Camp Ella Bishop

 Who was Ella Bishop?

From the book:
The Seventh Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers in the Civil War, 1862-1865.

A flag-raising occurred to-day at past headquarters, to which was attached peculiar interest. In its honor the Seventh was paraded under arms, the Forty-ninth Kentucky and two bat teries without arms. A number of patriotic addresses were made including one by General Fry, but the chief attraction was the fair donor of the flag, Mrs. Ella Bishop Ransom, wife of the post commissary, who sat upon the platform. The cause is well set forth in a document that embodies alike the first official recognition of her undaunted loyalty and a tribute to its worth : Headquarters 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Camp Ella Bishop, Lexington, Ky., Oct. 28th, 1862. General Orders No. —. When the rebels entered this portion of the State they treated with disrespect all evidences of loyalty and heaped their insults upon citizens by hauling from the steeples and from the windows of their homes the emblem of their liberty and nationality, the flag of our armies, the ensign of our republican institutions and the banner we are so willing to defend. They trailed it in the dust and trampled it under their unhallowed feet and shouted it should wave no more over the City of Lexington, the State of Kentucky. But amidst their hellish revelling and traitorous shouts following in the wake of the trailing banner, a bold and patriotic yet beautiful and modest lady scarcely eighteen years of age, one of Kentucky's proudest daughters, rushed forth with wounded spirit yet undaunted courage, wrested it from the traitor's grasp, defied their threats & waved it above their heads and dared them to touch it with their polluted hands. She recovered it. She saved it and to-day holds it proudly protected by gallant soldiers from Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. As an humble evidence therefore of respect and admiration for such patriotism and worthy example this camp shall bear the name of that young lady, "Ella Bishop." By command of Brig.-Gen. G. CLAY SMITH. G. C. Goodloe, Lieut. A. D. C. The Lexington Observer and Reporter editorially remarks under date of Nov. 22, 1862: "A very high compliment is paid to an estimable young lady of our city in a general order by Gen. G. Clay Smith, which we publish in another column. Miss Ella Bishop richly deserves every word that official paper contains. When Morgan's men made their last dash through our streets this noble young lady snatched from their grasp a beautiful flag, which they had torn from a corner building, and, waving it at them, held on to it in defiance of their efforts to get it from her until their departure." At the time the incident occurred Miss Bishop lived in the 158 SEVENTH RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY. house on the south side of High (or Hill) Street, between Spring and Patter son, occupied in 1896 by Mrs. Joe Millward. The flag was taken from Fitch's drug store on the north side of Main Street corner of Upper, subsequently the site of the Fayette National Bank.

from J. Michael Joslin