Possibly the most over looked problem the Confederates faced in the Western Theater was that both Kentucky and Tennessee had a large pro-Union population. The east coast states like South Carolina, Virginia, and others were strongly in favor of state rights and from the outset supplied large numbers of men and material to their respective states.

  The Confederate States of America (CSA) expected each state to supply their own combatants in large numbers, but neither of these two states did so for either side at least through 1861.

    Though Kentucky’s legislature was pro-Union and it governor pro-secession, the state tried to maintain its neutrality. General Polk CSA ended that attempt in September 1861 when he seized Columbus Kentucky near the Mississippi River.

  The State Legislature considered this an occupation of sovereign territory and called for the immediate withdrawal of Polk’s forces. When that failed, they requested help from Washington, thus effectively ending the States neutrality. 

  In this early stage of the America Civil War, both the Union and Confederacy struggled to bring the once “neutral” border state of Kentucky under their control. 

The Confederacy recognized the Ohio River as not only a natural barrier that would give this new nation a defendable border, but also a rich resource from which they hoped much needed men, horses, and other war materials would flow.

 Likewise, the Union saw Kentucky as the gateway into the heart of the Confederacy. Having its railway and roads systems running directly into Nashville, with the Ohio River  allowing access to the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers as well as being a direct waterway into the Mississippi. Kentucky was therefore a natural staging area for the invasion of the South.

 The Confederacy moved quickly and established a line of control south of Green River encompassing the western portion of the state and declaring Bowling Green as the capital of the Commonwealth and called on Kentuckians to join their cause. The Union, on the other hand, wanted to blunt this Confederate move by first having Grant occupy Paducah while The Army of the Cumberland pushed out from Louisville along the L&N railroad and turnpike. 

 Bacon Creek Historical Society

        The Civil War at Bacon Creek Kentucky      

Bacon Creek Historical Society

 Some years back I set out to discover the lost Civil War history of the Bacon Creek/ Bonnieville area. What I found along the way was much more then I ever anticipated. As I began to flesh out the role Bonnieville played in the course of the war, I discovered what had truly been lost to history is the role Hart County itself played in the outcome of the American Civil War.

   Yes, Bacon Creek as it was known at that time played a much larger role than previously believed or presented. As rich as this history was, it was incomplete without the context in which these events unfolded. If reduced to mere dates, facts and figures they are surely worthy of a road sign or two and maybe a marker here or there, but hardly do justice to the role Bacon Creek, Munfordville, and the county as a whole played during this defining chapter of the American saga.

October 10th 1861 Company C, 39th Indiana Infantry Regiment, declare first blood of the Rebellion, which fell upon Kentucky soil, was shed at Bacon Creek.

November 1861 First destruction of Bacon Creek Rail Road Bridge       

December 1861 John Hunt Morgan's and 105 of his men burned the bridge at Bacon Creek for a second time.

December 1861-Feburary 1862 Establishment of Union Camp Jefferson, 40,000 strong

Early January 1862 The body of General Zollicoffer CSA, (KIA Mill Springs) passed through on its way to Nashville

September 14th. 1862 Stockade fort at Bacon Creek, Ky., surrendered and burned

September 15th. 1862 Rebels push captured box cars onto Bacon Creek Rail Road Bridge and set fire to both marking the third destruction of the bridge

September 19th.-21st. 1862 Bragg’s army camps at Bacon Creek

September 22nd. 1862 Union forces advanced upon rear guard at Bacon Creek. Engagement starting at noon ending at dusk

December 25th 1862 Skirmish took place at Bacon Creek between a company of the Second Michigan Calvary and the advance-guard of the rebel forces under General Morgan

December 26^th. 1862 Five hour engagement ending with the forth burning of the Rail Road Bridge and second stockade By General John Hunt Morgan

December 24th 1864  Confederate Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon with 800 men made 5th and final raid of the war on Bacon Creek Station, once again burning the L&N Railroad Bridge

 Left, Railroad Bridge at Bacon Creek as it appears today. CSX has been contacted several times and ask to paint this historic bridge. As of this date they have been unwilling to do so.

Update...We have found other contact information that may help get this done.

 Below R.R. Bridge as it appear in November 1861 

 The War in Kentucky: Bacon Creek Bridge, Hart County, KY Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 

            Special thanks to  Civil War Collection's www.wku.edu/Library/kylm/collections/online/civilwar/index.html 

The scene below depicts the aftermath of the Dec. 1861 raid, when John Hunt Morgan's and 105 of his men burned the bridge at Bacon Creek for a second time within as many months.

