Battle of Barbourville

Part of the American Civil War

Date	September 19, 1861 (1861-09-19)
Location	Barbourville, Knox County, Kentucky
Result	Confederate victory

Belligerents

United States of America (Union)

Home Guard

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

Isaac J. Black

Felix Zollicoffer,
Joel A. Battle, commanding engaged detachment

Strength

300 Home Guardsmen

800 men engaged

Casualties and losses

1 dead
1 wounded
13 captured

7 dead

United States of America (Union)

The Battle of Barbourville was one of the early engagements of the American Civil War. It took place on September 19, 1861, in Knox County, Kentucky during the campaign known as the Kentucky Confederate Offensive. The battle is considered the first Confederate victory in the commonwealth, and threw a scare into Federal commanders, who rushed troops to central Kentucky to try to repel the invasion, which was finally stopped at the Battle of Camp Wildcat in October.

On April 15, 1861, the day after the U.S. Army surrendered Fort Sumter to the Confederates, President Abraham Lincoln called upon the States remaining in the Union to provide volunteers to suppress the insurrection in the seven States which had seceded from the Union by that date. Pro-Confederate Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin refused to send troops, but since the majority of the members of the Kentucky General Assembly were pro-Union, Lincoln's call for volunteers did not prompt the State to secede. On May 16, a Kentucky legislative committee recommend that the State remain neutral in the conflict and Governor Magoffin proclaimed the State's neutrality on May 20.

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Wikipedia