Glen Lily — Birthplace of Simon B. Buckner
Munfordville, Hart County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Glen Lily. Built 1819-1822 by Colonel Aylette Hartswell Buckner. Birthplace of his son, General Simon Bolivar Buckner (1823-1914), Confederate States Army Commander, Governor of Kentucky, 1887-1891, nominee for Vice-Presidency, 1896.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Built between 1819 and 1822 by Colonel Aylette Hartswell Buckner, Glen Lily was in 1823 the birthplace of Simon Bolivar Buckner. He grew up to command Confederate forces in the Civil War, famously surrendering Fort Donelson in 1862. Buckner later returned to public life as governor of Kentucky from 1887 to 1891 and, in 1896, ran as a candidate for vice president.
Why it matters
One Kentucky farmhouse produced a man who embodied the state's divided loyalties—Confederate general, reform governor, and national candidate—across the Civil War and the decades that followed.
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Related people
- · Simon Bolivar Buckner
- · Aylette Hartswell Buckner
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hart County
Munfordville, KY
Formed in 1819 from Hardin and Barren counties, Hart County was home to the Buckner family. Simon Bolivar Buckner, a West Point graduate and Mexican War captain, became a Confederate general and later governor of Kentucky; his son, Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., commanded the U.S. Tenth Army and was killed on Okinawa in 1945. Both rest in the Frankfort Cemetery.
Barren County
Glasgow, KY
Formed in 1798 from Green and Warren counties, Barren County took its name from the open 'barrens,' or prairies, that drew early explorers and settlers. During the Civil War the area saw hard use: the first two of Morgan's Raids passed through in 1862, the same year General Braxton Bragg's Confederate army entered Kentucky here.
Christmas Eve Skirmish at Glasgow
Glasgow, KY
On Christmas Eve 1862, the main body of John Hunt Morgan's raiders camped south of Glasgow while Captain Thomas Quirk and his scouts slipped into town for a holiday celebration. Dismounting at a tavern, they were surprised by a patrol of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry bent on the same festive errand. A brief skirmish scattered both parties into the night—Christmas cheer traded for gunfire during Morgan's Christmas Raid.
Barren County's Confederate Medalists
Glasgow, KY
In 1862 the Confederate government authorized a Medal of Honour, awarded not by generals but by vote of the soldiers themselves after every signal victory—each company choosing its most worthy man. More Confederate soldiers from Barren County received this honor than from any other Kentucky county. The medalists listed here earned it in the bloody fighting at Stone's River and Chickamauga in 1862 and 1863.