Battle of the Cumberland Gap (June 1862)
| Battle of the Cumberland Gap | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
 Cumberland Gap Defenses |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States (Union) |
 CSA (Confederacy)
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| George W. Morgan | Carter L. Stevenson | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4 brigades | 3 brigades | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 0 | unknown | ||||||
The June 1862 capture of the Cumberland Gap was a Union victory during the American Civil War leading to Union occupation of the Cumberland Gap for three months.
The Confederates held a long line of fortifications across Kentucky, Tennessee and into Missouri under Albert Sidney Johnston. The center of Johnston's defenses was Bowling Green, KY with the left flank anchored at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River and the right held by Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer at the Cumberland Gap.
In early 1862 the Union Army had met with great success in the Western Theater. A string of victories at Mill Springs, Fort Donelson and Island No. 10 had broken the Confederate defenses at several key points.
In March 1862 Brig. Gen. George W. Morgan sent a brigade under Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Carter against the eastern end of the Confederate defenses at the Cumberland Gap. These defenses were now held by Col. James Edward Rains after Zollicoffer's defeat and death at Mill Springs. The Confederate works were considered too formidable to be taken by direct assault and Carter's force lacked sufficient artillery to match the well placed Confederate batteries.
By April, General Morgan was moving against the gap with the remaining three brigades of his division. Morgan's force now included the brigades of Carter, James G. Spears, John F. DeCourcy and Absalom Baird along with a brigade of artillery and cavalry. Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson brought up the remaining brigades of Seth Maxwell Barton and T.H. Taylor to Col. Rain's defense. Morgan proposed to Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell that Chattanooga be threatened in order to force the Confederates to pull their strength away from the Cumberland Gap. At the same time General Edmund Kirby Smith, Confederate commander in eastern Kentucky, proposed a threat against Nashville to draw Union forces away from the gap. Only Morgan got his wish. A Union division under Brig. Gen. James S. Negley attacked Chattanooga on June 7, 1862. This demonstration against Chattanooga was small but it proved the Union forces could strike where they wanted. It was enough for Kirby Smith to reconsider Stevenson's position at the Cumberland Gap.
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