General Basil Wilson Duke, historian of Morgan's men, was born near
Georgetown, Kentucky, May 28, 1838. He was educated at Georgetown and
Centre Colleges, after which he studied law at Transylvania University.
He was admitted to the bar, in 1858, and entered upon the practice at
St. Louis. In 1861 he was a member of the Kentucky legislature; and in
June of that year he married the sister of John Hunt Morgan and enlisted
in Morgan's command. Upon Morgan's death, in 1864, General Duke
succeeded him as leader of the band. After the war he settled at
Louisville, Kentucky, as a lawyer, and that city is his home today. From
1875 to 1880 General Duke was commonwealth's attorney for the Fifth
Judicial District; and since 1895 he has been a commissioner of Shiloh
Military Park. His _Morgan's Cavalry_ (Cincinnati, 1867; New York,
1906), is the authoritative biography of the noted partisan leader and
history of his intrepid band. General Duke was one of the editors of
_The Southern Bivouac_, a Louisville magazine, from 1885 to 1887. His
_History of the Bank of Kentucky_ (Louisville, 1895), filled a gap in
Kentucky history; and his _Reminiscences_ (New York, 1911), was a
delightful volume of enormous proportions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. _Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky_ (Chicago, 1897);
_The Bookman_ (December, 1907).