 Above illustration appeared in the January 25, 1862 issue of The Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

Special thanks to  Civil War Collection's www.wku.edu/Library/kylm/collections/online/civilwar/index.html 

 Hart County Kentucky. Title; The Campaign in Kentucky -- The National Troops under General Johnston advancing on the Louisville & Nashville turnpike, are overtaken by the equipage and baggage train on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.  Based on the location of the Turnpike to the Railroad in this drawing and the events at this time, this was most likely some where near Bacon Creek Station,  Nov.or Dec. 1861.  Special thanks to   Civil War Collection's www.wku.edu/Library/kylm/collections/online/civilwar/index.html 

  Upon his arrival on Sept. 18th 1861, Gen. S.B.  Buckner proclaimed Bowling Green as the new capital of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sending troops by rail to Munfordville and Bacon Creek as well as the Rolling Forks of the Salt River 30 miles from Louisville.

 At that time, his force consisted of 5,000 soldiers. The Union, on the other hand, had almost nothing to oppose his advance into the city of Louisville, sending the city into a state of panic.

  Unfortunately for General Bucker and the Confederates cause, his orders where exceeded and the bridge over the Rolling Fork of the Salt River 30 miles south of Louisville was burnt by his own men thus ending his planed advance on the Louisville.  Buckner's early capture of such a vital city therefore denying the L & N Railroad, Turnpike and Ohio River to the Union, would have been a major event in the war, one that could have changed its outcome.

  This missed opportunity (See information Below) would give way to yet another, when in the fall of 1862 Bragg's hesitation in Hart County cost the Confederacy Louisville once again.

 The map on the right shows the number of Union Troops that flood into the state shortly after the Sept. 18th. 1861 arrival of Gen. S.B. Buckner at Bowling Green.

The above Map is taken from The West Point Atlas of American Wars, Vol. 1 1689-1900.

THE SECRET UNION ORGANIZATION IX KENTUCKY IN 1861.

BY R. M. KELLY, Late Colonel Fourth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry.

 “The successful struggle made by the loyal men of Kentucky to keep the state in the Union was marked by one episode which has not had the attention from historians or annalists which its interest and intrinsic importance merit."

  "When, about the middle of September, under orders from General A. S. Johnston, General Buckner suddenly advanced and seized Bowling Green, sending forward detachments as far as the Rolling Fork of Salt River, to burn the bridge over that stream, and to gather up the rolling stock of the railroad at Elizabethtown, it was believed in Louisville and at General Anderson's headquarters, then recently established in that city, that his advance was intended to surprise and capture Louisville, an undertaking, which as General Anderson knew better than he did, was not at that moment at all a desperate one. The Union commander had learned from a loyal citizen of Russellville of the contemplated movement the very day it began. He was made sure that it had begun by the non-arrival of the regular passenger train from the South, and the interruption of telegraphic communications. The news soon spread through the city, and created general anxiety and alarm. There was absolutely no Federal force available for the defense of the city against such a sudden raid".

Camp Life at Bacon Creek, Winter 1861 & 62

  Some of the military items used at Camp Jefferson in the Winter of 1861 & 62.  

  Envision the scene that winter as you look out over the Bacon Creek valley. At it's height the camp held over 40,000 Union troops, countless horses  and teams of mules, wagons, ambulances, cannons, regimental flags and 2-3,000 Sibley Tents as shown below.

Civil War Sibley Tent Stove

Henry Hopkins Sibley (1816–1886) graduated from West Point in 1838 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2^nd U.S. Dragoons and served in the Seminole War.

In 1856, he patented the “Sibley Tent”, which could accommodate 20 soldiers and their gear and was widely used in the frontier afterwards.

  Sibley also invented the “Sibley Stove” to heat the tent. These sheet iron stoves were being used until the advent of world war II.

ttph://library.untraveledroad.com/Ch/Marcy/Prairie/5/Sibley.htm

Center for Archival Collections Liberty Warner (1842-1863) Papers.

The Liberty Warner (pictured below) Papers consist of approximately .25 linear ft. of Civil War era correspondence, dating from 1861 to 1864. The collection was loaned for microfilming to the Center for Archival Collections through the cooperation of Mrs. Patricia Gardner, November 19, 1991. This register was prepared by Marilyn Levinson, Curator of Manuscripts, Center for Archival Collections, November-December, 1991. No restrictions exist on the use of this collection.

