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One hundred-fifty years ago today, Clark County native Capt. Robert Hickman lost his life due to injuries suffered at the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn., during the Civil War.
His sacrifice for the Union Army was commemorated Thursday at the Hickman Cemetery in the Athens Boonesboro area of Clark County, with a ceremony led by Civil War re-enactor Steve Menefee.
“The main thing we are here to commemorate is how the war was brother against brother, cousin against cousin, but now we’re one country,”żMenefee said.
Hickman’s cousin, Gen. Roger Hanson of the 1st Kentucky Brigade, also was mortally wounded at the battle fighting for the Confederacy.
“They were killed at the same battle, probably 75 yards apart,” Menefee said.
Hanson is buried in the Lexington Cemetery.
Both the Hickman and the Hanson families suffered great losses due to the war. Five Hanson brothers served, three for the Union and two for the Confederacy. Both Hansons serving in the Confederacy were killed. Richard Hickman, brother Joel Hickman, was accidentally killed by one of his fellow soldiers early in the war.
The Battle of Murfreesboro also is known as the Battle of Stone’s River. Menefee said the Union and the Confederacy used different naming conventions, with the Union typically referring to battles by the name of the closest body of water and the Confederacy using the name of the closest town.
“This family lost a son on each side,”żMenefee said of the Hickmans. “One for the Confederacy and one for the Union.”