Widow Gibson Cabin

Widow Gibson Cabin. Perryville . The Battle For Kentucky. , In 1862, the widow Mary Jane Gibson and her children lived here in a small cabin. The Gibsons were poor tenant farmers who scratched out a living on land owned by Henry Bottom, their first cousin., On October 8, the household was spun into confusion as blue-clad Union troops swarmed around the house. Soon, Daniel Donelson's Confederate brigade attacked and the Federal soldiers fell back to this ridge, where they reformed on the high ground around the cabin., For the Gibson family, it must have been a terrifying experience. Artillery shells exploded overhead, bullets cracked against the cabin walls, and wounded Union troops swarmed around the structure, desperately looking for shelter. The frightened Widow Gibson took an axe, chopped a hole in the floor, and hid with her family beneath the house. The family was so scared that they refused to emerge from their hiding place for several days., As every barn, home, church and stable was used as a field hospital following the battle, it is likely that the Gibson cabin also served as a hospital. However, archeological work on the site has determined that cannon fire damaged the cabin so severely that the Gibson family abandoned it shortly after the battle., The right of the regiment was at two cabins. "There was a battery in the life of battle to the right, about thirty or forty yards from these cabins, between which cabins there was an entry, or space of ten or fifteen feet. The battery opened fire upon us, killing many men, and at the same time a fire of small arms from the line of battle was directed upon these cabins. The battery fired obliquely into this space. I stood between the cabins, would watch the gunner ram home the charge, and say, "Lie low, boys; he is going to fire," and step for protection close to the cabin nearest the battery. The battle was furious, the men loading and firing as rapidly as possible, falling back and again charging up to the fence. While standing between the cabins a Minie ball passed through my leg without breaking the bone, and the wood off of a canister shot struck the opposite cabin, and glancing knocked me down, paralyzing me for a time. - Colonel John H. Savage, 16th Tennessee Infantry, C.S. Army, (Sidebar):, About a mile and a half to the rear of the field of battle there stands, in a large, open field, a solitary log-house containing two rooms. The house is surrounded by a fence inclosing a small patch of ground. The chimney had been partly torn away by a cannonball. A shell had struck the roof of the building, ripping open quite a gutter in the rafters. A dead horse lay in the little yard directly in front of the house, actually blocking up the doorway, while shot and shell were scattered in every direction about the field in front and rear of this solitary homestead. I dismounted, determined to see who or what was in the house - "Darkness there, and nothing more." , A board had been taken from the floor, exhibiting a large hole between two solid beams or logs. An empty bedstead, a wooden cupboard, and three chairs were all the furniture the house contained. Hurrying across the field, we caught up with a long, lank, lean woman. She had two children with her: a little boy about nine, and a girl about four years of age. The woman had a table upon her head. The table, turned upside down, contained a lot of bedding. She had a bucket full of crockery-ware in one hand, and was holding on to the table with the other. The children were loaded down with household furniture of great convenience. As it was growing dark, I inquired the nearest road to Perryville. The woman immediately unloaded her head, and pointing the direction, set one leg on the table, and yelled to the boy- , "Whoray up, Jeems; you are so slow!" , "How far is it, madam?" , "O, about a mile and a half. It aint more nor that, no how." , "Who lived in that house?" said I, pointing to the log-cabin I had just left. , "I did." , "Were you there during the fight?" , "Guess I was. , "Where was your husband?" , "He wor dead." , "Was he killed in the battle?" , "No, he died with the measles." , "Why didn't you leave when you found there was going to be a fight?" , "I did start for to go, but I seed the Yankees comin' thick, and I hurried back t'other way, and jest as I e'enamost got to the brush yonder, I seed the 'Confeds' jest a swarmin' out of the woods. So, seeing I was between two fires, I rund back to the house." , "Wasn't you afraid you'd be killed?" , "Guess I was." , "What did you do when they commenced firing?" , "I cut a hole in the floor with the ax, and hid between the jists. , "Did they fight long upon your ground?" , "It seemed to me like it wor TWO WEEKS." , "You must have been pretty well scared; were you not?" , "Humph! skeered! Lor bless you, skeered! That aint no name for it!" , - Alf Burnett, Ohio War Correspondent, (Photo Captions):, 1885 Photo of the Widow Gibson's crib/barn which was located less than 150 yards to your left., SKEERED! THAT AINT NO NAME FOR IT. , Alf Burnett's sketch of the Widow Gibson after the battle.