You will find only a small sampling of his letters on this site. If you would like to read more please see web address;

http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/ms/page45414.html

[Bacon Creek, Ky.]
[Early Jan, 1862]

Dear Friends,

  I received your letter Jan 8th. It found us all well. I have also received several papers and very glad I was to see them to. We are staying at the old camp and it is a heaven contrasted with the mountains. We heard of the glorious victory at Mill Springs, soon after it occured. We ware all glad to hear the news.

  The body of Zollicoffer pased through here a few days ago on its way to Nashville, accompanied by his surgeon and 2 captains, all of them being blindfolded. The surgeon left his horse at the depot, also his gum coat. I was on picket at the depot the day after the old rebbel pased through, so I had a look or two at the horse. He would make our Frank (their horse), feel proud of his flesh the poorest day he ever saw. He was poor as a crow after 6 month sickness, on his back was a verry pretty saddle. The gum coat lost a good pair of scissors in the performance and if the surgeon on his return makes any inquiry, tell him they are in my napsack. I rather doubt his seeing coat, horse, or anything of the kind. The officers like horses verry much. I see the gum coat on a soldiers back a few days ago. There was bloody marks on the coat. A fellow has to keep his eyes skined or some of his benevolent brother soldiers will steal his verry eye-teeth out of his head.

  The Kentuckey pie vendors have to keep they stock pretty close. The soldier thinks of his belly more than anything else and woe to the pie or pone that comes in his way. And I never saw the man who could get redress for a missing pie, but I have seen the officers laugh over it. The people are mostly sesesh here, so it is not so bad.

I have endeavored to show
you the position of our brigade.
Grandfather will probably recognise
a 21st Reg 4 3 Batterys 6 Cavelry

 Liberty Warner

Camp Jefferson, Bacon Creek
Jan 10, 1862

Dear Brother,

 I have written 2 or 3 letters since I have received any from home and I would be very glad to hear from you all. All of the Tontogany boys are well. Jake McComb was sick, but he is now well as ever. We have been resting some 4 or 5 weeks, about 8 or 9 miles from Green River or 30 from Elizabethtown. The camp we are in is called Camp Jefferson and it is fixed out pretty comfortable. We received our new tents yesterday. They are well ditched around and we have plenty of straw inside. We have got a nice little stove that can aford to keep us warm. And we have plenty to eat. We draw rations of hard crackers, pickle pork, sugar, coffee, rice, salt, and occasionaly potatoes, beans, vinegar, etc. When we were on the mountains we drew rations of milk when ever we come acrost any cows. We have not quite forgotten how to do it yet. I got a good dose of milk the last time I was on picket guard. The tents we roost in are cone shaped (see above), & are made of ducking. I will show you the positions of our tents (2 in a bunk, 12 in a mess). The Tontogany boys are in a mess together. I have laid off the tent as it is. The beds or bunks are occupied as follows, 1 & 2, Wm. Barber & Jake McComb, 3 & 4, John Barber & F. Burkhart, 5 & 6, L. Warner & James Barber, 7 & 8, Ike Van [Valkenberg] & Tom Custer, (right, brother of George Armstrong Custer) 9 & 10, Wm. Allen & James Burchstead, 11 & 12, George Barber & Christopher Grundy. A: gun rack, B: dish box, C: tools.

 I do not know how long we shall stay here. It may be a good while. We want to collect enough men to just take prisoners Bruckner and his men. It seems that old England wants to try us once more and let them come. (See Lincoln, One War at a Time) We might just as well lick them now as any time. We lick the sesesh this winter and the British next summer.

The boys send their respects.

Write to Camp Jefferson, Bacon Creek, Kentucky
21 Reg OVUSA

Mother must keep up her spirits, for I am doing well, and write to me often. I sent 12$ home by J.L. Curry. He sent it to his wife. Go there and get it if you have not done so all ready.

L.P. Warner

February 1862 Western Theater Unravels

Kentucky Abandon, Nashville Captured

  The Campaign of Shiloh
By G.T. Beauregard, General, C. S. A.

