Battles in Kentucky

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CIVIL WAR BATTLES IN THE STATE OF KY

Barbourville

Camp Wild Cat

Cynthiana

Ivy Mountain

Middle Creek

Mill Springs

Munfordville

Paducah

Perryville

Richmond

Rowlett's Station

Battle information from the National Park Service's American

Battlefield Protection Program.

Barbourville - September 19, 1861. Kentucky Confederate Offensive

(1861). Kentucky Union sympathizers had trained recruits at Camp

Andrew Johnson, in Barbourville, throughout the summer of 1861.

Confederate Brigadier General Felix Zollicoffer entered Kentucky in

mid-September intending to relieve pressure on General Albert Sidney

Johnston and his troops by conducting raids and generally

constituting a threat to Union forces and sympathizers in the area.

On September 18, 1861, he dispatched a force of about 800 men under

command of Colonel Joel A. Battle to disrupt the training activities

at Camp Andrew Johnson. At daylight on the 19th, the force entered

Barbourville and found the recruits gone; they had been sent to Camp

Dick Robinson. A small home guard force commanded by Captain Isaac

J. Black met the Confederates, and a sharp skirmish ensued. After

dispersing the home guard, the Confederates destroyed the training

camp and seized arms found there. This was, for all practical

purposes, the first encounter of the war in Kentucky. The

Confederates were making their might known in the state, countering

the early Union presence.

Camp Wild Cat - October 21, 1861. Also known as Wildcat Mountain.

Kentucky Confederate Offensive (1861). Brigadier General Felix

Zollicoffer’s men occupied Cumberland Gap and took position at

Cumberland Ford to counter the Unionist activity in the area.

Brigadier General George H. Thomas sent a detachment under Colonel

T.T. Garrard to secure the ford on the Rockcastle River, establish a

camp at Wildcat Mountain, and obstruct the Wilderness road passing

through the area. Colonel Garrard informed Thomas that if he did not

receive reinforcements, he would have to retreat because he was

outnumbered seven to one. Thomas sent Brigadier General A. Schoepf

with what amounted to a brigade of men to Colonel Garrard, bringing

the total force to about 7,000. On the morning of October 21, soon

after Schoepf arrived, some of his men moved forward and ran into

Confederate forces, commencing a fight. The Federals repelled the

Confederate attacks, in part due to fortifications, both man-made

and natural. The Confederates withdrew during the night and

continued their retreat to Cumberland Ford, which they reached on

the 26th. A Union victory was welcomed, countering the Confederate

victory at Barbourville.

Cynthiana - June 11-12, 1864. Also known as Kellar’s Bridge.

Morgan’s Raid into Kentucky (1864). Brigadier General Morgan

approached Cynthiana with 1,200 men, on June 11, 1864, at dawn.

Colonel Conrad Garis, with the 168th Regiment Ohio Volunteer

Infantry and some home guard troops, about 300 men altogether,

constituted the Union forces at Cynthiana. Morgan divided his men

into three columns, surrounded the town and launched an attack at

the covered bridge, driving the Union forces back towards the depot

and north along the railroad. The Confederates set fire to the town,

destroying many buildings and some of the Union troops. As the

fighting flared in Cynthiana, another Union force, about 750 men of

the 171st Ohio National Guard under the command of Brigadier General

Edward Hobson, arrived by train about a mile north of the Cynthiana

at Kellar’s Bridge. Morgan trapped this new Union force in a meander

of the Licking River. After some fighting, Morgan forced Hobson to

surrender. Altogether, Morgan had about 1,300 Union prisoners of war

camping with him overnight in line of battle. Brigadier General

Stephen Gano Burbridge with 2,400 men, a combined force of Ohio,

Kentucky, and Michigan mounted infantry and cavalry, attacked Morgan

at dawn on June 12. The Union forces drove the Confederates back,

causing them to flee into town where many were captured or killed.

Morgan escaped. Cynthiana demonstrated that Union numbers and

mobility were starting to take their toll; Confederate cavalry and

partisans could no longer raid with impunity.

