Beech Grove, Kentucky: Investigation and Interpretation of an Early Confederate Encampment

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

From December 5, 1861 – January 19, 1862 Confederates encamped at Beech Grove, Kentucky. Historical and archaeological investigations of this encampment were conducted by Dr. Stephen McBride and Dr. Kim McBride of McBride Preservation Services, in cooperation with the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS), and Joe Brent of Mudpuppy and Waterdog, Inc.. The project was funded by the American Battlefield Protection Program and Mill Springs Battlefield Association, and will help identify land for preservation. Following LiDAR mapping, metal detecting delineated four encampment areas. Unit and trench excavation was conducted on three encampment areas and one earthwork. Cellar features associated with huts or tents were recorded. The artifacts recovered provide insight into a well-furnished Confederate camp, situated close to supply lines early in the Civil War. To enhance public access to the information generated by the project, an ESRI-based Story Map was created.

Other Keywords
Civil War • Confederate encampment • Battlefield • Geographic Information Systems • Public Archaeology • Camp Life • conflict • Kentucky

Temporal Keywords
Civil War, 19th century • Civil War • American Civil War • 1861

Geographic Keywords
North America • Coahuila (State / Territory) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Nuevo Leon (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • Applications of LiDAR Imagery at the Beech Grove Confederate Camp, Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Brian Mabelitini. Carl R. Shields.

    Before any archaeology was conducted at Beech Grove, aerial LiDAR data was acquired, to map known Confederate earthworks, identify earthworks that were not previously known, and otherwise guide the archaeological investigations.  The data sets consisted of 22 LiDAR point cloud LAS swath files which produced high accuracy 3D Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 1.0 foot cell size. The LiDAR data helped identify at least three Civil War fortification features in the northern and eastern portions of...

  • Beech Grove Soldiers Said They Were "Living Fat," And Archaeological Evidence Elaborates (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kim A. McBride.

    The Confederate encampment at Beech Grove from December 5, 1861 to January 19, 1862 was under the command of Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer, but came to a rapid halt following the defeat of Confederate forces on January 19, 1862, including the death of Gen. Zollicoffer, in the nearby Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky.  This defeat led to a rapid abandonment of Beech Grove, with many supplies left in place.   We carried out unit and trench excavations in early April, 2017 at one earthwork and three...

  • A Brief History of Battle and Preservation of the Mill Springs Battlefield (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Joseph E. Brent.

    The Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky, was fought on January 19, 1862. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer’s Confederate army arrived in Mill Springs on the south bank of the Cumberland in November 1861, an action that would hasten the advent of the battle. Some 5,000 Confederate soldiers crossed the river and established a fortified encampment at Beech Grove, where they built winter quarters—log huts—behind a line of fortifications. The encampment left a remarkable archaeological footprint.   Since 1992, the...

  • Investigating The Fortifications At Beech Grove (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only J David McBride.

    The Beech Grove Confederate encampment, December 5, 1861 to January 19, 1862, was positioned so that it took advance of the natural defenses provided by White Oak Creek and the Cumberland River.   But an exposed area to the north and west had to be fortified with entrenchments and numerous earthworks.   These earthworks were recently better identified with the use of LiDAR mapping.  Archaeological trenching into an earthwork provided even more information about their construction.  

  • Metal Detecting Survey at Beech Grove Confederate Encampment (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only W. Stephen McBride.

    One methodology used during the Beech Grove investigations was metal detecting, conducted by professional archaeologists and metal detector hobbyists working together.  The detecting resulted in the recovery of numerous artifacts, clustered in four main concentrations (A-D).  The artifacts recovered included machine cut nails/nail fragments, cast iron kettle/dutch oven fragments, horseshoe nails, horse/mule shoes, chain fragments, ammunition, melted lead, kitchen/table utensils, wire, strap...

  • Story Maps, A New Public Archaeology Tool: Mill Springs Battlefield Case Study (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Philip B. Mink.

    ESRI Story Maps are a new strategy for combining geographic information with text, images and multimedia content in an easily shareable web interface.  The technique is especially useful for presenting historic archaeology to the public, as archaeological and archival data can be juxtaposed to present a more complete story.  In this presentation we will exhibit the story map created for the Beech Grove area of the Mill Springs Battlefield and discuss its potential as a public archaeology tool. ...