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Four structures 'Houses of History' at Civil War's Battle
of Richmond The land for the farm, originally 578 acres located six miles south of Richmond on what is now U.S. 421 (Battlefield Memorial Highway), was purchased by Madison County Court magistrate Joseph Barnett (1763-1831) in 1801. In circa 1824, Barnett built a two-story, red brick, Federal facade farmhouse laid in Flemish bond. The
estate was called "Pleasant View," apparently because Pleasant Inn creek
runs through the land and affords a magnificent view of Joe's Lick Knob
south of the property. Initially, there was a separate brick kitchen, but additions were made to the home on several occasions, and the kitchen is now connected to the house. Remodeling after the Civil War included the addition of a hallway and elongation of the windows. This gives the house a side-passage plan and Italianate detail. A wrap-around porch supported by Tuscan columns adds overhead shelter at the entrance. A drive to the left (south) leads to what was probably the original front entrance to Pleasant View. There were at least three brick slave cabins adjacent to the house, connected by brick walks. Only one of the cabins remains. A stone and wood icehouse, garage, smokehouse, several barns, a wetlands area, and two ponds still occupy the property. Additionally, there is a small cemetery consisting primarily of the Barnett family. For nearly 200 years, Pleasant View has been a self-sufficient farm community with tobacco and cattle being the major sources of income. On Aug, 30, 1862, the property was in the middle of Phase I of the Battle of Richmond. According to legend, an indentation on the exterior brick wall on the south side of the house was the result of a cannon ball. The farmhouse, which served as a hospital for wounded soldiers, has stains on the second-floor front bedroom, which, according to legend, are from the blood of wounded men. For a brief time after the war, the Kingston Masonic Lodge met at the house. The Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon estate has had a succession of owners. Initially, Joseph Barnett purchased 570 acres for six shillings and, for $66, another eight acres around the Hayes Fork branch of Silver Creek. Tax records for 1825 list Barnett as possessing 20 slaves. After several owners, Kavanaugh Armstrong purchased Pleasant View in 1856 and his wife sold the property in 1875 to George Washington Herd. The house and 62-acre farm was acquired from Herd's daughter by Joel Walker Gibbs Nov. 15, 1886. And, periodically, more acreage was added to the farm. Gibbs's son, Alex Robert, inherited the farm on Jan. 22, 1903. After passing through several Gibbs heirs, Alex Robert's daughters, Lucile Gibbs and Virginia Gibbs Herndon, became joint owners on July 10, 1951. Lucile Gibbs died in 1985 and Virginia Herndon died in 1987. Virginia's sons, Alex Gibbs and Jake W. Herndon III, then became equal heirs of the estate. On Nov.
13, 1987, the property was divided with Alex receiving the house and 62
acres and Jake receiving the remainder of the estate. The Madison County
Historical Society, in conjunction with "heroes" from the Battle of
Richmond, acquired the house and 62-acre farm for $564,764 at absolute
auction on Nov. 3, 2001, from Jeanne F. Herndon, Alex's widow.
Subsequently, Pleasant View was donated to Madison County for the
establishment of a public park to preserve and interpret the property's
Civil War history. * * *
Depot's Quarters 29 became history, The transfer enabled the Civil War association and fiscal court to utilize the two-story building, also known as the Rogers house, as a history and visitor's center for the Association's Battlefield Park. The brick Federal-style structure was constructed around 1811 by Adam Rogers and some 130 years later the U.S. Army purchased the property as part of the Blue Grass Army Depot (1942) and added an extension, aluminum siding and sash windows to the building. The structure was designated Quarters 29 and was used as the base commandant's quarters and later as bachelor officers' quarters. The house and its three acres are located where some the heaviest action of Phase II of the Battle of Richmond took place. The house was among many in the area that also served as a recuperation facility for wounded troops. The Battle of Richmond Association and the County have renovated the rooms for interpretation of the battle. The remaining space is used for a meeting room and staff office space. The History and Visitor's Center is located at the U.S. 25/421 intersection at the entrance of the Battlefield Park area. The Battle of Richmond Association and the County have restructured many of the rooms to be used for interpretation of the battle. The remaining space is used for a meeting room and staff office space.
