonel Petersen of quantrillsguerrillas.com during the memorial service.
"We are here to memorialize these Confederate soldiers and we think we can never know or feel what they went through or what they were fighting for. We know they were patriotic and brave, and we agree that they died fighting for a cause, but what exactly were they fighting for? Some may say that it is nearly impossible to imagine what it was like back then. Some experiences they had we will never be able to empathized with these men who came to Kentucky with Quantrill but let me relate what war was like for these Missourians who rode here to fight. Their homes were destroyed, all their property was stolen and carried back into Kansas by Jayhawkers, their slaves were raped in the presence of their owners. Many of them had their father's murdered by Federal soldiers.
The Quantrill men who rode with these six soldiers that we honor today shared similar experiences during the war. Bud Wiggington's 68 yrs old father was killed by Federals, his house burned and all his possessions taken. Randolph Venable's home along with 27 others including his church was burned by Jayhawkers. Lee McMurtry was living with Upton Hays. His home was burned and his brother killed and all his possessions stolen by Jayhawkers. John McCorkles' home was plundered and burned down by Jayhawkers and the women had their clothes torn from their bodies looking for valuables. His sister Charity was murdered by Kansas Jayhawkers. Frank James's step-father was hung by Federals until he was mentally incapacitated. They beat his brother, whipped his mother and sister with a bullwhip then put them in prison for two weeks on a diet of bread and water. Dave Hilton's home was burned down by Federals. Thomas Harris's home was burned and plundered by Kansas Jayhawkers. The soldiers threatened his young sisters by saying they were going to cut their heads off with their sabers. Isaac and Robert Hall's mother was forced by Kansas Jayhawkers to set fire to her own home. Four of neighbors homes were burned the same day. William Basham was an innocent man accused and convicted of being a Quantrill man. He was in jail awaiting execution when Quantrill attacked Independence and freed him. His only choice was to join Quantrill. James Younger's father was murdered by Federal soldiers. His mother was forced to burn down her own house. All their property was stolen by Jayhawkers. A Federal officer raped his sister.
While we will never know exactly what these men went through we can feel some of the same passions that they experienced at the start of the war and realized why they chose to fight for the Confederate Cause. And what was the Cause? The country in 1861 was changing. And we that are living today can feel some of that same CHANGE.
In 1860 the president was elected for one goal in mind. In February 1861 a Northern newspaper offered a sobering portrait of the newly elected president by saying: The election of Abe Lincoln to the presidency will, go down in history as the great mistake of this age and of the American people. Some of the deplorable fruits it has already produced are before the world. The states (are in discord) and almost belligerent, the Union virtually dissolved, commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture seriously depressed, and thousands and tens of thousands of mechanics and laborers without employment.
In 1860 when the cords that bound our nation were being tested, the newly inaugurated president shunned all attempts at compromise from peace commissions sent from the South. In 1860 they had politicians disregarding the guarantees of the Constitution. In 1860 they had Radicals taking over Congress. In 1860 they had a Government operating without compromise, polarized into two separate camps.The United States elected a president that had been a senator from Illinois. He went to Washington using his authority to infringe on citizens' freedom of speech, on their freedom of the press, on their freedom of religion, on their freedom of assembly and violating the establishment clause and abolishing the Writ of Habeas Corpus. The men who fought under Quantrill did so because they saw the Federal government usurping authority over the states and growing larger with unbridled power as more of their freedoms were being taken from them. In 1860 there was a Balance of Power in our government, not just between the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches but a balance of power that included the power of State's Rights that kept the Federal government's power in check and from gaining unlimited power and control. What Lincoln destroyed in 1865 we are living with today. Our Founding Fathers were quoted as saying "Unlimited government remains the single greatest threat to the rights and liberties of a free people."Some may say that these men fought a long time ago and the ideals they fought for are foreign to us as a nation today. Unfortunately there is a strong correlation to what these brave men experienced prior to the war and what we are similarly experiencing today. You think it is impossible to feel what these men felt? I say no. I say you are feeling it today. The bravery that these men exhibited has never been surpassed in any conflict in American history. These men were patriots, fighting for the cause that our Forefathers had established in the Constitution. Through six states these men bled and died carrying a reputation that is unequaled even today. Thomas Jefferson instructed us, Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty. Let us be vigilant as these men whom we honor today were vigilant.
