Battles set for Jan. 21-22
Mill Springs begins 2012 schedule with Sesquicentennial re-enactment

For the fourth time, Mill Springs will re-create what was the first significant Union victory of the Civil War.

The Mill Springs Battlefield Association will host a re-enactment of the Battle of Mill Springs Jan. 21-22 on the original battlefield where the action took place at Zollicoffer Park. Re-enactments will be staged at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the 21st and at 1 p.m. the following day. The Federal contingent will be commanded by Chuck Warnick and David Neill will serve as the Confederate commander.

The re-enactment will mark the 150th anniversary of the battle, which took place Jan. 19, 1862. This is Mill Springs fourth re-enactment.

It was just after midnight on the 19th when Confederate troops started toward the Union army camped near the village of Logan’s Cross Roads. Despite miserable weather conditions - rain, sleet and fog – both sides were prepared for battle, realizing the strategic importance of Kentucky.

Confederate Gen. Felix Zollicoffer, despite the poor daylight visibility, unknowingly rode up to a Union officer. Realizing his mistake, Zollicoffer tried to bluff his way to safety and ordered Union officer Speed Fry to stop firing on his own troops. However, one of Zollicoffer’s aides rode up and declared, “General, they are the enemy!”

With that, Fry and his regiment opened fire and Zollicoffer and his two aides were mortally wounded.

A bitter battle resulted and, following a bayonet charge by the 9th Ohio, the Confederates retreated and crossed the Cumberland River. The Confederate defeat weakened the Southern defensive line along the Kentucky-Tennessee border and gave Union Gen. U.S. Grant the opportunity to attack Forts Henry and Donelson that led to the Battle of Shiloh.

Mill Springs’ 2012 event follows its national re-enactment staged in September 2007. The battlefield association hosted its first national in 1998.

Along with the re-enactment, visitors will have the opportunity to fire a Civil War cannon through a drawing that will be conducted at the Battlefield Visitors Center and Museum. Winners, who must be present to win, will fire the artillery piece prior to the 1 p.m. re-enactments.

The Mill Springs Visitors Center and Battlefield is located on Highway 235 in Nancy, nine miles west of Somerset.