FORT DUFFIELD & WEST POINT, KENTUCKY

1861–1862

A unified historical and interpretive record of the soldiers who lived, labored, suffered,
and died at Fort Duffield and West Point during the first winter of the Civil War.
This archive restores their stories, corrects long‑standing errors, and preserves the memory
of every known soldier — named and unnamed — connected to this place.

Title Page
Introduction
Historical Overview of Fort Duffield
Why Earlier Records Listed “48 Soldiers”
Fort Construction, Camp Conditions & Disease
West Point, Kentucky During the Civil War
Michigan Cemetery (Original Burial Site)
Reinterment to New Albany National Cemetery
Unknown Soldiers
Non‑Michigan Soldiers Who Died at Fort Duffield
Complete Death & Burial Register
Appendix A — Timeline of Events (1861–1862)
Appendix B — Fort Duffield Earthworks & Layout
Appendix C — Medical Conditions & Typhoid Epidemic
Appendix D — Burial & Reinterment Ledger Notes
Biographies (A–Z)

Introduction

In the winter of 1861, hundreds of young Union soldiers climbed the steep slopes above West Point,
Kentucky, carrying axes, shovels, rifles, and the weight of a nation at war. They came to build a
fort — a stronghold meant to guard the vital Louisville–Nashville Turnpike and the busy
Ohio River landing below. What they could not know was that the greatest enemy they would face
that winter was not Confederate fire, but the cold, the rain, the mud, and the diseases that swept
through their camps.

Fort Duffield was carved from the ridge in November and December 1861 by the
9th Michigan Infantry, assisted by the 1st Wisconsin Infantry and the
37th Indiana Infantry. The work was brutal. The hill was steep. The weather was unforgiving.
And the men — many far from home for the first time — were unprepared for the hardships that lay ahead.

Within weeks, sickness spread through the regiments. Typhoid fever, pneumonia, measles, and camp
illnesses struck with devastating speed. Letters home spoke of “men dying daily,” of “long lines
of stretchers,” and of the exhaustion that came from building a fort while fighting for one’s life.

This archive preserves the full story of that winter — the fort they built, the hardships they
endured, the men who died, and the long journey of their remains from the hillside cemetery to
the national cemetery at New Albany. It also corrects long‑standing errors, including the myth of
“John Light,” a name once attached to an unidentified artillery burial.

What follows is the most complete and accurate record ever assembled of the soldiers connected to
Fort Duffield. It is both a historical document and a memorial — a way to ensure that the men who
died here are remembered not as numbers in a ledger, but as individuals whose lives were cut short
in service to their country.

Historical Overview of Fort Duffield

In the autumn of 1861, the Union Army looked southward with urgency. Kentucky’s loyalty was fragile,
the Confederacy pressed north, and the Louisville–Nashville Turnpike — the main artery into the
heart of the South — had to be protected at all costs. West Point, a river town at the foot of
Muldraugh’s Hill, became the hinge on which this strategy turned.

When the 9th Michigan Infantry arrived in late October, they found a landscape both beautiful
and unforgiving. The steep ridge above the town offered a commanding view of the Ohio River and the
turnpike, but it demanded backbreaking labor to transform into a defensible position. Under the
direction of Col. William W. Duffield, the regiment — assisted by the 1st Wisconsin and
37th Indiana — began carving a fort from the hillside.

Trees fell. Earth moved. The ridge echoed with the sound of axes, shovels, and the shouted cadence
of men learning to work as soldiers. The fort took shape quickly — an irregular earthwork following
the natural spine of the hill, its angles designed to sweep the approaches with overlapping fire.

Though Fort Duffield never saw battle, its presence mattered. It secured the turnpike, protected
the river landing, and reassured Union commanders that the gateway to central Kentucky would not
fall easily. But the price paid by the men who built it was steep. The winter of 1861–62 would
become one of the deadliest seasons in the regiment’s history.

Why Earlier Records Listed “48 Soldiers”

For decades, Fort Duffield’s story was summarized in a single number: 48 soldiers died here.
This figure appeared on signage, in brochures, and in early histories. But like many Civil War
numbers, it told only part of the story.

