The famous Kentucky regiment known throughout the great rebellion as Rousseau’s Louisville Legion has a most remarkable history, which were it written in full would compose several large volumes. From the beginning until the close of the great conflict the old "Corn-cracker" State was proud of the gallantry and daring deeds of the Third regiment she sent to fight for the Union cause and gave it a right royal welcome.

In 1860 Lovell H. Rousseau, who had served in the Mexican war as a captain of infantry, was a prominent lawyer in Louisville, and being a conservative Union man he was elected to the Kentucky State Senate by a large majority over his opponent, the Hon. Gibson Mallory. He was strongly opposed to the secession movement from the beginning, and made tremendous efforts to prevent Kentucky from joining the Southern Confederacy in which he was successful, but when he saw that war was inevitable, that the time was near at hand when Kentucky must be the battle ground, he resigned his seat in the Senate and began at once making Union speeches in Louisville, Shelbyville, and other towns in the State, and was always in demand at flag raisings and patriotic meetings.

On April 15, 1861, after the surrender of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 troops for three months, and in response Governor Magoffin replied to Simon Cameron, Secretary of War who telegraphed for "four regiments of militia for immediate service," that Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States." At this juncture Rousseau began to devote all of his time to recruiting men for home protection, the outgrowth of which was the organization of the Louisville Legion. His first move, however, in this direction was to call a meeting of the loyal citizens in the following card published in the daily papers on Saturday morning, April 20.

TO THE PUBLIC

We propose to organize four companies of good law abiding citizens of Louisville for the protection of the property, persons and houses of our people and for the maintenance of the laws of our land.

To this end we propose that all those favorable to the project meet at the east room of the Court house on Monday night, the 22d inst. at 7:30 o’clock.

LOVELL H. ROUSSEAU

W. B. WOODRUFF

CHAS. L. THOMASSON

The proceedings of this meeting were published in the Journal and the Democrat the next morning as follows:

The room on the east end of the Courthouse, about 8 o’clock last night, was filled by the most respectable and patriotic men of the city, met to form themselves into a body of military for the protection and defense of their homes and families. It was an enthusiastic meeting and showed a noble response to the call.

The meeting was organized by calling to the chair Richard Coxe, and appointing as Secretary Charles L. Thomasson. The object of the meeting was explained by Capt. Rousseau, who was followed by Nat Wolfe, Esq, and Major Woodruff in neat and pertinent addresses to which the crowd heartily and enthusiastically responded. Thereupon committees were appointed in each ward as named below, who were to receive the signatures of those who wished to join the organization. Such persons can call at the places named below and enroll themselves. The meeting then adjourned until Thursday evening at 8 o’clock in the east room of the Courthouse, at which time it is hoped the companies will be organized by the election of officers, and report made to the meeting.

First Ward -- Jesse Hammond, Jack Weatherford, Dr. H. M. Weatherford; meet at corner of Shelby and Main.

Second Ward -- James W. Osborne, Mike Paul; meet at Kentucky Engine house.

Third Ward -- John Magness, Dr. J. E. Timberlake, and A. S. Woodruff; meet at corner of First and Green

Fourth Ward -- Alex Duvall, Nathaniel Wolfe, Alex M. Stout; meet at Hughes glass-staining shop, Green, between Second and Third.

Fifth Ward -- C. L. Thomasson, Sim Watkins, Upton Wilson; meet at T. C. Pomeroy’s old stand, Jefferson street, between Fourth and Fifth streets.

Sixth Ward -- Henry Thomas, A. B. Fontaine, C. White; meet at City Clerk’s office, corner of Sixth and Jefferson streets.

Seventh Ward -- Dr. David W. Yandel, J. R. Brown, T. C. Pomeroy; meet at Relief Engine-house, Market street between Seventh and Eighth streets.

Eighth Ward -- Thomas Tindell, A. F. Dillard, F. Marion Minter, D. Spalding; meet at Browning & Co.’s lumber yard, corner Twelfth and Green streets.

Ninth Ward -- W. P. Boone, J. H. Slaughter, E. Vansant; meet at Preuss’ drug store, corner Sixteenth and Market streets.

Tenth Ward — John Kurfiss, Frank Hammond, John Shaw; meet at Bourbon House.

And then, on motion the meeting adjourned until Thursday evening next.

RICHARD COXE, Chairman.

