Sue Mundy

Sue Mundy was a fictional character created by the editor of the "Louisville Journal", George D. Prentice during the American Civil War.

Union Major General Stephen G. Burbridge was given command over the Commonwealth of Kentucky in June 1864. Martial law was declared and Burbridge disenfranchised some voters in an attempt to guarantee a victory for Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election. Prentice created the "Sue Mundy" persona to show Burbridge as an incompetent commander, unable to protect Kentucky citizens. Adding to the hype, there were many guerilla groups operating in Kentucky late in 1864 and in 1865, and they often claimed to be part of Sue Munday's gang because of the notorious image. The gang terrorism was often published in the "Louisville Journal", where Prentice would report on the activities of Sue Mundy, so the incompetence of Burbridge would be perpetuated.

The first editorial Prentice wrote about the character he spelled her name 'Munday', but in every other editorial he spelled the name 'Mundy'.

One particular guerilla, Marcellus Jerome Clarke, wore his hair long and had smooth-faced features. When caught in Meade County on March 12, 1865, by Federal soldiers, he was tried in Louisville and hanged a few days later. All along, Prentice vehemently denied that Clarke was Mundy.

By some accounts, Henry C. Magruder, another guerilla soldier, was the original Sue Mundy. It is probable that Magruder and Clarke rode together. In the account "Three Years in the Saddle," when the guerillas were finally arrested, Clarke was executed by hanging soon after capture in March 1865 and Magruder, having been shot in the lungs, was allowed to heal in jail before being hanged.

ee also

*Louisville in the American Civil War

External links

* [http://www.bryansbush.com/hub.php?page=articles&layer=a0807 "Guerilla Warfare in Kentucky"] — Article by Civil War historian/author Bryan S. Bush