Battle of Barbourville
Battle of Barbourville | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
CSA (Confederacy) | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Isaac J. Black |
Joel A. Battle , commanding engaged detachment | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
300 Home Guardsmen | 800 men engaged | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 dead 1 wounded 13 captured | 7 dead |
The Battle of Barbourville was one of the early engagements of the American Civil War. It took place on September 19, 1861, in Knox County, Kentucky during the campaign known as the Kentucky Confederate Offensive.[1] The battle is considered the first Confederate victory in the commonwealth, and threw a scare into Federal commanders, who rushed troops to central Kentucky to try to repel the invasion, which was finally stopped at the Battle of Camp Wildcat in October.
Background
Kentucky neutrality
On April 15, 1861, the day after the U.S. Army surrendered Fort Sumter to the Confederates, President Abraham Lincoln called upon the States remaining in the Union to provide volunteers to suppress the insurrection in the seven States[2] which had seceded from the Union by that date.[3] Pro-Confederate Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin refused to send troops, but since the majority of the members of the Kentucky General Assembly were pro-Union, Lincoln's call for volunteers did not prompt the State to secede.[3][4][5] On May 16, a Kentucky legislative committee recommend that the State remain neutral in the conflict[6] and Governor Magoffin proclaimed the State's neutrality on May 20.[7]
In elections on August 5, 1861, Kentucky voters returned a veto-proof majority of pro-Union members to the
Confederate movements
On September 3, 1861, Confederate
Brig. Gen.
Battle
In a heavy morning fog on September 19, 1861, Zollicoffer sent forward about 800 men under Col.
Aftermath
Black reported his casualties as 1 man killed, 1 wounded, and 13 captured.[18] Fighting in the open, the attacking Confederates lost 7 men killed in the encounter.
Although Zollicoffer briefly withdrew to his camp at Cumberland Gap,[16] he sent a detachment of his men to drive off another Union Home Guard force at a camp at Laurel Bridge, in Laurel County, Kentucky soon after the Battle of Barbourville.[15][19] On September 28, another detachment seized 200 barrels of salt and destroyed the Goose Creek Salt Works in Clay County, Kentucky.[15][19]
In response to Zollicoffer's actions, Union Brig. Gen. Thomas sent troops under Col. Theophilus T. Garrard to set up Camp Wildcat at Rockcastle Hills, near London, Kentucky, at Wildcat Mountain 30 miles (48 km) north of the salt works, to secure the ford on the Rockcastle River, and obstruct the Wilderness Road passing through the area.[15] This set the stage for the Battle of Camp Wildcat on October 21, 1861[15][20] after Zollicoffer returned to the offensive on October 16.[21]
See also
Notes
- ^ This should not be confused with the 1862 Confederate Heartland Offensive or Kentucky Campaign.
- ^ Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-684-84944-7. p. 53.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-908247-04-9. p. 157.
- ^ Four more States, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, did soon secede.
- OCLC 68283123. p. 75.
- ^ Long, 1971, p. 76.
- ISBN 0-9769231-1-4.
- ^ Long, 1971, p. 106.
- ^ a b Long, 1971, p. 114.
- ^ Long, 1971, pp. 114–115.
- ISBN 978-1-60949-829-0. p. 18.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57233-314-7. Retrieved June 26, 2014. p. 46.
- ISBN 978-0-8131-4113-8. p. 37.
- ^ a b c d e Sanders, 2013, p. 19.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8071-3191-6. p. 22.
- ^ Historian Larry Daniel writes that the Home Guard had 150 men and that the buildings that were burned were "several houses." Daniel, 2004, p. 22.
- Official Recordsof the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
- ^ a b Fowler, 2004, p. 47.
- ^ Daniel, 2004, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Fowler, 2004, p. 48.
References
- Daniel, Larry J. Days of Glory: The Army of the Cumberland, 1861–1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8071-3191-6.
- ISBN 978-0-684-84944-7.
- Fowler, John D. Mountaineers in Gray: The Nineteenth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004. ISBN 978-1-57233-314-7. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
- Hearn, Chester G. The Civil War State by State. Devon: RedBlue Press, 2011. Maps by Mike Marino. ISBN 978-1-908247-04-9.
- ISBN 0-9769231-1-4.
- Long, E. B. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. OCLC 68283123.
- McKnight, Brian D. Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 2006. Paperback edition: 2012. ISBN 978-0-8131-4113-8.
- Sanders, Stuart W. The Battle of Mill Springs Kentucky. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-60949-829-0.
- U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Recordsof the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.