CHARLES L. THOMASSON, Secretary

In order to facilitate business and prevent delay in recruiting men for home service, the following notice was issued through the home papers on Thursday morning, April 25:

Home Guard — The adjourned meeting for Tuesday evening last for this evening, in the east room of the Court-house is dispensed with, and the committees appointed in the several wards to enroll members for the Home Guard are requested to meet in the County Court-room this evening at 8 o’clock and report progress.

It is hoped each committee will use all exertions in their power to have the lists filled in their several wards.

On Wednesday night, April 24, the citizens of the First ward met at Garrett Townsend’s saloon, on the southeast corner of Shelby and Main streets, near the La Fayette Engine house No. 8, and organized a company and named it the First Ward Home Guard. The following officers were elected:

John L. Treanor, Captain

William W. Rowland — First Lieutenant

John D. Orrill — Second Lieutenant

William C. Brown — Third Lieutenant

Jesse F. Hammond — First Orderly Sergeant

Milton W. Curry — First Corporal

Joseph H. Davis — Second Corporal

Michael Beltags — Third Corporal

James D. Coulter — Fourth Corporal

The number of men enrolled in the company amounted to seventy young, able-bodied and vigorous. It was the first to report progress, followed by the committees of other wards. The secessionists opened their first recruiting office on the 18th of April (Saturday morning), at Herbst’s Hall, on Green street, between Clay and Shelby, south side, three days before Capt. Rousseau called a meeting of the citizens. Recruiting on both sides continued in real earnestness, and on May 2 a grand rally was held at the Court-house. The citizens turned out en masse, and the City Hall was packed to its utmost capacity. The crowd was addressed by Hon. L. H. Rousseau, Hon. Walter C. Whitaker, and Hon. James Guthrie. It was a rare assemblage of talent, eloquence and patriotism. A meeting of the Western district regiment of Home Guards was held on Friday night, May 24, in the court-room, for the election of officers, Capt. John M. Huston, President, and Theodore Harris, Secretary, Lovell H. Rousseau was elected Colonel, William P. Boone, Lieutenant Colonel, and James Speed, Major. Shortly after this Col. Rousseau wrote a strong letter to President Lincoln, tendering his services in defense of the Union. He was immediately forwarded a Colonel’s commission of volunteer, and was authorized to raise two regiments, one of infantry and one of cavalry for the United States service. Many of the officers of the Eastern and Western Home Guards resigned their positions and rallied around him, and the greater number of men from these two regiments followed in their footsteps. The writer, with several other members of Captain Jesse Rubel’s company, then the General Guards, afterward the Dept. Guards, one of the very first to respond to the call of Major John M. Delph, enlisted in Capt. John L. Treanor’s company, Rousseau’s regiment. No camps were allowed on Kentucky soil, but he young men of the state could not wait, and for those who wished to fight for the Union camps were opened at various points.

About June 1 Camp Clay was established opposite Newport, Ky., on the Ohio shore, near Cincinnati. In this camp the First Regiment Kentucky infantry, under Col. J. V. Guthrie, was mustered into the United States service June 4, 1861, by Major H. Burbank, and the Second regiment Kentucky Infantry, under Col. W. E. Woodruff, was also mustered into service by the same officer in this camp on June 13.

On Monday morning, July 1, 1861, six companies of Col. Lovell H. Rousseau’s Louisville Legion went into camp opposite Louisville, on the Indiana shore, two miles below Jeffersonville, at the mouth of Silver Creek, known in antebellum days as Governor Point, and owned by William Patterson, Esq. It was known during the war as the famous Camp Joe Holt. These six companies had crossed over the river that day were the first troops to cross the Ohio river at the beginning of the war and were as follows: Capt. John L. Treanor, 50 men; Capt. Lafayette P. Lovett, 80 men; Capt. Alexander B. Ferguson, 34 men; Capt. John D. Brent, 60 men; Capt. William Mangan, 50 men; Capt. J. Ephraim Van Zandt, 60 men, making in all 334 men. It was not long after this that other companies began coming in from Louisville and various parts of Kentucky. Capt. Harvey M. Buckley came down from Henry county with a company of stalwart Kentuckians, and he being a young man of Herculean form and of commanding presence and courage, Rousseau at once selected him as his Lieutenant-Colonel, and Capt. Wm. W. Berry, also a man of commanding statue, military bearing and dauntless bravery, came into camp with a fine body of 100 men from Louisville, the Monroe Guards, and was promoted to the rank of Major.

