Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment
On January 21st, 1862 the 40th
Indiana had moved to Lebanon under command of General Thomas J. Wood. The 20th and 21st Brigades had moved forward; the 20th Brigade was to corduroy a road starting at Danville, 20 mile east of Lebanon. The 40th Indiana, with the 21st Brigade, initially remained at Lebanon.
Battle of Logan's Cross Roads (now known as the Battle of Mill Springs)
Confederate General Zollicoffer had recently moved his troops to Mill Springs, KY, on the south bank of the Cumberland River. This would allow him to aid either the Confederate forces at Bowling Green, KY or to cover the Cumberland Gap area, being about equally distant between the two areas.
Zollicoffer was not an experienced general, and moved across to the north side of the river. He was now surrounded on three sides by water. His commanding general, General Crittenden, on arriving and taking command, saw that the army could not go back across the river, because it might be attacked by the Union troops under General Thomas while crossing. Under the circumstances, he decided to march north on Mill Springs road and attack the Union troops. He had hoped that the two parts of the Union division had not yet been able to come together.
The 10th Indiana and the 4th Kentucky regiments were camped across the road, and on the morning of the 19th, found themselves under attack. The fighting was intense and continued until the two Union regiments were nearly out of ammunition. At that time, General Thomas had brought up more regiments in support and replaced the two initially engaged regiments in the battle front.
Union Colonel Speed S. Fry had ridden to one side of the battle, and encountered General Zollicoffer. Neither recognized the other, and there was a short conversation. One of Zollicoffer's cavalry men shot at Fry and hit his horse, and then a shootout began in which Zollicoffer was killed.
More regiments from both sides came up, and the battle was fierce for a while longer. Union troops gained the advantage, and the Confederate regiments fell back, retreated, and eventually were routed. The Union army was able to capture a great deal of provisions, tools, arms and ammunition from the enemy and its camp.
The results of this battle were important but the Union advantage was not immediately realized. The way was open to East Tennessee, but was not taken due to the logistics problems as discussed before. However, the strength of the Southern armies was broken in this area, and it was the right flank of the larger Confederate army in Kentucky and Tennessee. This would soon matter when the Union armies began their advances.
NEXT POST: JANUARY 25TH
More information:
- Link: War Operation, see Volume VII, Chapter 17, pp. 75-82
- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 1, The Opening Battles, pp. 387-392
- National Park Service - Battle of Mill Springs - National Battlefield Monument
- Experience Mill Springs Battlefield - Battle Summary - this is a detailed chronology of the battle
- The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, Shelby Foote, pp.177-180.
No comments:
Post a Comment