Collection Title: Hylan B. Lyon Papers
Series Number: MS69-03
Processed and Cataloged by: Dieter C. Ullrich
Date Listed: January 6, 2010
Date Span: 1857-1916
Size of Collection: 0.25 linear feet.
Number of Boxes: 1 legal half sized document case.
Type of Material: Correspondence, transcripts and ephemera.
Condition of Material: Overall condition is bad to fair. Foxing and fading is prevalent with most documents. A few have water damaged.
Arrangement: Chronological arrangement.
Biographical / Historical Information: Hylan Benton Lyon was born on February 22, 1836, the son of Matthew Lyon and Elizabeth M. Martin on the family farm in Caldwell County (later Lyon County), Kentucky. He attended Masonic University and Cumberland College prior to being admitted to United States Military Academy at West Point. After graduating in 1856 he was assigned to Fort Myer, Florida as a second lieutenant of artillery. In 1858, Lyon was transferred to Fort Yuma, California and a year later sent to the Washington Territory where he participated in Colonel George Wright’s campaign to put down Native American insurrections. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Lyon resigned his commission in the United States Army on April 30, 1861 and pledged his services to the Confederacy. He assisted in the organization of the 3rd Kentucky Infantry (later the 1st Kentucky Artillery or Cobb’s Battery) later that spring. In early February of 1862 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 8th Kentucky Infantry. On February 16, he and his regiment surrendered to Union forces at Fort Donelson. Lyon was imprisoned at various prisoner-of-war facilities, including those at Fort Warren, Massachusetts. He was exchange in September of 1862 and later participated in the battle at Big Black River during the Vicksburg campaign. In November of 1863, Lyon was assigned to General Joseph Wheeler’s command where he led cavalry scouting missions. By spring of 1864, he was with General Nathan Bedford Forrest and on June 10 engaged a Union force under General Samuel L. Sturgis at Brices Cross Roads. He was promoted to brigadier general four days after the battle and was directed to command the department of Western Kentucky on September 26. In December of 1864 he launched a raid into the Cumberland Valley of Tennessee and Kentucky. For several weeks Lyon disrupted supply lines and torched Union controlled buildings, including seven courthouses in Kentucky. During the final days of the war, he refused to surrender and eventually sought refuge in Mexico. Lyon returned to his family farm in Eddyville, Kentucky in 1866. He briefly served as a state representative in his home state from 1899 to 1901. He died at his Eddyville farm on April 25, 1907.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of correspondence written and received by Hylan B. Lyon from 1857 to 1916. The majority of the letters are from Lyon to family members from various military facilities and camps prior to and during the American Civil War. The correspondence of interest include several letters from Fort Warren, Massachusetts from March to July of 1862 (when Lyon’s was a prisoner-of-war), Vicksburg, Mississippi in September of 1862, Gun Town, Mississippi following the Battle of Brices Cross Roads, and a photocopied letter from Mexico in 1866 describing his experiences during the concluding months of the war. The collection also includes correspondence from Florence Wilson and Robert L. Wilson, a brief history of Eddyville and biographical information.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Lyon, Hylan B., 1836-1907.
Kentucky – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Personal narratives.
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Personal narratives, Confederate.
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Prisoners and prisons.
Lyon County (Ky.) – History.
Fort Warren (Boston, Mass)
Eddyville (Ky.) – History.
Additional Sources:
Lyons, Hylan B. “Memoirs of Hylan B. Lyon, Brigadier General, C.S.A.” Edited by Edward M. Coffman. Tennessee Historical Quarterly 18 (March 1959): 35-53.
Roberson, B. L. “The Courthouse Burnin’est General.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 23 (December 1964): 372-378.
Wills, Brian Steel. “Brig. Gen. Hylan Benton Lyon.” Edited by Allardice, Bruce S. and Lawrence Lee Hewitt. Kentuckians in Gray. Lexington, KY: Univ. of Kentucky Press, 2008.
Davis, William C., ed. The Confederate General. 6 vols. Harrisburg, PA: National Historical Society, 1991.
Memorial Record of Western Kentucky. 2 vols. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1904.