The respective ages of these officers were as follows: Rousseau, 43; Buckly, 37, and Berry, 25. The two latter succeeded to the colonelcy of the regiment, and did their duty well, fearlessly and nobly, and on more than one occasion were recommended in the reports of the department commanders for higher promotion. As there were many members of the old Louisville Legion of Mexican war fame connected with col. Rousseau’s regiment, he yielded to importunities and named his battalion the Louisville Legion, and in doing so he felt confident that the new Legion, judging from their appearance and soldierly bearing, would emulate the old Legion in deeds of gallantry and daring in the war for constitutional liberty, which they did, and received great praise in the reports of the department commanders.

The first day the Louisville Legion went into camp the rendezvous was without a name, but on the next day, Tuesday, July 2, Capt. John L. Treanor, while standing on the shore of the Ohio river, near the water’s edge, not far form his company quarters, apparently in a contemplative mood, he picked up a short, narrow strip of pine board and a small bit of charcoal, that drifted at his feet, and wrote in a plain, bold hand the ever memorable inscription, "Camp Joe Holt." Then looking around for a good location for a sign-post, he finally discovered some trees by the roadside, and after surveying their dimensions and the immediate locality he concluded that it was a very suitable place for the sign-board, and selecting the most favorable to him, he stood on tip-toe, and reaching as high as he possibly could, nailed it fast to the tree with a few rusty nails that pierced the board when found, using a rock for a hammer. It was in full view from the entrance to the camp and quite attractive to the visitors who come in every day. The camp was named in honor of the late Judge Joseph Holt, a chivalrous Kentuckian, and a devoted friend to the Union, until his death, which occurred in Washington, August 1, 1894.

The Louisville Legion was the first regiment that crossed the Ohio river at this city, and were poorly supplied with shelter when they went into camp, and no equipage of any kind has as yet been received from the Government, and what little they did have was furnished by the loyal citizens before leaving Louisville. Tarpaulins were freely loaned them by loyal steamboatmen and their agents, which answered their purpose very well and the Government provided better. In a few weeks, tents, blankets, clothing, arms, ammunition and accoutrements were received by the quartermaster and distributed to each company. In the meantime Col. Rousseau was sent to Washington by the loyalists to confer with the President, as the Union’s troops could not be equipped and sent to the front through the regular State channels. President Lincoln at once sent an order to all ordnance officers, quartermasters and commissaries to issue arms and munitions of war on the order of Col. Rousseau.

New recruits were arriving in camp every day, and in a few weeks Rousseau’s Brigade numbered about 2,200 men, and out of this number was organized the Fourth Regiment Kentucky Cavalry — afterwards known as the Second — under Col. Buckner Board. It was mustered into serve on the same day that the Legion was. There was then left to the Legion twelve full companies. The supplemental companies, commanded by Capts. Hoptoff and Martin, respectively, were transferred to the Sixth Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Walter E. Whitaker, then encamped at Apple-tree Garden, near Louisville, about the 27th of August, 1861. After the cavalry was organized and the two companies sent to Col. Whitaker, preparations for muster was ordered, and on Monday, September 9, 1861, a little more than two months from the time it went into camp, Rousseau’s Regiment was mustered into the United States service by Major W. H. Sidell, of the Regular Army, at Camp Joe Holt, as the Louisville Legion, Third Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry.

The first pay it received from the Government in the name and number was in camp at Nolin, Ky., and the last in front of Corinth, Miss. When Col. Bramlette became Governor of Kentucky he had many of the regiments renumbered, and in consequence the Louisville Legion was ordered to assume the rank of Fifth Regiment and discontinue that of the Third, and henceforth make out all reports and pay-rolls accordingly. The order was of course reluctantly obeyed, and so the Legion was known better as the Fifth, when in reality it was the Third Regiment, and was frequently mentioned in the reports of Department Commanders as such, for the insignia was borne on their flags throughout the rebellion. After the battle of Shiloh, Gov. Bramlette sent a flag to the Legion, upon which was inscribed "Fifth Regiment, Kentucky Volunteer Infantry." It was not accepted but promptly returned with a brief message. Bramlette then called his regiment the Third, thereby doing the Legion a gross injustice.

