Early in the war, the Lincoln administration recognized the importance of keeping the Border

State of Kentucky in the Union. On September 3rd, 1861, the Confederates broke the Commonwealth’s

self-declared neutrality when Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow, acting on the orders of

Major General Leonidas Polk, occupied the city of Columbus. With Kentucky now unwillingly

dragged into the conflict, the state would find itself at the epicenter of a new Western

Theater. With the Commonwealth now invaded, the Confederates

form the Army of Central Kentucky, commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston, considered

by many to be the South’s premiere general at the time. General Johnston soon consolidates

his invasion force. Holding western Kentucky, with his headquarters at Columbus, is Major

General Polk’s command. In the center, Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner’s command

is headquartered at Bowling Green. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer’s

brigade guards the Confederate right flank at the Cumberland Gap - a pass through the

Appalachian Mountains where the states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee all converge.

As the doorway leading to the Frontiers of the West, the Cumberland Gap is one of the

most significant pieces of land in American history, and its strategic importance is not

lost on either side. The Cumberland Gap can be used as an avenue of invasion - offering

Union armies the opportunity to strike south into Eastern Tennessee, or allowing a Confederate

army to strike north into Kentucky. When General Zollicoffer seizes the Cumberland

Gap following the collapse of Kentucky’s neutrality, the general is not contempt to

remain on the defensive. He quickly advances his command from Eastern Tennessee into the

Bluegrass State to skirmish with Union forces there. The Federal troops being engaged by

Zollicoffer’s brigade are under the command of Brigadier General George Henry Thomas.

A career Army officer, Thomas is also a Southerner - a Virginian who had chosen to remain loyal

to the Union. Zollicoffer moves into Kentucky on November

27th, 1861, advancing to Mill Springs on the south bank of the Cumberland River. During

this time spent at Mill Springs, Zollicoffer has about 3,500 men at his disposal, although

many of them are unarmed, while others have only old flintlock muskets or civilian shotguns.

After skirmishing with some of the Federals near Somerset, Zollicoffer reports to headquarters

that his men have crossed the Cumberland with little difficulty, on flatboats that they

had constructed. Several days later, on December 5th, without permission from higher command,

Zollicoffer shifts his entire brigade over the river to Beech Grove, just north of Mill

Springs. There, the Confederates set about building cabins and establishing winter camp.

Even though he has the river to his back, Zollicoffer believes that Beech Grove is a

defensible position, and since it places his troops closer to the Federals as Somerset,

he can better respond to enemy movements. By this time, Zollicoffer has a little over

1,600 men under his command in seven infantry regiments, two seven-gun artillery batteries,

and three battalions and four companies of cavalry. While Zollicoffer is crossing the

Cumberland and starting work to establish winter camps at Beech Grove, his superior,

Major General George B. Crittenden, commander of the District of East Tennessee headquartered

at Knoxville, discovers that Zollicoffer has relocated to the far side of the Cumberland,

and is dismayed. He immediately orders Zollicoffer to withdraw back across the south side of

the river. Crittenden realizes that if the Federals consolidate

their forces and move against Zollicoffer, the Tennessean would be in trouble with his

back against the river. Meanwhile, on December 29th, Major General Don Carlos Buell, commanding

general of the Union Army of the Ohio, orders his army’s First Division under Brigadier

General Thomas to drive Zollicoffer out of Kentucky. And so, on New Year’s Eve, Thomas

moves out against the Confederates. He takes with him his Second Brigade, consisting

of the 4th Kentucky, 10th Kentucky, 10th Indiana, and 14th Ohio, as well as two regiments from

another brigade - the 2nd Minnesota and 9th Ohio. Joining those infantry units are the

1st Kentucky Cavalry and Battery C, 1st Ohio Light Artillery. Although Thomas’ force

starts off moving in high spirits, bad weather and terrible roads soon make the march miserable.

It starts to rain, then sleet, before the dirt roads turn to mud. Over the almost-impassible

muddy roads, it takes 18 exhausting days for Thomas’ force to make a march that most

men had expected would only last three. Finally, on January 17th, the exhausted Union

force’s advance guard reaches Logan’s Cross Roads, about 10 miles north of Zollicoffer’s

position at Beech Grove, and eight miles west of Somerset. While Thomas waits for the rest

of his force to converge on Logan’s Cross Roads, he sends word to Brigadier General

Albin F. Schoepf to send him three regiments and an artillery battery from Somerset. Meanwhile,

