Perryville
Kentucky’s greatest Civil War battle was fought outside Perryville on October 8, 1862. This was the South’s last serious attempt to gain possession of the state. Visitors to the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site will find a museum that interprets the battle, and an annual re-enactment is held there.
The Town of Perryville has been a National Register district since 1976. This village is one of the most intact 19th-century communities in the state. The old Merchants Row along old US 68 features structures that look much as they did during the Battle of Perryville in 1862.
For more information, call the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site at (859) 332-8631, or the Town of Perryville at (859) 332-1862.

Columbus-Belmont State Park
Visitors to the Columbus-Belmont State Park, even as children, long remember the massive chain and anchor used during the Civil War to block the passage of Union gunboats. There is also a Confederate cannon, a network of earthen trenches, and a museum that was a Civil War hospital.
The 1861 Battle of Belmont, fought to overtake the Confederate stronghold, marked the opening of the Union’s Western Campaign. It was General Grant’s first active engagement in the war. The site is where 19,000 Rebel soldiers, under control of General Leonidas Polk, “the fighting bishop from Tennessee,” labored to turn Columbus into an impregnable fortress to defend the Confederacy.
For more information, call (270) 677-2327.

Middlesboro
Cumberland Gap is the historic mountain pass on the Wilderness Road that opened the pathway for western migration. During the Civil War, it was held by the South and then captured by Union troops. Each side held the gap twice. Despite changing hands four times, no confrontation took place. Its history has been called “waiting for the battle that never came.”
Grant visited there in January 1864 and called it “the Gibraltar of America.” Visitors to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park will find a museum, trails, and camping facilities.
For more information, call (606) 248-2817.

Frankfort
Green Hill Cemetery features the only memorial in the state to African-American soldiers, one of only three in the country. There are 142 names engraved on the monument, black men who fought for the Union.
At the Frankfort Cemetery a brochure gives the grave locations of many Civil War notables, the Confederate monument, and surrounding unknown graves. The cemetery is located on a bluff high above the Kentucky River and offers beautiful views of the State Capitol and Frankfort.
Also atop a cliff overlooking Frankfort, Leslie W. Morris Park at Fort Hill in-cludes Fort Boone, an 1863 earthen fort that was attacked by a detachment of Morgan’s cavalry. Adjacent is the New Redoubt, a second and larger fortification built to protect Kentucky’s pro-Union government.
Another must for Frankfort visitors is the Old State Capitol. This 1829 Greek Revival masterpiece was the only Union Capitol captured by Southern troops.
Within the rotunda of the Kentucky State Capitol, you can see beautiful statues of prominent Kentuckians, including a bronze Abraham Lincoln and a marble Jefferson Davis.
The Kentucky Military History Museum is located in the 1850 State Arsenal. It contains a large collection of Confederate memorabilia, and an extensive research collection is housed there.
For more information, call Green Hill Cemetery, (502) 564-3265; Kentucky Military History Museum, (502) 564-3265; Old State Capitol (502) 564-3016; Kentucky State Capitol, (502) 564-3449; Frankfort Cemetery, (502) 227-2403; and Leslie W. Morris Park at Fort Hill, (502) 564-3265.

Harrodsburg
Old Fort Harrod State Park has a connection to President Lincoln. Located on the grounds is the Lincoln Marriage Temple, a brick pavilion enshrining the cabin in which Lincoln’s parents were wed on June 12, 1806.
The Mansion Museum features Confederate and Union exhibits. The rooms contain paintings, photography, newspapers, diaries, and firearms.
While in Harrodsburg, visitors will want to see Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, a restored living-history museum interpreting the Shaker lifestyle. Although the Shakers were strong Unionists and against slavery, both Union and Confederate soldiers stopped to partake of the Shakers’ hospitality. The only non-Shaker buried there is a Confederate soldier who died shortly after the Battle of Perryville.
For more information, call Old Fort Harrod State Park, (859) 734-3314, and Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, (859) 734-5411.

Bardstown
Spalding Hall, (502) 348-2999, now a museum, was used as a hospital during the war. Today it includes a room featuring Civil War artifacts and memorabilia.
Another interesting building in Bardstown is the Old Bardstown Village Civil War Museum, (502) 349-0291. It focuses on the “War in the West,” which witnessed the military beginnings of such Union generals as Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan.
Women of the Civil War Museum, (502) 349-0291, tells the story of the over 400 women who disguised themselves as soldiers during the Civil War. The collection portrays women as soldiers, nurses, spies, and plantation and factory workers.

