Hide Article Text (OCR)
THE DENTON RECORD-CHRONICLEJIS PRISONER OF YANKEESKendall Faced ExecutionEx/Cannonjt-Fir**tug«4For punishment, Yankee soldiers stood a Confederate soldier from Denton County in front of a battery of cannon, and threatened toblow him to bits.It happened to Capt. William A. Kendall when he was a prisoner of war at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Kendall and 600 other captured officers had to endure this nerve-shattering experience in re-To escape these privations, Kendall and four others burrowed under the foundation of the fort, through and under 22 brick walls, They hoped to rejoin the Confederate forces on the coast of S. Carolina.They were captured, searched and kept on bread and ; water for three days. In the mean-1 time, they were offered relief iffarming. Me also became a er.Later he was appointed superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum. He died April 9, 1910. The story of his experiences wasrecounted in Capt. R. B. Paddoek’s “History of Texas.”FEW OWNED SEtaliation for alleged cruelties to (they would promise to remain north Federal prisoners at Charleston, i of the Ohio River.—So dogged was he by cruel and unusual punishment that he remained a prisoner of the North for two months after the Civil War ended.RITTER FEELINGKlt; ndall’s story as a war prisoner and the devastation he faced when he returned to his farm lt;n i Denton County were the kind ofexperiences that made “damyan kee” one word throughoutThis offer was indignantly refused.LONG WAITAs the war neared its end, Kendall was sent to Hilton Head, S. C., to be exchanged So many prisoners were waiting exchange there that his squad was sent on to Fort Delaware to wait again. He waited there till July 13,On his way home he witnessed the i widespread devastation of the South. He found his farm ruinedC(South.Born in 1830 in Virginia, he had j and his reduced to the barcome to Texas with his wife and est existence.four children by team and wagon in 1858. Their first Texas home was in Collin County. While he farmed, his wife. Mary, taught school. Then be bought land near Bolivar.He enlisted as a private in Cano’s Squadron of Cavalry when war broke out. He was later attached to Gen John H. Morgan’s Third Kentucky Cavalry and was promoted to captain.i.ng the day and repairing wagons and utensils at night.The tragedy of the Civil War sw'ept across pioneer Denton County in 1841 with as much patriotism, suspicion, heartbreak and j valor as any spot in the Deep . South. I ]l]n .. .... . , , The legend of the ConfederateHe worked putting in a crop dur-1 30|dier *[|en p0Hrlv uniformedand slogging along on foot unless he had brought his own horse, fighting with a burning zeal for a way of life that little affected him. losing the war but winning the glory that goes with a gallant | fight against the longest odds — this legend began in towns likeINDIAN RAIDHe was elected to the 11th session of the Legislature in 1866. W’hile in Austin, he received word that Indians had raided Denton County.IiMORGAN FELL He was captured with the Morgan troops at Cheshire, Ohio, after the Morgan invasion of the district north of the Ohio River. He was placed on Johnson’s Island with other officers and held there! until General Morgan himself was j captured.Then Kendall and 117 otherswere sent to the Western Peni-j tentiary of Pennsylvania, confined in cells and treated as criminals. Later they were transferred toHe went home, but his plucxy j Denton wife pleaded with him to continue as a legislator and he returnedto Austin. At the close of the ses-, Autiet mcn in D(,nlonRALLIED TO FLAGWith news of Bull Runtand(sion he moved his family to Pilot Point for safety and resumed£Lov insfs Cabinlt; hitside TowntiicWilliam Loving, who donated part of the Denton townsite, lived in a log cabin nearby.His home was not within the original townsite Today the site is Point Lookout, Md., and then to m the south part of the city, r ort Delaware. j ______From the prison at Fort Delaware 600 officers, including Ken-i /viJII IAV C’/ltit l\\dail, were taken to Morris Island, (/ txlljtj I Ll/( IjU \Here they were placed in range! BUT IIIof Fort Sumter’s batteries. The of-rallied to the Confederacy. Soon nearly every able-bodied young man in the county had joined up until 1,200 wore the gray.They enlisted to fight for a cause and not for property rights. They were pioneers and son of pioneers. Few were men of property. Not one Denton County soldier in a | ^ hundred owned a slave. The plantation system was non-existent ire the unfenced rangeland of North* Texas. The pros and cons of statesI0 r1•rrSPELLxsfleers were placed on short rations and were guarded by Negroes. This treatment continued until the so-called mistreatment of Federal prisoners was corrected.SHORT RATIONSThey were transferred to FortPulaski, Ga., and again kept onshort rations in retaliation for cruelties to Federal prisoners at An-dersonville. Their rations were 10 ounces of meal and no meat or salt.MADE CRADIPeter O’Riley, a Denton nightwatchman of the 1870s,was required to make a written report of all his activities when he went off duty every morning.One night, while making his round, O’Riley cameacross a dead mule in Bois d* Arc Street.Now% O’Riley knew nothing about French spelling.He pondered the problem of his written report.Then he took the mule by the tail and dragged the body over to Oak Street.“Oak” he could spell.rafidtilibnVIfttntlv
Newspaper Details
Denton Record Chronicle
Denton, Texas, US
Sun, Feb 03, 1957
Page 157
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MO, USA 01 Dec 2020
Other Publications Near Denton, Texas
Denton Summer Lass-o
Denton Lass-o
Denton Daily Lass-o
Record and Chronicle
Denton Record Chronicle
