Wakefield Farm

I recently completed a novel for Penguin entitled I, Quantrill about the last days of the famous Civil War guerrilla. That's one reason the blog entries have been infrequent -- I've been busy finishing the book. Well, here's a photograph I took during a research trip to Kentucky, where Quantrill spent the last few months before being shot in the back and paralyzed at Wakefield Farm. Here's a photo I took during a March 2007 research trip to Kentucky that shows the historical marker along Highway 55 just north of Wakefield in Spencer County. The spot where Quantrill was shot is just over the hill to the left -- he was sleeping in the loft of a barn owned by James Wakefield on the rainy morning of May 10, 1865, when Federal guerrillas led by Edwin Terrell surprised Quantrill and his men. Quantrill was shot in the back and paralyzed, and was later taken to the Wakefield farmhouse, where he said farewell to some of his men, including Frank James. According to contemporary accounts, only the top of the barn could be seen from the Taylorsville - Bloomfield Road, now Highway 55. It was, appropriately, raining during my visit.