Mill Springs Battlefield
— National Historic Landmark —
The Brown-Lanier House in the Civil War
In late 1861 and early 1862, Union and Confederate armies occupied this area as they vied for control of Kentucky. This house, then owned by Thompson Brown, served at various times as a headquarters for both armies. After the Union victory at the January 19, 1862, Battle of Mill Springs it was a makeshift hospital where surgeons treated soldiers from both sides.
Confederate and Union Headquarters
Confederate General William H. Carroll made his headquarters here in early 1862. Tradition holds that Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer moved into the house just before the Battle of Mill Springs, where he lost his life.
The Confederate army was in full retreat when General George Bibb Crittenden, the Confederate commander, crossed the Cumberland and wearily trudged up the ferry road. Here he made final preparations for the long retreat into Tennessee.
The Confederates had hardly gone when Union General Mahlon Manson occupied the house. While here, Manson and his staff feasted on ham and other delicacies abandoned when the Brown family fled their home.
The Cannonball
At some time during the Civil War artillery shells hit the Brown home. One shell passed through the house. A second smashed an inkwell before penetrating a hall door. R.L. Lanier
later displayed the door in the window of his Monticello business. It remained there until destroyed by a fire in 1932.
The Brown & Lanier Families
Thompson C. Brown built this house about 1860. A merchant, farmer and part owner of the mill, Brown was a rich man but his financial situation deteriorated during the Civil War.
In 1869, Brown sold the house to Lloyd Addison Lanier, who was married to Brown's sister, Amanda. Among his other pursuits, Lanier owned a successful river ferry.
The house remained in the Lanier family into the twentieth century. Today, it belongs to the Mill Springs Battlefield Association.
Photo captions: Bottom left: Gen. Mahlon Manson, U.S.
Middle top: Clerks handled the mountains of paperwork needed to keep the army supplied and functioning. The clerks at the Brown-Lanier House enjoyed working conditions far superior to those at Brandy Station, Virginia, above.
Bottom right: The ferry Lloyd Addison Lanier owned would have looked much like the one in this Currier and Ives drawing.
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