The US Civil War Beginning in Kentucky

The United States famously started the Civil War in April 1861. It started due to the Southern State succession from the Union. The first fight in the US Civil War was from the Southern Confederacy and its attack of Fort Sumpter in South Carolina.

According to Senate.gov, the attack happened at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, on Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor. The Union forces surrendered less than 36 hours later.

Fort Sumpter was under attack by the Confederates during the first fight of the Civil War on April 12-13th, 1861.Photo byBattlefields.org

Kentuckians remained divided on the economic practice of slavery, and Kentucky remained neutral during the first parts of the Civil War. On August 21, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas Hindman (of the Trans-Mississippi war theater) received orders to put together a group of Confederate soldiers in preparation to move north to Kentucky, in preparations with Maj. Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Mississippi, according to the Emerging Civil War website.

Battle of Big Hill

On August 23, 1862, the Battle of Big Hill, Kentucky, took place between the boundaries of Madison, Jackson, and Rockcastle Counties. The battle concluded in less than an hour and twenty minutes. Colonel John S. Scott’s 850-man First Louisiana Cavalry Brigade faced the Federal units, 7th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment of Col. Leonidas K. Metcalfe and Lt. Col. John C. Chile’s Third Tennessee Infantry Battalion. The Visit Jackson County website states that Federal/Union forces faced an overwhelming loss resulting in the retreat of many soldiers, and 50 soldiers killed and wounded. Col. Metcalfe and his remaining troops fled north up Old State Road to Richmond with Scott in pursuit. Scott lost 12 men and 21 horses in the Battle of Big Hill.

This picture depicts the Battle of Cynthiana, one of the many battles in Kentucky during the Civil War.Photo byAmerican Battlefield Trust

Col. Scott, with the Confederacy, went on to capture a Federal train, 27 wagons, and the teams. Metfcalf's horse and uniform coat were also captured, which contained vital information about Richmond, KY, where the Union had a current occupation. Col. John S. Scott sent the Union commander in Richmond, Col. William H. Link, a surrender demand, which was denied.

Colonel John Scott of Lousiana, led the Battle of Big Hill in Kentucky and would later encircle Richmond, KY on August 30th, 1862.Photo by1st Louisiana Cavalry Regiment, CSA

Col. Scott remained at the top of Big Hill on the eve of August 23rd, 1862, and the letter of surrender remains in the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort. On August 30th, Col. Scott would encircle Richmond, KY, after receiving affirmative orders to move from the top of Big Hill.

Source:

Senate.gov

Emerging Civil War

VisitJacksonCountyky.org