Bennett Henderson Young (May 25, 1843 – February 23, 1919) was a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

officer who led forces in the St Albans raid (October 19, 1864), a military action during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. As a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, he entered

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

from Canada and occupied the town of

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...

Early life

Young was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky, on May 25, 1843, to Robert Young and Josephine Henderson. He was 17 years old when he enlisted as a private in the

8th Kentucky Cavalry, a unit that became a part of General John Hunt Morgan's cavalry command.

St. Albans raid

Young had been captured in John Hunt Morgan's 1863 raid in Ohio, but escaped to Canada in the fall of that year. Young went to the south via

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, where he proposed Canada-based raids on the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

as a means of building the

treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

and forcing the

Union army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

to protect their northern border as a diversion. Young was commissioned as a

and returned to Canada, where he recruited other escaped rebels to participate in the October 19, 1864, raid on St. Albans, Vermont, a quiet town 15 miles (25 km) from the Canada–US border. Young and two others checked into a local hotel on October 10, saying that they had come from St. John's in Canada for a "sporting vacation." Every day, two or three more young men arrived. By October 19, there were 21

cavalrymen Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

assembled; just before 3:00 p.m. the group simultaneously staged an

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

of the three banks in St. Albans. They announced that they were Confederate soldiers and stole a total of $208,000 ($ in current dollar terms). As the banks were being robbed, eight or nine of the Confederates held the townspeople prisoner on the

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

as their horses were stolen. One townsperson was killed and another wounded. Young ordered his troops to burn the town down, but the four-ounce bottles of Greek fire they had brought failed to work, and only one shed was destroyed. The raiders fled with the money into Canada, where they were arrested by authorities and held in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. There, the

Lincoln administration The presidency of Abraham Lincoln began on March 4, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States, and ended upon his assassination and death on April 15, 1865, days into his second term. Lincoln was th ...

retained prominent Irish-Canadian lawyer Bernard Devlin, QC, as counsel for the prosecution in the subsequent court case, which sought the raiders' extradition. The court ultimately decided that the soldiers were under military orders and that the officially

neutral Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...

Canada could not

extradite Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

them to America. They were freed, but the $88,000 ($ in current dollar terms) the raiders had on them was returned to Vermont.

Later career

After the end of the Civil War, Young was excluded from President Andrew Johnson's

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

proclamation. He could not return home until 1868. Thus, he spent time studying law and literature in Ireland at the Queen's University of Ireland and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. After being permitted to return to the United States, he became a prominent attorney in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. His philanthropic works were legion. Young founded the first orphanage for blacks in Louisville, a school for the blind, and did much pro bono work for the poor. He also worked as a railroad officer as President of the

Louisville Southern Railroad The Louisville Southern Railroad (abbreviated: LS) was a 19th-century railway company in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It operated from until , when it was incorporated into the Southern Railway in Kentucky. Originally incorporated as the Louisv ...

, author. Young also served on the board of trustees of the ''

Confederate Veteran The ''Confederate Veteran'' was a magazine about veterans of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War of 1861–1865, propagating the myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. It was instrumental in popularizing the legend of Sa ...

''. In 1876 Young was selected by Governor McCreary to represent Kentucky at the Paris Exposition. In 1878, Young joined the Polytechnic Society of Kentucky, as a financier to the institution. Young became president of the society after the death of Dr. Stewart Robinson. In 1899, Young represented former slave George Dinning in a case against the Ku Klux Klan. Between 1890 to 1908, Young helped create the

Louisville Free Public Library The Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is the public library system in Louisville, Kentucky, and the largest public library system in the U.S. state of Kentucky. History Formation The Louisville Free Public Library was created in 1902 by an ...

. In 1913, Young was elected as Commander-in-Chief of the

United Confederate Veterans The United Confederate Veterans (UCV, or simply Confederate Veterans) was an American Civil War veterans' organization headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was organized on June 10, 1889, by ex-soldiers and sailors of the Confederate Sta ...

, which he held until his retirement in 1916 where he was made "honorary commander-in-chief for life."

Family life

In 1866, Young married Mattie R. Robinson and they had a son named Lawrence, who became an attorney in Chicago. He remarried in 1895 to Eliza S. Sharp and they had a daughter, Eliza Bennett Young, by this union.

List of works

* ''The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky'' * ''The History of the Kentucky Constitution'' * ''Evangelistic Work in Kentucky'' * ''Battle of Blue Licks'' * ''The History of Jessamine County'' * ''The History of the Division of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky'' * ''The Battle of the Thames'' * ''Dr. Gander of Youngland'' * ''Kentucky Eloquence''

Death and legacy

By 1908, Young was known as "the father of the Louisville Free Public Library." Young died on February 23, 1919, at his home at 429 West Ormsby Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky. He was buried at

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buri ...

in Louisville. The railroad bridge over the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. The river and its tri ...

Tyrone, Kentucky Tyrone is a ghost town located in Anderson County, Kentucky, United States. It is located east of Lawrenceburg along the Kentucky River. History A distillery was opened circa 1868 and acquired by T.B. Ripy, who expanded the facility. The to ...

was named

Young's High Bridge Young's High Bridge, also known as the Jo Blackburn Bridge, is a former railroad bridge near Tyrone, Kentucky, USA, that spans the Kentucky River between Anderson County, Kentucky and Woodford County, Kentucky for the Louisville Southern Railro ...

for him and Youngstown, Kentucky was also named for him.

References

External links

Bennett H. Young
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Bennett H. 1843 births 1919 deaths People from Nicholasville, Kentucky Businesspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Confederate States Army officers St. Albans, Vermont Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery People of Kentucky in the American Civil War Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Kentucky lawyers 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American lawyers