The Battle of Mill Springs Part II: Manson vs. Zollicoffer

 Order of Battle

Union

Brigadier-General George Thomas

            Second Brigade: Colonel Mahlon D. Manson

                        10^th Indiana: Lieutenant-Colonel William C. Kise

                        4^th Kentucky: Colonel Speed Smith Fry

                        Company C of the 14^th Ohio: Captain J.W. Brown

            Third Brigade: Colonel Robert L. McCook

                        2^nd Minnesota: Colonel Horatio Phillips Van Cleve

                        9^th Ohio: Major Gustave Kammerling

            Twelfth Brigade: Colonel Samuel P. Carter

                        12^th Kentucky: Colonel William A. Hoskins

                        1^st Tennessee: Colonel Robert K. Byrd

                        2^nd Tennessee: Colonel James P.T. Carter

                        1^st Kentucky Cavalry: Colonel Frank L. Wolford

            Battery B, 1^st Ohio Artillery: Captain William E. Standart

            Battery C, 1^st Ohio Artillery: Captain Dennis Kenny, Jr.

            9^th Ohio Battery: Captain Henry S. Wetmore

 

Confederate

Major-General George B. Crittenden

            First Brigade: Brigadier-General Felix K. Zollicoffer

                        15^th Mississippi Rifles: Colonel W.S. Statham

                        19^th Tennessee: Colonel David H. Cummings

                        20^th Tennessee: Colonel Joel A. Battle

                        25^th Tennessee: Colonel Sidney S. Stanton

                        Tennessee Cavalry Company: Captain William S. Bledsoe

                        Tennessee Cavalry Company: Captain Q.C. “Ned” Sanders

                        Kentucky Cavalry Company: Captain B.E. Roberts

                        Tennessee Battery: Captain Arthur M. Rutledge

            Second Brigade: Brigadier-General William H. Carroll

                        16^th Alabama: Colonel William B. Wood

                        17^th Tennessee: Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas C.H. Miller

                        28^th Tennessee: Colonel John P. Murray

                        29^th Tennessee Infantry: Colonel Samuel Powell

                        Caswell Artillery: Captain Hugh L.W. McClunk

                        4^th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion: Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin M. Branner

                        5^th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion: Lieutenant-Colonel George R. McClellan[1]

 

Overall, the coming battle would see 4,400 men under General George H. Thomas take on 5,900 under General George B. Crittenden. Unlike many other major battles the Confederates held a considerable numerical advantage, and the Union forces were not fully consolidated yet. Thomas commanded a somewhat disparate force which had yet to really operate together on campaign. One note of interest is that this battle for Kentucky saw more of that state’s men on the Federal side. These would see themselves as fighting off an invasion and thus have strong motivations. The Confederate army was almost entirely Tennessean.

The Battle of Mill Springs Part I: The Contested Border

 

Early in the Civil War the Union and Confederate armies tried to win over the more indecisive border areas separating North and South. A key early victory could convince tens of thousands of fence-sitters to firmly pledge allegiance to one side. In Kentucky’s case, the battle that cemented Kentucky’s stay in the Union was a battle north of Mill Springs. The Battle of Mill Springs is the widely accepted name of the battle, used at both the battlefield site and its official website. However the battle sported a record number of names based on the various locations around the battlefield: The Battle of Beech Grove, the Battle of Cliff Creek, the Battle of the Cumberland, of Fishing Creek, Logan’s Crossroads, Logan’s Fields, Somerset, Webb’s Crossroads, and more. In fact, Mill Springs was south of the Cumberland River, while the fighting occurred on the north side.[1] This was also the first major battle for General George H. Thomas, one of the Union’s most revered generals.

