The Most Hated Man in Kentucky: The Lost Cause and the Legacy of Union General Stephen Burbridge by Brad Asher

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Most Hated Man in Kentucky: The Lost Cause and the Legacy of Union General Stephen Burbridge by Brad Asher Brian D. Mcknight (bio) The Most Hated Man in Kentucky: The Lost Cause and the Legacy of Union General Stephen Burbridge. By Brad Asher. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2021. Pp. 286. $40.00 cloth) Seldom is a book's title so perfect for its subject. Stephen G. Burbridge certainly was the most hated man in Kentucky in his time and it was a seemingly well-earned designation. Notorious for his declaration of martial law in Kentucky and his executions of Confederate guerrillas, he garnered further animus from even staunch Unionists when he abandoned the field at Saltville, Virginia, in October 1864, leaving behind wounded troops, including dozens of green African American soldiers, some of whom were killed upon becoming prisoners of the Confederates. With such a divisive figure at hand, Brad Asher has bravely taken up Burbridge to help a new generation understand this controversial Union commander. Asher states his thesis clearly: white Kentuckians hated Burbridge because he attacked slavery by enlisting Black soldiers and, as a result, retaliatory guerrilla activity increased and Burbridge's heavy-handed responses were driven by his commitment to the priorities of the Lincoln administration. With a thesis that clearly continues the modern trend of understanding over vilification, Asher constructs a study that hopes to explain not only the man, but his place, time, and motivations. The story of Saltville has been well told with Burbridge bringing United States Colored Troops with him and giving them their first taste of combat. The morning after the battle, soldiers awoke to find that Burbridge had abandoned the field leaving wounded soldiers behind, many of whom were Black. Here, in a book so well written and researched, lies a shortcoming. For a man so obviously sensitive [End Page 421] to the place of Blacks in the Civil War, it has always confounded historians that Burbridge would leave them on the field and at the mercy of the Confederacy, which promised to re-enslave them and kill their white officers. Asher missed an opportunity here to discuss what Burbridge may have been thinking when he ordered his men to move out. Was Burbridge sympathetic, oblivious, uncaring, or wracked by guilt? What do his other experiences lead us to believe about the man and how he felt at that moment? One of the central arguments Asher makes is that Burbridge was shaped by his experience with guerrillas. He was exposed to them early in the war, and the problem had not abated by the time he returned in 1864. There is no doubt of Burbridge's execution of guerrillas, but what made his approach controversial is that they were executed after being arrested and imprisoned. One could argue that he did to Confederate guerrillas what Confederate soldiers did to his Black troops at Saltville. In reality, Burbridge's Civil War experience is very much in line with the "hard war" concepts that have driven studies of irregular warfare for the past couple of decades. Asher's study reminds readers that one does not need to be a soldier in the field in order to prosecute a very personal and violent war. A guerrilla could be a commander in charge of thousands, shaping how many soldiers viewed the conflict. With the Saltville criticism noted, readers should be confident that this is the best work this generation is likely to see on Burbridge. It is easy to write hagiography of popular figures and to skewer villains, but to take a man as hated as Burbridge has been for more than 150 years and give him an honest treatment is a fine testament to a historian. Brad Asher has done an excellent job with a very difficult subject and should be commended. [End Page 422] Brian D. Mcknight BRIAN D. MCKNIGHT is professor of history and founding director of the Center for Appalachian Studies at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. He is the author of Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia and Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia. Copyright...