Battles and Leaders of the Civil War
Volume II, pages 569-593

 On the 22d of January, 1862, Colonel Roger A. Pryor, a member of the Military Committee of the lower branch of the Confederate Congress, visited my headquarters at Centreville, Virginia, and in his own name, as also for the representatives in Congress of the Mississippi Valley States, urged me to consent to be transferred from the Army of the Potomac to the command of the Confederate forces at Columbus, Kentucky, within the Department of Kentucky and Tennessee, under the superior command of General Albert Sidney Johnston,-a transfer which he said Mr. Davis would not direct unless it was agreeable to me, but which was generally desired at Richmond because of the recent crushing disaster at Mill Springs, in eastern Kentucky: the defeat and death of Zollicoffer. I was, on the 26th of January, ordered to proceed at once "to report to General A. S. Johnston at Bowling Green, Kentucky," and thenceas promptly as possible to assume my new command at Columbus, "which," said my orders, "is threatened by a powerful force, and the defense of which is of vital importance."

 Dispatching Colonel Thomas Jordan, my chief of staff, to Richmond, with a view to secure from the War Department certain aids to the proper organization of the troops I was to command, I left Centreville on the 2d of February and reached Bowling Green about the 5th. General Johnston, whom I had never seen before, welcomed me to his department with a cordiality and earnestness that made a deep impression on me at the time. As he informed me, General Buell's army, fully 75,000 strong, was on the line of Bacon Creek, on the Louisville and Nashville railroad, about 40 miles from Bowling Green. General Grant had about 20,000 men in hand at or abut Cairo, ready to move either upon Fort Henry or Fort Donelson. General Pope, having a force of not less than 30,000 men in Missouri, was menacing General Polk's positions, including New Madrid, while General Halleck, exercising command over the whole of this force of 125,000 men of all arms, had his headquarters at St. Louis.

 On the other hand, General Johnston (as he stated, to my surprise) had an "aggregate effective' of not over 45,000 men of all arms, thus distributed: at Bowling Green, his headquarters, not over 14,000; at Forts Henry and Donelson, 5500; in the quarter of Clarksville, Tennessee, 8000; besides 17,000 under General Polk, chiefly of Columbus, and for the most part imperfectly organized, badly armed and equipped. As may be seen from any map of the region, the chief part of this force occupied a defensive line facing northwardly, the two salient extremities of which were Bowling Green, some 70 miles by railway in advance of Nashville, and Columbus, about 110 miles west of Bowling Green.

Report of Gen. Johnston (CS) to the Secretary of War

 G. T. Beauregard General; C.S.A.

  Pictured above.  Beauregard was born in Kentucky but as a child, moved to Texes with his family and considered that state his home.  He also designed the most famous symbol of The War Between the States, the Confederate Battle flag shown below.

  After the war, Beauregard became a railroad executive and one of the few wealthy Confederate veterans due to his role in promoting the Louisiana Lottery.

   In the early days of the American Civil War, he became the first Confederate brigadier general and was in command of the defenses of Charleston South Carolina when in the early morning hours of April 12, 1861; the bombardment of Fort Sumter began the bloodiest war in American history.

  Three months later he was the victor at the First Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia. Due to the strategic importance of Kentucky, Beauregard was sent to command an army at Columbus, Kentucky but was sorely disappointed by the state of affairs he found upon arrival in Bowling Green just prior to reaching his new assignment. 

With the fall of Fort Henry the previous day to General Grant, February 7th 1862, saw General Johnston convene a Council of War at the Covington Hotel in Bowling Green were it was determined that Kentucky could not be held.

 Although Grant’s forces threaten to cut supply and communication lines from Nashville to Bowling Green and was menacing Nashville itself, it was the estimated force of nearly 75,000 men on the line at Bacon Creek that caused him the greatest concern.

  Discretion being the better part of valor, Johnston orders the withdrawal of all Southern forces from the state. Valentine day 1862, saw the once bold Confederate Army of Kentucky forced to flee their newly proclaimed capital making Bowling Green the first Southern capital to fall into Federal hands.

 Buell’s Union troop entered Bowling Green nipping at the heels of Johnston’s retreat Rebel forces which past through Nashville and stopping only after reaching Murfreesboro Tennessee. Acting as Johnston rearguard, John Hunt Morgan and Nathan Bedford Forrest helped maintain control in Nashville until the night of the 23^rd when General Buell’s Federal Army entered the city from the north as Morgan and Forrest trooper exited toward the southeast.

 With the main body of the Confederates now safely at Murfreesboro, General Johnston secured authorization to bring General Braxton Bragg’s forces out of Florida as well as General Van Dorn and Price from Arkansas to Corinth Mississippi, which became a rally point for the new Western Department, Central Army of the Confederacy.  Buell’s Federal Army now found themselves in the new and more accommodating surroundings of Nashville, a far cry from the mundane camp life they endured while stationed at Camp Jefferson along the Bacon Creek.  

