Basil W. Duke, C.S.A.

donna

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
As stated by Dr. James A. Ramage, "Confederate General Basil W. Duke was one of the most famous Kentuckians in the Civil War". He further states he was " A military genius and tactician ahead of his time". Duke was born in Scott County, Ky. in 1838. He studied Law at Transylvania University in Lexington. He was admitted to the bar in Missouri as he had joined a cousin there to practice law. He was practicing in St. Louis when the war broke out. He returned to Ky. and married John Hunt Morgan's sister, Henrietta. In October 1861 he enlisted in Morgan's cavalry company. He began serving as second in command. After Morgan was killed he was promoted to brigadier general and became commander of Morgan's cavalry. Duke and Morgan were not only brother-in-laws but very close friends, Morgan wrote in one of his official reports that Duke was "the right man in the right place. Wise in counsel, gallant in the field, his services have ever been invaluable to me". Two years after the war Duke wrote and published "A History of Morgan's Cavalry". As Dr. Ramage states this book serves as the most valuable primary source on Morgan and his men.
At the present time I am reading, "The Civil War Reminiscenses of General Basil W. Duke, C.S.A." After i finish book, will post book report.
 
Duke was one of the very finest officers and fighters in the civil war, dont forget he was one of the organizers of the Missouri Minute Men. Morgan was kept well seperate from Duke after their hairbrained raid deep into Yankee territory that not only lost them their commands as prisoners but both Morgan and Duke as well. Morgan escaped but Duke remained until exchanged, both got a cool reception from Richmond for their transgressions. When Morgan and Duke were in their salad days as a command several Yankee officers agreed that if a person was to shoot Duke in the head they would blow Morgans brains out. Duke more than likely knew more about Champ Fergeson and Tinker Dave Beatty than anyone else after the war but made little mention of it. Duke and Forrest became frendly after the war as well.
 
As I posted before I am reading General Duke's Civil War Reminiscenses. He has a Chapter on his time in Missouri and his involvement with Missouri Minute Men. He also has Chapter on Forrest and how they knew each other and their friendship after the War. It is a very interesting account. I hope to be able to get a copy of his book, "A History of Morgan's Cavalry.".
 
General Duke writes about the Missouri Minute Men and states that he, Colton Greene, James R. Shaler, Rock Champion, Overton W. Barrett, Samuel Farrington, James Quinlan and Arthur McCoy were the founders of the organization.. He states that the organization was " of a semi-political and military character. We made no secret of the organization or of our purpose, but openly proclaimed both. It grew to be almost four hundred strong, and was divided into five companies, commanded by Greene, Shaler, Barrett, Hubbard, and myself, which subsequently composed a battalion of the state guard, of which Shaler was elected major. The chief and primary object of this organization was the capture of the arsenal." This was the arsenal in St. Louis.
 
Here is Wiki take on the man....He had an impressive life...He wrote the history on Morgan....He was an historian..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_W._Duke

He was last one with president Davis....Duke knows where the secret Confederate Gold is hidden..

http://www.equilt.com/duke.html

I am telling you he knows where the gold is hidden....SEE>>>

While General Johnston negotiated a surrender with USA General William Tecumseh Sherman, Duke joined CSA President Jefferson Davis' mounted escort during his flight from the Confederate capital at Richmond through the Carolinas.

As Federal forces closed in, Davis dismissed his escort and continued on with a small bodyguard detachment. Upon Davis' capture, eleven of the twelve troopers serving as his bodyguards were men of the 2nd Kentucky.

On May 2, 1865, Duke was at the final Confederate Council of War at the Burt-Stark Mansion in Abbeville, South Carolina - the last meeting of Davis and the cabinet members of the Confederate government. Davis hoped to continue the struggle, but met unanimous opposition, and realized the Confederate cause was lost.

General Basil Duke and the remnants of his cavalry entered Woodstock, Georgia, on May 8, 1865 and surrendered to a larger force of Federal cavalry. Per the last order given by the Confederate Secretary of War, Major General John Cabell Breckinridge, they were disbanded.
 
