| The name Kentucky being commonly used on the Mississippi,
we have not been able to determine the origin, main particulars, length of
service or fate of the specific Kentucky that rendered distinguished
service to the Confederacy as a troop transport in November 1861 and March
1862. On the former occasion, her Captain Lodwick "exhibited fearlessness
and energy deserving of the highest praise" for ten hazardous days and nights
ferrying Major General Leonidas Polk's troops and some Union prisoners between
Columbus, Kentucky and Belmont, Mississippi, frequently under fire, and may
have been a decisive factor in winning a battle. Again at Madrid Bend early
the following March, when Brigadier General J. P. McCown sought to hold Island
Number 10 at all costs, Kentucky dodged shells to get the battalions
through. The rest of her career is not recorded in official records. |
| It seems clear that Kentucky fell into the hands of the
Western Gunboat Flotilla at Memphis, 6 June 1862 -- not at Island Number
10, as some records state. Although a U.S. Navy survey at Memphis, 10 June
had found her "very much out of repair," she was being considered for refit
as a receiving ship at St. Louis the end of October: "She is now advertised
for sale," having been "turned over a few days ago to the U.S. Marshal,"
the document continues. |
| A United States Army report of 30 June 1862 notes Kentucky
as "returned to owners." The same source erroneously states that the transport
was captured at Island Number 10. Whether she saw commercial service in the
interim or not, another entry three years later briefly alludes to the tragic
end, perhaps from a boiler explosion, of a transport Kentucky between
the mouth of the Red River and Alexandria, Louisiana , sometime during June
1865, in which at least 30 "paroled rebel soldiers" met death. This may have
been the same Kentucky. |
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