Ivy Mountain - November 8-9, 1861. Also known as Ivy Creek and Ivy

Narrows. Kentucky Confederate Offensive (1861). While recruiting in

southeast Kentucky, Confederates under Colonel John S. Williams ran

short of ammunition at Prestonsburg and fell back to Pikeville to

replenish their supply. Brigadier General William Nelson sent out a

detachment from near Louisa under Colonel Joshua Sill while he

started out from Prestonsburg with a larger force in an attempt to

“turn or cut the Rebels off.” Williams prepared for evacuation,

hoping for time to reach Virginia, and sent out a cavalry force to

meet Nelson about eight miles from Pikeville. The Confederate

cavalry escaped, and Nelson continued on his way. Williams then met

Nelson at a point northeast of Pikeville between Ivy Mountain and

Ivy Creek. Waiting by a narrow bend in the road, the Confederates

surprised the Yankees by firing upon their constricted ranks. A

fight ensued, but neither side gained the bulge. As the shooting

ebbed, Williams’s men felled trees across the road and burned

bridges to slow Nelson’s pursuing force. Night approached and rain

began which, along with the obstructions, convinced Nelson’s men to

go into camp. In the meantime, Williams retreated into Virginia,

stopping in Abingdon on the 9th. Sill’s force arrived too late to be

of use, but he did skirmish with the remnants of Williams’s

retreating force before he occupied Pikeville on the 9th. This

bedraggled Confederate force retreated back into Virginia for

succor. The Union forces consolidated their power in eastern

Kentucky mountains.

Middle Creek - January 10, 1862. Offensive in Eastern Kentucky

(1862). More than a month after Confederate Colonel John S. Williams

left Kentucky, following the fight at Ivy Mountain, Brigadier

General Humphrey Marshall led another force into southeast Kentucky

to continue recruiting activities. From his headquarters in

Paintsville, on the Big Sandy River, northwest of Prestonsburg,

Marshall recruited volunteers and had a force of more than 2,000 men

by early January, but could only partially equip them. Union

Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell directed Colonel James Garfield

to force Marshall to retreat back into Virginia. Leaving Louisa,

Garfield took command of the 18th Brigade and began his march south

on Paintsville. He compelled the Confederates to abandon Paintsville

and retreat to the vicinity of Prestonsburg. Garfield slowly headed

south, but swampy areas and numerous streams slowed his movements,

and he arrived in the vicinity of Marshall on the 9th. Heading out

at 4:00 am on January 10, Garfield marched a mile south to the mouth

of Middle Creek, fought off some Confederate cavalry and turned west

to attack Marshall. Marshall had put his men in line of battle west

and south of the creek near its forks. Garfield attacked shortly

after noon, and the fighting continued for most of the afternoon

until Union reinforcements arrived in time to dissuade the

Confederates from assailing the Federal left. Instead, the

Confederates retired south and were ordered back to Virginia on the

24th. Garfield’s force moved to Prestonsburg after the fight and

then retired to Paintsville. Union forces had halted the Confederate

1861 offensive in Kentucky, and Middle Creek demonstrated that their

strength had not diminished. This victory, along with Mill Springs a

little more than a week later, cemented Union control of eastern

Kentucky until Confederate General Braxton Bragg launched his

offensive in the summer and fall. Following these two January

victories in Kentucky, the Federals carried the war into Tennessee

in February.

Mill Springs - January 19, 1862. Also known as Logan’s Cross-Roads

and Fishing Creek. Offensive in Eastern Kentucky (1862). Although

Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer’s main responsibility was to

guard Cumberland Gap, in November 1861 he advanced west into

Kentucky to strengthen control in the area around Somerset. He found

a strong defensive position at Mill Springs and decided to make it

his winter quarters. He fortified the area, especially both sides of

the Cumberland River. Union Brigadier General George Thomas received

orders to drive the Rebels across the Cumberland River and break up

Major General George B. Crittenden’s army. He left Lebanon and

slowly marched through rain-soaked country, arriving at Logan’s

Crossroads on January 17, where he waited for Brigadier General A.

