Mill Springs Battlefield

— National Historic Landmark —

The Confederate army arrived in Mill Springs in November 1861. For some time, Confederate General Felix K. Zollicoffer's pleas for more men and supplies were ignored. Finally, his superior sent the steamboat Noble Ellis up from Nashville with provisions and clothing. The small sternwheeler docked at Mill Springs on the south side of the Cumberland River.

A Night of Fear and Chaos
After the hard-fought Battle of Mill Springs on January 19, 1862, the defeated Confederates fled back to the Beech Grove encampment across the river from Mill Springs. The Confederates knew that escape depended on getting across the swollen Cumberland River. As darkness fell, Union forces stopped their pursuit. General George H. Thomas planned to make a final assault on the Confederates in the morning. Union artillery shelled the river crossing as the Noble Ellis and a few rowboats worked through the night ferrying the Confederate army to Mill Springs.

Thousands Crowded the Riverbank
W.J. Warsham, 29th Tennessee Infantry, described the chaos: "We were on the river bank in a compact mass of excited and confused humanity. Thousands were crowded there waiting. each his turn, to get on the Noble Ellis as she crossed and recrossed the river. The enemy just a little over a mile behind who, from their battery



above us on a hill, kept constantly shelling the boat as she crossed back and forth with her excited fugitive load."

Inset sketch:
As daylight came the last Confederate soldiers disembarked in Mill Springs. Its critical mission accomplished, the Confederates burned the Noble Ellis to prevent its capture by the Union.

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Noble Ellis - Sternwheeler that Saved an Army
The Cumberland River
The Battle of Mill Springs
Home, Headquarters, Hospital
Zollie's Den
Mill Springs and the Civil War
Zollie's Den
Beech Grove / Noble Ellis
Mill Springs
Winter Quarters

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