Campbellsville Courthouse Burned
Campbellsville, Taylor County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Courthouse Burned. Gen. Hylan B. Lyon with 800 men invaded Ky., Dec. 1864, to enforce CSA draft law and divert USA from Nashville. In 23 days he burned seven courthouses used by Union forces. (See map on reverse side.) The courthouse at Campbellsville was burned December 25. Some records saved. Desertions had reduced ranks to 250 and Lyon moved out of state via Burkesville, Jan. 3. Erected June 28, 1963.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
On Christmas Day 1864, the courthouse at Campbellsville went up in flames as Confederate General Hylan B. Lyon swept through Kentucky. Leading a force that began at 800 men, Lyon aimed to enforce the Confederate draft and pull Union attention away from Nashville, burning seven courthouses that federal troops had been using in just 23 days. Desertions thinned his ranks to 250 before he slipped out of the state in early January.
Why it matters
Lyon's raid shows how deep into the Union's Kentucky rear the Confederacy could still strike late in the war, and how county courthouses became military targets in a bitterly divided border state.
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Related people
- · Hylan B. Lyon
Themes & tags
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