Manuscript Database
Creator/Title
Buckner, Simon Bolivar, 1823-1914. Papers, 1825-1994 (bulk: 1825-1950). 4.33 cu. ft.
Call No.
Mss. A B925b / 14, 36, 49, 53, 54, 73, 75, 78, 79, 110
Content
This collection documents the military, political and personal life of Gen. Simon B. Buckner as well as the Buckner, Kingsbury and Claiborne families. Buckner's military papers contain several documents related to his role in the 1862 Confederate offensive in Kentucky, including his defeat of Union forces at Munfordville, Kentucky. In a letter dated 9 Feb. 1931 at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Lt. Harold Engerud of the U.S. Army sends a copy of his study on the 1862 battle of Munfordville to Judge Henry A. Watkins of that community. The collection also includes articles on the battle published in Our Country Magazine (1909) and the Louisville Courier Journal (3 Sept. 1916). In a letter dated 2 Dec. 1931, Simon, Jr. discusses various aspects of his father's Confederate service under Gen. Braxton Bragg in the 1862 Kentucky Campaign. Also included is a public "Apology" for the Perryville and Murfreesboro (Stones River) campaigns of 1862 and 1863 respectively. Although undated and unsigned the paper was authored by Confederate staff officer, Robert Wickliffe Wooley in 1863 at the request of Generals Buckner, Leonidas Polk, William Preston and William J. Hardee. The pamphlet sought to demonstrate that Gen. Braxton Bragg, through his poor generalship, was unfit to command the Army of Tennessee. In a letter dated 14 Feb. 1863 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston advises Buckner that the South cannot win without Kentucky.