Bardstown Civil War Museum Features Rare Artifacts and Memorabilia
Nestled on a slope below the town’s historic buildings and monuments, the Bardstown Civil War Museum ranks as the one of the largest museums of its kind in the United States. Covering 8,500 square feet, the Bardstown Civil War Museum is located in a building that formerly housed the city’s water works and icehouse.
The museum features many rare artifacts and memorabilia, including weaponry, uniforms, tools, documents and photographs, according to manager Rita Herrmann.
Visitors will find myriad artifacts from both the Union and the Confederacy. Among the exhibits, organized by chronology and geography, is the flag of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry captured along with John Hunt Morgan when the Confederate general’s infamous raid ended in Ohio.
Other artifacts on exhibit include the presentation sword of Confederate Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman and a silver flask that was presented to Confederate General John C. Breckinridge a few days after he joined the Confederate Army.
One of the most interesting items showcased at the museum can be found in the Artillery Room: a one-pounder smoothbore cannon made at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. The cannon was used in the field by Mosby's raiders and could be taken apart and transported on horseback.
Known officially as the Civil War Museum of the Western Theater, the museum is the fourth largest of its kind in terms of size and amount of content in the United States. The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans and the Atlanta History Center are the top three.
The Bardstown museum is part of a complex known as “Museum Row,” which includes Bardstown Village, a display of 11 log cabins dating back 150 to 200 years. The cabins were constructed in Nelson County, Kentucky, between 1776 and 1820.
Museum Row also includes the Women’s Civil War Museum, which opened in 1999 and is the only museum in operation that focuses on the role of women during the American Civil War. The women’s museum is housed in the historic Wright Talbott House and features exhibits of period clothing, paintings and personal artifacts.
Also part of Museum Row, the War Memorial of Mid America honors military members from the middle of the United States who fought for freedom from the first Revolutionary War to Operation Desert Storm.
The final attraction, the Wildlife Museum, features life-sized North American wildlife, as well as minerals and fossils from around the world.
Posted on Apr 22, 2011 by Bobbi Buchanan
