Formation
A pro-Confederate peace meeting, with Breckinridge as a speaker, was scheduled for September 21. Unionists feared the meeting would lead to actual military resistance, and dispatched troops from Camp Dick Robinson to disband the meeting and arrest Breckinridge. Breckinridge, as well as many other state leaders identified with the secessionists, fled the state. These leaders eventually served as the nucleus for a group that would create a shadow government for Kentucky. In his October 8 "Address to the People of Kentucky," Breckinridge declared, "The United States no longer exists. The Union is dissolved."
On October 29, 1861, 63 delegates representing 34 counties met at Russellville to discuss the formation of a Confederate government for the Commonwealth. Despite its defeats at the polls, this group believed that the Unionist government in Frankfort did not represent the will of the majority of Kentucky's citizens. Trigg County's Henry Burnett was elected chairman of the proceedings. Scott County farmer George W. Johnson chaired the committee that wrote the convention's final report and introduced some of its key resolutions. The report called for a sovereignty convention to sever ties with the Federal government. Both Breckinridge and Johnson served on the Committee of Ten that arranged the convention.
On November 18, 116 delegates from 68 counties met at the William Forst House in Russellville. Burnett was elected presiding officer. Fearing for the safety of the delegates, he first proposed postponing proceedings until January 8, 1862. Johnson convinced the majority of the delegates to continue. By the third day, the military situation was so tenuous that the entire convention had to be moved to a tower on the campus of Bethel Female College, a now-defunct institution in Hopkinsville.
| Position | Officeholder |
|---|---|
| Governor | George W. Johnson |
| Lieutenant Governor | Horatio F. Simrall |
| Secretary of State | Robert McKee |
| Treasurer | Theodore Legrand Burnett |
| Auditor | Josiah Pillsbury |
The first item was ratification of an ordinance of secession, which proceeded in short order. Next, being unable to flesh out a complete constitution and system of laws, the delegates voted that "the Constitution and laws of Kentucky, not inconsistent with the acts of this Convention, and the establishment of this Government, and the laws which may be enacted by the Governor and Council, shall be the laws of this state." The delegates proposed a provisional government to consist of a legislative council of ten members (one from each Kentucky congressional district); a governor, who had the power to appoint judicial and other officials; a treasurer and an auditor. The delegates designated Bowling Green (then under the control of Confederate general Albert Sidney Johnston) as the Confederate State capital, but had the foresight to provide for the government to meet anywhere deemed appropriate by the council and governor. The convention adopted a new state seal, an arm wearing mail with a star, extended from a circle of twelve other stars.
The convention unanimously elected Johnson as governor. Horatio F. Simrall was elected lieutenant governor but soon fled to Mississippi to escape Federal authorities. Robert McKee, who had served as secretary of both conventions, was appointed secretary of state. Theodore Legrand Burnett was elected treasurer but resigned on December 17 to accept a position in the Confederate Congress. He was replaced by Warren County native John Quincy Burnham. The position of auditor was first offered to former Congressman Richard Hawes, but Hawes declined to continue his military service under Humphrey Marshall. In his stead, the convention elected Josiah Pillsbury, also of Warren County. The legislative council elected Willis Benson Machen as its president.
On November 21, the day following the convention, Johnson wrote Confederate president Jefferson Davis to request Kentucky's admission to the Confederacy. Burnett, William Preston, and William E. Simms were chosen as the state's commissioners to the Confederacy. For reasons unexplained by the delegates, Dr. Luke P. Blackburn, a native Kentuckian living in Mississippi, was invited to accompany the commissioners to Richmond, Virginia. Though Davis had reservations about circumvention of the elected General Assembly in forming the Confederate government, he concluded that Johnson's request had merit, and on November 25, recommended Kentucky for admission to the Confederacy. Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861.
Read more about this topic: Confederate Government Of Kentucky
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“Out of my discomforts, which were small enough, grew one thing for which I have all my life been grateful—the formation of fixed habits of work.”
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844–1911)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Kent Nerburn (20th century)