"The Bumgardner Fight
Submitted by John A. Stegall < [email protected] Jan 7, 2000
First, let me inform the readers of this story that the western part of present day Elliott County where this battle took place was, until 1869, a part of Morgan County. And it was to this area that John Bumgardner moved his family when he departed from Virginia. The family first settled on Brown Ridge (Rt. 32) on property that is now the home of Elwood Flannery. Just how long they resided on this property isn't known for sure, but it could not have been for more than a very few years.
By the time Civil War activity reared its ugly head in Morgan (Elliott) County, John Bumgardner had purchased property just west of Brown Ridge and near the northern rim of the Laurel cliffs---a beautiful spot that is now the home of Arvil DeHart. Older residents of the area could recall that the Bumgardner family were "a peaceful people, who tended to their own business." But it seems evident that they desired to be left alone and would not tolerate harrassment. This seemed to be the situation on a hot August day in 1863. John Bumgardner, although not an active soldier in the Confederate Army, had been accused by Union forces of allowing his farm to be used as a base for Rebel activity. On more than one occassion, Union sympathizers had raided the Bumgardner place and forced the family to flee to safety. Eventually, John Bumgardner grew tired of this activity, and announced, "I have run my last time". And so it was, on that August day when Bumgardner looked across Rocky Branch, a tributary of Laurel Creek, and saw a number of men mounted on horses, slowly making their way down into the gorge. Their destination was undoubtedly the Bumgardner home. True to his vow, John Bumgardner did not run this time. Instead, he loaded his old rifle and proceeded out to a rail fence just above his house, where he awaited the arrival of his most unwelcome guests. When the contingent of soldiers rode up, Bumgardner raised his rifle, took aim, and pulled the trigger. One of the men toppled from his horse, probably killed instantly by a bullet to his head. John was rapidly re-loading his rife, but a hail of gunfire brought him down before he could claim another victim. Robert Bumgardner, one of John's sons, was a soldier in the Confederate Army, and was at home on a short leave at this time. Being a short distance from the house, young Bobby Bumgardner heard the gunfire and raced to the scene to investigate.
As he reached the blood-soaked yard, he too was shot and left for dead. Who was the dead Union soldier, or sympathizer? John DeHart, my late grandfather, told me he had heard older residents refer to the soldier as a Jake Adkins. We do know that the body was carried up to the top of a nearby hill and interred. However, it is believed that Adkins' body was later removed by relatives, perhaps to a family plot. When the soldiers left the Bumgardner residence, they proceeded on up Brown Ridge in the direction of Rowan County. Not far up the ridge, they passed by the home of "Aunt" Sarah Crum, who was informed of the battle, now called the "Bumgardner Fight". The elderly lady went immediately to offer her assistance to her neighbors. When she arrived at the Bumgardner home, young Bobby was beginning to regain consciousness (the bullet had merely grazed the top of his head), and Aunt Sarah immediately used her undoubtedly very limited medical knowledge to care for the wound. My great-uncle, the late Oliver DeHart, told me that many years later he was cutting Bob Bumgardner's hair and noticed the scalp scar. He was aware of the story, but questioned Bob and received first-hand, the story of the Bumgardner Fight. The tragic death of John Bumgardner was not, unfortunately, the only grief the war would bring to the family. Sometime later, William Bumgardner, another son, was taken prisoner, and for some unknown reason, he and a brother-in-law, William McMillan, were shot on Bruin somewhere near what is today known as the Mobley property. Both were left lying in the road. Bumgardner died from his wounds, but McMillan lived. When the Grayson Lake was going in, it was rumored that a Civil War soldier had been buried near the Bruin Schoolhouse. Massive excavation failed to reveal human remains, or even a grave, for that matter. There is, I have been told, a small cemetery on a small knoll near the Charles Porter place on Bruin, and supposedly there is a Civil War soldier buried there. Could it be William Bumgardner? A strong possibility, but since the Bumgardner home was not all that far away, I am wondering if young William's body might have been taken to the cemetery where his father was buried. Today, this cemetery is called the Elijah Pennington Cemetery.
Tragedy would again strike the Bumgardner family in 1885, during the "Tolliver-Martin-Logan Vendetta" in Rowan County. But that is another story.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/elliott/misc/b526-0001.txt