Schoepf’s troops from Somerset to join him. Major General George

Crittenden, Zollicoffer’s superior, had arrived at Mill Springs and

taken command of the Confederate troops. He knew that Thomas was in

the vicinity and decided that his best defense was to attack the

Yankees. The Confederates attacked Thomas at Logan’s Crossroads at

dawn on January 19. Unbeknownst to the Confederates, some of

Schoepf’s troops had arrived and reinforced the Union force.

Initially, the Confederate attack forced the first unit it hit to

retire, but stiff resistance followed and Zollicoffer was killed.

The Confederates made another attack but were repulsed. Union

counterattacks on the Confederate right and left were successful,

forcing them from the field in a retreat that ended in Murfreesboro,

Tennessee. Mill Springs, along with Middle Creek, broke whatever

Confederate strength there was in eastern Kentucky. Confederate

fortunes did not rise again until summer when General Braxton Bragg

launched his offensive into Kentucky. Mill Springs was the larger of

the two Union Kentucky victories in January 1862. With these

victories, the Federals carried the war into Middle Tennessee in

February.

Munfordville - September 14-17, 1862. Also known as Green River

Bridge. Confederate Heartland Offensive (1862). In the 1862

Confederate offensive into Kentucky, General Braxton Bragg’s army

left Chattanooga, Tennessee, in late August. Followed by Major

General Don Carlos Buell’s Union Army, Bragg approached

Munfordville, a station on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and

the location of the railroad bridge crossing Green River, in

mid-September. Colonel John T. Wilder commanded the Union garrison

at Munfordville which consisted of three regiments with extensive

fortifications. Wilder refused Brigadier General James R. Chalmers’s

demand to surrender on the 14th. Union forces repulsed Chalmers’s

attacks on the 14th, forcing the Confederates to conduct siege

operations on the 15th and 16th. Late on the 16th, realizing that

Buell’s forces were near and not wanting to kill or injure innocent

civilians, the Confederates communicated still another demand for

surrender. Wilder entered enemy lines under a flag of truce, and

Confederate Major General Simon B. Buckner escorted him to view all

the Confederate troops and to convince him of the futility of

resisting. Impressed, Wilder surrendered. The formal ceremony

occurred the next day on the 17th. With the railroad and the bridge,

Munfordville was an important transportation center, and the

Confederate control affected the movement of Union supplies and men.

Paducah - March 25, 1864. Forrest’s Expedition into West Tennessee

and Kentucky (1864). In March 1864, Forrest set out from Columbus,

Mississippi, with a force of less than 3,000 men on a multipurpose

expedition (recruit, reoutfit, disperse Yankees, etc.) into West

Tennessee and Kentucky. Forrest arrived in Paducah on March 25 and

quickly occupied the town. The Union garrison of 650 men under the

command of Colonel Stephen G. Hicks retired to Fort Anderson, in the

town’s west end. Hicks had support from two gunboats on the Ohio

River and refused to surrender, while shelling the area with his

artillery. Most of Forrest’s command destroyed unwanted supplies,

loaded what they wanted, and rounded up horses and mules. A small

segment of Forrest’s command assaulted Fort Anderson and was

repulsed, suffering heavy casualties. Soon afterwards, Forrest’s men

withdrew. In reporting the raid on the town, many newspapers stated

that Forrest had not found more than a hundred fine horses hidden

during the raid. As a result, one of Forrest’s subordinate officers

led a force back into Paducah in mid-April and seized the infamous

horses. Although this was a Confederate victory, other than the

destruction of supplies and capture of animals, no lasting results

occurred. It did, however, warn the Federals that Forrest, or

someone like him, could strike anywhere at any time.

