The Battle of Middlecreek on Jan. 10, 1862, was the largest Civil War engagement in Eastern Kentucky. Northerner Col. James A. Garfield led his army against the entrenched forces of CSA General Humphrey Marshall. Control of the Pound Gap gateway into Virginia was vital. Garfield’s cunning military leadership eventually propelled him to the Presidency of the U.S. Col Andrew J. May used his home on the Samuel May Farm as a recruiting station.