Civil War veteran: Confederate. Private, Co. F 5th KY Calvary

Seven Confederate Knights

by Frances Keller Swinford, John Keller's granddaughter.

"It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country." This was the motto of the Seven Knights of the Confederacy. In this particular time and place in history it was the motto of seven Confederate soldiers who banded together into a secret society while they were incarcerated in the Federal prison at Rock Island Arsenal at Davenport, Iowa in 1864. Each prisoner had to avow that he would never accept a parole from prison, but that he would somehow escape and return to fight for the glorious "Cause" of the South. (A parole carried the proviso that the recipient would never again bear arms against the Union -- and these were men of honor.)

John Esten Keller of Lexington, Kentucky, who was at the time of his capture serving as a lieutenant of Company F, Fifth Kentucky Cavalry under General John Hunt Morgan's command. His portion of General Morgan's command surrendered at Salineville, Oho in July, 1863 after having participated in the famous "Ohio Raid". Lieutenant Keller was among those prisoners who were transferred from the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus to the Rock Island Arsenal, which is located in the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Moline, Illinois.

There followed a long, cruel, wearisome imprisonment of some twelve months during which he was never outside the prison walls. The Secret Seven were kept posted on affairs in the world outside through agents in Davenport who Communicated with them through an underground system and even provided them with money. The society had grown in number to hundreds--handpicked men who were dedicated to the Cause and who could be implicitly trusted.

Captain Keller later made good his vow to escape in a most dramatic way. He and another of the Seven thought they had bribed certain guards to let them escape. The guards stuck their bayonets in the prison walls to enable Keller and his companion to climb up and jump off the wall to the other side. The guards, however, had warned the Yankee officers, who were ready for them. When Keller jumped he saw what he thought to be stumps--it was dark and he was unable to distinguish objects very well.

The stumps turned out to be Union soldiers and they began to fire upon him. He called to his companion not to jump and then he started running. Miraculously, he was not hit.