Tag: Military

A Letter from WWI in Honor of Veteran’s Day

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Brother, Dawson, Military HistoryLeave a comment
Jefferson Dawson Brother


           What follows is a letter written during WWI that Mr. Burl had kept in a box of his childhood mementos.  The “Dawson” who wrote the letter is Jefferson Dawson Brother, who was a relative. I’ve checked the WWI registration cards to try to find out who Addrou Kerns is, as well as Guy and Joe Arnold. I did find an “Augustus Adrien Kerns” who I think might be the Kerns who is referred to (perhaps “Addrou” is a nickname or misspelling) , but I have had zero luck finding out who Guy and Joe Arnold might be.  From what I understand, a lot of the Pioneer Infantries were made up of Black men, so that is one clue that might lead to discovering who they are.  Of course, if any of you reading this know the answer, please leave a comment or let me know.

A few comments:

  • Dawson mentions Burl, Jr. in his military uniform, and Don says there is a picture of his dad wearing it somewhere.  We still haven’t made it through everything, but if we find it in the future, I will post it on here.  Mr. Burl would have been three years old at the time this letter was written.
  • The letter mentions the flu.  The Spanish Flu pandemic was occurring at that time, and you can read what my great uncle Bill Karrick wrote about the flu in Bath County here.
  • The Cousin Henry referred to is Henry Ficklin, a preacher who baptized countless people in the area, often down in the Slate Creek at Kendall Springs. He was related to Mr. Burl on his maternal side (as was Jefferson Dawson Brother), and then he married Mr. Burl’s aunt (Aunt May) on his father’s side. 


Rugendorf, Germany
2 Feb. 1919

Dear Jane:
           Well I received that nice letter of yours some few days ago and it surely was a pleasant surprise.  Burl Junior certainly does look quite military in his uniform and when I come back will try and give him a little drilling. Believe me! it wouldn’t be long until he would hate the sight of that uniform.  But laying all jokes aside I was so glad to hear that you have all been well and I trust have escaped the flu.
           I came awfully near seeing Guy and Joe Arnold when we were on the front. One afternoon I was going down the road to our Reg. Headquarters and there were several squads of infantry men working the road and I asked one fellow who happened to be a Kentuckian what outfit he was in and he said Pioneer Inf.  I then asked him if he knew Guy or Joe Arnold and he said “yes” but they belonged to the Supply Co. and they were expecting him later there that afternoon.  So I waited all afternoon but never succeeded in seeing him.  Surely did hate to miss him too, because the only fellow I’ve seen over here that I know except those in our outfit was Addrou Kerns  from Sharpsburg. Wrote Willie [164 Inf] a card some time ago but I wasn’t sure of his outfit and of course don’t know whether he got it or not.
          Tell Cousin Henry that I still talk plain USA and haven’t acquired any brogue as expected.  Give my regards to all the folks and let me hear from you again sometime.  Dawson

          We hope you enjoy this letter.  I confess I have romanticized it a great deal and even have plans to frame and hang it.  I picture him writing it in a tent, huddled over and cold.  It is obvious that he misses home, so let it act as a reminder to all of us on this Veteran’s Day of the sacrifices that all who serve make on our behalf.  From our family to yours, Happy Veterans Day and God bless all who serve. ~ Ginger

 

High School and the National Guard (William Owen Karrick Story: Part 3)

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Karrick, Salt Lick, UncategorizedLeave a comment
Salt Lick National Guard, 1927.
Those identified are Captain Corbett Gullett, Corbet Copher, William Karrick,
Jim Fawns, Herndon Dickerson, Hugh Karrick, Clifford Wells,
Roger Karrick, Van Green, Billy Frizzell and Robert Clark. 

 

