15th Kentucky confronts Rebel fire

THE BATTLE RAGES HIGHER: THE UNION’S FIFTEENTH KENTUCKY INFANTRY

By Kirk C. Jenkins. University Press of Kentucky,464 pages. $35

Of the scores of Civil War regimental histories published in recent years, few have focused on Union regiments from the border state of Kentucky. With the exception of a work on the 6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment, Kirk C. Jenkins’ “The Battle Rages Higher: The Union’s Fifteenth Kentucky Infantry” is one of the first to examine those from the Bluegrass State who wore blue.

Organized in Louisville in the fall of 1861, the men of the 15th Kentucky racked up an impressive record during their three years of service. After a brutal baptism of fire at Perryville (where they fought against overwhelming odds on the Union right flank), the regiment battled Confederate troops at Stones River, the Tullahoma Campaign, Chickamauga, the siege of Chattanooga and the Atlanta Campaign. Casualties were severe.

According to the author, “Only thirty-two regiments in the entire Union army lost a greater percentage of their men in battle, and the [15th Kentucky] had the highest casualty rate of all among the Fourteenth Army Corps, the principal Union army in the western theatre.”

One of the book’s strengths is the statistical analysis of the soldiers who served in the regiment. Examining the service records of nearly every man who fought in the unit, Mr. Jenkins has determined that the 15th was unique in several respects when compared to other bluegrass regiments.

There was a “heavy foreign influence” in the unit, with 47 percent of the troops having been born outside of Kentucky. One hundred forty-six were born in Ireland, 127 in Germany, and others filled the ranks from Scotland, Denmark, France, Austria, Belgium, Canada and Switzerland. Furthermore, many of the troops, Mr. Jenkins writes, “were significantly older than the average Union soldier.” Mr. Jenkins credits this life experience as a factor in the regiment’s success on the battlefield.

The men were, however, typical of those in other Kentucky Union regiments in two ways. First, prewar professions were similar, and second, many of the Federal Kentuckians abhorred President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Most of the officers in the regiment resigned when this edict was issued.

Mr. Jenkins’ well-written and provocative history is practically a study of Brig. Gen. John Beatty’s brigade, for the 15th Kentucky fought under Beatty’s command for much of the war. More than a regimental history, “The Battle Rages Higher” is a good overview of what transpired in the Western Union army from Perryville to the Atlanta Campaign.

There are many details on the individual soldiers in the ranks, interesting facets about arguments between officers over command structure, and descriptive battle details. The chapters on Perryville, Stones River and the Tullahoma Campaign are particularly compelling.

Sadly, the brother-against-brother aspect of the Civil War was highlighted in this Kentucky regiment. From battle to battle, the 15th Kentucky frequently fought the same enemy brigades, and on several occasions, these bluegrass Unionists tangled with the Orphan Brigade, Kentucky’s famed Confederate unit.

Ironically, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, the Union commander at Stones River, called the 15th his “Orphan regiment” at this battle. Therefore, at the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge, it was Orphan against Orphan. Mr. Jenkins relates that according to one Indiana soldier, the enemy Kentuckians fraternized on the night of the battle. They were, the soldier wrote, “well acquainted with each other, some of them lived in the same neighborhood … in some cases there were brothers on each side.”

“The Battle Rages Higher” is a well-written, lively account of what Union soldiers experienced in the Western theater. Particularly interesting, and helpful to researchers, is a painstakingly researched biographic roster of hundreds of the troops from the regiment. From their first colonel, who died from an illness after he was wounded at Perryville, to the privates in the ranks, this roster includes information pulled from muster rolls, service records, local histories, obituaries and other sources.

Incredible details on the wartime and postwar careers emerge. Maj. Henry Kalfus, for example, was arrested in 1864 for supporting the Sons of Liberty, a group frequently accused of treason. In 1890, Kalfus “was critically injured in a tornado that struck Louisville.”

Other troops from the regiment, it is revealed in the roster, had prominent postwar careers or suffered premature deaths. For example, Sgt. William Beatty and several others from the unit were killed in the explosion of the steamship Sultana in April 1865, which was, Mr. Jenkins notes, “the worst maritime disaster in American history.”

In addition to the soldiers’ places of birth, enlistment information, hair and eye color and details about their wartime service and postwar careers, known burial sites also are listed.

Throughout the Civil War, 969 men served in the ranks of the 15th Kentucky. Of these, 124 were killed, 240 were wounded, and 245 were discharged for disability. Few regiments in the West suffered more, and few regimental histories are as compelling. “The Battle Rages Higher” is an excellent overview of this Union Kentucky regiment.

• Stuart W. Sanders is director of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association Inc., the nonprofit organization charged with preserving Kentucky’s largest Civil War battleground.