After the battle Union troops hastily buried the dead. The Confederate dead were interred in shallow mass graves near where they fell on battle. Some of these graves were so shallow that the bodies in them began surfacing within 48 hours of burial.
This left the gruesome task of reburial to the local citizens. After collecting the bodies, many of which were frozen to the ground and had to be pried loose with shovels, the local citizens brought the bodies to this area (now known as Zollicoffer Confederate Cemetery) and buried them in a mass grave. The large mound to your left and rear is the traditional final resting place for numerous Southern soldiers killed in the Battle of Mill Springs.
The Confederate dead remained unknown and all but forgotten until 1910 when the United Confederate Veterans Association placed the memorial stone marker on the mass grave. The soldiers' names remained unknown until through the use of unit rosters and battle reports, the names of over 140 Confederate soldiers who fell in the Battle of Mill Springs were found.
On May 26, 1997 headstones (directly in front of you) in memory of these fallen Southern soldiers were dedicated. These headstones do not mark individual graves, but serve as a memorial to all those Southern soldiers who were killed or mortally wounded far from their homes and loved ones in the Battle of Mill Springs. Although the Confederate dead do not lie in neat rows like the markers, their remains are here on the field (except those of General Zollicoffer and Lieutenant Bailie Peyton, 20th Tennessee Infantry, which were removed following the battle and buried in Nashville). The headstones are arranged by Regiment in the order they marched into battle on January 19, 1862.
Confederate Casualties
Battle of Mill Springs
Compiled by Geoffrey Walden
General George B. Crittenden Commanding**
CS Command & Staff
Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer
Captain Henry M. R. Fogg
2nd Lieutenant Evan B. Shields** Not killed in battle
(Names from the following regiments are included on the marker but are omitted here. The number killed for each regiment is shown in parentheses.)
15th Mississippi Infantry (48)
19th Tennessee Infantry (10)
20th Tennessee Infantry (42)
25th Tennessee Infantry (13)
17th Tennessee Infantry (14)
28th Tennessee Infantry (3)
29th Tennessee Infantry (8)
16th Alabama Infantry (8)
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