 

Kentucky Shifts Union

It initially looked like Kentucky, birthplace of both the Union and Confederate presidents, would join the Confederate cause. John C. Breckinridge, former vice-president and failed pro-Southern Democrat presidential candidate, held considerable influence over the state and Governor Beriah Magoffin was sympathetic to secession. The Kentucky State Guard under General Simon B. Buckner was also mostly composed of secessionists while the Unionists had no comparable military force. However, enough Unionists existed in the state legislature to force a compromise stance of neutrality. Political observers pointed out that by taking a different course from the Northern states, Kentucky still affirmed the South’s goal of state sovereignty. President Lincoln agreed that the state held considerable Confederate sympathies, but pointed out that at least its residents were not actively fighting the Union. On the other hand Kentucky still traded horses, mules, salt and even ammunition to the Confederacy.

Ten American Civil War Era Films to Watch

In contrast to some more recent wars, the American Civil War, despite its prominence in historical literature and television documentaries, has not prompted a slew of high profile films. The war was a popular film subject in the silent era, understandable since it was in literal living memory at the dawn of the 20^th Century. Afterwards, however, full-fledged Civil War films grew quite rare. The reason is that an accurate portrayal of events like the Battle of Antietam would require a lot of money and effort put into costuming, battle scenes, etc. This would not be an issue if there was a guaranteed audience. Many moviegoers have strong views on the war or little interest in historical dramas to start with, so spending tens of millions of dollars on a battle epic is a risky venture.

I make this a list of Civil War “Era” rather than Civil War films as my pool of selections is somewhat shallow. Numerous films tie into the war. Many, however, are home front dramas (adaptations of Little Women provide many examples). Still more are westerns, and these are either based on or inspired by Quantrill’s Raiders or use the war as a background for more typical genre staples like fighting Apaches or tales of personal vengeance. As with my list of ten World War II films to watch, I made my selections to cover various aspects of the Civil War Era rather than the actual top ten best movies. I will not include the two mini-series The Blue and the Gray and North and South. My super-quick summary is that the former has some cheesy production values but more relatable characters while the latter has much higher quality in costumes and battle scenes but much more over-the-top drama. I also will not list “relevant recommendations” but instead have a brief list of other films to check out with a quick summary/opinion.

The First Battle of Cabin Creek (June 30-July 2, 1863)

 

This is something of a follow-up to my post on the Battle of Island Mound. This covers the next significant battle of the 1^st Kansas at Cabin Creek. Though I am going through the regiment’s battles, this post is not primarily focused on them outside the opening. While the Battle of Cabin Creek saw more men and had more significance in a strategic sense, I actually found even less information on the fighting itself then I did on Island Mound.  Thus this is more of a prelude on a planned future post covering the Battle of Honey Springs.

 

The 1^st Kansas Joins the U.S. Army

After Island Mound, the 1^st Kansas Colored Regiment saw no action for a long while. It still experienced a major event at the start of 1863. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. This proclamation declared all slaves in rebellious territories free and further authorized the use of black soldiers in the armed services. The 1^st Kansas Colored Regiment was now officially recognized as part of the US Army and would also receive Federal pay. On January 8 Brigadier-General General James G. Blunt, who was assigned command of the Department of Kansas and was expected to deal with the mostly Confederate-held Indian Territory, personally inspected the regiment at Fort Scott. The order and discipline of the soldiers impressed him and Blunt determined to utilize them when for his major 1863 campaign.

Price's Northern Offensive (August-September, 1861), Part III: The Fall of Lexington

 

Dave Gallon's Battle of the Hemp Bales

No Relief

September 19 saw a return to sporadic shooting. One reason for the lowered intensity of the fighting was an intercepted Federal message. From it Price learned of Sturgis’ relief column, only a few miles away. He sent Parsons and Jackson’s divisions north to block him. While they moved out, Price shifted his men around, trying to find the most advantageous position from which to launch another assault. Guardsmen with squirrel rifles perched themselves on tree limbs. These sharpshooters had a good view of the Federals in their trenches and caused “many hasty and shallow burials.” When the battle was over, one of these poorly dug graves resulted in a protruding foot.[1]

