Battle of Richmond

On August 29 and 30, 1862, Gen. Mahlon Manson led about 6,500 Union soldiers, most of them raw recruits with little or no military training, against an equal number of seasoned Confederates during the Battle of Richmond. In Manson's brigade, only the 18th Kentucky had notable prior combat experience, while units such as the 55th Indiana had only recently mustered in, and most of the other regiments had entered service less than a week before leaving for Kentucky on August 20. After arriving in Richmond, officers tried to drill the men, but the effort came too late. On August 29, Manson's Indiana regiments fought well in their first action as a brigade and drove Col. John Scott's cavalry from the field, but the next day their inexperience showed against Confederate troops hardened by earlier fighting, including at Shiloh. After a heavy Confederate blow at Mt. Zion Church captured at least 500 Union men and much equipment, heat in the upper 90s, drought, dust, and lack of water slowed pursuit and gave Generals Charles Cruft and Mahlon Manson time to rally the retreating Union forces. The 12th and 66th Indiana formed a new line about 1 mile to the rear, and the army regrouped north of there before marching toward Duncannon Road to await another attack. Meanwhile, around 11 AM on August 30, the Confederate army moved north from near Mt. Zion Church through Rogersville, then a small hamlet near the junction of the Old State Road and the Berea Road, formed south of the Union position, and advanced through fields under Union artillery fire toward the second Union line as the battle entered its next phase.

Kentucky · United States