Battle of Mill Springs, The [Laws A13]

DESCRIPTION: A wounded soldier speaks fondly of his family and sweetheart. He wonders who will care for them. He recalls how soldiers looked so gallant when he was a little boy. He kisses the (Union) flag and dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: patriotic battle death Civilwar
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 19, 1862 - Battle of Logan Cross Roads (Mill Springs), Kentucky. A small battle (about 4000 troops on each side) which ended in a Confederate retreat but little substantial result except for the death of the Confederate commander Zollicoffer (who had foolishly left his defensive position despite orders from theater commander Albert Sidney Johnston to sit tight). The victorious Union commander was George H. Thomas, later to prove one of the greatest Union generals of the war
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws A13, The Battle of Mill Springs
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 65, "The Battle of Mill Springs" (1 text)
Thomas-BalladMakingInMountainsOfKentucky, pp. 83-86, "Wounded Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune) (OakEd, pp. 92-95)
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia1, pp. 252-253 "The Battle of Mill Springs" (1 text)
DT 775, MILSPRNG
Roud #627
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Young Edward
Young Edwards
NOTES [796 words]: This isn't really about the Battle of Mill Springs ("Somerset" in some southern accounts), or any other battle; that's just a convenient title. Thomas's text, e.g., calls the conflict "Humboldt Springs," which is no battle at all (at least according to Phisterer's comprehensive list of 2261 Civil War battles) and implies that the boy is from England. The song is really just a platform for a lot of familiar themes: The dying soldier bidding his family farewell, etc.
Mill Springs may have been chosen because it was one of the first battles of the war (the only prior battles of significance were First Bull Run and Wilson's Creek; Mill Springs was the first real battle on the Kentucky front). Ironically, it was not particularly close to Mill Springs or to Fishing Creek, a third name for the conflict (Bishoop/Chester, p. 74); the best name for the battle would be Logan's Cross Roads,
At least, if you call it a battle rather than a botch. The Confederate commander, Felix Zollicoffer "was a civilian appointment, without military training of any kind. He had been editor of a Nashville newspaper, had held a number of minor State offices, and served two terms in congress prior to the war" (Cist, pp. 9-10). He had been told to "occupy a position of observation" while General Albert Sydney Johnston got the forces in Kentucky organized (Cist, p. 10). But Zollicoffer pushed his troops to an exposed position across the Cumberland River at Beech Grove (Boatner, p. 487), against the wishes of both Johnston and Zollicoffer's immediate commander, General George B. Crittenden, and declared he couldn't pull back in the presence of enemy forces. The Union sent George H. Thomas's force against him (Cist, pp. 10-11).
Neither army was very large. Bishop/Chester, p, 75, says that the Federals had seven full regiments, two battalions, and two batteries (companies) of artillery and the Confederates had eight regiments, three battalions, and two batteries. At a major battle, each side would have had hundreds of regiments.
"[George H.] Thomas led his 4,000 man army over almost nonexistent roads in winter rain and sleet. On January 19, 1862, a Confederate army of equal size attacked Thomas at Logan's Cross Roads near Mill Springs, Kentucky, but was repulsed and then routed by a Union counterattack" (McPherson, p. 305).
The battle was little more than a skirmish, but Zollicoffer messed up again. During the battle, he convinced himself that the Union Fourth Kentucky was a Confederate regiment, and he went up to give it orders -- and was shot through the heart by the commander of the federal troops (Cist, pp. 17-18). Crittenden, who had arrived to take charge, tried an attack with the rest of his forces, but it failed dramatically (Boatner, pp. 488-489). Crittenden then pulled the remnants of the Confederate army back (Cist, p. 18).
"The battle fought at Logan's Cross Roads, called by the rebels the battle of Fishing Creek, and by the Federals the Battle of Mill Springs, was most disastrous to [the Confederates], and inflicted the most severe blow they had up to that time experienced" (Cist, p. 19).
"Despite his victory, Thomas could advance no further in the harsh mountain winter. By spring, Union advances in western and central Tennessee would divert all efforts to that quarter. Ironically, while northern armies 'liberated' the Confederate portion of Tennessee they left the unionist portion [in the mountains of East Tennessee] to fend for itself -- to Lincoln's chagrin" (McPherson, p. 305).
Cist, p. 20, says that Federal losses were 39 killed, 207 wounded, compared to 122 killed and 247 other casualties for the Confederates (an extremely unlikely rate of losses; presumably the Confederates had more wounded who escaped the field). The Federals also took guns, horses, and other supplies, and although they did not pursue, the Confederate force all but collapsed due to desertion (Boatner, p. 489). The result was a major blow to General Johnston, whose line in Kentucky had lost its right flank unit, and was soon to lose its left at Fort Henry.
Since only 39 men were killed on the Union side at Mill Springs (so Boatner, p. 489; Bishop/Chester, says there were 40; both agree that there were 207 wounded, at least if you ignore the many who suffered serious harm from the cold weather, according to Bishop/Chester, p. 81 there were many men who never fully recovered their health), it might almost be possible to identify the soldier in this song, except that he probably isn't real. Particularly since, according to Bishop/Chester, p. 75, the Confederates suffered casualties to all of their regiments, but the Federals were so overwhelmingly victorious that only four of their regiments plus a cavalry battalion suffered casualties. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 6.7
File: LA13

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.