Lloyd Tilghman Confederate General in the Western Theatre

Bryan Bush was born in 1966 in Louisville, Kentucky, and has been a native of that city ever since. He graduated with honors from Murray State University with a degree in history and psychology and received his master's degree from the University of Louisville in 2005.Bryan has always had a passion for history, especially the Civil War. He has been a member of many different Civil War historical preservation societies and roundtables. He has consulted for movie companies and other authors; coordinated with other museums on displays of various museum articles and artifacts; has written for magazines such as Kentucky Civil War Magazine, North/South Trader, the Kentucky Civil War Bugle, the Kentucky Explorer and Back Home in Kentucky; and worked for many different historical sites. He has always fought hard to maintain and preserve Civil War history in the Western Theater.In 1999, Bryan published his first work: The Civil War Battles of the Western Theater. Since then, Mr. Bush has had published more than thirteen books on the Civil War, including several titles for The History Press, including Louisville during the Civil War: A History and Guide and Louisville's Southern Exposition. Bryan Bush has been a Civil War reenactor for fifteen years, portraying an artillerist.For five years, Bryan was on the board of directors and curator for the Old Bardstown Civil War Museum and Village: The Battles of the Western Theater Museum in Bardstown, Kentucky, and is currently a board member for the Louisville Historical League and the official Civil War tour guide for Cave Hill Cemetery.

The first detailed biography devoted entirely to capturing the story of one of the South's forgotten but distinguished sons. The book relays the life of Lloyd Tilghman: West Point graduate, soldier, engineer, family man. Coming to build a railroad, the talented engineer settled in Paducah, Kentucky in 1852, with his wife Augusta and their eight children. With the advent of the Civil War, the Mexican War veteran followed his convictions south, becoming a Colonel of the 3rd Kentucky Infantry. Many of the members of the Kentucky State Guard followed him. Promoted to Brigadier General, Tilghman assumed responsibility for the strategically important rivers in Western Kentucky and Tennessee. Guarding the Gateway into the South by holding Ft. Henry on the Tennessee River, Tilghman fought overwhelming odds against Commodore Andrew Foote and General U.S. Grant. Succumbing to naval firepower, Tilghman surrendered Ft. Henry. Taken prisoner, he was later exchanged, becoming an infantry brigade commander. During the Battle of Champion's Hill on May 16, 1864, while directing artillery fire, Tilghman was struck by a shell fragment and killed, ending a promising military and civilian career.