Original Sources

ORIGINAL SOURCES

~ Transcripts of Contemporary Newspaper Articles about the Fifteenth Kentucky Infantry ~

Newspapers are probably the most often overlooked primary source available to Civil War historians and amateur researchers. Nowhere else is the day-to-day life of the private soldier reported like in the newspapers of the Civil War era. Many of the newspapers of the period featured long lists of short news blurbs, generally no more than a sentence or two. Here -- and nowhere else -- one can read of the raid too minor to make it into the Official Records, or the wounding of a local boy who had an accident in camp with his musket. Most newspapers had at least one -- and often several -- correspondents in the ranks, men who would write the editors long reports about the activities of the local units. In the Fifteenth Kentucky's case, Lt. Col. Halpin and Dr. Wetherby wrote such letters. We also learn of the Fifteenth's experiences from the letters of soldiers in other units brigaded with the regiment.

Many historians disdain Civil War newspapers as a source for battle accounts, but even in this area, the newspapers can be useful. Any researcher must learn to take battle accounts with a grain of salt. In the case of newspapers, a reporter might be trying to exalt the role of local units at the expense of others, or he may be making up a story out of whole cloth to cover the fact that he wasn't anywhere near the battlefield. But reports from the Official Records are subject to many of the same caveats; officers routinely exaggerated the role of their own commands and unfairly denigrated the role of others. Only by evaluating where the weight of the evidence lies, considering both the official records and the Civil War newspapers, can the researcher arrive at the best possible approximation of the truth.

The Fifteenth Kentucky was featured in several hundred newspaper stories during its four years' service. We will post the text of as many as possible here.

Recruiting Notices for the Fifteenth Kentucky, September 1861

The Journal Comments on the Fifteenth Kentucky's Encampment, September 19, 1861

A Participant in McDowell's Sumerville Expedition Reports, September 24, 1861

Major Campbell Advertises for Additional Recruits, Louisville Journal, October 1, 1861

Col. Pope's Speech Accepting the Regimental Colors, October 23, 1861

Col. Pope Accepts a Gift of Winter Blankets, Louisville Democrat, December 1, 1861

The Fifteenth Kentucky Elects Officers, Louisville Journal, December 5, 1861

A Letter to the Democrat From Dr. Weatherby, January 16, 1862

A Journal Reader Recommends Col. Pope for Promotion, February 10, 1862

A Letter to the Journal from General Mitchel's Advance on Bowling Green, February 15, 1862

A Raid by the Fifteenth Kentucky, Louisville Democrat, March 8, 1862

Eulogy by Rev. Jeremiah Talbott at the double funeral of Lt. Col. Jouett and Maj. Campbell, October 12, 1862