Mill Springs, Ky., Jan. 19-20, 1862. 1st Division, Army
of the Ohio. In Sept. 1861 Gen. A. S. Johnston was assigned to
the command of the Confederate Department of the West, which
included a large territory west of the Mississippi river and
the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. One of Johnston's first
acts was to establish a line of operations from Cumberland gap
to the Mississippi. (See Fort Henry.) Gen. Zollicoffer was or-
dered to Cumberland gap to guard the right of this line and
prevent the Federals from crossing the Cumberland river.
Zollicoffer was without military training or experience, and in
November Gen. George B. Crittenden was assigned to the command
of the district. Early in December Brig.-Gen. D. C. Buell,
commanding the Federal Department of the Ohio, organized the
Union forces in Kentucky and Tennessee into the Army of the
Ohio, the 1st division of which was placed under command of
Brig.-Gen. George H. Thomas with orders to operate in the
district east of New Haven, Ky. The division was composed of
four brigades of four regiments each. The 1st was commanded by
Brig.-Gen. Albin Schoepf, the 2nd by Col. M. D. Manson, the 3d
by Col. R. L. McCook, and the 12th by Brig.-Gen. S. P. Carter.
In addition to these regular organizations there were Wolford's
1st Ky. cavalry, a squadron of Indiana cavalry under Capt.
Graham, and three batteries of light artillery unattached. The
Confederate forces at the battle of Mill Springs consisted of
two brigades, commanded by Brig.-Gens. F. K. Zollicoffer and W.
H. Carroll, and a battalion of Tennessee cavalry under Lieut.-
Col. G. R. McClellan, the entire force being commanded by Gen.
Crittenden in person.
Mill Springs is located on the south bank of the Cumber-
land river, about 15 miles south of Somerset. Late in November
Johnston sent instructions to Zollicoffer that he was merely to
watch the river, and that he could do so from Mill Springs bet-
ter than he could by crossing to the north side, where he would
be "with the enemy in front and the river behind" in case of an
assault on his position. But before these instructions were
received Zollicoffer had thrown his force across the river and
fortified a position at Beech Grove, lying formed by Fishing
creek and the Cumberland river. This movement led to Critten-
den's assuming command of the forces there soon after it was
made. On Dec. 29 Buell directed Thomas to move against Zolli-
coffer's left flank while Schoepf's brigade, then at Somerset,
was to attack in front, and either drive him back across the
river or destroy his command. Thomas left Lebanon on the last
day of December with Manson's brigade, two regiments of
McCook's, a battalion of Wolford's cavalry and Kenny's battery.
Owing to bad roads the march was slow, so that it was Jan. 17
before he reached Logan's crossroads, 10 miles from the Confed-
erate camp and about 8 miles from Somerset. Here he halted un-
til the rear column could come up, and sent word to Schoepf to
send to the cross-roads the 12th Ky., 1st and 2nd Tenn., and
Standart's battery. These troops arrived on the 18th, as did
also the 4th Ky., Wetmore's battery and a battalion of the
Michigan engineers. For several days Crittenden had been
constructing boats to recross the river, but they were not
ready when he learned that the Union forces were concentrating
in his front. On the 18th he sent the following communication
to Johnston: "I am threatened by a superior force of the enemy
in front, and finding it impossible to cross the river, I will
have to make the fight on the ground I now occupy. If you can
do so, I would ask that a diversion be made in my favor."
Finding that no diversion was likely to be made, Critten-
den resolved to move out and attack Thomas at the cross-roads.
Accordingly he left his camp about midnight that night, his
cavalry in advance, and about daylight on the 19th struck the
Federal pickets (Wolford's cavalry) 2 miles from the Union
camp. Wolford sent word to Manson that the enemy was advancing
in force, and then fell back slowly on the main body. Manson
formed the 10th Ind. on the road to meet the attack, ordered
the 4th Ky. to its support, and reported to Thomas, who immedi-
ately ordered the other officers to form their commands for ac-
tion. The attack was commenced by Zollicoffer's brigade and
was made with such vigor that the 10th Ind. and Wolford's cav-
alry were compelled to fall back before the supports arrived.
Col. Speed S. Fry, commanding the 4th Ky., who had formed his
regiment quickly in response to Manson's order came up on the
left of the 10th Ind., took a position along the edge of the
woods and opened fire. This gave the Indianians an opportunity
to rally and the two regiments held the enemy in check until
other troops could be brought up. The Confederates were shel-
tered by a ravine and Fry rode a short distance to the right to
get a better view of their position. About the same time Zol-
licoffer got the impression that the 4th Ky. was a Confederate
regiment and rode to the front to order his men to stop firing
on their friends. The two officers met and Zollicoffer asked
that the firing be stopped as the two commands belonged to the
same side. As Zollicoffer wore a long waterproof coat over his
uniform Fry did not recognize him as a Confederate officer, and
was in the act of riding back to his regiment to give the order
to cease firing, when a Confederate fired and wounded his
horse. Fry wheeled suddenly, drew his revolver and shot Zolli-
coffer through the heart. The fall of their leader threw the
Confederates into some confusion, but Crittenden rallied them,
ordered Carroll to bring up his brigade, and then gave orders
for a general advance. At this juncture Thomas came upon the
field and noticed that the enemy was moving through a cornfield
to turn Fry's left flank. To meet this movement he threw
Carter's brigade and a section of Kenny's battery to the left
of the 4th Ky. and the enemy was driven back. Col. McCook now
came up with the 9th Ohio and 2nd Minn. and relieved the 10th
Ind. and 4th Ky., as the ammunition of these two regiments was
about exhausted. Scarcely had McCook's men got into position
when the general assault ordered by Crittenden was commenced,
and for the next half hour a spirited fire was maintained by
both sides. By the end of that time the Indianians and Ken-
tuckians had replenished their cartridge boxes and again took
their places in the line. Carter now advanced against the en-
emy on the left, the 2nd Minn. kept up a galling fire in the
center, the 9th Ohio made a dashing charge with fixed bayonets
on the right, which completely turned that flank, and soon af-
terward the whole Confederate line broke and fled in disorder.
Halting only long enough to be sure the troops were supplied
with ammunition, Thomas pushed on in pursuit. Upon approaching
the entrenchments at Beech Grove the infantry was deployed in
line of battle and steadily advanced to the top of the hill
overlooking the works, when Wetmore's and Standart's batteries
were directed to shell the fortifications, while Kenny's bat-
tery kept up a fire on the ferry to prevent the Confederates
from crossing. However, Crittenden managed to cross during the
night, by means of a small stern-wheel steamer and two old
flatboats, leaving all his camp equipage, etc. behind. The
morning of the 20th the Union troops moved in and took posses-
sion of the works, together with 12 pieces of artillery, with
their caissons filled with ammunition, a large number of small
arms, mostly flint-lock muskets; about 150 wagons; over 1,000
horses and mules, and a large amount of commissary stores.
As the enemy had burned the boats after crossing the river
the pursuit ended at the Cumberland. Crittenden's army was com-
pletely demoralized, the men after crossing the river scatter-
ing in all directions through the mountains of Kentucky and
eastern Tennessee. The engagement was called by the Confeder-
ates the battle of Fishing creek, the Union troops gave it the
name of Mill Springs, though the hard fighting was really done
at Logan's cross-roads, 10 miles distant. Thomas reported his
loss as being 39 killed and 207 wounded. Crittenden gave his
losses as 125 killed, 309 wounded and 99 missing.
Source: The Union Army, vol. 6 |
Forum Host
Bringing the