Perryville - October 8, 1862. Confederate Heartland Offensive

(1862). Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s autumn 1862 invasion of

Kentucky had reached the outskirts of Louisville and Cincinnati, but

he was forced to retreat and regroup. On October 7, the Federal army

of Major General Don Carlos Buell, numbering nearly 55,000,

converged on the small crossroads town of Perryville, Kentucky, in

three columns. Union forces first skirmished with Confederate

cavalry on the Springfield Pike before the fighting became more

general, on Peters Hill, as the grayclad infantry arrived. The next

day, at dawn, fighting began again around Peters Hill as a Union

division advanced up the pike, halting just before the Confederate

line. The fighting then stopped for a time. After noon, a

Confederate division struck the Union left flank and forced it to

fall back. When more Confederate divisions joined the fray, the

Union line made a stubborn stand, counterattacked, but finally fell

back with some troops routed. Buell did not know of the happenings

on the field, or he would have sent forward some reserves. Even so,

the Union troops on the left flank, reinforced by two brigades,

stabilized their line, and the Confederate attack sputtered to a

halt. Later, a Confederate brigade assaulted the Union division on

the Springfield Pike but was repulsed and fell back into Perryville.

The Yankees pursued, and skirmishing occurred in the streets in the

evening before dark. Union reinforcements were threatening the

Confederate left flank by now. Bragg, short of men and supplies,

withdrew during the night, and, after pausing at Harrodsburg,

continued the Confederate retrograde by way of Cumberland Gap into

East Tennessee. The Confederate offensive was over, and the Union

controlled Kentucky.

Richmond - August 29-30, 1862. Confederate Heartland Offensive

(1862). In Major General Kirby Smith’s 1862 Confederate offensive

into Kentucky, Brigadier General Patrick R. Cleburne led the advance

with Colonel John S. Scott’s cavalry out in front. The Confederate

cavalry, while moving north from Big Hill on the road to Richmond,

Kentucky, on August 29, encountered Union troopers and began

skirmishing. After noon, Union artillery and infantry joined the

fray, forcing the Confederate cavalry to retreat to Big Hill. At

that time, Brigadier General Mahlon D. Manson, who commanded Union

forces in the area, ordered a brigade to march to Rogersville,

toward the Confederates. Fighting for the day stopped after pursuing

Union forces briefly skirmished with Cleburne’s men in late

afternoon. That night, Manson informed his superior, Major General

William Nelson, of his situation, and he ordered another brigade to

be ready to march in support, when required. Kirby Smith ordered

Cleburne to attack in the morning and promised to hurry

reinforcements (Churchill’s division). Cleburne started early,

marching north, passed through Kinston, dispersed Union skirmishers,

and approached Manson’s battle line near Zion Church. As the day

progressed, additional troops joined both sides. Following an

artillery duel, the battle began, and after a concerted Confederate

attack on the Union right, the Yankees gave way. Retreating into

Rogersville, the Yankees made another futile stand at their old

bivouac. By now, Smith and Nelson had arrived and taken command of

their respective armies. Nelson rallied some troops in the cemetery

outside Richmond, but they were routed. Nelson and some men escaped

but the Confederates captured approximately 4,000 Yankees. The way

north was open.

Rowlett's Station - December 17, 1861. Kentucky Confederate

Offensive (1861). After Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell took

command of the Department of the Ohio in early November, he

attempted to consolidate control by organizing and sending troops

into the field. He ordered Brigadier General Alexander McD. McCook,

commanding the 2nd Division, to Nolin, Kentucky. In the meantime,

the Confederates had established a defensive line along the Green

River near Munfordville. McCook launched a movement towards the

enemy lines on December 10, which the Confederates countered by

partially destroying the Louisville & Nashville Railroad bridge over

the Green River. As a result, the Union sent two companies of the

32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment across the river to prevent

a surprise and began constructing a pontoon bridge for the passage

of trains and artillery. When the bridge was completed on December

17, four more of the 32nd Indiana companies crossed the river. The

combined force advanced to a hill south of Woodsonville where, in

the afternoon, they spotted enemy troops in the woods fronting them.

Two companies advanced toward the enemy in the woods, which fell

back until Confederate cavalry attacked. A general engagement ensued

as eight Yankee companies fought a much larger Confederate force.

Fearing that the enemy might roll up his right flank, Colonel August

Willich, commanding the regiment, ordered a withdrawal to a stronger

position in the rear. Knowing of McCook’s approach, the Confederates

also withdrew from the field. Although the results of the battle

were indecisive, Union troops did occupy the area and insured the

movement of their men and supplies on the Louisville & Nashville

Railroad.

Battles, KentuckyUSA Civil War

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