We know you will enjoy this text of Marsha Noland Bergman's speech:
My name is Marsha Noland Bergman. I am a “Real Granddaughter” in the United Daughters of the Confederacy: The Noland’s listed on this stone share a common ancestor with Ledstone Noland, a Revolutionary War Soldier. He was the Grandfather of these men and is my third Great Grandfather. These men were also cousins of my Grandfather, James George W. Noland, so they are my first cousins twice removed.
Kentucky was like a second home to this family, as it was from Estill county, Kentucky that Ledstone Noland traveled to Jackson county Missouri with his son William, and other family members in 1925. Ledstone’s brother, Jesse had made an earlier trip to Missouri with Daniel Boone.
My interest is and always has been the Noland’s with Quantrill. My grandfather George, did not come to Kentucky with Quantrill in 1865. He was a prisoner of was at Alton Prison in Alton, Illinois at the end of the war. His relatives were among those who did make the trip to Kentucky. I share their DNA and it saddened me to know their graves were unmarked. I wish to thank everyone who had anything to do with making this day possible. Nancy Hitt has worked tirelessly and has been in long distance contact with me throughout the entire process.
Fortunately there are written accounts of what took place in Kentucky with Quantrill in 1865. I think we know the loyalty of those who went on this last trip with their leader. Frank James stated that there was little chance they would return alive. William and Henry sons of William and Polly, were the oldest and youngest son’s of this couple. No doubt, notification of their deaths was difficult on the family. These men had survived through the Lawrence raid and other trials only to be killed in the last months of the war. James Noland another cousin was among those killed.
Today in the same tradition as Frank James, we came to Kentucky to recognize the lives and death of some Missourians. Fate brought them to Kentucky with Quantrill and it was destined that they were to die here. These men whose names appear on this maker were sons, grandsons and brothers in families they left behind in Missouri and it is fitting that we remember them.
When preparations were being made for the reburial of Jesse James in Kearney Missouri in 1995, I received a letter from Judge James Ross, Great Grandson of Jesse James. He said and I quote: “There is no doubt where the Noland’s stood with the Confederacy and with the Guerrillas.” In his letter to Harrodsburg in 1904, Frank James described these men as his dead Comrades who met death bravely and that they were as true a set of fellows that ever followed the Bonnie Blue flag.
This tribute made over 100 years ago by Frank James, one who actually knew them all, is as fine a eulogy as anything we can say today. May they finally rest in peace.
Next is the address presented by Lt. Colonel Patrick Marquis:
On June 3, 1904 a memorial service was held here in the Confederate section of Spring Hill Cemetery to honor the fallen rebels who were relocated from Oaklands Cemetery. The six men we honor today were among those who were re-interred. The day before the event, the Harrodsburg Herald ran an article about the service that featured a letter of regret from one of the Missourians who had traveled to Kentucky with Quantrill. The author was undoubtedly the most famous survivor of Quantrill's Kentucky raid, a man who was better known for his exploits after the Civil War. That man was Alexander Franklin James.
Along with his regrets for not attending, Frank proclaimed his intention to have a marker placed to honor his brave comrades who had fallen in Kentucky at the hands of the enemy during January 1865.This wasnt Frank's only attempt to ensure that those who rode under the black flag were acknowledged for their service on behalf of the lost cause, for Frank James was the driving force behind the first Quantrill men’s Reunion held in 1898. Our next image is of Alexander Franklin James.
Unfortunately when Frank James died on February 18, 1915, no marker had been placed. Ninety-five years later, we are finally fulfilling his wishes by having such a marker placed in their honor. I doubt that Frank James could have envisioned any circumstances where the graves of Quantrill’s veterans would be unmarked. But, tragically,Frank's own grave does not have a Confederate marker, due in no small part to another newspaper article.
