United States v. Lucius Desha

Federal courts indicted but later acquitted General Lucius B. Desha, a prominent Harrison County farmer and politician, for both treason and high misdemeanor; however, Union commanders incarcerated him as a civilian prisoner for three months in Camp Chase, a Northern prison, on unspecified charges. This chapter follows Desha’s pro-Confederate activities from the time he was a state representative participating in a State Rights convention and its committees. The book details an inquiry by a legislative committee on his alleged disloyal activities, a federal trial for treason, and his role as Harrison County’s “secessionist leader.” It was Desha’s prominent role that helped label Cynthiana as a Rebel town. The chapter quotes letters describing farm operations and camp life between Eliza Jean Desha and her husband, Lucius Desha, who was a political prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio.