Prologue
At 5 o’clock on the morning on November 8, 1861, U.S. Navy Lieutenant William O. Nelson, who had been charged with clearing Eastern Kentucky of the Confederate Army, marched out of Prestonsburg toward Piketon ( now Pikeville), Kentucky. With him was part of the Second, the Twenty-First and the Fifty-Ninth Ohio Regiments, the Sixteenth Kentucky and sections of artillery, altogether totaling about 1500 men. Fifteen miles outside of Piketon they met a Confederate picket of approximately 40 cavalry. After a brief exchange of gunfire the Confederates withdrew to Piketon. There, Colonel John S. Williams commanded Captain Andrew Jackson May to go back with two companies of soldiers and twenty mounted men.
May stationed 116 soldiers behind breastworks along a flat area on Ivy Mountain overlooking the Big Sandy river. Additional troops were stationed on the other side of the river to fire on the approaching Union soldiers from a different angle. After an hour and fifteen minutes of battle, the badly outnumbered Confederates were out of ammo and so retreated to Piketon. Nelson reported 6 dead and 24 wounded and 32 Confederates killed. Col. Williams claimed 300 Federal soldiers had been killed when sending his report a few days later. On his own side, he reported 10 dead, 15 wounded and 40 missing. [1]
The Confederates retreated first to Piketon, then on to Pound Gap at the Virginia line. At some point while they were crossing Pike County, young Wright Damron, son of James S. Damron, and younger brother of my ancestor Moses D. Damron, would join that army. He was sworn on November 9 and enlisted on November 11, 1861 at the camp near Pound Gap. Wright, or “Rite” as he was listed in the records, enlisted in Company G of the Kentucky Fifth Mounted Infantry, CSA for a term of one year. [2]
Whether joining the Confederate army was Wright’s idea or the the result of persuasion/coercion by the soldiers who happened on him while sweeping through Pike County on their way back to Virginia is unknown. But there are clues. The service record of Wright Damron while in the Confederate Army is unremarkable. Wright enrolled in the Union army at Peach Orchard (a mining town near Louisa and Ulyssus) in Lawrence County, Kentucky on November 14, 1862, only days after his one year term as a Confederate ended.[3] That was also only five days after his older brother Moses D. had joined on November 9, 1862 for 3 year term. So either Wright’s heart wasn’t in fighting for the Confederates, or he had a change of heart at some point. His brother Moses D. was described at the time as age 26 years, 6 feet 1 inch tall, with fair complexion, blue eyes, dark hair, born in Pike County, Kentucky, and a farmer. He mustered in November 18, 1862.
Moses D. had also been identified as a farmer, still living with his parents, in the 1860 U.S. Census. Farming would be a lifelong occupation, as it was for many at the time.
Pioneer and Farmer
On March 20, 1861, Moses D. married Artie Sturgill (or Sturgell), two days after the bride turned 19. [4] It must have been difficult to sign up for three years of service barely a year and a half after marrying. The separation was probably made a bit more bearable by the fact that the Kentucky 39th Infantry, the regiment joined by both Moses D. and Wright, was created primarily to protect local lives and property, and seldom ventured too far from home.
Moses D. had been born on December 9, 1836, in Pike County, Kentucky, the son of James S. Damron of Virginia and Mary “Polly” Adkins, [5] seven months after they were wed on May 1, 1836.[6] Moses D. was born into a pioneer era in the remote and isolated hills of the state, and the Damrons were among the first families to settle in the region. [7] According to William Ely, these pioneers “ground their corn on hand-mills, or beat the grains to meal in a morter,” used “bear’s oil in place of lard to shorten their johnnycakes,” and lived on wild game, fowl, wild honey, and fruit. “Hog-meat and beef soon followed along, with a little flour, and after 1820 coffee was used quite often.” Clothes were made from animal skins and from flax and cotton raised by the pioneers themselves. [8] In truth, the living conditions didn’t change very much during his entire life. Writing in 1925, one author described the then current circumstances as follows:
Living conditions in both the creek bottom and ridge top settlements are poor. In part, this is due to the poor soil and lack of markets for home products. Some of the existing conditions are, however, the result of shiftlessness, and many more represent a survival of pioneer willingness to put up with inconveniences. [9]
This hard living is part of what made folks such as Moses D. and Wright Damron desirable as soldiers. It also made them difficult to control. This was described by Harry M. Caudill when he wrote:
[T]hese were not men who, in the modern sense, had to be trained and inured to the privations and bloodletting of warfare. They had known the discomforts of cold and heat, and sometimes of hunger and thirst, since boyhood. They could walk tirelessly for many miles and the use of the rifle came almost by instinct to their hands and eyes. . . .
