The Civil War Bivouac ~ Kentucky and the Battle of Mill Springs

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. 2012 is here. It’s so hard to believe. A new year…a new beginning.

Before we get to this month’s Civil War Bivouac, I just wanted to share a picture of the Christmas present that Eric and I received from our kids. They had our first Civil War article framed. The 10 page article was published last June in the Indiana Historical Society’s magazine – Traces. It’s so awesome to have it framed! Just had to share.

The Civil War Bivouac with Eric and Loree Huebner

Eric and I did and reenactment of the Battle of Mill Springs in Nancy, Kentucky, not too long ago. The reenactment took place on the original battlefield which left us with a deep feeling of being connected to the past. The place was in stunning horse country with rolling hills and rich farmland.

The one thing that sticks out in my memory is the sky the second night. The stars in the heavens were just amazing. We were with the artillery at this reenactment doing a night cannonade for the spectators, and we were all awestruck by the starlit sky. Thousands and thousands of stars twinkled down at us. I had never seen the Milky Way so bright…it flowed from one end of the sky to the other like a sparkling river of ribbon. What a beautiful sight!

The history was so thick on that land where the battle took place that you could almost reach out and touch it…I did...I was there.

Eric (Private Sven) and the boys
Mill Springs

Kentucky and the Battle of Mill Springs – January 1862

At the beginning of the Civil War, the situation in Kentucky teetered precariously. President Lincoln believed that the state was critical, “I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.” As a border state and a slave state, the commonwealth of Kentucky was divided. Prominent households like the Breckinridge and Crittenden families contributed their kin to both sides. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky. Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin Helm was President Lincoln’s brother-in-law. Pro-South Governor Magoffin was offset by the Pro-Union Legislature.

Loree (Private Lars) - the beauty of being with the artillery - no infantry drill at 7am
Mill Springs

 

Kentucky tried to walk a fine line by declaring neutrality, a status recognized formally by the Confederacy and tacitly by Federal authorities. Without permission, CSA General Polk violated the neutrality by occupying Columbus, a move promptly matched when U. S. Grant moved Union troops to Paducah. Rebel forces soon moved to Bowling Green and through the Cumberland Gap into Eastern Kentucky. The fact that Confederates were the first to “invade” Kentucky was used by Union sympathizers to officially throw Kentucky into the Union camp.

21st Indiana Light Artillery - Fire! Eric (Private Sven) on the right, hand on ear for blast protection
Mill Springs

In January 1862 Federal columns under Brigadier General George Thomas were converging in the eastern part of Kentucky. A small Southern army under General George B. Crittenden moved to attack the lead elements before Thomas could effect a concentration. The resulting Battle of Mill Springs was typical of many early battles. The initial rebel attack was sharply contested and each side brought up reinforcements. At a critical moment, CSA General Felix Zollicoffer was killed and his soldiers began to give way. Many Southern soldiers found that many of their antiquated flintlock muskets would not operate in the rain. General Thomas order a counter-attack and the Confederates retreated in confusion from the field.

Loree at the Zollicoffer Tree - the place where General Zollicoffer died.
Mill Springs

In the aftermath of this small, but important battle, the shattered Rebel army fled across the Cumberland River, losing much of their equipment and large numbers to desertion. Union General Thomas emerged as an important leader and the North gained a much needed victory.

The following video I have posted before. It is the 21st Indiana Light Artillery at Mills Springs. We are helping to repel the Confederate infantry attacking the fence rail. Yep, that's me, gunner number 4, in position, arm in the air, trying my best to put on my "manly" soldier's voice - "Gun number two ready!" and pulling the lanyard - Boom! 

“My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Foster (1826-1864), most likely composed in 1852.

Some say Foster took the heart of his inspiration from Harriett Beecher Stowe's 1851 bestseller Uncle Tom's Cabin, and hoped to exploit its popularity. 

According to Wikipedia, Abolitionist Frederick Douglass believed the song stimulated "the sympathies for the slave, in which anti-slavery principles take root and flourish."

The song described originally an everyday scene on a slave plantation and was a beloved song in racist minstrel shows. It was also a song sung by soldiers during the Civil War.

“My Old Kentucky Home” is the official song of the Kentucky Derby.

“My Old Kentucky Home” became the official state song of Kentucky on March 19, 1928 by an act of the Kentucky legislature, but, by 1986, opinions had changed on the appropriateness of the lyrics. Carl Hines, the only black member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, was quoted as saying that the lyrics "convey connotations of racial discrimination that are not acceptable". Within days, Hines was sponsoring a bill to revise the lyrics, and, with the passage of House resolution 159, the word "darkies" was changed to "people".

The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home
'Tis summer, the people are gay;
The corn top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day;
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy, and bright,
By'n by hard times comes a-knocking at the door,
Then my old Kentucky home, good night!

Chorus

Weep no more, my lady,
Oh weep no more today!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky home,
For the old Kentucky home far away.

They hunt no more for the 'possum and the coon,
On meadow, the hill and the shore,
They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,
On the bench by that old cabin door;
The day goes by like a shadow o'er the heart,
With sorrow where all was delight;
The time has come when the people have to part,
Then my old Kentucky home, good night!

Chorus

The head must bow and the back will have to bend,
Wherever the people may go;
A few more days and the trouble all will end
In the field where sugar-canes may grow;
A few more days for to tote the weary load,
No matter, 'twill never be light,
A few more days till we totter on the road,
Then my old Kentucky home, good night!

Chorus

Here is a beautiful version by Paul Robeson singing “My Old Kentucky Home” on youtube – sung with the old lyrics.

Between you, me and the gatepost,

Loree and Eric