Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefield Pulaski and Wayne Counties, Kentucky (GA-2255-08-031) Part 2 DRAFT Prepared For Mill Springs Battlefield Association, Inc. Somerset, Kentucky 42502 Prepared By Mudpuppy & Waterdog, Inc. Versailles, Kentucky 40383 October 25, 2010 DRAFT - Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld - DRAFT Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld Pulaski and Wayne Counties, Kentucky (GA-2255-08-031) Part 2 DRAFT Prepared For Gilbert Wilson, Battlefi eld Administrator Mill Springs Battlefi eld Association, Inc. 9020 W. Hwy 80 Nancy, Kentucky 42502 606-679-1859 [email protected] Prepared By Maria Campbell Brent Joseph E. Brent Mudpuppy & Waterdog, Inc. 129 Walnut Street Versailles, Kentucky 40383-1160 [email protected] October 25, 2010 This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, fi ndings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Department of the Interior. DRAFT - Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld - DRAFT Table of Contents Plan Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld Part 2 6_The Mill Springs Battlefi eld ............................................................................................1 7_Thematic Guidelines .......................................................................................................20 8_Interpreting the Mill Springs Battlefi eld ........................................................................25 9_Action Plan ......................................................................................................................120 Bibliography .........................................................................................................................126 DRAFT - Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld - DRAFT THE MILL SPRINGS BATTLEFIELD 1 DRAFT - Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld - DRAFT CHAPTER 6 THE MILL SPRINGS BATTLEFIELD he Battle of Mill Springs took place on January 19, 1862. Several months earlier the Confederate government had established a defensive line in southern Kentucky Tstretching from Cumberland Gap to Columbus. The Confederates hoped to push their area of control to the Ohio River. Union forces were equally determined to push the Confederates out of Kentucky. The Union victory at Mill Springs broke the Confederate line. It was the fi rst of a series of Union victories, ending with the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 that forced the Confederates to abandon not only Kentucky but most of Tennessee. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Battle of Mill Springs is listed in the National Register of Historic Places with national signifi cance and is a National Historic Landmark—the highest honor accorded a historic site in this nation. The National Park Service provides this defi nition: National Historic Landmarks are exceptional places. They form a common bond between all Americans. While there are many historic places across the nation, only a small number have meaning to all Americans—these we call our National Historic Landmarks. National Historic Landmarks are nationally signifi cant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. Today, fewer than 2,500 historic places bear this national distinction. 2 DRAFT - Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld - DRAFT The battlefi eld’s listing as a signifi cant and endangered Civil War battlefi eld predates the 1993 Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Study. Mill Springs was named as one of the 25 at risk battlefi elds prior to the monumental CWSAC study and as a result, the CWSAC assigned Mill Springs a Priority I.3 Class B ranking. This ranking means that the battlefi eld is signifi cant historically and that it has good integrity and it was and is threatened with inappropriate development. The Core and Study areas of the battlefi eld were both increased as a result of the 2009 CWSAC survey update.1 The Union victory at Mill Springs: Helped secure Kentucky for the Union, a vital achievement; President Lincoln said in 1861, “I think to lose Kentucky is to lose the whole game,” and is reputed to have said that he hoped to have God on his side, but he had to have Kentucky. Opened east and central Tennessee to invasion by Union forces; in the three months following Mill Springs, Union forces captured Confederate forts Henry and Donelson and defeated the Confederate army at Shiloh. Was the fi rst major Union victory of the war, following the disastrous defeat at First Manassas (Bull Run) on July 21, 1861; it greatly boosted sagging morale in the North. Showed the Confederate army’s shortage and inferiority of arms and equipment—a handicap that would plague them throughout the war. RESOURCE DESCRIPTION The Mill Springs Battlefi eld is located in Pulaski and Wayne counties in southeastern Kentucky. In 1993, 647.5 acres of the battlefi eld were listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The following year, the same boundary was listed as a National Historic Landmark. In 2008, the boundary of the Battle of Mill Springs Historic Areas district was expanded and 1,529 acres are now listed with national signifi cance. The NHL boundary has not been amended. The Mill Springs Battlefi eld can be divided into three parts, each defi ned by unique cultural and natural features—the battlefi eld, the fortifi ed encampment (Beech Grove), and the Confederate Base of Operations south of the river (Mill Springs) (Map 2). 1 Jan Townsend, “Catalyst for Battlefi eld Preservation: The Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Study,” CRM, Vol. 20, No. 5, 1997, p. 7; Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, Civil War Sites Advisory Commis- sion: Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefi elds, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1993, pp. 3-8; and American Battlefi eld Protection Program, Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefi elds: Commonwealth of Kentucky, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 2010, pp. 32-34. 3 DRAFT - Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld - DRAFT 80 Par erland kway Cumb Somerset eek Porter Cr 5 miles 80 3262 nch ra B L le i d t t d l a W e h W i te Pulaski Nancy County Park 196 d R t 1248 r C O o d W li a a p f t k h o s y t i R t C r e rt e o r p e b s e o t k r e 80 S R ob O p R d a u l k A t t O e r B C ra r n e c C e h re k ek 761 d 235 a o R 1664 W s ild Br in c ’s a a t R B mmy G i Ti dge Rd y l l h a c n T Bu a ads rto r o n B R R n o li a d op C e g d i R r i c h A an T r B ar ter n o C t em r k u e e B e ter d r a y o C k Rd R c i e L P g i e d n i e r e B y B k e e l P e i u W r las C P k o k i C k a o r o O W o 235 a un d te F s i y ty n h e C R W o u o n a ty l e d r u a d L a o R s g n i r 761 p S ill M D u g d g n e l a r d C e r B b r R u m d C l k e e L a i f e l t t a B - s g 90 n i r p 1765 S l o l er R a i Fra z d 3282 M 1619 Battle of Mill Springs Historic Areas 1275 Su g ar Hollow Mill Springs R Gap of the Ridge Road the of Gap A Battlefield d B Timmy’s Branch D C Beech Grove Fortified Encampment D Confederate Base of Operations South of the River 1619 1275 0 12MILES Map 2: Battle of Mill Springs Historic Areas National Register Boundary. 4 DRAFT - Interpretive Plan for the Mill Springs Battlefi eld - DRAFT The Battlefi eld The battlefi eld is bounded on the north by SR 80, on the south by Timmy’s Branch, on the east by Cliffy Creek, and on the west by a series of ridges formed by Hudson Branch and White Oak Creek. The battlefi eld is bisected by CR 235, the Mill Springs Road. CR 761 divides the battlefi eld to the west. Zollicoffer Park is located very close to the center of the National Register boundary. Approximately seven-tenth’s of a mile separates the Figure 14: An artillery piece on the Battlefi eld Loop southern boundary of this area of the Trail, which is within the NHL boundary. battlefi eld from the smaller Timmy’s Branch portion of the battlefi eld. The battlefi eld is the area where most of the combat associated with the Battle of Mill Springs occurred (Figure 14). The Fortifi ed Encampment (Beech Grove) The fortifi ed encampment is approximately nine miles south of Zollicoffer Park. The encampment area is located on a peninsula formed by Lake Cumberland and White Oak Creek. The main Confederate encampment area, which is within the NHL boundary, is bisected by the Mill Springs Road (CR 235). Some much- eroded Confederate earthworks remain in the NHL portion of the boundary (Figure 15). The shoreline of Lake Cumberland has numerous lake-front homes and most of that area was excluded from the National Register boundary. The northernmost portion of the fortifi ed Figure 15: The eroded Confederate earthworks are encampment includes Moulden’s Hill.