…But to their soldierly virtues was added a grave defect – an unrelenting hatred of disclipline and order. The highland soldier wore the collar of military discipline with poor grace, frequently deserting when an officer “got too big for his britches.” [10]
The person most responsible for the formation of the Thirty-ninth Kentucky Infantry was John Dils, Jr., a Pike County merchant. Although a civilian, he was arrested on October 1, 1861 on orders of Confederate Col. John S. Williams and imprisoned in Richmond, Virginia for several months. Later, Confederate Nathaniel M. Menifee and 75 to 175 men gathered in Wise, Virginia and rode into Piketon, robbing the store owned by Dils of thousands of dollars of merchandise on August 1, 1862. During their return trip to Virginia they took livestock, firearms and other property small enough to carry. In the wake of this, Dils fled Pike County in fear of his life and traveled to Frankfort and Washington seeking aid. He convinced the authorities to commission and arm a new unit – the Thirty-Ninth Kentucky Infantry. A month after his store was robbed, Dils was commissioned as a Colonel on September 1, 1862. Most of those he recruited joined to protect themselves and their families and there was probably at least a tacit agreement that they would not have to travel outside the Big Sandy valley but could remain close to home. [11] In his account contained in Ely’s The Big Sandy Valley, a History of the People and Country: From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Dils wrote that he met with President Lincoln several times while in Washington. [12]
While the official date that everyone was mustered into the Union Army, Thirty-Ninth Kentucky Regiment was 16 February 1863, many men, including brothers Wright and Moses D. Damron, had been banded together and fighting since November, 1862. In truth, much had happened before that first official muster roll in February 1863. In November of 1862, some of the Thirty-Ninth were quartered near a mill at the mouth of Hurricane Creek in Pike County in small houses built for coal miners. [13] On the Fifth of November, Dils and 400 men surprised a nearby Confederate force, routing them and seizing 150 guns and taking 75 prisoners. [14] An impressive start for the newly formed force, and one can imagine their joy and celebration.
Moses D, originally mustered in as a corporal in Company B. [15] However, in May and June of 1864, he was listed as “absent” and “on detach to Pike Co, Ky.” In July and August he was “absent without leave.” Finally, on October 10, he was pronounced “deserted.” He did not return until April 1, 1865. President Lincoln had issued a Proclamation on March 11, 1865 pardoning all deserters if they returned to their units within 60 days of that date. But why did Moses D. desert in the first place? Perhaps he had an encounter with a superior who indeed struck him as “too big for his britches.” But I would like to think it was a nobler reason than that. I like to think it was because of family. He had barely been married a year and a half when he joined the army. Most of his service had been in the area where he lived. Maybe even being detached to Pike County in May/June 1864 had been offered as an opportunity for him to see his family, especially his young wife, Artie. It was about the time that he was listed as AWOL in July/August of 1864 that his first child, James, was born. [16] By then, it was nearly harvest time and one thing may have simply lead to another.
When Moses D. finally returned to his company in the Thirty-ninth Kentucky Infantry, he did so as a private, not a corporal. While he was no longer formally charged with desertion, the fact was expressly not expunged from his record, and his pay and allowances for the period of his dessertion were not paid. [17]
The Civil War ended barely a week after Moses D. returned to his unit when General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomatox. Moses D. mustered out of the Union Army, along with the rest of the surviving soldiers of the thirty-ninth Kentucky Infantry, in Louisville on September 15, 1865. Despite his prior desertion, he was appointed as the U.S. Postmaster of the Post Office at Little Creek, Pike County, Kentucky on March 14, 1870, and apparenlty served in that capacity until he was replaced in 1878. [18]
Moses D. and Artie Sturgill lead long and productive lives. Their son James, born in 1864, was followed by more children: John in 1866; Elizabeth in 1868 [19]; Mary in 1870; Jerome in 1872; Lucinda in 1875; Myrta in 1877 [20]; Gertrude in 1883; and Robert in 1885 [21]. Moses D. continued to be listed as a “farmer” in the U.S. Censuses through 1910.[22] In the 1920 Census, no occupation was listed.[23] During his life, Yellowstone became America’s first National Park (1872), the lightbulb was invented (1879), the Statue of Liberty was dedicated (1886), World War 1 was fought (1914-1918), and women were granted the right to vote (1920).[24]
On March 10, 1923, at age 86 years 3 months and 1 day, Moses D. died from influenza, to be buried in Yeager, Pike County, Kentucky on March 11. For one last time, his occupation was identified as “farmer.” [25] Artie followed him in death on February 16, 1928 at age 85, also to be buried in Yeager. [26] Their son James and Margaret C. Damron would eventually have a son, John Fitzhugh (“Fitch”) Damron, and he and Lydia Compton would eventually have a son, Atha Damron, and Atha and Ola Mae Hall would eventually have a son who would research family history and start a blog about it.
Endnotes
[1] John David Preston, The Civil War in the Big Sandy Valley of Kentucky, Second Edition (Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 2008), pp. 36-44.
[2] “Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers”, digital image, The National Archives (www.fold3.com), page 2 of Confederate Service Record of Rite Damron
[3] “Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky”, digital image, The National Archives (www.fold3.com), page 2 of Service Record of Wright Damron.