The Confederates Invade Kentucky

   By summer of 1862, the Union had overextended its supply lines which flowed by way of Louisville along the L & N Railroad, Turnpike and Ohio River deep into Tennessee.

 Once again, few troops were available for the defense of Kentucky, and in particular, Louisville. The time was right for a Confederate counter-offensive.

 In August 1862, Gen. Kirby Smith entered the state just west of the Cumberland Gap. General Braxton Bragg followed a few weeks later by way of Tompkinsville.  

 Once Bragg’s forces entered Kentucky, the alarm went out. Federal commanders in and around the central part of the state were alerted to their approach and it was correctly assumed the objective was Louisville.

Above Map is taken from The West Point Atlas of American Wars, Vol. 1 1689-1900.

 General Carlos Buell realizing that his communication and supply lines as well as Louisville itself was in major trouble, pulled most of his force out of Tennessee and began the race north to Louisville. His troops and arms began arriving in Bowling Green on September the 14^th with a steady flow continuing by way of the L & N Railroad and turnpike through the 16^th.  

  September the 14^th 1862 also saw a failed attempt by an advance portion of Bragg’s army to take the Federal garrison at Munfordville but found success 8 miles north; "This evening the stockade fort at Bacon Creek, Ky., was surrendered to the rebel cavalry under Colonel J. J. Morrison. The garrison consisted of Sergeant Ellis and twenty-eight men of company D, Fifty-fourth regiment of Indiana home guards. The regiment had been posted at different points along the railroad, and this squad at Bacon Creek. This afternoon, about dark, Col. Morrison made his appearance, and, while sending in a flag of truce, planted his artillery so as to destroy the fort. He demanded its surrender, threatening, in case of his refusal, to open upon it with his artillery. Sergeant Ellis consulted with the rebel officer, and represented their position to Morrison. It was agreed that the party should be paroled, not to take up arms until regularly exchanged or discharged from the service. The men then surrendered. Morrison destroyed the fort and took about fifty guns". Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events, Diary from December 17, 1860 - April 30, 1864

 September 15, after the failed attack on the Green River Bridge fortifacations, Bragg felt compelled to reduce this garrison and redeem the honor of his army. With this in mind, the main body of his army broke camp at nearby Glasgow and marched on Munfordville.  Later that same day; "A train of eleven cars, that conveyed Colonel Dunham's regiment to Bacon Creek, was attacked by a squad of rebels. Some rails having been torn up, the regiment, after taking out all the ammunition and most of the provisions, abandoned the train, when the rebels pushed it on the bridge and set fire to both. Louisville, Sept. 16, 1862. The battle of Munfordville was renewed at an early hour this morning and continued all day. The rebels were heavily reinforced, supposed by Generals Polk and Buckner, and both engaged. --Their force is estimated at 25,000". The Daily Dispatch: October 25, 1862., [Electronic resource]

 The morning of the 17^thsaw the honor of Bragg’s army restored with the surrender of the garrison at Munfordville but tidings from the south began to trouble him. Bragg began looking over his shoulder. Like a cross country runner hearing foot steps behind him, each look back was a step lost and one gain by the opponent. Soon, he lost sight of the goal and began to run not to win, but trying not to loss. This mind set soon over took Bragg and fills him with indecision.  Consider the following first hand account of Private Toney shown below.

PRIVATIONS OF A PRIVATE,

By Marcus B. Toney, Company B, 1st Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Printed for the Author, Nashville, Tn. 1905 http://www.first-Tennessee.co.uk/articles/toney4.htm

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Pvt. Marcus B. Toney
1st Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A.   
Company B

Marcus Toney enlisted May 10, 1861. Fought at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8, 1862, and captured while attending to the wounded. Later paroled and rejoined unit. Fought at the Battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. While at Dalton, Georgia, in March, 1864, transferred to the 44th Virginia Company C to fight with his cousin. Fought at the Battle of the Wilderness. Captured at the Mule Shoe Salient during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. Imprisoned during remainder of the war at Pt. Lookout, Maryland, and later at Elmira, New York. Discharged June 15, 1865. In 1905, wrote about his war experiences in the book The Privations of a Private. Died in 1929 and was buried at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. The following is extracted from his book.

