Henry Endicott
Henry Endicott
Birth 1894-01-01 Death 1964-02-11
He was a Confederate. He enlisted on April 23, 1861 and was a Private with Company D of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry. This not to be confused with the 2nd Kentu...
Branches & Units
Burials (0)
No burials linked.
Wars
Battles
Awards
Medals
Service
Categories
Categories
Categories
Notes
Show / hide narrative
He was a Confederate. He enlisted on April 23, 1861 and was a Private with Company D of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry. This not to be confused with the 2nd Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry of the Union army.
About the only thing known about James personally is that his name appears on a muster roll of “a detachmen of paroled and exchanged prisoners of war near Richmond, Virginia in February, 1865.
Much more is known about the unit he served in. The 2nd Kentucky Cavalry regiment was formed from the remnants of John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry squadron, "The Lexington Rifles," soon after the battle of Shiloh, in early 1862. A native of Alabama, but raised in Kentucky, Morgan was a tall, glamorously attired cavalry officer with French imperial-styled whiskers.
The Second Kentucky’s ranks included farmers, planters, and the First Families of Kentucky and a colorful cast of other characters. One of them was a fiery British soldier-of- fortune, Lieutenant Colonel George St. Leger Grenfell, who declared "If England is not at war, then I will go find one!"
Another one was a wily Canadian-born telegraph operator, Private George "Lightning" Ellsworth, who could, after moments of listening, mimic any operator’s hand style and thus mislead enemy forces.
Muster sheets also included a band of Kentucky outlaws led by the notorious bushwhacker, Captain Champ Ferguson. He joined Morgan as a scout after first promising not to kill any Yankees taken prisoner.
Also allegedly among 2nd Kentucky’s ranks were African-American Mississippi Confederates who were recruited by John Hunt Morgan, as he felt they were "loyal and fierce fighters".
This cavalry unit was noted for being as good at fighting dismounted as it was on horseback. The 2nd Kentucky was most noted for its skill at house-to-house fighting, discipline under fire, and maintaining rearguard actions.
Throughout 1862-63, Morgan’s cavalry conducted a series of bold and sometimes reckless raids through Tennessee and Kentucky. Unnerving Northerners, he launched a final, daring raid across Indiana and Ohio.
Morgan moved rapidly on these famous rides, cutting general supply lines, tearing up railroads and bridges, destroying large quantities of enemy supplies, and rounding up thousands of Federal prisoners.
His men also monitored pursuing enemy forces by tapping into telegraph lines, avoiding unnecessary combat, and dispersing to elude capture.
Morgan’s famous Ohio Raid of July 1863 was the longest Confederate cavalry raid of the war, covering more than 1,100 miles in about three and ½ weeks. On this raid, however, he and most of his troopers were surrounded and captured.
Morgan was imprisoned in the Ohio State Penitentiary, but not long thereafter, he and some accomplices tunneled out and escaped back to Dixie.
It was the 2nd Kentucky, attached to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, which fired the opening and closing shots of the battle of Chickamauga.
Morgan was a superb cavalry officer and an expert leader. His raids had mixed results, but they undeniably disrupted Federal operations in Kentucky and Tennessee. News of his daring exploits provided a much-needed boost to Southern morale in the Western Theater.
Morgan was killed by hostile fire in a minor action in 1864. In preparation for an attack on Federal forces at Knoxville, Tennessee, he halted his command overnight in nearby Greenville. It was there, on September 4, 1864, that he was surprised and murdered by vengeful enemy cavalry after surrendering.
Morgan’s brother-in-law and second in command, Basil W. Duke, then assumed leadership of the remnants of “Morgan’s Men,” and as the war came to a close, he took his command, including the 2nd Kentucky (re-designated as the 2nd Kentucky Special Cavalry Battalion) to link up with Gen. Robert E. Lee.
In route, and upon hearing of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Duke’s command instead went to Charlotte, North Carolina and joined General Joseph E. Johnston’s army.
While Johnston negotiated surrender with General Sherman, Duke’s command elected to join President Jefferson Davis, thus making up the bulk of Davis’s mounted escort – which also had the Confederate Treasury’s gold.
As Federal forces were closing in, Davis dismissed his escort and continued on with a small bodyguard detachment until capture. Upon Davis’ capture, it was discovered that 11 of the 12 troopers in his bodyguard were of the 2nd Kentucky.