Staffordsville
Mountain Homeplace re-creates life in Johnson County from 1850 to 1875 through a living-history park. The historic buildings reassembled here include cabins, a one-room schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, barns, churches, and other buildings. An award-winning video shown at the center features actor Richard Thomas and details the role of Kentucky’s mountains during the Civil War.
For more information, call (606) 297-1850.

Oldest Civil War Monument in the Nation Rediscovered in Kentucky
by Michael A. Peake

December 1861 saw Union forces under Don Carlos Buell move into the Green River town of Munfordville to face the army of the Confederate Western Department under Albert Sydney Johnston. Within days of the move, elements of the armies clashed in battle just south of Green River near the whistle stop of Rowlett’s Station.
The sole Union regiment engaged was the 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry under the command of Colonel August Willich, detailed to guard work parties repairing the damaged L&N Railroad bridge over Green River. Thirteen men of the 32nd died due to the December 17 battle.
The Union dead were buried on a small hill in sight of the rail bridge just to the north of the river and a little east of the rail line. While still stationed at Munfordville, Company F Private August Bloedner, a survivor of the action at Rowlett’s Station, acquired a porous block of local outcrop limestone and sculptured a beautiful monument that was placed on the site in January 1862.
In June 1867, 14 sets of remains, along with the monument, were moved to Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville in compliance with directives to recover all Union dead for reburial in national cemeteries.
The limestone has suffered considerable damage over the decades; today the German epitaph has nearly flaked completely away from the face of the weathered tablet.
Plans are to raise funds to preserve the remaining inscription and to place a bronze plaque at the site with the translation and the names of the dead. A rededication of the monument will take place in December 2001, the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Rowlett’s Station.
For more information or to make contributions, contact Mr. Trowbridge at the Kentucky Military History Museum, 100 West Broadway, Frankfort, KY 40601-1931,(502) 564-3265, or e-mail john.trowbridge@mail.state.ky.us.

Civil War Events and Activities

For more information, contact Thomas Fugate, Coordinator of Kentucky Civil War Sites Preservation Programs at the Kentucky Heritage Council, 300 Washington Street, Frankfort, KY 40601, (502) 564-7005, or e-mail at tfugate@mail.state.ky.us.

