This week in 1865

“I am a regular Confederate soldier, and have served in the Confederate army four years. I fought under General Buckner at Fort Donelson, and belonged to General Morgan’s command when he entered Kentucky. I have assisted, and have taken many prisoners, and have always treated them kindly. I was wounded at Cynthiana and cut from my command. I have been in Kentucky ever since. I could prove that I am a regular Confederate soldier, and I hope to die for the Confederate cause.”

— Marcellus Jerome Clarke (aka Sue Mundy, aka Marcus Clark),
convicted of guerrilla activity, hanging, Kentucky.
Executed March 15, 1865

Enlisted in the Confederate Fourth Kentucky Infantry in 1861 at the age of seventeen, Clarke (or Clark) was a part of Morgan’s Raiders from 1862 until Morgan’s death in 1864. Clarke left the group to lead guerrilla warfare throughout Kentucky as the infamous Sue Mundy. According to the Louisville Journal, Clarke said “he was not guilty for one-tenth of the outrages that he had been charged with and that the Louisville Journal had done him a great injustice.” Clarke’s words reflect the belief that the Sue Mundy persona was a creation of the Louisville Journal and meant to embarrass the Union.

Clarke left one final note to a loved one, whom the Journal describes as “a young lady of this State. It read:
“My dear: I have to inform you of the sad fate which awaits your true friend. I am to suffer death this afternoon at 4 o’clock. I send you, from my chains, a message of true love; and, as I stand on the brink of the grave, I tell you I do truly, and fondly, and forever love you.
I am, ever truly, yours. M. Jerome Clark.”