I am slowly working my way through ledgers listing a few soldiers from Kentucky counties who enlisted in 1864-1865. This was after enslaved men could be credited against the draft and after enslavers could receive monetary "compensation" from the U.S. government for enlisted men they had formerly enslaved, as long as the enslavers weren't personally engaged in supporting the Rebellion. Because of the compensation claims, these ledgers give the names of former enslavers of the U.S. soldiers. In the interest of getting more basic information transcribed, I am not yet adding much detailed information for soldiers from these counties. Hopefully the names and enslavers will give descendants a starting place for research and corrections.
The additional soldiers will be added to the blog in loosely alphabetical groups in a menu below the Mason County menu on the right. -->
Enlistment dates and birthplaces may help you match the soldiers to their regiments and companies. Most of these soldiers' military records will not be on Ancestry.com unfortunately because these 1864 enlistments are going to often be high-numbered regiments. Fold3.com will likely have these records digitized, though it can only be searched by a soldier's name and you have to guess the spelling correctly.
In many cases I do not yet have the county narrowed down, and instead have given a congressional district for the enslaver's residence at the time of the soldier's enlistment. So here below is a link to a map of the congressional districts in Kentucky in 1864 and 1865 that you can use to narrow down the counties these soldiers had previously been enslaved in.
Just as a side note, if you are a descendant of the enslaver, rather than (and not in addition to) the soldier, you still might be interested in researching the soldier, as there may be some information regarding enslavers within the soldiers' records too.
Kentucky Congressional Districts 1863-1865
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