Sublett Inn and Stagecoach Stop
Sublett Inn and Stagecoach Stop
Stage lines, carrying mail and passengers, were used throughout south central Kentucky to connect to the railroads. Inns along the route were sometimes better known that the villages and towns trough which the coaches passed.
The Sublett Inn lodged travelers for over sixty years and provided fresh horses for the stage from a barn located across the road from the inn. In a building near the barn, tobacco was put in hogsheads for shipping down the Green River from Sublett Landing.
Many of the rooms were double bedded; and strangers often slept in the same bed. A late arrival often bedded down on the floor before the fire. The Subletts charged a daily fee of fifty cents for bed, breakfast, supper, and animal care.
Sarah Elizabeth Page (1860-1953) married William Henry Sublett (1846-1921), son of James Allen and Nancy Sublett. She commented on her work at the Sublett Inn, "I have cooked more meals by candle light than all the women in the neighborhood have cooked in the daylight."
Campbellsville to Columbia Stagecoach
Bob Parrott, stage hand, and J.R. Barbee, driver and owner of the stagecoach, were photographed about 1910. Stage drivers, who were highly respected, brought news, carried packages and notices, and shopped for country
people in town.
Wounded Officers and Men of the 25th Michigan Infantry, USA
The Battle of Tebbs Bend Green River Bridge
Some of the wounded were kept at the Sublett House, but most were taken to hospitals in Campbellsville and Louisville.
The muster records of the 25th Michigan at the National Archives and a letter of the Chief Surgeon of the regiment, Bolivar Barnum, in the
Niles Republican, August 1, 1863, provided the following information:
Company D
1 Sgt. Harvey C. Lambert elbow joint; hospital, Louisville
Cpl. Simon Young severe shoulder wound; hospital, Louisville; transferred to Invalid Corps
Pvt. Bruce Beebe hand, side; hospital, Louisville
Pvt. Gillespie M. Parsons thigh; hospital, Louisville
Pvt. Samuel Stecker instep, hospital, Louisville, discharged because of wounds
Pvt. Jonathan Walburt chest; hospital, Louisville
Pvt. Henry Beebe thigh; died Aug. 22 at Lockport, MI
Company E
Sgt. Joseph Gault arm; discharged Dec. 7, 1863
Pvt. Richard W. Baxter shoulder; rejoined troops
Pvt. Thomas E. Preston ear; rejoined troops
Pvt. Orin White arm; transferred to Invalid Corps
Pvt. George W. Hicks arm, knee, and leg; arm amputated; died of wounds July 20, 1863, Campbellsville
Company F
2Lt. Arthur M. Twombly ankle; discharged on disability
2Sgt.
Irving Paddock hips; hospital, Louisville
3Sgt. Henry Bond right-arm; hospital, Campbellsville
1Cpl Henry F. Garmon thigh, arm; hospital, Louisville; discharged Dec. 7, 1863 for gunshot wounds at Tebbs Bend.
7Cpl. Julius Webb forearm; hospital, Louisville; rejoined troops
8Cpl. George Bement right ankle; hospital, Louisville; rejoined troops
Pvt. Arbuth M. Next forearm amputated, hospital, Louisville; discharged, wounds, Tebbs Bend.
Pvt. Isaac Smith ankle; hospital, Louisville; transferred to Invalid Corps
Pvt. Marcus Tuttle hand; hospital, Louisville; transferred to Invalid Corps
Pvt. Thomas Woods cheek, mouth; hospital, Louisville; transferred to Invalid Corps
Company I
Pvt. Jan Veen slightly wounded
Company K
Pvt. Hiram H. Dunham taken to hospital in Louisville; transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps.
Another source says he died in Campbellsville, Sept. 30, 1863.
Prv. Nathan Schofield served as a nurse to the wounded and Pvt. Dirk Van Raalte was appointed hospital steward. Van Raalte wrote home to his father, July 12, 1863 from Campbellsville: "We are now here with the wounded and are waiting for the ambulances. Then we will go to Lebanon." Large Federal hospitals were located in Lebanon, 20 miles from Campbellsville. From Lebanon the wounded were transported by rail to one of the Louisville Military Hospitals.
Sublett House as Federal Hospital
The story-and-a-half log house on the east (left) side of the road served as the Federal hospital following the July 4, 1863 Battle of Tebbs Bend, which took place one mile from here, down the old turnpike.
The 16 foot square structure was built in 1849 by James Aublett (1822 - 1875) and originally had a dirt floor which was later covered by ash flooring. The log interior was lined with vertical, tongue-and-groove boards. Originally there was a single chimney make of earth and wood. Later three rock chimneys were added and the exterior logs were covered with weatherboarding.
On New Year's Day, 1863, James Allen Sublett witnessed the burning of Green River Bridge by Confederate forces under the command of General John Hunt Morgan during his Christmas Raid. According to the Louisville Daily Journal, the Confederates removed large quantities of corn from the Sublett property.
During this action the guns of Battery M, 1st Illinois Light Artillery, which were pursuing Morgan, fired 16 rounds in the direction of the bridge. One of the shots landed in the yard of the Sublett house.
Later General Morgan's forces returned to the region in July 1863 during his Great Raid into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.
The Sublett family was well known to the Union forces in the area and was often visited by Union officers camped in this valley and onthe hill overlooking their home. Wounded Union troops were brought here from the field hospital after the battle. James Allen Sublett and his wife Nancy cared for them. He also helped bury the Confederate dead on the battlefield.
James Robert Sublett (1893 - 1983) grandson of James Allen Sublett, recalled "At least six soldiers were brought here, placed in an upstairs bedroom, and nursed by grandmother."
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