The number “48” came from the 1869 reinterment records, when the U.S. Army removed remains from
the wartime Michigan Cemetery and transferred them to New Albany National Cemetery. The ledger
documented:

29 identified soldiers reinterred in Section A
2 unknown soldiers placed in Lot 2, Graves 2 and 3
1 Michigan soldier (Robert Lucas) reinterred separately in Lot 2, Grave 4

These 32 burials represented only the remains recovered from the hillside cemetery — not the full
toll of the winter. Several categories of deaths were not included in the 1869 count:

Men who died in West Point hospitals
Men who were sent home on furlough and died shortly after
Men whose families retrieved the bodies
Men from other regiments serving in the West Point–Muldraugh’s Hill corridor
One unidentified artillery soldier buried near the trench

The “John Light” Myth

Early Fort Duffield signage identified the artillery burial as “John Light.” Modern research
shows this name was a misunderstanding. The earliest notes describe an
“unknown soldier buried in an artillery jacket.” Over time, “artillery jacket” was misread as
a name, eventually becoming “John Light.”

The historically accurate entry is:

Name: Unknown Artillery Soldier
Unit: U.S. Artillery (temporary Regular Army detachment)
Date: Winter 1861–62
Burial: South of the trench at Fort Duffield
Reinterment: Not moved in 1869

The name “John Light” is preserved only as a historical footnote — a reminder of how easily memory
can shift when records fade.

When all categories are included, the true number of soldiers who died as a result of service at
Fort Duffield is higher than 48. This archive reflects the corrected, research‑based total.

Fort Construction, Camp Conditions & Disease

Life at Fort Duffield was a battle against the elements. The men arrived in late autumn, pitched
tents on cold ground, and immediately began hauling logs, digging earth, and climbing the steep
ridge day after day. Their bodies were pushed to the limit long before disease struck.

The winter of 1861–62 was wet, raw, and unforgiving. Rain turned the slopes to mud. Frost coated
the tents. Water had to be carried up the hill. Firewood was scarce. And the men — many from
Michigan and Wisconsin — found themselves exposed to a climate far harsher than they expected.

Primary causes of death included:

Typhoid fever
Pneumonia
Measles
Dysentery
Exposure and exhaustion

Letters from the 9th Michigan speak of “men dying daily,” of long lines at the surgeon’s tent, and
of the heartbreak of watching friends weaken beyond help. The fort they built would stand for
generations — but many of the men who built it would not live to see spring.

West Point, Kentucky During the Civil War

In 1861, West Point was a small river town with a big role. Steamboats churned the Ohio River,
wagons rattled along the Louisville–Nashville Turnpike, and soldiers from across the Midwest
passed through its muddy streets. The town became a crossroads of war — a place where regiments
paused, supplies were unloaded, and the sick were carried into makeshift hospitals.

The presence of the Union Army transformed West Point. Warehouses became depots. Homes became
hospitals. Churches sheltered the sick. The river landing bustled with activity as men, horses,
and supplies moved south toward Elizabethtown and beyond.

Many of the soldiers who died at Fort Duffield took their final breaths not on the hillside, but
in West Point itself — in hospital wards lit by lanterns, tended by surgeons who fought a losing
battle against typhoid, pneumonia, and dysentery. Their graves were scattered across the town’s
early cemeteries, some later moved, others lost to time.

West Point was more than a supply depot. It was a place of hope, hardship, and heartbreak — a
community that bore witness to the cost of war long before the first major battles were fought.

Michigan Cemetery (Original Burial Site)

The first cemetery at Fort Duffield was not a formal burial ground. It was a necessity — a place
chosen because the dead could not wait. Located on the southwest slope of the ridge, the
Michigan Cemetery became the resting place for dozens of young soldiers who never made it
home.

The graves were marked with simple wooden boards or fieldstones. Winter storms, spring rains, and
the passing of years erased many of these markers. By the time Federal reinterment teams arrived
in 1869, only a portion of the burials could be identified.

