In the saddle early that morning, our battalion arrived at
Jacksborough late in the afternoon (about twenty-two miles). Zollicoffer had
left orders here for McNairy to follow the brigade by a forced march in the
direction of Clinton. After allowing his men to halt long enough to feed their
horses and take supper, McNairy pressed on thirteen miles further and
bivouacked for the rest of the night.1 Here he was met by a
messenger, with orders for him to halt.
Nelson and Bob Smith were sick of the measles at
Jacksborough and discharged at Clinton.
The rest of the brigade had also halted, and I shall now
endeavor to explain why.
The First Kentucky Infantry, under Colonel Bramlette, and
the Fourth, under Colonel Haskins, and Wolford's Cavalry were at that time
encamped at or near “Camp Goggin," on the north bank of the Cumberland,
some nine miles above Mill Springs and twenty from Monticello, Kentucky.2
On the 3d, Colonel Wolford set out from the above named camp with four hundred
of his regiment and one piece of artillery on a reconnoitering expedition in
the direction of Monticello, and, if necessary, he was to send a messenger back
and Colonels Bramlette and Haskins were to follow with all their available
force—1,200. Colonel Wolford went as far as Monticello, and, finding no “Rebs”
there, he returned to Camp Goggin.
It appears that Madam Rumor had swelled Wolford's four
hundred to 6,000 before she delivered her “entirely reliable” report to
Lieutenant-Colonel McClellan, for on the next day, the 4th, he wrote the
dispatch which has been previously given, under the 7th instant. On the 5th, he
moved his battalion down to Camp McGinnis, and sent some of his men out toward
Monticello to meet the enemy. They went as far as Monticello, and sent a
messenger back, who reported that a few cavalry had been there, but had gone
back to Camp Goggin. So, just as Zollicoffer entered the road from Knoxville to
Wartburg, within twenty-two miles of the latter place, a messenger met him with
a dispatch from Colonel McClellan, stating that the information which he had
given on the 4th was founded in error. Therefore, our General decided to fall
back to Jacksborough, and completely blockade the two wagon roads through the
mountains in that vicinity.3
_______________
1 I had been on the sick list ever since our
battalion left Flat Lick, but had still followed the command until the above
night. Not being able to go any further, I put up with one Mr. Bowling, who
lived on the Clinton road, six miles south of Jacksborough, the county seat of
Campbell County, where I remained for about ten days, and was quite sick with a
fever during the time. J. W. Kennedy first stopped with me, but as I continued
to grow worse for some days, my brother, B. A. Hancock, resigned as assistant
commissary of our battalion and came to see that I was properly cared for. Ben
and I rejoined the battalion at Clinton, on the 18th. B. J. Mullinax, P.
2 Rebellion
Records, Vol. IV., p. 328.
3 Rebellion
Records, Vol. IV., p. 530.
SOURCE: Richard R. Hancock, Hancock's
Diary: Or, A History of the Second Tennessee Confederate Cavalry, p. 72-4