The first stand of colors presented to the Legion at Camp Joe Holt were made by Mr. Hugh Wilkins, on Fourth street, and showed fine taste and workmanship, and the painting was done by Mr. George Fuller, the artist, corner of Fourth and Main streets. They were proficient in their business and well known.

The national flag, the "Stars and Stripes," was made of beautiful ribbed silk, with a name and number of the regiment in gilt letters painted thereon. "Louisville Legion, Third Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry." The regimental standard was a beautiful mazarine blue. On either side was the United States coat-of-arms, on a blue field, with the name and number of the regiment. This stand of colors cost two hundred and fifty dollars, and was quite attractive when unfurled to the gentle breeze. It was the first carried by a Kentuckian in a Union regiment fighting against the Confederate Kentuckian of Breckinridge’s Brigade at Shiloh. It was presented to the Louisville Legion by the ladies of Louisville at Camp Joe Holt, on Wednesday, August 21, 1861. Mrs. Joshua F. Speed and a host of loyal women arrived on the grounds, and at 10:30 o’clock that morning a committee, composed of the following gentlemen, assembled at Col. Rousseau’s tent, prepared for the occasion:

James Speed, Col. Wm. P. Boone, Judge Pirtle, John M. Harlan, Dr. T. S. Fell, Nat. Wolfe, J. W. Clarke, Wm. F. Rubel, Wm. G. Reasor, H. B. Semple, George M. Houghton, James L. Danforth, Dr. Goddard and Mr. Seaman. The Rev. J. H. Heywood, Judge P. B. Muir, A. W. R. Harris and other prominent loyalists were present. The colors were presented at 11 o’clock in the presence of at least 5,000 spectators. An address was first delivered by Judge Pirtle in behalf of the committee, after which Col. Rousseau made the reception speech. The scene was grand and inspiring; the speeches, eminently patriotic, elicited the most rapturous applause from the vast concourse in attendance. These flags were proudly borne by the Legion in the battle of Shiloh on the second day, Monday, April 7, 1862, under the command of Col. Harvey M. Buckley, when Gen. Don Carlos Buell, himself a Kentuckian, turned the tide of battle and saved Gen. Grant.

The second flag given to the Legion by the ladies of Louisville, and of the Seventh ward, was sent to them during the siege of Corinth, with these words feelingly inscribed thereon in letters of purest gold. "Louisville Legion, the Seventh Ward Remembers Shiloh." It was received with the greatest enthusiasm and profound feeling of love for these dear ladies.

The third and last flag sent to the Legion by the truly patriotic ladies of Louisville represented the number of the regiment in was mustered into the service by. This flag was received at McDonough’s Station, eight miles this side of Cleveland, Tenn., as the command was starting in the Georgia campaign. On the flag were the names of all the battles the Louisville Legion participated in since it left Camp Joe Holt on Tuesday night, September 17, 1861, when Col. W. T. Sherman "Old Tecumseh," afterward General — came over in person by order of Major Robert Anderson, Gen. Rousseau being absent on important business, Sherman asked Lieut. Col. Buckley how would it do to call out at night by having the long roll beat, and in reply Buckley said it would do very well. So the long roll resounded throughout the camp and man or boy, as you will — was aroused. The regiment was soon in line and on the march, leaving the tents as they were, untouched on the camp ground. The Louisville Legion was the nucleus around which the Grand Army of the Cumberland was formed, and with the identical colors presented to it by the wives, mothers, sisters, sweethearts and friends of these brave men.

Why then may we not have a personal pride in being ever boastful of our political inheritance? Why should we not possess a pardonable love for the flag of our country, the dear old "Star and Stripes?" It is the flag of the mightiest of all the nations. It is the flag of George Washington, of Henry Clay, of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. It is the flag of freedom and of liberty. It is the flag of eternal justice and the symbol of our American citizenship. God forever bless our grand old flag.

When freedom from her mountain’s height

Unfurled her stand to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night

And striped its pure celestial white

With streakings of the morning light.

Then, from his mansion in the sun,

She called her eagle bearer down,

And placed within his loyal hand

The symbol of her chosen land;

Flag of the free, heart’s hope and home,

By angel hands to valor given;

The stars have lit the welkin dome,

And all thy hues were born in heaven,

Forever float that standard sheet.

Were breathes the foe, but falls before us;

With freedom’s soil beneath our feet,

And freedom’s banner streaming o’er us.