Harry Smeltzer, on his Bull Runnings blog, has put up a couple terrific posts on the prodigial descendant line of Union General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick. Some are familiar with his more famous descendants, but Harry has put together quite a recounting of all of his descendants and some extremely interesting stories about them to boot. The first post is here, the second here.
I’ve known for years that CNN’s Anderson Cooper is a direct descendant of Kilpatrick, and Cooper definitely has the “Little Kil” chromosomes. One look at Anderson is like looking at a picture of the General – put some big sideburns and a uniform on the CNN anchor, and he’s Kilpatrick’s twin.
Check out Harry’s posts. Interesting reading and you’ll learn a great deal – including the fact that one of those related to Kilpatrick’s descendants was born in one of the cottages atop Monterey – the very ground on which Kilpatrick fought Confederate General Richard Ewell’s teamsters the night of July 4, 1863 as the Rebels retreated following Gettysburg. I didn’t know about this birth location until now, and it’s an amazing circle of fate – and one that I will mention every time I talk about the fight at Monterey Pass or give a tour of the ground.
Kudos to Harry for some terrific work.
