Book description
In the wake of America's Civil War, hundreds of thousands of men who
fought for the Confederacy trudged back to their homes in the Southland.
Some-due to lingering effects from war wounds, other disabilities, or
the horrors of combat-were unable to care for themselves. Homeless,
disabled, and destitute veterans began appearing on the sidewalks of
southern cities and towns. In 1902 Kentucky's Confederate veterans
organized and built the Kentucky Confederate Home, a luxurious refuge in
Pewee Valley for their unfortunate comrades. Until it closed in 1934,
the Home was a respectable- if not always idyllic-place where disabled
and impoverished veterans could spend their last days in comfort and
free from want. In My Old Confederate Home: A Respectable Place for
Civil War Veterans, Rusty Williams frames the lively history of the
Kentucky Confederate Home with the stories of those who built,
supported, and managed it: a daring cavalryman-turned-bank-robber, a
senile ship captain, a prosperous former madam, and a small-town
clergyman whose concern for the veterans cost him his pastorate. Each
chapter is peppered with the poignant stories of men who spent their
final years as voluntary wards of an institution that required residents
to live in a manner which reinforced the mythology of a noble Johnny Reb
and a tragic Lost Cause. Based on thorough research utilizing a range of
valuable resources, including the Kentucky Confederate Home's
operational documents, contemporary accounts, unpublished letters, and
family stories, My Old Confederate Home reveals the final, untold
chapter of Kentucky's Civil War history. Rusty Williams, a freelance
writer and historian, has written for the Dallas Morning News, Fort
Worth Star-Telegram, San Antonio Express-News and the Associated Press.
He lives in Dallas, Texas.
