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Wartime in Warren County and Bowling Green CIVIL WAR In September 1861, the Civil War arrived in Warren County when Confederate troops under the command of Generals Simon Bolivar Buckner and Albert Sidney Johnston occupied Bowling Green. During the next five months the Confederate army constructed a series of fortifications on knobs around the town. From these locations they controlled the transportation network provided by the Barren and Green rivers and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad that made the city strategically important. In late November 1861, Bowling Green became the Confederate capital of Kentucky. By the New Year, the winds of war began to change and the Confederate troops left Bowling Green in February 1862. Before departing, they burned the L & N depot and destroyed bridges over the Barren River. Their stay was short but for many it was deadly. Of the 20,000 Confederate troops stationed in Bowling Green, disease claimed the lives of more than ten percent. America declared war on Spain in April 1898. One hundred twenty men enlisted in Company "B", Third Regiment Infantry, Kentucky Volunteers. Seventy three of the men signed up in Bowling Green. The Third Regiment arrived in Cuba on January 21, 1899, almost six weeks after the peace treaty had been signed. During World War I, Warren County supported the war effort at home and overseas. One hundred fifty men from Western Kentucky State Normal and Ogden College signed up for the Students' Army Training Corps (SATC). One thousand soldiers from Warren County served in the war, 64 died, including 4 African Americans. Many people from Warren County who had never left the state of Kentucky found themselves shipped overseas during World War II. Of the 3,500 soldiers who served from Warren County, 105 died. In March 1943, the Scottsville Road airport was named an Army Air Corps flight-training center and brought more than 320 pilots to the area. Cadets received instruction in flying single seat aircraft and enrolled at Western Kentucky State Teachers College. Civilians participated in bond rallies and scrap metal drives and complied with the rationing of food and gasoline imposed by the government. During the Korean War, Kentucky sent 123,000 men to fight. Of the 868 men who died, 14 of them were from Warren County. Pfc. Robert L. Smith of Rockfield was a prisoner of war for nearly three years before finally being released. Sentiments of Warren Countians mirrored the rest of the country during the Vietnam War as many residents supported U. S. intervention in Vietnam while others did not. Twenty six Warren Countians died in the service of their country in Vietnam. In Bowling Green the
roster of the 2123rd Transportation Company of the Kentucky National
Guard included 68 soldiers from Warren County. Desert Storm was
a milestone for the American military because women served with
men in some units, including the 2123rd. Warren Countians showed
their support for the troops by wearing Desert Storm t-shirts
and displaying yellow ribbons. |