In the fall of 1991 the William Clarke Quantrill Society had arranged for the government to provide a military marker for Frank, and they obtained permission to have the marker placed on his grave. This was no small feat because Frank's grave is located inside a park maintained by the city of Independence Missouri.Frank's in laws, the Ralston's, were wealthy. When they passed away, they donated hundreds of acres of land with the caveats that it be utilized as a city park, and that way, the family burial plot would be perpetually maintained.
When a newspaper article was published about the pending memorial, an elderly and somewhat distant relative of the Ralston's protested. Citing a provision in the original grant, this bitter old bitty swore she would sue the city to regain control of the land if they allowed a marker to be placed on the grave of what she called that"Confederate Outlaw Frank James." The city of Independence, for legal reasons, consequently, made the decisionto forbid placement of the marker. Currently it is displayed at the James farm museum in Kearney, Missouri.
Today is a festive occasion where we have gathered together to commemorate six brave men who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their country, the Confederate States of America. The fact that we can still openly celebrate our Confederate heritage is one of the few liberties which has not been revoked yet, so it must be cherished and freely exercised whenever possible.
This event was accomplished as a team effort, and each and every person and organization that contributed to this project should be applauded. There were no egos involved, no disharmony nor disagreements. Everyone worked together to achieve this common goal. As basic and routine as this project may seem, this level of cooperation is not commonly achieved. When more than a single organization is involved in such an enterprise as this, sometimes debate and disunity occur. But we are all pleased that this did not occur in the creation of this ceremony.
I hope and pray that we have set a precedent for others and that they follow our lead,putting aside differences they might have and working together to honor our Confederate heroes. Otherwise, I'm afraid these events, which are already all too rare, will quickly disappear. In case you missed them, recent changes enacted by our benevolent and omniscient government make it significantly more difficult to request and obtain a military headstone. That is just one reason why the officers of Quantrillsguerrillas.com made the decision to purchase the headstones, instead of trying to jump through bureaucratic fire hoops equivalent to the Bataan Death March. Once again we welcome other individuals and organizations to follow suit.
I implore those in attendance to reach down deep and make the commitment to help us in our quest to find and mark the graves of each man who served under Quantrill. My own family’s motto is: "We are the James family of Kearney, Missouri, and we NEVER give up," we will never stop searching to find a way to mark my cousin Frank's grave.Realistically, I fear it will never come to past. If memory serves me, lawyers friendly to our cause reviewed the options at the time and they determined the chances of successfully challenging and winning the decision are slim at best. But we remain hopeful, nonetheless, and will strive for this goal. Times change and we hope hearts will also.
We can honor Frank's memory by ensuring that the graves of all of his comrades are marked. Please join our website quantrillsguerrillas.com, the William Clarke Quantrill Society, or your local SVC or UVC camp. Please take action now, for tomorrow, it may be too late. It’s been my pleasure to be a part of this historic event, and I thank you all for sharing it with us.
Colonel Petersen also served as Chaplain during the services giving the Invocation as well as the Benediction. The Memorial Dedication ended with a prayer that is as meaningful and significant today as it was to the man who prayed it during the most important time of crisis in our country taken from the prayer book of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
“Soldiers! We have sinned against Almighty God. We have forgotten his signal mercies, and have cultivated a revengeful, haughty, and boastful spirit. We have not remembered that the defenders of a just cause should be pure in His eyes; that “our times are in His Hands,” and we have relied too much on our own arms for the achievement of our independence. God is our only refuge and our strength. Let us humble ourselves before Him. Let us confess our many sins, and beseech Him to give us a higher courage, a purer patriotism, and more determined will; that He will convert the hearts of our enemies; that He will hasten the time when war, with its sorrows and sufferings, shall cease, and that He will give us a name and a place among the nations of the earth.”
"I PRAY DAILY AND ALMOST HOURLY TO YOU HEAVENLY FATHER TO COME TO THE RELIEF OF OUR AFFLICTED COUNTRY. THERE IS NOTHING BUT YOUR ALMIGHTY POWER THAT CAN SUSTAIN US, AND TO YOU BE ALL THE PRAISE. " Amen Robert E. Lee.