During its four years of service, the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry had nearly 250 men on its muster rolls.
Sources:
1.http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.cfm
2. http://searches.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
3. http://2ndkycav.org/2dkyhistory.html
4. https://www.fold3.com/document/88540282/
About the only thing known about James personally is that his name appears on a muster roll of “a detachmen of paroled and exchanged prisoners of war near Richmond, Virginia in February, 1865.
Much more is known about the unit he served in. The 2nd Kentucky Cavalry regiment was formed from the remnants of John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry squadron, "The Lexington Rifles," soon after the battle of Shiloh, in early 1862. A native of Alabama, but raised in Kentucky, Morgan was a tall, glamorously attired cavalry officer with French imperial-styled whiskers.
The Second Kentucky’s ranks included farmers, planters, and the First Families of Kentucky and a colorful cast of other characters. One of them was a fiery British soldier-of- fortune, Lieutenant Colonel George St. Leger Grenfell, who declared "If England is not at war, then I will go find one!"
Another one was a wily Canadian-born telegraph operator, Private George "Lightning" Ellsworth, who could, after moments of listening, mimic any operator’s hand style and thus mislead enemy forces.
Muster sheets also included a band of Kentucky outlaws led by the notorious bushwhacker, Captain Champ Ferguson. He joined Morgan as a scout after first promising not to kill any Yankees taken prisoner.
Also allegedly among 2nd Kentucky’s ranks were African-American Mississippi Confederates who were recruited by John Hunt Morgan, as he felt they were "loyal and fierce fighters".
This cavalry unit was noted for being as good at fighting dismounted as it was on horseback. The 2nd Kentucky was most noted for its skill at house-to-house fighting, discipline under fire, and maintaining rearguard actions.
Throughout 1862-63, Morgan’s cavalry conducted a series of bold and sometimes reckless raids through Tennessee and Kentucky. Unnerving Northerners, he launched a final, daring raid across Indiana and Ohio.
Morgan moved rapidly on these famous rides, cutting general supply lines, tearing up railroads and bridges, destroying large quantities of enemy supplies, and rounding up thousands of Federal prisoners.
His men also monitored pursuing enemy forces by tapping into telegraph lines, avoiding unnecessary combat, and dispersing to elude capture.
Morgan’s famous Ohio Raid of July 1863 was the longest Confederate cavalry raid of the war, covering more than 1,100 miles in about three and ½ weeks. On this raid, however, he and most of his troopers were surrounded and captured.
Morgan was imprisoned in the Ohio State Penitentiary, but not long thereafter, he and some accomplices tunneled out and escaped back to Dixie.
It was the 2nd Kentucky, attached to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, which fired the opening and closing shots of the battle of Chickamauga.
Morgan was a superb cavalry officer and an expert leader. His raids had mixed results, but they undeniably disrupted Federal operations in Kentucky and Tennessee. News of his daring exploits provided a much-needed boost to Southern morale in the Western Theater.
Morgan was killed by hostile fire in a minor action in 1864. In preparation for an attack on Federal forces at Knoxville, Tennessee, he halted his command overnight in nearby Greenville. It was there, on September 4, 1864, that he was surprised and murdered by vengeful enemy cavalry after surrendering.
Morgan’s brother-in-law and second in command, Basil W. Duke, then assumed leadership of the remnants of “Morgan’s Men,” and as the war came to a close, he took his command, including the 2nd Kentucky (re-designated as the 2nd Kentucky Special Cavalry Battalion) to link up with Gen. Robert E. Lee.
In route, and upon hearing of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Duke’s command instead went to Charlotte, North Carolina and joined General Joseph E. Johnston’s army.
While Johnston negotiated surrender with General Sherman, Duke’s command elected to join President Jefferson Davis, thus making up the bulk of Davis’s mounted escort – which also had the Confederate Treasury’s gold.
As Federal forces were closing in, Davis dismissed his escort and continued on with a small bodyguard detachment until capture. Upon Davis’ capture, it was discovered that 11 of the 12 troopers in his bodyguard were of the 2nd Kentucky.
During its four years of service, the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry had nearly 250 men on its muster rolls.
Sources:
1.http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.cfm
2. http://searches.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
3. http://2ndkycav.org/2dkyhistory.html
4. https://www.fold3.com/document/88540282/