[4] Marriage Bond Book 4, p. 164, File No. 1653. Pike County Clerk’s Office, Pikeville, Pike County, Kentucky.
[5] Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives; Frankfort, Kentucky, Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, (Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Description: Film 7017482: All Counties). Cit. Date: January 11, 2020. Ancestry.com. Web: http://www.ancestry.com.
[6] Marriage of James Damron & Polly Adkins, (Pike County Kentucky Clerk’s office, Courthouse, Pikeville, Pike County, Kentucky. Marriage Bond Book 2, page 2, registered no bond of record, File No. 452.). Pike County Clerk’s Office, Pikeville, Pike County, Kentucky.
[7] William Ely, The Big Sandy Valley, a History of the People and Country from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (Central Methodist, Catlettsburg, Kentucky 1887), p. 6; digital images, Google Books (http;//www.books.google.com: accessed and downloaded 18 Mar 2023).
[8] Ibid, 8-14. The author also broadly states that the “men were brave, and the women virtuous” on page 9.
[9] William Roscoe Thomas, Life Among the Hills and Mountains of Kentucky (The Standard Printing Co., Inc., Louisville, Kentucky, 1926; reprinted for Big Sandy Valley Historical Society, Inc., Domasohko’s Printing & Graphic Design, Bromley, Kentucky 1983 & 1987), p. 1.
[10] Harry M. Caudill, Night Comes to the Cumberlands (Little, Brown & Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1962, 1963), p. 39.
[11] Preston, pp. 130-131.
[12] Ely, pp. 52-55.
[13] Preston p 144.
[14] Preston, p 137.
[15] National Archives and Records Administration, Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Solidiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky, (Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com), page 2 of Service Record of Moses D. Damron.
[16] 1870 U.S. Census, Pike County, Kentucky, population schedule, Dist. No. 2, Post Office: Robinson Creek, page no. 3, dwelling no. 26, family no. 26. James is listed as 5 year old son of Moses D. and Arty Damron. Find My Past. Web: http://www.findmypast.com. The birthday is listed as August 9, 1864 on the Death Certificate of James. Kentucky Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, record for James Damron, (online database). Custom Id: File No. 116, stamped 53- 27413, Registrar’s No. 199, Registration Dist. No. 1180, Primary Registration Dist. No. 7861; Ancestry.com. Web: http://www.ancestry.com.
[17] Compiled Service Records of Moses D. Damron.
[18] Appointments of U.S. Postmasters 1832-1971: U.S. Postmasters of Little Creek, Pike County, Kentucky, USA, Ancestry.com.
[19] 1870 U.S. Census, Pike County, Kentucky, population schedule, Dist. No. 2, Post Office: Robinson Creek, page no. 3, dwelling no. 26, family no. 26. Find My Past. Web: http://www.findmypast.com.
[20] 1880 U.S. Census, Pike County, Kentucky, population schedule, Precinct No. 14 (Mouth of Caney), Supervisore’s Dist. No. 5, Enumeration Dist. No. 104 1/2, page no. 13, dwelling 106, family 106, citing NARA film T9-0439 (Acessed 19, June 2018). Find My Past. Web: http://www.findmypast.com.
[21] 1900 U.S. Census, Pike County, Kentucky, population schedule, Caney Precinct, Supervisor’s Dist. No. 10, Enumeration Dist. No. 80, sheet no. 1, dwelling 6, family 6, enumeraged 1 Jun 1900 citing NARA Roll: 548; Page: 1; http://ancestry.com: accessed 4 Mar 2023.
[22] 1910 U.S. Census, Pike County, Kentucky, Caney Precinct No. 14, Sup Dist. No. 10, Enumeration Dist No. 168, Sheet No. 2A, dwelling no. 25, family no. 25, household of Moses D. and Artie Damron; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com; accessed 11 Jan 2020). Ancestry.com. Web: http://www.ancestry.com.
[23] 1920 U.S. Census, Pike County, Kentucky, population schedule, Little Creek Precinct No. 33, Sup. Dist.. No. 10, Enumeration Dis. No. 112, sheet 21B, dwelling no. 390, family no. 390, household of Dee and Artie Damron, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 11 Jan 2020), (Citing NARA microfilm roll T625_596; Page 21B). Ancestry.com. Web: http://www.ancestry.com.
[24] Look it up! What, I have to do everything? Google it!
[25] Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives; Frankfort, Kentucky, Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, (Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Description: Film 7017482: All Counties). Ancestry.com.
[26] J.W. Call & Son, Pikeville, KY, Commonwealth of Kentucky Death Certificate, (Commonwealth of Kentucky, State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Registration District 1180, Primary Registration Dist. No. 7135.). Custom Id: File No. 5002, Registered 6083; Ancestry.com. Web: http://www.ancestry.com.
Jeff Damron Genealogy 