Crittenden, worried about the situation on Zollicoffer’s front, left Knoxville and

reaches Mill Springs on January 3rd. Upon his arrival, Crittenden is shocked to

find Zollicoffer still at Beech Grove on the north side of the Cumberland River. Crittenden’s

immediate impulse is to move Zollicoffer’s men back across the south side of the river,

but the same rain storms that have bogged down the Federal march has also swollen the

Cumberland, making its currents fast and rough. So, Crittenden decides to have Zollicoffer

stay put on the north side of the river, making the choice to launch a preemptive strike on

Thomas’ Federals at Logan’s Cross Roads before they can unite with Schoepf’s force

at Somerset. Crittenden knows that Fishing Creek around

Logan’s Cross Roads is running at high levels due to the recent rains, and he hopes that

the stream will prove an obstacle to separate the Union lines for a few days. On January

19th, 1862, the first significant battle of the Western Theater is ready to unfold at

Mill Springs and Logan’s Cross Roads. After marching for six hours through a cold

rain that turns the road into a sea of mud, the vanguard of the Confederate force arrives

near Logan’s Cross Roads at 6:30 AM on January 19th. At the foot of a ridge a mile and a

half from the crossroads, the advance Confederate cavalry meets a strong picket force from Thomas’

10th Indiana Infantry and 1st Kentucky Cavalry regiments. Far from being surprised in their

camps, the Federals were on the watch, and this picket force stubbornly resists the Confederate

advance up the hill. When they reach the high ground, the Union pickets are reinforced by

the rest of the 10th Indiana, and this force stands its ground against the advancing Rebels.

Crittenden advances with Zollicoffer’s own brigade in the lead. General Zollicoffer places

the 15th Mississippi in line of battle moving up the road, with his other regiments following

close behind. This force is sufficient to push the Federals off the hill and into the

woods below. However, the dawn is dark and misty, and the Confederates are spread out

for miles along the narrow muddy road, slowing their advance.

After fighting for nearly an hour on their own, the 10th Indiana Infantry and 1st Kentucky

Cavalry are almost out of ammunition and in danger of being overrun. They fall back to

a rail fence bordering a cornfield, on a low ridge running perpendicular to the road. Here,

they are finally reinforced by the 4th Kentucky, and this split rail fence and ridge form the

basis for the main Federal battle line. The 10th Indiana falls back a short distance to

regroup, and the troopers of the 1st Kentucky Cavalry dismount, send their horses to the

rear, and fall in beside their infantry comrades in the 4th Kentucky.

Unable to push this force further back, the 15th Mississippi begins to move to their right

under cover of a deep wooded ravine. From here, they can approach the Federal lines

before engaging their enemy at close range. This infuriates the commander of the 4th Kentucky,

Colonel Speed S. Fry, who climbs up on the split rail fence and brandishes his sword

at the enemy, demanding they stand and “fight like men.” The Mississippians are eager

to oblige him. After advancing nearly to the ridgeline on

the west of the road, almost flanking the Union troops on their right, the Confederate

advance stalls. Most of the Rebel soldiers had never been in battle before, and the dark

rainy morning, coupled with the smoke and din of battle and the lack of visibility in

the dense woods, produces quite a bit of confusion. Brigadier General Zollicoffer, leading his

brigade from the front with the 19th Tennessee, is sure that his men are firing on another

Confederate regiment, and he rides forward onto the road in order to reconnoiter. There,

he meets Colonel Fry of the 4th Kentucky, who had rode up to his right for the exact

same purpose. Neither recognizes the other, with Zollicoffer said to have been nearsighted,

and his own uniform is hidden from Colonel Fry’s view by a raincoat; Zollicoffer orders

Fry to cease firing on his fellow friendly troops.

Colonel Fry, assuming that Brigadier General Zollicoffer is a Federal officer whom he does

not know, and also unsure of who the troops to his right are, answers that he would never

intentionally fire on a friendly unit. As Fry moves back toward his own regiment, Captain

Henry M. R. Fogg of Zollicoffer’s staff suddenly rides out of the woods to warn the

general, firing his pistol at Fry. Colonel Fry and the Union soldiers near him immediately

return the fire, and Brigadier General Zollicoffer falls dead on the road, along with Captain

Fogg. Felix K. Zollicoffer has just become the first general officer killed in the Civil

War’s Western Theater. General Zollicoffer’s death throws his troops

on that part of the field into confusion, and with no brigade commander to lead them,

they make no further significant advances on the west side of the road. However, the

15th Mississippi and 20th Tennessee regiments launch a series of furious attacks on Colonel

Fry’s position, with some assaults even managing to reach the split rail fence, where

they fight the Federals hand-to-hand. Bayonets are poked through the fence rails, and the

Mississippians attack swinging their long “cane” knives.