Yet the hillside still holds its silence. Visitors today walk among the depressions in the earth,
knowing that beneath their feet lie the traces of the fort’s earliest dead — men who came to
Kentucky full of purpose and never returned to Michigan’s forests and farms.

Reinterment to New Albany National Cemetery (1869)

After the Civil War, the U.S. government undertook a massive effort to gather the scattered dead
from small wartime cemeteries and reinter them in newly established national cemeteries. In 1869,
a Federal burial detail climbed the slopes of Fort Duffield to recover the remains of the men
buried there eight years earlier.

Their work was difficult. Many wooden markers had rotted away. Some graves had collapsed. Others
were disturbed by erosion. Still, the team recorded and removed every identifiable set of remains.

29 identified soldiers were reinterred in Section A
2 unknown soldiers were placed in Lot 2, Graves 2 and 3
1 Michigan soldier, Robert Lucas, was placed in Lot 2, Grave 4

These 32 burials formed the basis of the long‑standing “48 soldiers” narrative. But the ledger
tells only part of the story. Several soldiers died in West Point hospitals and were buried in
town cemeteries. Others were sent home on furlough and died shortly after arrival. A few were
retrieved by their families. And one — the Unknown Artillery Soldier — remained on the hill,
never moved.

Today, the graves at New Albany stand in neat rows, each marked with a white stone. But their story begins on a cold Kentucky hillside, where the men of the 9th Michigan and their comrades
faced a winter that proved deadlier than any battle.

Unknown Soldiers

Not every soldier who died at Fort Duffield could be identified. Time, weather, and the chaos of
war erased names that families waited to hear. The 1869 reinterment ledger lists two unknown
soldiers, and the hillside itself holds at least one more whose identity has been lost.

The three principal unknowns are:

Unknown Soldier — Lot 2, Grave 2 (reinterred 1869)
Unknown Soldier — Lot 2, Grave 3 (reinterred 1869)
Unknown Artillery Soldier — buried south of the trench, not reinterred

The Unknown Artillery Soldier

(later misidentified as “John Light”)

Early Fort Duffield signage referred to this burial as “John Light.” Modern research shows
that no such soldier appears in any wartime roster, burial ledger, or artillery record. The name
arose from a misreading of early notes describing an “unknown soldier buried in an artillery
jacket.”

Over time, “artillery jacket” was mistaken for a name, eventually becoming “John Light.” The true
identity of this soldier remains unknown.

Name: Unknown
Unit: U.S. Artillery (temporary Regular Army detachment)
Date of Death: Winter 1861–62
Burial: South of the trench at Fort Duffield
Reinterment: Not moved in 1869

His grave, still located on the hillside, stands as one of the few wartime burials that remain at
Fort Duffield — a silent reminder of the men whose names were lost but whose service endures.

West Point Hospitals & Cemeteries (Map Overview)

The medical and burial landscape of West Point during the winter of 1861–62 centered on two
improvised hospitals and two primary burial grounds. Though the exact grave locations of many
soldiers are lost, the general sites of care and burial can be reconstructed from surviving
records, local memory, and terrain.

Hospital No. 1 — West Point Military Hospital: A large private home near the
Ohio River landing, used as the main military hospital for Fort Duffield and the depot.
Hospital No. 2 — Overflow / Church Hospital: A church or public hall in town
converted into a ward when the primary hospital overflowed.
Old West Point Cemetery: A town cemetery used for both civilian and military
burials, including unidentified soldiers who died in hospital.
Lower / Riverbank Cemetery: A burial ground near the river, vulnerable to
flooding, where some wartime burials were later lost.

These four locations form the unseen geography behind the records: the places where sick and
wounded soldiers were treated, and where many of the unidentified dead were laid to rest.

Where Were the Unidentified Soldiers Buried?

Most unidentified soldiers connected to Fort Duffield did not die on the hillside itself, but in
the crowded hospitals and makeshift wards of West Point. When a man died without a confirmed
name, the staff recorded him simply as an “unidentified soldier” or noted that
“1 private died.”