Salt Lick School, date unknown
 
This week, we continue with our series of excerpts from my great-uncle’s memoirs – hope you’re enjoying them!
From The William Owen Karrick Story:
In the first year of high school our class had nine girls and two boys.  They were Phoebe Seese, Olive Fanning, Rosie Freed, Marjorie Shouse (Marjorie married my brother Travis), Ethel Fawns, Opal Reeves, Sudie Maupin, Sudie Davis, Demory Parsons and me.  Our principal was O.J. Harris.  This professor took us to Lexington and Frankfort on a trip.  We visited Sistrunk, a fruit and vegetable distributor, and the federal prison in Frankfort.  This was a good lesson for those who might go wrong and break the laws.
During my second year in high school, a National Guard was established in Salt Lick, Kentucky.  The commander was Captain Corbett Gullett.  I was only fifteen years old at the time but through the permission of my parents, I joined the Guard.  The rifle company was going to Camp Knox for two weeks in the summertime.  Before the summer the guard had a rifle range where I spent several afternoons shooting at targets with 30/30 rifles.  When camp time came along, I received a preventative typhoid fever shot which caused me to have the fever.  I spent several weeks in bed and missed the Camp Knox trip.  In later years, I made the summer trips.  I was in the Guard for almost three years until it disbanded.  I was rated Corporal.
In the second year of high school, our principal was Mr. Wirick.  During this year, my friend Demory Parsons dropped out of school leaving me the only boy in a class of ten. I wanted to quit school too, so I took all my books home and told my father and mother that I had quit.  “Yeah,” Dad said, “You’ve quit.”
“Yes, “says I, “I’ve quit.
“Yes,” says Dad.  “You’ve quit until in the morning then you will return to school if I have to take a switch to you all the way.  Your mother and I have worked hard to see that all of you children finish high school.”
So back to school I went and am I glad that Dad made me return.  However, I was in the Guard at this time, and I skipped an afternoon class several times, going to the rifle range.  I got an F in that class, lost a credit, and had to go an extra semester in school to make up the work.  I didn’t get to graduate with my regular class of 1929.  I graduated in 1930.  The principal was Mr. Welch.
I entered Morehead State Teacher’s College in the fall and went through the first and second semesters and summer school.  I ended up with thirty-eight college hours and a teacher’s certificate good for two years which I used in teaching in a rural one room school at White Sulpher, Kentucky.  I tried very hard to do justice to the children as all eight grades were in one room.  Looking back, I wonder sometimes if that was possible.  My salary for the 1931-32 school year was $76.50 per month, and for 1932-33 it was $66.50 per month because the county was short of money.  School ended in February – a seven month school year.

 

            And there ends, for the most part, what Uncle Bill wrote regarding his early life in Salt Lick.  I hope you enjoyed his story as much as I did! ~ Ginger

A Book Review and a Bit of History

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Military HistoryLeave a comment
George Nicholas Owings Bascom, 1836-1862

“History has been hard on Bascom and his judgment,
 but there can be little doubt about his courage. . .” 
– Terry Mort, The Wrath of Cochise


What do the Apache Wars of the American Southwest have to do with Owingsville, Kentucky?  Well, actually quite a bit.

In January of 1861, a young, inexperienced second lieutenant was called upon to track down a group of Chiricahua Apache Indians who had been accused of  kidnapping a twelve year old boy.  It was the second lieutenant’s first big assignment and one that would end up being referred to in Native American oral history as “Cut- the-Tent.”

Cut-the-Tent – it is called that because after the young second lieutenant (a graduate of West Point) had invited a chief named Cochise to come inside his temporary abode to discuss the whereabouts of the child and partake of coffee, the young officer abruptly stated that he was holding Cochise and party prisoners until he brought forth the missing boy, a pronouncement that caused Cochise to pull a knife, cut the tent, and escape.

But it doesn’t end there.

Cochise escaped, coffee cup still in hand according to legend, but the rest of his party didn’t. The young lieutenant held them as hostages, which caused Cochise to go get some hostages of his own (some very unlucky folks who were riding through in a wagon train).  There was a standoff.  Cochise made it known he wanted his people back.  The young lieutenant wouldn’t give in, perhaps thinking the hostages were his only way out of the mess he had gotten himself into.  Hostages were held and then hostages were killed, including the chief’s brother.  It got ugly fast and many scholars claim the incident was the trigger for the Apache Wars, while others say it didn’t exactly cause the Apache Wars, but most definitely embittered the Apache even more towards the whites. 

That’s very much the condensed version but you get the gist.

Cut-the-Tent  is more commonly called The Bascom Affair because George Nicholas Bascom, native son of Owingsville, Kentucky, and grandson of the town’s namesake, Thomas D. Owings, was the young second lieutenant at the heart of the story.

If you want to read more about The Bascom Affair, I highly recommend Terry Mort’s The Wrath of Cochise.  Mort presents a very balanced view of the incident, explaining, for instance, that although Bascom had graduated from West Point, his education there would have in no way prepared him for Indian warfare. In fact, while Bascom is often portrayed as inept in regard to his handling of the incident, Mort argues that it is possible that Bascom was actually drawing upon his military training in making some key decisions.  For instance, Bascom’s hostage holding was probably done in part to guard against a direct assault against his troops, but the Apaches rarely engaged in such a tactic (preferring guerrilla warfare), a fact Bascom most likely didn’t know and certainly hadn’t been taught.

Mort doesn’t let Bascom off the hook, but he does attempt to explain why Bascom made the decisions he did.   He also doesn’t allow Bascom to bear the entire weight of the blame, as some seem fond of doing.

He mentions Owingsville a few times, which might make his book especially intriguing for anyone with roots here.

By the way, Bascom was promoted to captain and was killed by Confederate forces in the Battle of Val Verde.  Fort Bascom was named for him, but he is buried in an unmarked grave.

You can find a short overview of the Bascom Affair on Wikipedia.
You can buy Terry Mort’s book at Amazon or check it out at the library.

I’ll warn you, once I started reading about The Bascom Affair, I got hooked! ~ Ginger

Apache Pass, the place where Bascom and Cochise met.
The historic marker for Fort Bascom, named after one of Bath County’s own.