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The Battle of Ivy Mountain took place in Floyd County.
The commanders in
the
battle were William Nelson who commanded the Union, Joshua Still who was the
captain
of the South. 30 people in the
union died and 263 confederates died.
It
happened in November 8-9 1861.
The
Battle of Ivy Mountain - November 8, 1861
HISTORY-from
the Civil War Web site
While
recruiting in southeast Kentucky, Rebels under Col. John S. Williams ran
short of ammunition at Prestonsburg and fell back to Pikeville to
replenish
their supply. Brig. Gen. William Nelson sent out a detachment from near
Louisa
under Col. 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 Rebel 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 Rebels 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.
Result(s): Union victory (Indecisive, but Confederates withdrew.)
Location: Floyd County, KY
Campaign: Kentucky Confederate Offensive (1861
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. William Nelson and Col. Joshua W. Sill
[US]; Col. John S. Williams [CS]
Forces Engaged: Combination of detachments from twelve Union Ohio and
Kentucky units, including the 14th KY Infantry [US]; nine companies of
infantry and two of mounted men (1,010 men) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 293 total (US 30; CS 263)
Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress
Battle
Summary: Ivy Mountain, KY
Ivy
Mountain
Other Names: Ivy Creek, Ivy Narrows
Location: Floyd County
Campaign: Kentucky Confederate Offensive (1861)
Date(s): November 8-9, 1861
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. William Nelson and Col. Joshua W. Sill
[US]; Col. John S. Williams [CS]
Forces Engaged: Combination of detachments from twelve Union Ohio and
Kentucky units [US]; nine companies of infantry and two of mounted men
(1,010 men) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 293 total (US 30; CS 263)
Result(s):
Union victory (Indecisive, but Confederates withdrew.)
CWSAC Reference #: KY003
Preservation Priority: IV.2 (Class D)
Compared to battles fought later in the war, the Battle of Ivy Mountain
produced light casualties. Our best evidence shows that six Union
soldiers
were killed during the battle and twenty-four were wounded. Confederate
losses were ten killed, fifteen wounded, and forty missing.
Here is a list of the Union soldiers who were killed:
Peter Benez, Private, Company A, 16th Kentucky Infantry.
Edward Hall, Private, Company A, 16th Kentucky Infantry.
John McCarthy, Private, Company A, 16th Kentucky Infantry.
William Prather, Private, Company A, 16th Kentucky Infantry.
William M. Hartley, Private, Company B, 16th Kentucky Infantry.
Reuben Dennis, Private, Company G, 16th Kentucky Infantry.
Here is an incomplete list of the Confederate soldiers who were killed:
William Barker, Private, Company A, 5th Kentucky Infantry.
John Combs, Private, Company A, 5th Kentucky Infantry.
Ira Igo, Private, Company A, 5th Kentucky Infantry.
Thomas Lewis, Private, Company A, 5th Kentucky Infantry.
John Pieratt, Private, Company A, 5th Kentucky Infantry.
Lt. Henry M. Rust, Recruiting Officer, 5th Kentucky Infantry.
Dr. George M. Foster, Private, Company B, 1st Battalion,
Kentucky Mounted
Rifles.
Larkin M. Combs, Private, Company B, 1st Battalion, Kentucky Mounted
Rifles.
by Robert Perry
When visitors to Eastern Kentucky drive from Prestonsburg to Pikeville on
U.S.
Route 23, they pass through Ivel, a hamlet located at the mouth of Ivy
Creek.
If you judge Ivel by its appearance, it has very little to recommend it.
For
a long time now, it has lacked a roadside historical marker, despite the
fact
that it is the site of one of the region’s most important Civil War
battles.
In fact, Ivel is the site of a broken dream. If the Commonwealth of
Kentucky
had honored the promise that it made to James Hatcher in 1928, today’s
visitor
to Ivel would be able to pull off the road and admire a magnificent
memorial
arch. On the arch would be this inscription:
Here, on November 8th, 1861, 250 men of
the 5th Kentucky Infantry, C.S.A., com-
manded by Captain A. J. May, fought a
delaying action against three Federal
regiments commanded by Gen. William
“Bull” Nelson. Armed only with shot-guns
and squirrel rifles and outnumbered six
to one, May’s mountaineers nevertheless
delayed Nelson’s progress long enough
to allow Col. John S. Williams to vacate
Piketon and move the main body of the
5th Kentucky to Pound Gap. Union losses
were six killed and 24 wounded. Confed-
erate losses were ten killed, fifteen
wounded, and forty missing.