Taken from the Website shown above.   

“We crossed Green River before midnight, and about 3 a.m. we were in Munfordville, and formed a line of battle in the suburbs of the town. Company B was in the cemetery, and I slept until sunup with a grave for a pillow. Our artillery had been placed in position not far from the L. and N. bridge and considerably higher than the Federal fort in Woodsonville. They saw that we were in a position to shell them out, and at sunrise up went the white flag, and we marched four thousand prisoners out and paroled them. The advance of General Buell's army had reached Bowling Green; and in a few days many of his men reached our line without guns and surrendered, saying that they were tired of the war. After the capture we expected General Bragg to do one of two things: either move on General Buell at Cave City or go to Louisville. The authorities in Louisville expected the latter, and every able-bodied man in Louisville was called on to throw up fortifications; but General Bragg did neither of the two, but he marched us eight miles toward Louisville, and went into camp at Bacon Creek. Next day he marched us back to Munfordville and then again to Bacon Creek, and one night we camped at the side of the old stage road near Bacon Creek, and it poured rain all night. The little sleep I got was on three rails. From Bacon Creek the army moved through Elizabethtown, Hodgenville, New Haven, and went into camp at Bardstown, Ky., twenty-seven miles from Louisville. While here Governor Hawes was inaugurated Governor of the State. General Bragg issued a proclamation calling on the Kentuckians to flock to his standard, and fired a few volleys from the artillery, which broke all the glass in the windows of the courthouse.

 While we were in camp at Bardstown General Buell's army marched to Louisville; and while we were playing soldier and living high in the blue grass country and losing men, General Buell was recruiting his army, and was soon ready for an advance, and we moved to Springfield, Perryville, Danville, and from Danville to Harrodsburg and then back to Perryville - a forty-mile march to no purpose, for we did not need the exercise. On the night of October 7, 1862, we marched again through Harrodsburg and bivouacked after midnight in the suburbs of the little town of Perryville”.

Battle of Green River Crossing

Taken from the Battle for the Bridge Website.

http://scrtc.com/~ftcraig/occupy.htm

September 21^st 1862

  As the Army of the Mississippi departed Munfordville for points north, Col. Joseph Wheeler (left), and his command were left to hold off the Union advance so that Bragg's movements could go on.

 The engagement began about three miles north of Horse Cave, near the modern interchange with I-65. The 1st and 3rd Alabama encountered the enemy advancing in line of battle, with dense lines of infantry in full view. After a heavy engagement, Buell’s forces sent a brigade to turn the Confederate right flank, and the 1st and 3rd Alabama were forced to retire slowly, but in good order, after a charge by the 1st Alabama in which Col. T.B. Brown was killed.

 As the combatants approached the river, the two Confederate guns, one with Wharton and the other with Wheeler, began firing as soon as the enemy came within range. The 1st and 3rd Alabama were compelled to cross the river, and the combined force, with the exception of Wharton’s Texans held in reserve, engaged the enemy with artillery and small arms. Union forces crossed the river below the ford to turn the Confederate right flank, and Wheeler’s forces resisted and fell back. Several Union infantry brigades then crossed at the ford, and the opposing forces had a "short but severe fight" on the streets of town. Then, under cover of night, Wheeler retired his forces to the Bonnieville area.

  The next day (September 22^nd 1862) about noon, the Union forces advanced upon Wheeler at Bacon Creek (Bonnieville) and met an artillery ambush of canister and shell, killing and wounding many men and horses. Union artillery came up and engaged Wheeler’s forces until dark, ending the engagement.

Blockhouse at Bacon Creek

Clipart resources right from FCIT;  http://etc.usf.edu/clipart

  Following the battle of Perryville, which marked the end of Bragg’s failed campaign, the Federals still needed to protect their overextended supply and communications line along the L & N from another such incursion.

  Though the first stockade had been burned during Bragg's invasion, it was reasoned they were still useful. With the telegraph as an early warning system and stockades or blockhouses at vital points along the line, it was thought those measures would allow for the protection of these point and free up as many troops as possible for a renewed push into the heart of the Confederacy. 

  The second stockade constructed at Bacon Creek between October – December 1862, would have been similar to the one illustrated, (right) and would have held about 100 soldiers.  

                        Provided by ANSWERS.COM

http://www.answers.com/library/US Military Dictionary-cid-9117

 "Stockade or blockhouse; a building constructed for military defense, made of logs, stone, or other sturdy material, with loopholes for firing weapons and observation. It is usually square or angular and is often built with a projecting upper story".

