Lesson Relearned: The life of Confederate Soldiers

THE BACKPAGE

Lessons Relearned: The life of Confederate Soldiers

BY Trey Smallwood

Tour Guide through Georgetown Time

I am attempting to chronicle former Georgetown students’ lives through former student record cards. These cards have been in the back of the Georgetonian office for years, and I have been inspired to try to bring myself and my readers knowledge from their lives. In the past weeks, I have focused on a few notable alumni and looked at the Georgetown College trustees as a whole. This week I am looking at a group of individuals that kept appearing in these cards.

Sorting through the former student record cards I very quickly saw this group emerge. In fact I was struck that they had as many members as they did. Many members of Georgetown College served in the Civil War on behalf of the Confederacy.

This should not come as a shock to anyone. Georgetown is in the center of a border state. It has been said that there was brother versus brother on the battlefield, so it is also probable that there was Tiger versus Tiger on the battlefield as well. While I looked through all of the cards, not one mentioned an individual serving on the Union side. This may be due to the fact that Scott Co. itself was a very southern leaning county.

Georgetown College has a deep history with the Civil War. In fact, so many young people fought in the Civil War that Georgetown College had to temporarily close its doors. There were not enough young people wanting an education while there was a war going on. It simply was not valued, or if it was, other cicumstances prevented people from pursuing an education.

I understand that discussing these individuals can be controversial. When I sat down to write about these individuals’ lives, I wondered what I could possibly draw from their lives. In fact, the lessons are not as definitive as past lessons. I want to make myself abundantly clear that these people are not necessarily racist because they fought for the South. However, I do think it is important to keep in mind the Confederacy was on the wrong side of history. One issue individuals were fighting for in the war was the right to abolish or keep slavery.

The first individual is John S. Moss. He graduated in 1860, just a year before the Civil War started. We do not get much more information about him besides that he was from Woodford Co., Ky.,moved to St. Louis, Mo. and was a merchant.

The next individual was also from Woodford Co. and graduated with Moss a year before the war. His name was James T. Carpenter and he was a farmer and a teacher. He never moved from Woodford Co..

Benjamin Alexander Offutt graduated sometime around 1855. He was a cotton planter in Washington Co., Miss.. He lived with his grandfather Ben Ford, who was a trustee of the school. The card noted that Offutt was considered a “very brilliant student.” Offutt was wounded serving as an Officer in the Confederate Army and never entirely recovered. Offutt died in June of 1885.

William Carey Bledsoe graduated from Georgetown in 1868. Shortly after in December of the same year, he martheir ried Rena Carson. Unfortunately, eight months later she would pass away. He then remarried and remained married to her until her death in 1897. Bledsoe received his Doctorate of Divinity in 1890. He served as a minister for his entire adult life, with the exception of the years he fought in the war. Bledsoe fought with Gen. Lee at the Battle of Appomattox.

Robert Keene graduated in 1857. He married twice throughout his life and had one child who also attended Georgetown after it re-opened after the war. He got his medical degree in Philadelphia. He practiced medicine in Georgetown with his father his entire life except when he served in the war as an army surgeon.

Charles Howard Voorhies graduated in 1858. He served as a Private and Lieutenant on Gen. Bradford’s staff. He spent the rest of his life working at Northern Bank and worked his way from cashier to President.

John A. Lewis graduated in 1862. He served as a soldier for three years in the adjutant 9th Ky. Cavalry, and was a doctor for the rest of his life. He served as president of the Scott Co. Medical Society, Midland Medical Society and the Kentucky Medical Society. He also wrote “numerous articles on medical subjects.”

Finally, we have Joseph Chenault who graduated in 1860. He was a captain in the Confederate Army. The only other information we have about him is that he was killed in battle.

From these stories one could draw the lesson of standing up for what you believe in. While important, if these people are standing up and fighting for rights to keep slaves, that is not something our society should want to endorse.

One other thing I think we can all learn from their lives was that all of these individuals are humans, just like the rest of us. They all had families, an education and jobs. They were teachers, doctors, pastors, bankers and merchants. They were normal individuals like the people we would see walking through downtown. I think it is important to humanize them and not think of them as some other worldly monsters. They certainly were in the wrong, but they are still humans.

Can these individuals give us insight into the debate over whether or not people should fly the Confederate Flag? Again, it represents a time in our country’s history full of turmoil and hate. But, some people might see it as a connection to these individuals, their ancestors and the past. I think flying the confederate flag is distasteful at best and unAmerican at worst. However, I remember that it is their First Amendment right to fly the flag.

I challenge my readers to look at individuals who fly the flag, or people who are racist, and remember, they are human. While racism is an evil that is still around in this country, we will not fix it with hate. Racism, sexism, and homophobia are wrong; we should not fight fire with fire or hate with hate. I believe that a calm demeanor, and a kind heart are a more effective approach to enabling change, rather than beginning immediately with anger.