Diary of Private Richard R. Hancock: Monday, September 23, 1861

We crossed Cumberland Mountain at the Gap. Here we passed out of Tennessee, across the corner of Virginia, and into Kentucky in going, perhaps, a little over one hundred yards. Virginia corners at Cumberland Gap, a little west of the road.

Some grand mountain scenery met our view at the Gap. We saw bluffs and peaks from one thousand to seventeen hundred feet high.

Passing on fifteen miles beyond the Gap, crossing the three “Log Mountains,” we encamped at Camp Buckner (Cumberland Ford), in Knox County, Kentucky.

SOURCE: Richard R. Hancock, Hancock's Diary: Or, A History of the Second Tennessee Confederate Cavalry, p. 44

Diary of Private Richard R. Hancock: Wednesday, September 25, 1861

Harris's (B) and Ewing's (C) companies arrived from Knoxville and rejoined the rest of McNairy's Battalion at Camp Buckner.

Besides our battalion, General Zollicoffer now had with him at Camp Buckner four regiments of infantry (Statham, Rains, Cummings, and Battle), five cavalry companies (three of Branner's Battalion and two of Brazelton's), and one artillery company of six-pounders, commanded by Captain Rutledge. Colonel Newman's Regiment was at Cumberland Gap. The Sixteenth Alabama (Wood) and the Fourth Tennessee (Churchwell) Regiments of infantry, and McClellan's Battalion of cavalry and half of Branner's were left at Knoxville: There were stationed at various points in East Tennessee some other troops, mostly unarmed.

About six days previous to this, General Zollicoffer had, according to instructions received from General A. S. Johnston, ordered the Fourteenth Mississippi (Colonel Baldwin) and the Third East Tennessee (Colonel Lillard) Regiments of infantry to move to Camp Trousdale, to reinforce General S. B. Buckner, who was then in command of the Central Division of Kentucky, with headquarters at Bowling Green.*

General Zollicoffer had learned that there was a large quantity of salt at the salt works on Goose Creek, in Clay County, thirty-five miles north of Camp Buckner and eighteen miles east of a camp of Home Guards variously estimated at from six hundred to fifteen hundred—at Laurel Bridge, in Laurel County, some thirty-eight miles north-west of Camp Buckner and two miles south-east of London. As our General had decided to send a detachment to capture the salt above named, and also another detachment in the direction of this Federal encampment at Laurel Bridge to attract attention and mask the movement of the first, he therefore issued the following special orders:

• Brigadier-General Felix K. Zollicoffer, September 25, 1861

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* The above order fell into the hands of the Federals (how I know not) and on the 3d October it was sent by T. T. Garrard, who was Colonel of the Third Kentucky Regiment and in command at Camp Wildcat, or Rockcastle Hills, to General G. H. Thomas, who was in command at Camp Dick Robinson, some thirty-five miles beyond Wildcat. At the same time Garrard wrote to Thomas thus (italics mine):

“I have no information in regard to the rebels more than I wrote you, except the inclosed order of General Zollicoffer, which I have no doubt is genuine. I could not doubt it, because they carried out the instructions to the litter." - Rebellion Records, Vol. IV., p. 291.

SOURCE: Richard R. Hancock, Hancock's Diary: Or, A History of the Second Tennessee Confederate Cavalry, p. 45-7

Official Reports: Action at Barboursville, Ky. September 19, 1861—Report of Brig. Gen. G. K. Zollicoffer, C. S. Army

BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS,        

Camp Buckner, near Cumberland Ford, Ky., Sept. 19, 1861.

SIR: On my way here to-day an express overtook me with your order to send two regiments from my command to Camp Trousdale. I immediately caused orders to be given to Fourteenth Mississippi Regiment, Colonel Baldwin, and Third East Tennessee Regiment, Colonel Lillard, to move to Camp Trousdale, those two regiments being on the line of the railroad and most readily to be brought to the position designated.

I have now four regiments here and one at Cumberland Gap. I have here one 6-pounder field battery of six guns and four companies of cavalry—eight other cavalry companies on the way. There are now but two infantry regiments left in East Tennessee; one, the Alabama regiment, with more than 400 sick. There are five cavalry companies left for that service.

An advanced force sent out last night, about 800 strong, entered Barboursville, 18 miles from here, about daylight, where they found about 300 of the enemy, and a fight ensued, in which we killed 12 and took 2 prisoners. We lost I killed, Lieutenant Powell, of Colonel Cummings' regiment, 1 fatally wounded, and 3 slightly wounded. The enemy fled precipitately. The number of his wounded unknown.

Col. J. A. Battle commanded the detachment, making a march of 34 miles and dispersing this detachment of the enemy within a period of twenty hours. He destroyed their encampment, called Camp Andrew Johnson, and captured about 25 arms. Two prisoners had been taken a day or two before, one of whom was bearing a letter from an East Tennessee captain in the Lincoln camp at Hoskins' Cross-Roads to his wife, in which the writer states that the strength of that camp is 15,000 and still rapidly increasing. We now have a report from the country people that they are 20,000 strong.

My only engineer officer understanding military engineering has resigned and gone home.

Very respectfully,

F. K. ZOLLICOFFER,        

Brigadier-General.

General A. S. JOHNSTON, Memphis, Tenn.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 4 (Serial No. 4), p. 199