Hey everyone, thanks for tuning into the 87th episode of our Civil War podcast.

I'm Rich.

And I'm Tracy.

Hello y'all.

Welcome to the podcast.

This week we're going to set the stage for the Battle of Mill Springs, which was fought

between Union and Confederate forces in South Central Kentucky on January 19, 1862.

Mill Springs was fought four months after Kentucky's neutrality officially came to an end.

And although small when compared to the great battles of the Civil War, it was the Union's

first clear-cut victory west of the Appalachians.

And so was widely celebrated across the North.

It's been said that Mill Springs has been called by more names than perhaps any other

Civil War battle.

In his book The Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky, Stuart W. Sanders writes that the fight has

also been referred to as Logan's Crossroads, Fishing Creek, Beach Grove, Cliff Creek,

The Battle of Somerset, The Battle of the Comberland, and even more names.

Although most historians seem to have eventually settled on calling it Mill Springs, it seems

appropriate that there's been some confusion over the battle's name since it was a confused,

mixed up fight.

The two opposing forces were mostly composed of inexperienced and poorly drilled troops.

The fighting took place on difficult ground in dreadful weather and in the fog, smoke,

and rain, unit cohesion fragmented.

...