 Nothing to BRAGG About

    By August 1862, Bragg had managed to outflank the Federal forces under Buell in Tennessee, and wished to move against Nashville. Kirby Smith on the other hand had other plans and moved his 19,000 man force into Kentucky just west of the Cumberland Gap and was finding great success, winning the Battle of Richmond Kentucky and menacing Cincinnati.

   Bragg felt he needed Smith’s army in order to take Nashville and since that army was in Kentucky and most of the Federal forces where not, he reasoned the time was right to capture the state for the Confederacy and cut the Federals supply lines into Nashville by taking Louisville, and thus allow them to wither on the vine.

   By September 17^th 1862, Bragg had taken Munfordville, placing his army between Buell’s Union forces only now arriving in Bowling Green and the city of Louisville. Nothing stood between him and a stunning victory, except his own indecision. His opportunity would never come again and with one simple order of "On to Louisville, boys," he could have altered the outcome of the war.

  October 19^th 1862 saw the complete withdrawal of Bragg's Army through the Cumberland Gap back into Tennessee. Although he could claim some degree of tactical success at Munfordville & Perryville, his campaign into Kentucky achieved almost none of it promising objectives.

   Now taking stock of his failed invasion, it was clear to Bragg that one major opportunity was missed and needed to be addressed and addressed quickly.  Union General Rosecrans, now in command of Federal forces in Tennessee, was once more using the intact L & N railroad to move men and war materials into Nashville and appeared to be readying for a possible winter offensive.  

   This build up would not have been possible had sound military judgment been exercised and the 1200’ railroad bridge crossing the Green River at Munfordville been destroyed when Bragg had the chance. The difference in northern and southern track widths meant the Confederates could not use this railway or any other in this area without capturing a number of engines and freight cars. Therefore, the destruction of the bridge would have taken Union mobility away, at least for a time, and placed both armies on a more equal footing, but that time had passed and something had to be done now.

   “The Great Christmas Raid of 1862” 

Gen. John Hunt Morgan

As shown page 133 of the WITNESS TO THE CIVIL WAR,

First-Hand Accounts from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

  After receiving approval from Bragg for the raid on the L & N in Kentucky, Gen. John Hunt Morgan set his sights once more on the familiar ground of Bacon Creek.

   On December 22^nd 1862, Morgan departed Alexandria, Tennessee with two brigades totaling thirty-nine hundred men, as well as seven pieces of light artillery divide in two batteries.

  December 25th. begain with the following action;  "Green's Chapel, near Munfordville, Ky., between a detachment of Union troops, under the command of Colonel Gray, and the advance-guard of the rebel forces under General John Hunt Morgan, which resulted in the latter falling back on the main body, with a loss of nine killed, twenty-two wounded, and five prisoners.

  Colonel Shanks, in command of the Twelfth Kentucky cavalry, attacked the rear-guard of the rebel forces, under General Morgan, at Bear Wallow, Ky., killing one, wounding two, and taking ten or twelve officers and men prisoners, with no loss to his own force. A skirmish took place at Bacon Creek, near Munfordville, Ky., between a company of the Second Michigan, Captain Dickey, and the advance-guard of the rebel forces, under General Morgan, resulting in a retreat of the Unionists, with a loss of twenty-one men and two officers taken prisoners". Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events, Diary from December 17, 1860 - April 30, 1864

  Christmas Night was spent in a freezing rain at the small village of Hammonsville just a few miles from their first objective, Bacon Creek Bridge.

   The next morning, Morgan sent Colonel Hutcheson, several companies of the Second and Third Kentucky, and two pieces of artillery to attack the stockade and burn the railroad bridge that span Bacon Creek.

   The going was tough due to the previous night’s heavy rain thus delaying the attack on the federals garrison at Bacon Creek until 11:00 a.m.

  Col. Duke reported the following;  

 "Although severely shelled, the garrison held out stubbornly . . . A number of shells burst within the stockade. Some shots penetrated the walls and an old barn, which had been foolishly included within the work, was knocked to pieces, the falling timbers stunning some of the men."

  Four hours after the attack began, Morgan, now at Upton, was still hearing cannon fire coming from Bacon Creek and supposed the stockade had be reinforced from Munfordville.