Over the years local citizens have made several attempts to mark the
battlefield
and make it a tourist attraction. During the 1920s the property was
owned
by “Uncle Jim” Hatcher, the popular Pikeville hotel-keeper and owner of
the
Hatcher Coal Company. Hatcher was passionate about local history, and in
1928,
when the State Highway
Commission
approached him and asked him to donate right-of-way across the
battlefield
for the construction of the Mayo Trail, he agreed to their request
on
the condition that they erect a concrete arch commemorating the Battle of Ivy
Mountain.
Signed on August 30th, 1928, the deed to the right-of-way reads as
follows:
James Hatcher, the party of the first part,
being desirous of perpetuating the historic
memory of the Battle of Ivy Mountain, does
hereby sell, grant, and convey to the
Commonwealth of Kentucky, the party of the
second part, a certain tract of land [at this
point the property is described] for the sole
consideration of the agreement and undertaking
of the party of the second part to construct,
complete and maintain a concrete arch over the
Mayo Trail upon the strip of land hereinbefore
described, at or near the mouth of Ivy Creek
on the lands of the party of the second part,
soon after the completion of the said highway.
Unfortunately, the promise contained in the deed was never honored. A
year
after
it was signed, the New York Stock Market went into a tailspin, triggering
a
chain of events that led to the Great Depression and giving the highway
commissioners
a good reason for postponing the project indefinitely. It wasn’t
until
the halcyon days of 1946 that the citizens of Floyd County, their ranks
swelled
by the battle-scarred veterans of World War II, made a second attempt to
honor
the men who had fought and died at Ivy Mountain. On April 10th, 1946, Dr.
Earl
Arnett, the vice-commander of the Floyd County American Legion, released
this
statement to the local press:
We feel that the highway department, even at
this late date, will not attempt to evade its
pledge, given in consideraton for right-of-way,
that otherwise would have cost the State of
Kentucky a lot of money.
Despite the confident tone of this statement,the Legionnaires failed to
persuade
the Highway Department to make good their promise. They did, however,
manage
to get a marker erected at the site.
Beginning in 1949, the Kentucky Historical Highway Markers Committee
began
erecting
markers along Kentucky’s highways, and sometime during the 1950s a
marker
commemorating the Battle of Ivy
Mountain
was erected at the mouth of Ivy Creek. Unfortunately, it was
subsequently
damaged by vandals and had to be removed and taken to Frankfort to
undergo
repairs.
According to Dianne Wells, the Manager of the Historical Highway Marker
Program
for the Kentucky Historical Society, Marker #164, “The Battle of Ivy
Mountain,”
is currently being stored in the repair
barn
for historic marker at Frankfort. On March 5th, 1996, Ms. Wells informed
Daniel
Kidd, a coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Travel Development,
that
Marker #164 needs to be repainted, and that
it
needs a new base. Furthermore, these repairs will cost the citizens of Floyd
County
$380. “If the amount can be raised locally, repair work would be
assured.”
According to the Guidebook for Kentucky’s Historical Highway Markers,
the
inscription
on Marker #164 reads as follows: “Site of the first important Civil
War
engagement in Big Sandy Valley,
November
8, 1861, when Confederate forces led by Captain Andrew Jackson May were
defeated
by Federal troops under General William Nelson.”
I have done quite a bit of research on this battle in preparation for my
book
on A. J. May, and in my opinion, this inscription is inaccurate. As I have
already
pointed out, the engagement was by no means a Confederate defeat. On the
contrary,
it was a successful delaying action fought by troops who were badly
outnumbered
and faced with superior firepower.
Given the fact that the inscription on Marker #164 is unsatisfactory, not
to
mention the fact that the Commonwealth of Kentucky still hasn’t honored its
promise
to James Hatcher, it seems to me that to ask the citizens of Floyd
County
to cough up 380 dollars for a patched-up, inaccurate marker is to add
insult
to injury.
I think that I speak for everyone in Floyd County when I say that we
deserve
something better. At the very least, we deserve a new marker, paid for
by
the State of Kentucky, with a more accurate
inscription.
We also want the state to build us a paved parking lot adjacent to
the
marker for those motorists who wish to read the marker, and a highway sign
that
alerts motorists to the fact that they are approaching the Ivy Mountain
Battlefield
Site. Furthermore, we think that the Commonwealth of Kentucky should
honor
its promise to James Hatcher and build the memorial arch that it promised
to
build seventy years ago.
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