Bennett Henderson Young (May 25, 1843 – February 23, 1919) was a commanding officer, lawyer, administrator, and author. As a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

officer he led forces in the St. Albans Raid (October 19, 1864) during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. As a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

, he entered

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

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 Nicholasville is a home rule city in and the county seat of Jessamine County, Kentucky, Jessamine County, Kentucky. The population was 31,490 during the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, making Nicholasville the 10th-largest settlemen ...

, 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. This unit became a part of

John Hunt Morgan John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825September 4, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Br ...

's cavalry command.

St. Albans raid

Young was captured in

Morgan's Raid Morgan's Raid (also the Calico Raid or Great Raid of 1863) was a diversionary incursion by Confederate States Army, Confederate cavalry into the Union (American Civil War), Union states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia during the A ...

but fled to Canada in the fall of 1863. Young traveled back to the Confederacy via

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, where he proposed Canada-based raids on the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a means of building the

treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

and forcing the Union Army 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 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 groups of soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mobile of the comb ...

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 use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

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

as their horses were stolen. The Confederates killed one townsperson and wounded another. Young ordered his troops to burn the town down, but the four-ounce bottles of

Greek fire Greek fire was an incendiary weapon system used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltp ...

they had brought failed to work, and only one shed was destroyed. The raiders fled with the money into Canada, where authorities arrested them and held them in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. There, the

Lincoln administration Abraham Lincoln's tenure as the 16th president of the United States began on March 4, 1861, and ended upon his death on April 15, 1865, days into his second term. Lincoln, the first Republican president, successfully presided over the Union ...

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 In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

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 Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

amnesty Amnesty () 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 officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

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 The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by royal charter on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university of the ''Queen's Colleges'' of Belfast, Cork, and Galway that were established in 1845 "to afford a university ...

and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

After being permitted to return to the United States, he became an attorney in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. Young founded the first orphanage for black children in Louisville, a school for blind students, and did

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

work for people experiencing poverty. He also worked as a railroad officer as President of the Louisville Southern Railroad, and wrote books. 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. It published histories of the Civil War with a focus on Confederate events. It also propagated a myth of the Lo ...

''. In 1876, Young was selected by Governor

James B. McCreary James Bennett McCreary (July 8, 1838 – October 8, 1918) was an American lawyer and politician from Kentucky. He represented the state in both houses of the U.S. Congress and served as its 27th and 37th governor. Shortly after graduating ...

to represent Kentucky at the Paris Exposition of 1878. 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. Stuart Robinson. In 1899, Young represented a formerly enslaved person, George Dinning, in a case against the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. Between 1890 and 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 United States, U.S. state of Kentucky. History Formation The Louisville Free Public Library was created ...

. In 1913, Young was elected 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 Lawrence, who became an attorney in Chicago. He remarried in 1895 to Eliza S. Sharp, and they had a daughter, Eliza Bennett Young.

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'' * ''Confederate Wizards of the Saddle''

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 in Kentucky, United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of eastern and central Kentucky, passing through the Eastern Coalfield, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Bluegrass re ...

at Tyrone, Kentucky was named Young's High Bridge for him, and Youngstown, Kentucky was also named for him.

References

External links

Bennett H. Young
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Bennett H. Terrorist incidents in the United States by perpetrator 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 Members of the United Confederate Veterans