Booknotes: We Shall Conquer or Die

New Arrival:

• We Shall Conquer or Die: Partisan Warfare in 1862 Western Kentucky by Derrick Lindow (Savas Beatie, 2024).

The partisan ranger exploits of Virginia's John Singleton Mosby have always been a part of the popular imagination, but until recently it was the Missouri experience that most shaped general impressions of the Civil War's irregular conflict. Redressing the imbalance (and with much of the best work published over the past two decades), modern scholarly and popular investigation of the non-conventional war fought by both sides has now reached into nearly every nook and cranny of its existence. In a number of ways, Kentucky's Border State situation was similar to Missouri's, and our knowledge and understanding of the Bluegrass State's war behind the lines has improved greatly during this time.

As a pair of recent book-length studies of the Civil War in the Jackson Purchase make clear, that region and other parts of western Kentucky were prime breeding grounds for pro-Confederate irregular activities. One of the most prominent leaders to emerge was Henderson County-born Adam Rankin "Stovepipe" Johnson. Most notorious for his July 1862 Newburg Raid (see Ray Mulesky's Thunder from a Clear Sky: Stovepipe Johnson's Confederate Raid on Newburgh, Indiana), Johnson was a thorn in the side of Union forces on a number of occasions. Providing a new look into Johnson's activities during that early-war period is Derrick Lindow's We Shall Conquer or Die: Partisan Warfare in 1862 Western Kentucky.

From the description: "Confederate Col. Adam Rankin Johnson and his 10th Kentucky Partisan Rangers wreaked havoc on Union supply lines and garrisons from the shores of southern Indiana, in the communities of western Kentucky, and even south into Tennessee. His rangers seemed unbeatable and uncatchable that second year of the war because Johnson’s partisans often disbanded and melted into the countryside (a tactic relatively easy to execute in a region populated with Southern sympathizers). Once it was safe to do so, they reformed and struck again."

The Union response to all that is detailed as well. More from the description: "In the span of just a few months Johnson captured six Union-controlled towns, hundreds of prisoners, and tons of Union army equipment. Union civil and military authorities, meanwhile, were not idle bystanders. Strategies changed, troops rushed to guerrilla flashpoints, daring leaders refused the Confederate demands of surrender, and every available type of fighting man was utilized, from Regulars to the militia of the Indiana Legion, temporary service day regiments, and even brown water naval vessels. Clearing the area of partisans and installing a modicum of Union control became one of the Northern high command’s major objectives."

In summary, Lindow's "account of partisan guerrilla fighting and the efforts to bring it under control helps put the Civil War in the northern reaches of the Western Theater into proper context."