Inscription:...died with Gen. Zollicoffer for right as they saw it.
Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was born in Tennessee in 1812 and rose to prominence as editor of the Nashville Republican Banner, state senator, and U. S. Congressman. As brigadier general of the Confederate Army in east Tennessee, his troops crossed into Kentucky on several occasions, including the unsuccessful Battle of Camp Wildcat in October 1861. The next month he established his winter quarters along the Cumberland River around Somerset.
Zollicoffer's superior, Maj. General George Crittenden, arrived in January 1862 to take control of the troops. Knowing that Union Brig. General George Thomas was preparing to attack, the Confederates launched the offensive at Mill Springs. General Zollicoffer was killed during the battle when he rode his horse, through fog, right into enemy lines, mistaking the soldiers for his own. His death was the turning point in the battle, and as more Union reinforcements arrived, the Confederates were forced to retreat to Tennessee. The Battle of Mill Springs cost the lives of 150 Confederate and 55 Union soldiers and became a key Union victory.
The monument was erected by Bennett Young, a Kentuckian who served in John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry then, in 1864, led the Confederacy's northernmost action, a raid across the Canadian border from St. Albans, Vermont. Young devoted much of his post-War energy to honoring Confederate service, helping to establish the Confederate Home, a health care facility for veterans in Pewee Valley, and the Jefferson Davis Monument in Fairview. He was a leader in the United Confederate Veterans Association. Young was motivated to create this monument by a young woman from Nancy, Kentucky, Dorotha Burton, who decorated a white oak tree, called the "Zollie Tree," in memory of General Zollicoffer each Memorial Day.
The rough-hewn limestone obelisk is inscribed with phrases that honor Zollicoffer and his men as heroes and give tribute to their noble cause. Nearby, another monument marks the mass grave of the Confederates buried there.
52. Confederate Mass Grave Monument
Zollicoffer Park Cemetery, Nancy (Pulaski County)
Limestone marker
Inscription:Beneath this mound rest in sleep that knows no waking more than one hundred Confederate soldiers from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama who were killed at the Battle of Fishing Creek, Jan. 19, 1862. We know not who they were but the whole world knows what they were. These died far from their homes, but they fill heroes' graves, and glory keeps ceaseless watch about their tomb.
Erected by Bennett Young, along with the nearby Zollicoffer Monument, this tombstone marks the mass grave of more than one hundred Confederates who lost their lives at Battle of Mill Springs, also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek.
Questions/Activities:
Investigate the fact that many Civil War battles are known by two different names. Usually, the Federal name adopted refers to a nearby body of water, while the Confederate name for the battle usually refers to a land location. Create a list of Kentucky Civil War battles and their names. Locate or determine the physical features to which the battle names refer.
