Blandville Courthouse

Blandville Courthouse. . Blandville was the county seat and largest town in Ballard County during the Civil War. Blandville, like Ballard County, was named for Captain Biand Bailard, a veteran of the American Revolution, frontier Indian wars, and the War of 18 12. Blandville was made the county seat by the Kentucky Legislature in 1842 and continued as such until 1882, when the Courthouse burned. The county seat was moved to Wickliffe. The Courthouse was the focal point for local politics during the Civil War and a center for recruiting efforts. The Courthouse was directly involved in the War when, on January 23, 1862, Confederate troops removed the county records during a raid., Blandville was the home of Col. Charles A. Wickliffe. Wickliffe was born in Bardstown in 1822 and was the nephew of Governor Charles Wickliffe. He graduated from West Point in 1839 and served on the frontier until 1842. He settled in Blandville and practiced law and farmed. He returned to active duty during the Mexican War and was promoted to Major. He was elected to the legislature in 1850 and served as Commonwealth Attorney from 1851 to 1855., Wicklifte was Captain of the Ballard Guards a unit of the Kentucky State Guard organized in May 1861 to protect Kentucky's neutrality. When that effort failed and Kentucky entered the war he raised a regiment of infantry in Ballard County, the Seventh Kentucky Infantry CSA, and was commissioned its Colonel. The Seventh was stationed at Columbus until February 1862 when it withdrew to Corinth, Mississippi. Col. Wickliffe was seriously wounded at the Battle of Shiloh on April 7, 1862 and died ten days later of his wounds., Ballard County, like most of western Kentucky, supported the Southem cause. A large number of Federal troops were in the county at Forts Jefferson and Holt early in the War. Despite this many more men from the county served with the South, approxi-mately 400, than for the Union, 124, most of whom served in a unit organized in Mildburn. At least two slaves are known to have enlisted in the Union Army, Lander Crouch and Gabe Bishop; there well have been many others in the Eighth US Heavy Artillery Colored based in Paducah or the Fourth US Heavy Artillery Colored based at Columbus., Throughout the War both Union and Confederate forces were active in Ballard Courty. Confederate activity in the county increased in 1864 when General Nathan Bedford Forrest increased his efforts to disrupt Federal supply lines and communications. The telegraph line from Paducah to Columbus ran through Blandville and was cut in April 1864 and Confederate strength in the county delayed its repair., Captions , (Photo #1) Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest , (Photo #2) The above map shows Ballard County and surrounding areas. The yellow highlighed area marks the approximate boundaries of Ballard County. The red dot marks the approximate location of Blandville