  Morgan recounts; "It being now nearly 3 p. m., I sent forward to Nolin, under charge of Colonel Duke, the remainder of the forces, with the exception of Johnson's regiment and the other section of Palmer's battery. With these troops . . . I moved down to Bacon Creek to assist Colonel Hutcheson. On my arrival there, I immediately sent in a flag of truce, and demanded an unconditional surrender of the place, which, after considerable hesitation on the part of the commanding officer, Captain James, was finally acceded to. The stockade and trestle were immediately fired and destroyed, and I moved on with the command to Nolin. The force at the trestle near Nolin, surrendered to Colonel Duke without opposition." This was the second stockade fired at Bacon Creek, the first being on Sept. 14 that same year.

Effect of Morgan's Raid

http://fax.libs.uga.edu/E468x7xM647/1f/photographic_history_of_civil_war_vol_4.txt 

  Midday, December 31^st 1862, we rested an hour, and then on to Campbellsville where we arrived at dark, having been thirty-six hours in the saddle. That night we slept eight hours, and New Year's Day, 1863, left for Columbia, and thence on Throughout the whole bitter cold night without stopping, passing through Burkesville on the morning of January 2d, where we re-crossed the Cumberland.  This was Morgan's most successful expedition. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a wreck from Bacon Creek to Shepherdsville, a distance of sixty miles. We had captured about nineteen hundred prisoners, destroyed a vast amount of Government property, with a loss of only two men killed, twenty-four wounded, and sixty-four missing. The command returned well armed and better mounted than when it set out. The country had been stripped of horses. Every man in my company led out an extra mount.  During our absence the battle of Murfreesboro had been fought. The Confederates had captured twenty-eight pieces of artillery, and lost four and although Bragg retreated, he had hammered his opponent so hard, that it was nearly six months before he was ready to advance. Morgan's destruction of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was an important factor in this enforced delay.

  For more information please click on WKU's John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail http://www.trailsrus.com/morgan/

Below is the account provided by The Becker Collection; 

Butchering and Dressing Cattle for the Army Camp at Bacon Creek in Hart County, Kentucky

General Notes:

Recto: "The army slaughter of BEEF. Bacon Creek, Hart Co. Ky. // [superimposed on image to the right] Butchering & dressing cattle for the army. // slaughter house big as all outdoors keeps pace with the movement of the army. The contractors driving the droves to the camps when some out of the way place is selected and the process begins by shooting the cattle in the forehead as they stand after which the professors of the slaughtering science display their dexterity in the various branches. The army has fresh beef."

Verso: "4 wide", No text [a number of figure studies, and a man standing next to a large trunk].

Condition: Vertical folds; rough paper along left margin; pin holes at right corners; rips along top margin; glue spots

 Clipaet Florida Center for Instructional Technology

  Each of the illustrations show here, come from different web sites. It is unclear if either is aware that the other has this image.  

  It is interesting to compare the original rough copy with the finished work. The original copy above describes the location and dates the event. The finished work to the right, contain no information as to the location or date.

  Years later Frank Leslie published "Famous Leaders and Battle Scenes of the Civil War" {below right}, is the caption that appeared beneath the illustration. 

Like old photos left behind with no information on the back, what was commonly known in that time is lost to the generation that follows, leaving only questions.  

  With this in mind, Bacon Creek Historical Society continue its search for not only the history of The Civil War at Bacon Creek but the Bonnieville community as a whole.   

So far, we have found 4 drawings of the Civil War at Bacon Creek

The Daily Dispatch:

December 29, 1864., [Electronic resource],

  From  Kentucky.  A telegram from Louisville, dated the 24th, gives the following intelligence about General Lyon's progress in Kentucky: General Lyon's force, estimated at from two thousand to three thousand cavalry, with six guns, struck the Louisville and Nashville railroad at Elizabethtown, and destroyed a few unimportant spans over Bacon creek, a small stream, and then turned north, and are now threatening the important trestlework at Muldraugh's Hill. Lagrange's brigade, of McCook's division, is close upon Lyon's rear. Our military authorities are prepared to give Lyon a warm reception.

  Lyon's actual troop strength was 800 men, not the two or three thousand reported in this article. This was the last major incursion into the state of Kentucky the South would mount and although seven county courthouses were burned along with the bridge over Bacon Creek, this had no effect on the outcome of the war in the west. 

 Right- Hylan Benton Lyon (February 22, 1836 – April 25, 1907) Led a daring cavalry raid into Kentucky in December 1864 in which his troops burned seven county courthouses.  wikipedia.org