Throwback Thursday: The Orphan Brigade and General Joseph Lewis

Many Throwback Thursday segments have covered how Kentucky both geographically and
politically played on both sides of the American Civil War. Southern Kentucky was particularly
interesting, as the Confederate influence grew stronger the closer to Tennessee. Exactly 199
years ago, Joseph Lewis was born in Glasgow – the man who would become an attorney, soldier,
state representative, Chief Justice, and ultimately commander of the Kentucky Orphan Brigade,
the South’s most famous and successful brigade of the entire war.

Joseph Horace Lewis was born in October 1824, in Barren County, the son of John and Eliza
Lewis. John had been a soldier, serving under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. Joseph
attended the local public schools, graduated college from Centre in Danville, became an
attorney and returned home to Glasgow. He was elected to be a state representative from
Barren County from 1850 to 1854.

When the Civil War began, Lewis organized the 6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment for the
Confederate Army from a Bowling Green headquarters in September 1861. Kentucky had a star
on both the Union and Confederate flags. By 1862, the Union Army had pushed Confederates
out of southern Kentucky, but the Kentucky Orphan Brigade was actively engaged in deeply
southern battles from Shiloh to Chickamauga to Sherman’s March through Atlanta. The Orphan
Brigade had more victories than any other Confederate brigade, not that they were enough, as
we all know the outcome of the war.

But General Lewis returned to Kentucky after the war, continuing his political service to the state
and eventually becoming Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Living to be almost 80,
he died in July 1904 and newspapers across the country printed his obituary. The Orphan
Brigade held many reunions throughout the early 20th century, from Bowling Green to Glasgow
to Cave City. The General Joseph Lewis monument sits in the Glasgow Municipal Cemetery.
Visitors may notice the general’s son is buried next to him. Jack Lewis also fought in the Civil
War at the Battle of Shiloh.