The Confederates begin to move ever toward their right, threatening to turn the Federal

left flank. However, a section of Union guns from Battery C, 1st Ohio Light Artillery,

appear at that crucial moment and start throwing shells at the Confederates. At the same time,

the 2nd Minnesota and 9th Ohio regiments arrive to bolster the Federal defenses. The Union

forces now have over four regiments at the point of action, opposing three Confederate

regiments in direct combat with their enemy - less than ideal odds for the Southerners.

For over an hour, the 15th Mississippi and 20th Tennessee battle the Federals almost

completely alone. Captain Arthur M. Rutledge’s Tennessee Battery fires a few rounds, and

the 25th and 28th Tennessee regiments move up to reinforce the Southern troops fighting

on the front line. But Crittenden is never able to bring up the rest of his infantry

and bring all of his forces to bear upon the Union. Nor does he make use of his cavalry

for any flanking movements. The Confederates are further demoralized by

the failure of many of their weapons to fire in the intermittent rain. Most of the Confederate

force, particularly the Tennessee regiments, are armed with obsolete flintlock muskets.

Only the 15th Mississippi, 16th Alabama, and 29th Tennessee are partially armed with percussion

cap muskets and rifles. One participant estimated that only a fifth of the Confederates’ muskets

would fire. In their frustration, many of the Tennesseans are seen smashing their useless

flintlocks against trees. In contrast to the Rebels, the Federals are

finally able to concentrate their forces. The Union 1st and 2nd Tennessee and 12th Kentucky

arrive to outflank and outnumber the hard-fighting 15th Mississippi and 20th Tennessee. General

Thomas, seeing the imminent collapse of the Confederate line, orders a general advance

of the Union force. The 9th Ohio, a German volunteer regiment from Cincinnati, charges

the Confederates with fixed bayonets. The Southerners’ left flank crumbles under the

weight of the 9th Ohio’s bayonet charge, and the 15th Mississippi and 20th Tennessee

are forced to retreat to keep from being surrounded. The courageous Lieutenant Bailie Peyton, Jr.,

commanding a company in the 20th Tennessee, is killed when he refuses to retreat or surrender,

but had stood firing his pistol at the advancing enemy.

The entire Union line soon advances, forcing what is left of the Confederate army back

to the top of the hill from which they had attacked. Here, the 16th Alabama and 17th

and 29th Tennessee regiments open up a heavy volley fire on the Federals, momentarily halting

the Union pursuit and allowing the frontline Confederate units to safely retreat. But for

most of the Southern soldiers, their retreat quickly turns into a panicked rout.

Many of the men simply turn and run, throwing away their muskets and other implements of

war in their haste to escape capture by the Union. Their courage and determination are

simply not enough to overcome their fatigue from marching all night over muddy roads and

fighting since dawn, their despair when their outmoded flintlocks refuse to fire in the

rain, and the confusion and lack of decisive leadership at their command level. After some

three or four hours of hard fighting on a dark, rainy morning, the Battle of Mill Springs,

or Battle of Logan’s Cross Roads, is finally over.

The outmatched Southerners withdraw back down the road toward their camps. They proceed

to rally at their Beech Grove entrenchments, but Brigadier General Thomas arrives with

his forces in the afternoon and promptly opens up a bombardment on the Confederate camp,

including a steamboat at the ferry on the river below. This fire comes from the rifled

guns of Battery B, 1st Ohio Light Artillery, which the Southerners’ artillery cannot

match in range or accuracy. With their backs to the Cumberland River, this steamboat becomes

the Confederates’ only lifeline for any withdrawal. Recognizing that his position

is untenable, Major General Crittenden orders a withdraw across the river that night.

The Confederates proceed to leave behind all their artillery pieces and supply wagons,

as well as most of their horses and camp equipment. When dawn on January 20th arrives and the

Federals move against the Confederate earthworks, they find the camp is abandoned and General

Crittenden’s force is safely across the river. The Union forces report 246 casualties

for the battle, including 39 killed in action. The Confederates suffer 533 casualties, including

more than 120 killed. The bodies of Brigadier General Zollicoffer and Lieutenant Peyton

are treated with respect and are returned to their families, who have them buried with

honor in Nashville. The remaining Southern dead are left on the field to be buried in

mass graves, many near the site of General Zollicoffer’s death.

The Union victory at the Battle of Mill Springs proves a joyful occasion in Northern newspapers.

It was the first good news of a major victory for the North in the war. The victory at Mill

Springs cracks the Southern defensive line in Kentucky and opens up Tennessee to Federal

invasion. However, the good news from Mill Springs is soon overshadowed by an even more

decisive victory a few weeks later on the Cumberland River, at Fort Donelson, Tennessee.