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Wiley C. Patrick, son of Meredith and Rebecca Williams Patrick, was born on December 9, 1835 in Magoffin County, Kentucky and was killed in action on 2 Jun 1864 while on the
battlefield near Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1861, the Civil War broke out and Wiley went to serve his country on the side of the Union. Although he left behind a wife, Mary A. "Polly" (Huff)
Patrick, and three children, he made his way to Louisa, Kentucky, where the 14th KY Infantry Regiment formed at Camp Wallace. His brother Elijah (later) served in this company as well, as did many other
Magoffin County men of honor.
Captain Wiley C. Patrick
On June 2, 1864, Captain Wiley C. Patrick was killed in action on the battlefield near Atlanta, Georgia.
In their subsequent reports, Colonel G. W. Gallup, commander of the 14th KY, called Patrick "noble and gallant", while Colonel Silas Strickland, commanding brigade officer, said he was "a most
brave and gallant officer."
Legend has it that his mother could rest easy until his body was brought back to his ancestral homeland, which did occur about a year later when she sent his
brother (Elijah), by way of wagon from Magoffin County to Georgia to bring Wiley's body back.
Somehow, a Georgia Pine seedling hitched a ride back to Magoffin County with Wiley's body, and was
planted at the head of his grave, where it stood for many years, a great Georgia Pine in the heart of Kentucky.
A distant shot of the grave site of Captain Wiley C. Patrick. Some visitors mistake the large tree towering in the
background as the Georgia Pine that traveled with his body back to Magoffin County, although this is in error. In actuality, the stump (that looks like a rock) behind the gravestone is all that remains
of the legendary tree today.
The grave stone of Captain Wiley C. Patrick
Wiley C. Patrick's body was re-interred in the Meredith Patrick Cemetery on Burning Fork in the
Bradley/Ivyton area. A white stone monument marks the grave. The stump seen in the background is all that remains today of the legendary Georgia Pine that once stood majestically overlooking Magoffin County
with the breathtaking view in the picture below. The inscription reads: Capt. Wiley C. Patrick of Co. I, 14 Reg. Kentucky Vol. Infantry, Born Dec. 9, 1835, Fell in Action June 2, 1864.
A view of Magoffin County, Kentucky from the foot of the grave of Captain Wiley C. Patrick
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