Strother West Roberts (1842-1897)

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My third Great Grandfather, Strother West Roberts, was born on November 1, 1842, in Blaine, Kentucky, the heart of Eastern Kentucky, to John C. and Esther (Abbott) Roberts. Strother’s younger brother, Reuben C. Roberts, was born the following year on April 9, 1844; three more younger brothers and a sister joined the family. Two siblings, including his only sister Martha, died before Strother was ten years old. By the age of Nineteen, the United States had broken down into the Civil War. Both Strother and his younger brother Rueben were enlisted into the Union Army into the 14th Kentucky Regiment, Company G, at Camp Wallace in Lawrence County, Kentucky.[1]

The Union’s 14th Kentucky Infantry Regiment of the Civil War was a highly accomplished and engaged unit throughout the intense years of the American Civil War. In its three-year tenure, the unit engaged in many battles from their home city of Louisa, Kentucky, to distant battlefields in Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Strother West Roberts was enlisted at the rank of Private throughout his tenure in the 14th Regiment. Perhaps, the most significant contribution to the Civil War was the regiments’ participation in the Battle for Atlanta. The Battle for Atlanta was a three-part struggle against Confederate forces to take the city of Atlanta.


1890 Veterans Schedules Federal Census - Strother Roberts 
           When General Ulysses S. Grant was appointed “Chief of all Union Armies,” under William T. Sherman, Grant drew up a “new strategy” to crush the Confederacy and win the war.[2] The first phase of Grant’s plan was to push through Robert E. Lee in Virginia, utilize Sherman to take the “other main Confederate force, the Army of Tennessee,” and push onward to take the city of Atlanta.[3] At that time, Atlanta was a critical hub for the Confederacy and would give the Union army a strategic advantage in achieving dominance in the southern states; while also laying the groundwork for Sherman’s eventual March to the Sea.

Strother and Rueben fought in the Battle for Atlanta as members of the 14th  Regiment attached to the 18th Brigade in the XXIII Corps of the Army of Ohio under Major General John M. Schofield. The Roberts brothers and the rest of the 14th engaged the Confederates at Kolb’s Farm on June 22, 1864, Peachtree Creek on July 20, 1864, Utoy Creek, August 5-7th, 1864, and Jonesboro, August 31-September 1st, 1864.[4] On September 2, 1864, Sherman marched on Atlanta after nearly two months of battle.[5] The Battle of Atlanta ended with Union victory with heavy losses on both sides, with 34,500 American casualties, but the result was a “crucial” success for the Union.[6] The Union army cut off four routes of transportation of resources and supplies from the Confederate armies by taking Atlanta.[7] 

In total, Strother W. Roberts served the 14th Kentucky Regiment for three years and six months and was not afforded any form of pension for disability or injury, while his brother Rueben was awarded a $4 a month pension having endured a bout of Bronchitis during his service.[8] When considering the sheer loss of life during the Civil War and even just the casualties endured by the 14th Regiment, which lost 201 soldiers in battle and 147 from disease alone, the Roberts brothers were very fortunate to survive the war.[9]

Roberts Family Tree
1842-Present

             After the Civil War, Strother returned home to Lawrence County, Kentucky. In 1868, at the age of 25, Strother married Martha “Mattie” Carter in Lawrence, Kentucky, on February 6, 1868. Together, Strother and Martha bore six children, Esther, Ellen, Ella, Cora, George, and (my second great-grandfather) Henry Bascom Roberts in 1872. Mattie, unfortunately, died a little over a month after having her last son, Henry, on September 29, 1872, after just four years of marriage. Beyond that, little is known about this time. From census records, we know Strother was a farmer and now also taking care of a bustling family of six on his own. About two years later, Strother did marry again to Elizabeth F. Elam on September 3, 1874. According to 1880 and 1890 census records, Strother lived in Louisa, Kentucky as a farm laborer. In 1891, Strother’s father, John C. Roberts, passed away at the age of 84, and his mother passed in 1895 at the age of 86. On March 27, 1897, at 54 years old, Strother West Roberts died and was interred at the Yatesville Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Busseyville, Lawrence county, Kentucky.

Strother W. Roberts left behind an enduring legacy of American ideals and hardworking farmers. Strother’s youngest son Henry Bascom Roberts would have many children, work as a farm laborer and preach in the local Baptist Church. Henry Bascom Roberts would marry Louverna G. Ball and have many more children, including my Great Grandfather Dewey Wilson Roberts, who married Amba Lee Prince and had my grandfather Henry Bascom Roberts in 1924. My Grandpa, Henry Bascom Roberts, married Kathleen Strutt in 1946 and had my father, Timothy L. Roberts, in 1957. 

 

 



Bibliography

14th Kentucky Veterans: 1890 Veterans & Widows Census, Lawrence County, KY. n.d. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~us14thkyinfantry/military/census/lawrenceky.html (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

Alfaro, Colonel Armando. “The Trail of the Civil War in Kentucky 1861-1865.” National Guard eMuseum: Kentuckians in Action. 2002. https://kynghistory.ky.gov/Our-History/History-of-the-Guard/Documents/ThePaperTrailoftheCivilWarinKY18611865%202.pdf (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

American Battle Field Trust. Atlanta: The Civil War. n.d. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/atlanta (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

Ancestry.com. 1890 Veterans Schedules of the U.S. Federal Census. 2005. www.ancestry.com (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

Ed. of Time-Life Books. Illustrated Atlas of the Civil War. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1996.

Historical Data Systems, comp. . U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866. 1999. www.ancestry.com (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

National Park Service. The Civil War: Soldiers and Sailors Database. n.d. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

 Additional Resource Images: 

Strother Roberts Tombstone -Source: Find A Grave




Strother West Roberts (1842-1897)
1880 US Federal Census Record 
Strother Roberts Family Highlighted

 










Footnotes: 

[1] Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866. 1999. www.ancestry.com (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

[2] Ed. of Time-Life Books. Illustrated Atlas of the Civil War. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1996, 248.

[3] Ibid.

[4] National Park Service. The Civil War: Soldiers and Sailors Database. n.d. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).14th Kentucky Regiment.

[5] Ed. of Time-Life Books, 269.

[6] American Battle Field Trust. Atlanta: The Civil War. n.d. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/atlanta (accessed Oct. 5, 2021). Battle for Atlanta and The Atlanta Campaign.  

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ancestry.com. 1890 Veterans Schedules of the U.S. Federal Census. 2005. www.ancestry.com (accessed Oct. 5, 2021).

[9] Ibid.

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