The situation grew ever more desperate for the defenders. Throughout the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th no reinforcements appeared to relieve them. Water was running low and many of the wounded were suffering the agony of thirst. On every day the two sides engaged in shootouts, which the defenders had to fight “without water, their parched lips cracking, their tongues swollen, and the blood running down their chins when they bit their cartridges and the saltpeter entered their blistered lips”. Fortunately there were brief rainfalls. As their water sources were gradually cut off, the defenders spread their blankets on the ground to collect the rainwater. Once the blankets were saturated, they “wrung them in their camp-dishes.” Bevier recalled how the Federals would send out a woman to collect water for them. Though the State Guardsmen were “rough and uncouth” and given to hurling “profane language” at the female, they  could not bring themselves to shoot her, and any attempt to stop her physically resulted in fire from the Federal works.[2]

Price's Northern Offensive (August-September, 1861), Part II: The Siege of Lexington

The Fight of September 13

The Missouri State Guard was in sight of Lexington. Price wasted little time in attempting to seize the town. He deployed his infantry and artillery and gunned for a bridge which would quickly take his force into the town. When the Rebels crossed the bridge, Mulligan sent out two companies of the 13^th Missouri as well as company K of the 23^rd Illinois. The two sides confronted each other within the cornfields of farmer Isaac Hockaday, the Federals behind hemp bales and the State Guardsmen behind a fence. Hockaday had gone out to look for his neighbor so they could organize an evacuation. Instead he found himself cut off from his family as his corn field turned into a fire zone. Later reflecting on the chaos around his and his neighbors’ homes, and the ensuing destruction to their property, he wrote sadly, “I feel as if we had better lost all of our negroes than suffered as we have already…” Price withdrew from the indecisive skirmish. The Federals took advantage of this break in action to burn the bridge. With more of his army pulling up, Price changed the direction of his attack. He wheeled his army to come from the west on Independence Road.[1]

Price’s new avenue of attack scattered some cavalry pickets. Six companies of Federal infantry exited the town to meet the Guardsmen, hiding in hedges and cornfields on the east side of the road. At the head of Price’s force were horse soldiers. The Federals held their fire until they were just about 150 yards away. Then they revealed themselves. The sudden deluge of fire frightened the horses and the cavalry had to spur away. This gave the infantry problems. The horses ran over a couple unfortunates and others had to run to get out of the way. This also meant they went into battle with a distinct air of confusion, not helped by the well-concealed Federals in the cornfield. After getting behind the infantry, the cavalrymen got off their unreliable mounts and returned to the front to fight it out on foot.[2]

Price's Northern Offensive (August-September, 1861), Part I: The Roads to Lexington

 

When noon struck on August 10, 1861, the hills and fields around Wilson’s Creek were covered with the dead, dying, and maimed. The Confederate Army, along with the allied Missouri State Guard, had won the second major battle of the Civil War. Earlier that year Missouri had voted to stay in the Union, but only as a neutral bystander in the emerging conflict. Unconditional Unionists and Secessionists alike had other plans, trying to seize control of Missouri’s arsenals. The pro-Confederate governor, Claiborne Jackson reorganized the militia into the Missouri State Guard and placed it under the command of former governor, state senator, and Mexican War veteran Sterling Price. The State Guard was ostensibly meant to protect Missouri’s armed neutrality and after the start of hostilities to protect the state from Federal intervention without necessarily joining the Confederacy. As a result many of the men in its ranks favored their home state over the idea of a Confederate nation and some even switched sides when they felt that it was better for Missouri to stay in the Union.

Sterling Price, command of the State Guard. Before
the war he was a prominent politicians who served
in both Missouri and the US House of Representatives
as well as governor of Missouri from 1853 to 1857.

The Missouri State Guard consisted on nine divisions, each representing one of nine military districts. These were not proper divisions, being all over the place in size. Most were brigade-sized, save for the Eighth Division which included thousands of Bushwhackers and other participants as well as victims of Bleeding Kansas. Between the lack of Federal funding, inconsistent Confederate support, and fast-moving events, the State Guard was chronically short on supplies, logistics, and time for drill and discipline.