These men were buried quickly in the nearest available ground. Surviving records and local
histories indicate that their bodies were carried to the Old West Point Cemetery and to a
lower cemetery near the riverbank. Wooden markers, if used at all, did not survive floods,
erosion, and the passing of time.

Unlike the soldiers buried in the Michigan Cemetery on the Fort Duffield hillside, these town
burials were not included in the 1869 reinterment to New Albany National Cemetery. Their
graves remain unmarked and unlocated, known only through the brief notations left in hospital
and regimental records.

Though their exact resting places are lost, this archive acknowledges them as part of the Fort
Duffield story — soldiers who shared the same roads, the same sickness, and the same winter, even
if their names were never carved in stone.

The Two Hospitals of West Point

West Point’s role as a military depot made it a natural center for wartime medical care. During
the winter of 1861–62, two principal hospitals operated in and around the town, treating sick and
wounded soldiers from Fort Duffield and from regiments moving along the Louisville–Nashville
corridor.

Hospital No. 1 — West Point Military Hospital

The primary hospital was established in a large private home near the Ohio River landing. Here,
under the direction of U.S. Army Surgeon Zenas Geoghegan and regimental surgeons such as
Dr. Fitch of the 9th Michigan, soldiers suffering from typhoid, pneumonia, measles, and
dysentery filled every available room. Letters from the period describe crowded wards, exhausted
staff, and “men dying daily.”

Hospital No. 2 — Overflow / Church Hospital

As the winter wore on and disease spread, the main hospital could no longer hold all who needed
care. A second facility — likely a church or public hall in town — was converted into an overflow
hospital. Contemporary records refer to it simply as a “temporary hospital” or
“hospital at the depot.”

Regimental medical returns from units such as the 37th Indiana and 12th Kentucky record
deaths of men “detached at West Point” or “died at the depot,” without naming the building. These
entries, combined with local tradition, confirm the existence of this second hospital, even if its
exact location is no longer known.

How Unidentified Soldiers Were Buried

The burial of unidentified soldiers in and around West Point followed a pattern shaped by urgency,
limited resources, and the medical practices of the early Civil War. Though no formal roster of
these men survives, the process itself can be reconstructed from hospital records, regimental
returns, and local accounts.

Death in Hospital or at the Depot
A soldier arrived sick, unconscious, or delirious. If he carried no papers and could not speak
clearly, the staff recorded him simply as “unidentified” or “1 private died.”
Preparation of the Body
The body was washed, wrapped in a blanket or shroud, and prepared for burial. There is no
evidence that unidentified soldiers received different treatment from the known dead.
Selection of a Burial Ground
Because these deaths occurred in town, the bodies were taken to the Old West Point Cemetery
or the lower riverbank cemetery, not the Michigan Cemetery on the fort hillside.
Grave Marking
Wooden markers or stakes were used, often without inscriptions. Flooding, erosion, and time
destroyed these markers, leaving no trace of individual graves.
No Reinterment in 1869
The Federal burial team focused solely on the Michigan Cemetery. Town burials were not moved,
and unidentified soldiers buried in West Point remain there today.
Historical Silence
Their existence is known only through brief notations in hospital and regimental records. Their
graves cannot be located, but their presence is acknowledged in this archive.

Non‑Michigan Soldiers Who Died at Fort Duffield

Although the 9th Michigan Infantry suffered the greatest losses during the winter of 1861–62,
they were not alone on the ridge or in the hospitals of West Point. Soldiers from Wisconsin,
Indiana, Kentucky, and the U.S. Regular Army passed through the same camps, marched the same
muddy roads, and succumbed to the same diseases. Their names — when known — belong to the story
of Fort Duffield as surely as those of the Michigan men.

The following summaries draw from regimental returns, hospital registers, burial ledgers, and
postwar reinterment records. Some soldiers can be identified only by regiment and circumstance,
their names lost to time. Others remain entirely unknown, preserved only as entries in medical
reports or as depressions in the earth.

1st Wisconsin Infantry

The 1st Wisconsin passed through West Point and Muldraugh’s Hill during the fall and winter of
1861. Though they did not garrison Fort Duffield, small detachments assisted with guard duty,
engineering labor, and hospital transfers.