My Ancestors and the Thirteenth
Kentucky
Cavalry
The 13th Kentucky Calvalry
was commanded by my 1st cousin 4 times removed, Colonel Benjamin
Everage Caudill, b. February 11, 1830 in Letcher Co., KY; d. February 11,
1889 in Claireborne Co., TN. He
was the son of John Caudill and Rachel Cornett, being the siblings of my
3rd great-grandparents, Lydia Caudill and Nathaniel Woolery
Cornett.
Benjamin enlisted
in the 5th KY Infantry Nov. 1, 1861, and served as Captain of Co. F of that
regiment. My 2nd
great-grandfather, Wesley Madden,
(born December 15, 1833 in KY; died May 13, 1917) also enlisted Nov. 1, 1861
and served as a Private in Co. F under Captain
Caudill. My 3rd
great-grandfather, Valentine Mullins also served in Company F at this
time. The 5th disbanded on October
20, 1862 at Hazel Green, Kentucky.
Authorized by Brig.
General Humphrey Marshall, Ben raised a regiment of 600 Confederate Volunteers
in Eastern Kentucky at Whitesburg, KY.
Ben was promoted to Colonel on Sept. 1, 1862, and placed in command
of these troops, the 13th Kentucky Cavalry, known as "Caudill's
Army". Wesley Madden then served
in Company A of the13th.
Wesley’s brothers, my 2nd great-granduncles,
William D., (born Abt. 1822
in KY), John A.(born Abt. 1831 in KY), George Washington (born Abt. 1838
in KY) and Andrew Jackson (born Abt. 1839 in KY) also served in Company
A. William D. Madden was
1st Sergeant of that company.
My 3rd great-grandfather, Franklin Ashley (born 1828 in
Ashe Co., NC; died after 1880) served in Company B of the 13th and was discharged
on September 29, 1862. His brothers, my 3rd great-granduncles,
Larkin Sheppard Ashley, (b. 1837 in NC) and Hilliard J. Ashley, (b. 1841
in NC) also served in Company B of the
13th. My 2nd
great-grandfather, Jordan Toliver Ashley (born 1847-9 in Hazard KY) served
in Company I of the 13th.
Colonel Caudill
was captured at Gladesville (now Wise), VA. on July 7, 1863 along with
119 others. Among the others captured were Larkin and Hilliard Ashley and
some of the Madden brothers: George Washington Madden, Andrew Jackson Madden
and possibly John A. Madden.
Colonel Caudill states in his diary that the enlisted men were taken
to Camp Chase near Columbus, Ohio, then to Camp Douglas Prison, Chicago,
Illinois. Also among those captured at Gladesville was "Devil John"
Wright (Company G). John slipped away from his captors into the thicket
along a road they were being marched down.
Wesley Madden was captured
at Booneville, Ky., August 19, 1863, taken to Camp Chase Prison then to Rock
Island Prison, on an island in the Mississippi off Rock Island, Illinois.
Andrew Jackson Madden died October 04, 1863 in Camp Douglas
Prison. George Washington Madden
died February 16, 1864, also in Camp Douglas
Prison. Both are buried at Oak Woods Cemetery with about 6000
other victims of Camp Douglas Death Camp. Larkin and Hilliard Ashley
were not heard of again after their capture at Gladesville.
Colonel Caudill was
exchanged at Charleston, SC on Aug. 3, 1864, and returned to command the
10th KY Infantry on Sept. 17, 1864.
Wesley Madden was exchanged
at
Boulware's
and Cox's Worf, James River,
Virginia on March 23, 1865.
Jordan Toliver Ashley remained in the army for the duration
of the conflict. His unit was on march in Virginia to aid General Lee when
they heard of his surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1965.
In 2000, tombstones were set for Wesley and William D. Madden
by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Col. Ben E. Caudill Camp #1629.
Camp Douglas-
photo at the Chicago Historical Society
Camp
Douglas Confederate Mound at Oak Woods
Cemetery
Civil War
Prisons in
Illinois
Civil War
Concentration Camps- essay by Mark Weber in Journal of Historical
Review
Col. Benjamin Caudill Camp #
1629, SCV, Hazard, Ky
Graphics courtesy of:
Savage/Goodner Camp #
1513, SCV, Smithville, Tennessee