* * *
Palmer House was a landmark and field hospital during
battle Now the pro shop for Battlefield Golf Course, the Palmer House was the residence of the Thomas Palmer family at the time of the battle and was severely damaged by a two-hour artillery bombardment. Much of the damage was to the south side of the house. Originally, the entrance to the structure was on the west side, but later was reversed with an entryway now on the eastern side of the building. Some of the wounded Union soldiers from the 69th Indiana and the 95th Ohio were treated at the house as was John Miller (1798-1862), a prominent Richmond citizen who volunteered prior to the battle to serve as an aide to Union Gen. Charles Cruft. Miller, from one of Richmond's founding families, was wounded while trying to rally Union troops who were fleeing the Richmond Cemetery. He died six days later and is buried in that cemetery. Some civilians sought refuge in the house during the battle. Among those was Elizabeth Armstrong and her children and slaves from their family farm at Pleasant View (Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon Estate). Pleasant View was in the midst of the Battle's Phase I, which necessitated the family's exit. The Palmer House was a key landmark for the Confederate Second Division which, undetected, marched up a ravine west of the Old State Road in a maneuver that turned the course of the battle. The troops turned east at the Palmer House and flanked the Federals, forcing a mass retreat. Like Mt. Zion Church and other buildings used as field hospitals, the Palmer House probably was marked with a plain yellow hospital flag when the wounded were being treated there. Both sides recognized the flag and would not intentionally fire on a building flying it.
According to one account, Union troops discovered and drank whiskey
stored on the Palmer farm. After the battle, another story is that
Confederate soldiers, after seeing their adversaries partaking,
ransacked the house looking for more distilled spirits. * * *
Mt. Zion Church used as battlefield hospital Although initiated as a Federal hospital, care was provided at the church for both Union and Confederate wounded. Some 300-500 soldiers were treated at Mt. Zion, according to accounts passed down by church members. At the time of the battle, Madison County was in the throes of a drought and the temperature outside was somewhere around 100 degrees in the shade. In was even hotter, of course, in the church, where scores of wounded were placed on pews and on the floor. A makeshift operating room was located near a south side window at the back of the church (left of the church altar). Arms and legs were amputated there and the piles of discarded limbs were said to reach to the windowsills. There was no anesthesia and patients endured the pain by biting on a piece of leather and squeezing a section of cork that was placed in one or both hands. The bloodstains were so prominent on a part of the church floor (first three rear pews to left of aisle on right), that paint applied to that area would peel. That gave credence to the notion that "you can't paint over bloodstains." A hardwood floor, now throughout the church, corrected the problem. The building, however, still bears a visible remnant of the battle on the south wall. A brochure about the Battle of Richmond describes it as a "slight scar in the brickwork high up between the third and fourth windows on the south side towards the back of the church." For many years, part of what was believed to be a sword blade was imbedded in the mortar between bricks on the church's north wall. A sword, apparently, had been stuck in the mortar and broken off with just part of the blade showing. The blade remnant was removed or destroyed when a gas ventilation pipe was installed. Dr. Bernard J.D. Irwin, an assistant surgeon and Major General William (Bull) Nelson's divisional medical director from Tennessee, was placed in charge of the hospital. The Union general appointed Dr. Irwin medical director for the entire Army of Kentucky upon his arrival in Richmond on Aug. 27, 1862. Irwin, who later was awarded the first U.S. Medal of Honor, found "few medical officers, who had neither medicines, instruments, ambulances, tents, or camp equipage to enable them to perform their duties." What supplies and ambulances he did have were lost on the final day of the battle (Aug. 30) as the Union forces fled the field and ran for their lives. Mt. Zion's involvement in the Battle of Richmond has no discernable connections to politics, the North or the South, or who was on which side. The effort simply was one of helping those who needed help. Mt.
Zion Christian Church was founded June 7, 1852 and is one of the oldest
houses of worship in Kentucky. A Disciples of Christ church, Mt. Zion
was the 113th Christian church established in the state and the 877th in
the United States. The church is located on Battlefield Memorial
Highway, some 500 yards north of Battlefield Park. |