It was Jan. 19, 1862, when the Union achieved its first major victory of the Civil War.
The Battle of Mill Springs, near present-day Nancy, Ky., was relatively minor in comparison to battles such as Shiloh and Antietam in 1862, but it was the second largest battle fought in Kentucky.
Gen. George H. Thomas sent ahead a contingent of reserve troops under the command of Gen. Albin F. Schoepf to Somerset, Ky., some eight miles east of the Confederate camp at Mill Springs. On Dec. 31 Thomas led his army from Lebanon, Ky., toward the enemy encampment some 40 miles away. The march took more than two weeks. The troops were tormented by snow, stinging rain and knee-deep muddy roads arriving at Logan's Crossroads Jan. 17, 1862.
Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer, a journalist and politician-turned-soldier, had been in charge of the Confederate forces in the area for weeks. However, he had made the fateful decision to move his troops from the south to the north side of the Cumberland River. The south side was graced with a high bluff, which would have have afforded an excellent defensive position. His immediate superior, Gen. George Crittenden and the Army commander, Albert Sidney Johnston, both ordered Zollicoffer to recross the river. Unfortunately, he had no river craft left in which to transport the men. When Crittenden arrived on the scene he decide to preemptively attack Thomas at Logan's Crossroads on the early morning of Jan. 19, hoping to bag the Union army before reinforcements could arrive from Somerset.
Initially the Confederates forced the Union troops to retire, but the Federals stiffened their resolve and held firm. During the ensuing clash, Zellicofer, who wore a signature white raincoat, mistook Union troops for his own, rode into their midst, and was mortally wounded. In response the Confederates launched a second attack that was again repulsed. Eventually, the Union forces, reenforced by two of Stoepf's regiments, counterattacked the left and right side of the Confederate line, forcing the Rebels in disarray from the field and back across the Cumberland, where many drowned. In their flight the Rebels left their dead and wounded behind. General Thomas had Zollicoffer's body embalmed at Lebanon, Ky., and returned respectfully to his home in Tennessee.
The Union victory checked the first Confederate attempt to fake eastern Kentucky; restored morale to the beleaguered state made despondent by Sherman's erratic behavior; cracked the right flank of the enemies' long strategic line, and was the first significant Union victory of the war. It also opened the door for Union advance into Middle Tennessee. Because of this battle the northern public had a general-George Thomas.
General Thomas was a Virginian as was Robert E. Lee, to whom President Lincoln offered command of the Union armies. Lee turned down that offer and opted to join the Confederacy and not fight against his native state. Thomas, on the other hand, opted to stay with the Federal Army, which had afforded him a career and livelihood. It should also be noted that his wife was a New Yorker.
Thomas has never achieved the recognition that he so richly deserves. He never lost a battle that he personally planned, organized and directed. He so planned his battles so as to minimize casualties. He had the best record in the army in that regard.
Later in the war many men from Trumbull County will fight under his command, not the least of which will be Ohio's (Opdyke's) Tigers:The famed125 Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
All the units in the order of battle for Mill Springs were geographically remote from Trumbull County except one, the 9th Independent Battery Light Artillery. This unit was essentially from Cleveland. However, 13 members of the unit at some point either lived in or were buried in Trumbull County.
Only one lived in Trumbull County according to the census of 1860. He was Samuel Barnes from Warren and most likely served in this battle. By the time of this battle in 1862 others of the remaining 12 might well have called Trumbull home.
Compiled by members of the CW150 Committee of Warren's Sutliff Museum.