In regards to the confederate gold, General Duke does discuss it in his book in Chapter 18. He acknowledges that he was put in charge to guard it. They did not know the exact amount but some said it was between 5 and 6 hundred thousands dollars in gold and silver. Duke says he never learned the exact amount of the treasure. He says that President Davis paid one hundred and eight or ten thousand dollars in silver to the troops who were with them at the last in partial discharge of the arrears of pay due them. Duke says that after these sums were paid in Washington, Ga. all the rest of treasure was turned over to Mr. M.H. Clarke, acting treasurer of the Confederate states. He further states he was really glad to get rid of it. Duke says that Mr. Clarke lived for many years after the War in Clarksville, Tenn. and was one of the most successful business men in the area. However. Duke goes on to say Mr. Clarke did not retain the treasure very long, maybe 2 to 3 days after the entire Confederate government was dissolved. Duke says he never did know what happened to the treasure. He states it was rumored it was buried somewhere in the area but as far as he knew it was never found.
After reading what an honorable man Basil Duke was, I believe that he didn't know what happened to the rest of the treasure. I do not believe he ever took any money for himself, except the wages that were paid to all soldiers as ordered by Jefferson Davis. I guess if any gold is left, it is still hidden somewhere. I again recommend that any one interested in this story , read General Duke's Reminiscences of the Civil War.
 
He wasn't that famous...at least in modern times. His housed is boarded up along I-75 north of Lexington. Tis a shame, and that is coming from a Yankee.

He was the brains and discipline behind Morgan. The training he put the command through in the summer of 1862 before the First Kentucky Raid is what made Morgan's reputation.
 
Duke's final resting place in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky. The Duke plot is in front of the Morgan plot.

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Duke was definitely the brains of John Hunt Morgan's operations--no doubt about it.

You won't find this in the memoirs...

Basil W. Duke's parents both died during the cholera epidemic that swept through Kentucky in 1832-1833. Consequently, he and his brother went to live with their uncle, James Keith Duke, who lived on a large plantation just outside of Georgetown, Kentucky (most of that farm is today the Kentucky Horse Park--the old house still stands along I-75 just north of the Horse Park). Thus, he was raised with his first cousins.

One of those first cousins, Martha McDowell Duke, known as Patsie to friends and family, eventually married (in 1854) her third cousin, Lt. John Buford, Jr. of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons, who was originally from nearby Woodford County, Kentucky. John Buford, of course, went on to great fame during the Civil War.

John Buford's grandfather was named Simeon Buford. Simeon's older brother Abraham Buford was a colonel of the Virginia Line during the Revolutionary War, and was famous for having been thrashed by Banastre Tarleton at the 1781 Battle of Waxhaws in South Carolina. He was given the large farm near Georgetown by Congress as a reward for his Revolutionary War service. His daughter, Mary Buford, married James Keith Duke.

I suppose that it inevitable that Basil Duke would end up being a cavalryman.
 
He wasn't that famous...at least in modern times. His housed is boarded up along I-75 north of Lexington. Tis a shame, and that is coming from a Yankee.

He was the brains and discipline behind Morgan. The training he put the command through in the summer of 1862 before the First Kentucky Raid is what made Morgan's reputation.

That was not his house. That house belonged to his uncle, James Keith Duke. James Keith Duke's wife inherited it from her grandfather, Col. Abraham Buford of Battle of Waxhaws fame.

It is really a shame, as you say. I've been inside the house once, 25 years ago, and it was in pretty bad shape then.
 
Which then is his home, as many folks seem to believe that the house pictured below (at work, don't have my closer picture handy) as the house? Also purported to be the location of the Kimbrough-Desha Duel, of which Duke played a part.

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Which then is his home, as many folks seem to believe that the house pictured below (at work, don't have my closer picture handy) as the house? Also purported to be the location of the Kimbrough-Desha Duel, of which Duke played a part.

View attachment 316316

That was the house of Abraham Buford, passed down to his son-in-law, James Keith Duke. It is possible that Basil Duke may have owned it after the death of James K. Duke in August 1863, but I also believe that the house stayed in Patsie Buford's family line.

The orange metal roof on the old house makes it stand out and is very distinctive. It is the same house referred to in my first post on the genealogy of Basil Duke.

So far as I know, Basil Duke lived in Louisville for most of his post-war life.
 
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