JANUARY 19, 1862:
The Battle of Mill Springs (The Battle of Fishing Creek or
The Battle of Logan's Cross Roads) was fought near present-day Nancy, Kentucky.
It was the first significant Union victory of the war, and broke the back of
the Confederate drive in eastern Kentucky.
In wet, cold and foggy weather, the
two sides actually crossed each others’ front lines in the early morning
darkness, causing chaos on the field. At one point, Union and Confederate
riflemen were firing through opposite sides of the same fence. When Confederate
General Felix Zollicoffer was killed, allegedly by Colonel Speed Fry U.S.A.
(but possibly by friendly fire), the Gray lines broke, and retreated pell-mell
through the Cumberland Gap, not re-forming until they reached Chestnut Mound,
Tennessee.
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