Kentucky: National Guard History eMuseum

A military unit of some type has been in Glasgow since 1861.

"Several military companies from Barren County were involved in the Civil War. The majority of these fought for the South, including three cavalry units, while two companies of Infantry fought for the North. The Confederate companies were often referred to as being part of the "Orphan Brigade", and a native of Glasgow, General Joseph H. Lewis, was the last commander of this brigade. Another native of Barren County, Colonel Joseph P. Nuchols, was Commander of the 4th Kentucky Infantry of the Confederate Army, and served as Adjutant General of Kentucky."

At the end of the Civil War, between the years of 1865-1898, there was a militia unit in Glasgow known as the Murray Guards. This unit was made up of volunteers and served as a peacekeeping group. A Glasgow volunteer company, known as "Railey's Rifles", did see active service during the Spanish-American War. The unit was Company G, 3rd Kentucky Regiment of Infantry. In 1916, there was no organized unit in Glasgow, but some volunteers went to Mexico during the Mexican-American War. During World War I, the 84th Division, made up of men from Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois were part of the Lincoln Division, which was made up of men from Barren County. A total of 35 men from Barren County died in World War I; they were killed in action, died from wounds they had suffered, or died from the flu. Companies from Glasgow also served in World War II, Korea, and Desert Storm.

Glasgow Armory

On April 1, 1929, the 123rd Cavalry Regiment of the Kentucky National Guard was established in Glasgow. The Headquarters and Band sections were assigned to Glasgow. The first National Guard armory was a commercial cinder block building located on Race Street. This building was constructed in 1928, and featured a stage at one end and dressing rooms at either end of the building that were used as offices. The drill hall had a wooden floor, and the basement was wood, as well. This armory was the only place in town where large events could be held, and church revivals, circuses, and new car shows were all events that took place there. In addition, the building was used two or three times a week for wrestling matches.

A cavalry unit was located in Glasgow until about 1940. A mounted band, the only one in the Guard at that time, was also located there. A stable for the unit's horses was located where the current OMS stands. The stable was torn down soon after the men were activated for World War II on December 7, 1941, and the unit was reorganized as the 106th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion. In January of 1941, the company left for training in Texas, and was gone for one year. Some men in the company were overseas for five years. The men left Texas for Northern Ireland, and from there they went to North Africa, Sicily, Northern France, and ended up in Germany at the end of the war. When the unit returned home after World War II, the National Guard unit was disbanded.

In 1946, a group of men re-formed the National Guard unit and once again used the building on Race Street as their armory. On December 23, 1950, the unit was activated for the Korean War. During the 30-day waiting period before their departure, they participated in an accelerated training period, and had to get their shots, equipment, and wills ready in one month's time. On January 23, 1951, the men boarded a train for Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, where they trained with new equipment and vehicles. After training for several months, the men left North Carolina for California, where they boarded a ship in San Francisco and sailed for Japan, arriving on December 24, 1951. The men were on board the ship for over two weeks before they reached Yokohama, Japan. From Japan they took another ship and sailed three or four more days to Pusan, Korea. Soon after their arrival, they traveled up the east coast and were briefed on their way. When the Guard arrived in Korea, they were not prepared for the cold weather - 12-14 degrees Fahrenheit, and their winter equipment was not ready. Trucks had to be run all night so that they would run during the day. "B"rations (dehydrated food) were the staple of the men's diet. Mr. Leon Strange, retired National Guardsman, remembers that "...the cold weather was one of the worst things about being in Korea. He remembers one night the men set their tents up on frozen ground, not realizing that the ground they were on was really frozen-over rice paddies. The next morning, the men awoke to find themselves in a few inches of water."

In January 1953, the unit was re-organized and reconstituted as the 623rd Field Artillery, which is what it has remained to the present. Currently, Headquarters Battery of the 1/623rd Field Artillery is stationed in Glasgow. The Guard continued to use the armory on Race Street, until 1964, when a new armory was completed on Cavalry Drive. The new armory sits on over 14 acres of land which had once been a ballpark and grandstand. An Organizational Maintenance Shop (OMS) had been built a few years earlier (1950), where the horse barn had been when the unit was the 123rd Cavalry. The old armory was given to the city in exchange for the land for the new armory. The city eventually sold the old armory to a Chrysler dealer in 1968 for $28,000. The Chrysler dealer did not use the building, so it was sold again to the library board, who demolished the building down to make way for a parking lot in the early 1970s. Once the Guard vacated the building, it sat empty.

The new armory was built as both a military and community facility. The drill hall was designed with seating off the floor and a wooden floor so that the Barren County High School could use it as their home court for basketball games. The drill hall floor in the gym is similar to the one at the Tompkinsville armory, in that both floors are constructed of wooden pieces that have been laid end up, rather than long ways. Eventually, the school got its own gymnasium, but the drill hall continues to serve as a community center for Glasgow. The drill hall is rented out for karate classes, basketball games, wrestling matches, tool shows, and home and garden shows, among others. The OMS is similar in appearance to the OMS in Bowling Green. The building is a one-and-a-half story concrete block structure with a large garage door at one end and windows on either side of the building.

The National Guard in Glasgow works with students from the Barren County High School and middle school in the Junior Guard program, and supports the Scout-O-Rama. The Guard rappells with the Boy Scouts, participates in Civil War days, and helps out with the Highland Games (a large Scottish festival which takes place every year) by providing security.
The Guard participates in the cancer walk-a-thon, all area festivals, Veterans Day activities, and Armed Forces Day with the Corps of Engineers.

In addition to all of their community activities, the Guard has participated in state active duty missions, such as the flood of 1997, and the snowstorm of 1998. The 1/623rd Field Artillery Battalion, including the Headquarters company at Glasgow, and companies from Tompkinsville, Campbellsville, Monticello, and Springfield served in Desert Storm. ( For further information about the National Guard's duties in Desert Storm, see the Springfield, Tompkinsville or Monticello profiles).

Glasgow Field Maintenance Shop

The Glasgow armory is not eligible for the National Register due to its date of construction. However, provided the armory is still intact and maintains most of its original features (especially the unusual wooden drill hall floor), it would be eligible for listing in the year 2004. The FMS shop, built in 1947, is eligible for the National Register based on criterion A, History, and criterion C, type of construction. The building has always served as an Organizational Maintenance Shop for the National Guard, and was first used when the armory was located on Race Street.