Collection Title: Benjamin F. Duncan Letters
Series Number: MS98-07
Processed and Cataloged by: Processed by Dieter C. Ullrich on May 5, 2010
Date Listed: May 5, 2010
Date Span: 1861-1864
Size of Collection: 0.10 linear feet.
Number of Boxes: 1 legal sized file folder; 6 items.
Type of Material: Correspondence.
Condition of Material: Fair with a few documents that are difficult to read. Arrangement: Chronological arrangement.
Biographical / Historical Information: Benjamin F. Duncan was an officer in Company A of the 4th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment (Confederate) during the American Civil War. He first joined “Buckner’s Guard” as a private in October of 1861 at Bowling Green, Kentucky. After his twelve month enlistment ended, he returned to Carroll County and became a First Lieutenant in the 4th Kentucky Cavalry on October 18, 1862. Duncan was captured by Union forces at Cynthiana, Kentucky on June 12, 1864. He would later be imprisoned at Johnson Island, Ohio for the duration of the war. Scope and Content: Collection consists of photocopies and transcripts of letters written by Benjamin F. Duncan during the American Civil War to family members in Carroll County, Kentucky. He mentions in a letter from Bowling Green, Kentucky in December of 1861 that soldiers were “dressing in womans close” to fool the captain. While camped at Abington, Virginia in January of 1863, he writes that a “great deal of sickness” and “a great many died in the regiment” from disease. After his capture and imprisonment at Johnson Island, Ohio, Duncan describes his suffering and lack of proper clothing for the cold weather.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Duncan, James F.
Johnson Island Prison.
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Personal narratives, Confederate.
Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, 4th.
Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, Buckner’s Guard.
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Prisoners and prisons.