More Kentucky Civil War Sites
Bowling Green: The capital of Confederate Kentucky, the Civil War Driving Tour of Bowling Green and Warren County, (270) 782-0800, is recommended, along with a visit to Riverview at Hobson Grove, (270) 843-5565.
Brandenburg: The scenic Ohio River country of General John Hunt Morgan’s Brandenburg Raid, (270) 422-3626, a four-day raid that included a skirmish on the river and burning of the steamer Alice Dean.
Campbellsville: Site of Tebbs Bend Battlefield, (800) 738-4719, a bend on the Green River, was an early omen to befall General Morgan.
Covington: Behringer-Crawford Museum, (859) 491-4003, is located in the 1848-1880 Devou family home in 700-acre Devou Park.
Cynthiana: Battles of Cynthiana Driving Tour, (859) 234-5236, offers a self-guided driving tour of two battles General Morgan fought here.
Fairview: Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site, (270) 886-1765, a 351-foot stone obelisk, marks where Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, was born.
Franklin: Here the Simpson County Archives & Museum, (270) 586-4228, is housed in a brick house built in 1835 with charcoal drawings depicting both Union and Confederate soldiers.
Glasgow: Fort Williams, at Glasgow Municipal Cemetery, (502) 651-3161, is a fortification constructed following Morgan’s Christmas Raid.
Hazel Patch: It was the earliest major battle in 1861, Battle of Wildcat Mountain, (800) 348-0095, and has monuments and interpretive signs located at U.S. 25 and at the nearby battlefield site.
Hodgenville: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site, (270) 358-3137, is a 116-acre park with an enshrined cabin traditionally thought to be Lincoln’s birthplace. Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek, (270) 549-3741, is a replicated log cabin from another 1800 cabin, and the place where the Lincoln family lived before moving to Indiana. Lincoln Museum, (270) 358-3163, features a dozen scenes from Lincoln’s life using realistic wax models.
Lebanon: Historic Homes and Landmarks Tour of Lebanon, (270) 692-9594, is a self-guided tour of where the war came to a severe blow.
Lexington: Ashland—The Henry Clay Estate, (859) 266-8581, was the home of Henry Clay, “The Great Compromiser,” who helped hold the Union together, and where a skirmish took place nearby; the home was used as a hospital afterward. Hunt-Morgan House, (859) 253-0562, built in 1814 for John Wesley Hunt, was later the home of General John Hunt Morgan, and includes period furnishings and a Civil War museum. Mary Todd Lincoln Home, (859) 233-9999, the wife of 16th President Abraham Lincoln, lived here for seven years, and has collections from both the Todd and Lincoln families. Lexington Cemetery, (859) 255-5522, offers a self-guided tour of monuments of at least seven Civil War generals. Waveland State Historic Site, (859) 272-3611, is an 1847 brick residence of classic Greek Revival design offering interpretation of everyday antebellum life.
Louisville: Cave Hill Cemetery and Arboretum, (502) 451-5630, is a national cemetery with monuments and graves of three Union generals. Farmington, (502) 452-9920, is an 1810 house built by plans designed by Thomas Jefferson.
Maysville: Mason County Museum, (606) 564-5865, located in a picturesque town on the Ohio River, was naturally divided between the North and South. A permanent exhibit, book collection, and video offer a significant glimpse of regional Civil War history. National Underground Railroad Museum, (606) 564-6986, includes memorabilia related to the secret operation that helped thousands of slaves escape from bondage in the South.
Munfordville: The county seat was near the site of two Civil War battles, the Battles of Munfordville and Rowlett’s Station. Hart County Museum, (270) 524-0101, includes Civil War memorabilia on the battles and local generals.
Nancy: Mill Springs Battlefield National Historic Landmark, (606) 679-1859, was the first major Union victory of the war. Zollicoffer Park, (606) 679-1859, is the scene of the battle’s fiercest fighting. It honors Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer, who was mortally wounded in the engagement.
Nicholasville: Camp Nelson, (859) 881-9126, eight miles south of town, was a major Union supply depot and was the third-largest recruiting base for African-American soldiers in the country.
Paducah: Downtown Paducah Civil War Walking Tour, (800) PADUCAH (723-8224), showcases eight sites. When Kentucky’s neutrality was shattered in 1861 as Confederate forces took the river town of Columbus, the Union responded by taking Paducah.
Pewee Valley: Pewee Valley Confederate Cemetery and Monument, (502) 222-1476, is the final resting place for 313 Confederate veterans.
Prestonsburg: Samuel May House, (606) 889-9608, built in 1817, is a Federal-style house and the boyhood home of Col. Andrew Jackson May, the leading Confederate organizer in eastern Kentucky. Battle of Ivy Mountain, (606) 886-1341, the first major clash in eastern Kentucky in 1861, was where Confederate Captain Andrew Jackson May’s recruits took up positions and ambushed Union soldiers.
Richmond: Battle of Richmond, (800) 866-3705, was part of the important 1812 Perryville Campaign. It was the site of one of the Confederacy’s greatest victories. A self-guided tour and audio cassette tape detail the battle. White Hall State Historic Site, (859) 623-9178, an Italianate mansion with period furnishings, and the home of Cassius Marcellus Clay, “the Lion of White Hall,” an outspoken emancipationist and friend of Abraham Lincoln.
Sacramento: Battle of Sacramento Driving Tour, (270) 736-5114, the site of Lt. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s first battle. A driving tour highlights 10 stops re-creating the battle.
South Union: Shaker Museum of South Union, (270) 542-4167, is where scores of encampments occurred within this pacifist village, and where it is estimated that over 100,000 meals were served to soldiers on both sides.
Washington: Old Washington, (606) 759-7411, once the 1785 outpost for traveling the Buffalo Trace, Old Main Street provides several Civil War sites. It was later the site of the slave auction that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
West Point: Fort Duffield, (502) 922-4260, an 1861 Union fortification, is one of the best preserved and largest earthworks forts in the state. Included is a self-guided tour and a cemetery with graves of 60 Union soldiers.

For More Trail Information...

Kentucky Department of Tourism, 1-800-225-TRIP (8747), provides free copies of Kentucky’s Civil War Heritage Trail, a 36-page brochure on Kentucky’s 52 Civil War Discovery Trail sites.

The Civil War Trust, 1-800-CW-TRUST (298-7878) or www.CivilWar.org, offers The Civil War Trust’s Official Guide to the Civil War Discovery Trail for $13.95 plus $4 shipping, a Frommer’s Guide detailing the over 500 sites in 28 states. Or request The Civil War Discovery Trail brochure, which provides a map, locations, and phone numbers for information to the nation’s sites. A $2 fee covers shipping.

The American Civil War Institute of Campbellsville University sponsors a wide selection of symposia, battlefield trips, educational programming, college student internships, The National Civil War Band Festival, and The Kentucky Heartland Civil War Trails Commission. The Institute’s focus is on Kentucky and the Western Theatre of the Civil War. For more information, contact Marc C. Whitt, acting director, The American Civil War Institute, Campbellsville University, 1 University Drive, Campbellsville, KY 42718-2799; (270) 789-5213; or e-mail at whittm@campbellsvil.edu.