A Brief History of Battle and Preservation of the Mill Springs Battlefield

Summary

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 Mill Springs Battlefield Association (MSBA), a 501(c)(3) has worked with local, state and federal governments to preserve the Mill Springs Battlefield. When the effort began, one acre was preserved; today over 1,000 acres are protected. The battlefield, an NHL, is interpreted and the MSBA has built a museum/visitor center. Because of this organization most of the archaeological resources associated with the battle have been preserved. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beech Grove, Kentucky: Investigation and Interpretation of an Early Confederate Encampment   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 266