Report from Lusby's Mill
From Lieut. Col. John J. Landram, Eighteenth Kentucky Infantry (Union), to General J. T. Boyle.
Camp Frazier, near Cynthiana, Ky., June 28, 1862
Dear Sir: The following is a list of prisoners captured by the officers ad men under my command in the expedition to Owen County, and who are detained as prisoners, to wit: [the actual list of names was not inserted in the source below]. Brombach and Foster appear to be the ringleaders. I have them closely confined in jail. I herewith enclose a memorandum of evidence against Brombach. One Bullett, from Louisville, appears to have been a leader of the party also; he escaped. Brombach says he was commissioned a colonel in the Confederate Army and was here recruiting. Many of these persons who were engaged in the guerilla warfare had been mustered into the service by him.
I detached Lieutenant Chrisman with 12 men from Owenton to go into Grant and capture some of the parties engaged in the fight near the mills. I understand he has captured several of them. Captain Wileman, of the Eighteenth Kentucky, who was in the neighborhood on private business and who had come previous to that time with 100 men to Lusby's Mill and did nothing, went to Lieutenant Chrisman, assumed command, as he said by order of Warner, and took the prisoners to the stamping ground (Warner's headquarters), very much to the mortification of Lieutenant Chrisman and not altogether agreeable to my feelings. I think such conduct in Warner and Wileman reprehensible. It is truly a small matter, but indicative of the spirit. I would be much pleased if you would order Warner to send them here, Chrisman in charge. I could then make out the charges and transport them wherever you may order or try them here with the others should a trial be ordered. I am unable to report to you the facts connected with the taking of the prisoners taken by Lieutenant Chrisman for the above reasons.
Lieut. James Dunlap, who is under my command, and who I sent to take command of Captain Baker's, Captain Bradley's and Captain Humes' Home Guards, in the capacity of major, captured some 12 or 13 prisoners before the attack made upon them and before I arrived in the county, and took command. The prisoners are at Lexington, and I presume, in charge of the provost marshal. I am unable to make out the charges against them
Lieutenant Dunlap and the Home Guards did good service before I arrived. The Home Guards of this place, under Capt. W. C. Smith, and those above mentioned, acted in concert with the troops sent to me by Warner. All were placed under my command and I think we cleared out Owen effectually. It appeared to be intensely Union when I left. I ordered the capture of all arms, horses, an bridles of the men who were engaged in guerilla warfare, and also all the arms I could find in that neighborhood in the hands of boisterous and noisy rebels.
Enclosed you will find an inventory of horses, saddles, arms, etc.
Warner ordered the mills burned. I would not allow it done, because they are owned by one Kindman, and from all the evidence I could get, Kindman was a quiet, peaceable man, and had used his influence in favor of peace and submission to the laws. He rendered good service in ferreting out those persons engaged in the attack of the Home Guards, and he promises to arrest all the parties he can find in that community that were guilty and deliver them to me. He with many other persons in that vicinity have resolved to put down guerilla warfare by force of arms and not allow any of these men to remain in their community. I acted in the premises as my own judgment dictated. I received no instructions from you. I did understand that Warner had; if so, he never communicated them to me.
I think we captured some 300 or 400 live Owen County secessionists first and last. Those who are not guilty of a crime I ordered to report to the marshal, take the oath, and execute bond, etc.
The attack made upon the Home Guards was on the 20th instant, about 1 mile east of Lusby's Mill. Two men and one horse were killed on the spot. One of the rebels was shot through the thigh; we captured him in the woods; his name is William Osborne. A rebel by the name if Nash was also killed. Osborne is left at Williamstown; he was unable to travel to this place in consequence of his wounds. From the best information I can get, the rebel force was between 30 and 40. The Home Guards numbered 22 men and officers. The rebels had chosen an excellent place, and had prepared themselves by cutting the bushes out of their way from the trees along the road, behind which they stood to protect themselves from the fire of the Home Guards. I was much discouraged when I arrived on the ground at the prospect of capturing or finding any of the parties. The country is remarkably bushy and hilly. I threw the men out as skirmishers in every direction and scoured the country. I found their camp about 2 miles northwest of Lusby's Mill. The wounded man Osborne was in the camp.
All of which is respectfully submitted, J. J. Landrum, Lieutenant Colonel, Commanding.
Taken from War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.