In December 1861, less than a month after the Confederate army arrived in Mill Springs, General Felix Zollicoffer moved most of his army, 6,000 men, across the Cumberland River to Beech Grove, where soldiers built earthworks and quarters for what they believed would be a long stay. A line of earthworks with three earthen forts protected the camp, and two more forts stood behind it, one guarding the road to the ferry landing and the other the Confederate flank. Working day and night, soldiers completed these defenses before the end of December, and Zollicoffer wrote, "The river protects our rear and flanks ..." but some soldiers feared that if they were defeated, they would be unable to recover their baggage across the river. After the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19, 1862, the Confederates retreated to Beech Grove and then crossed the river to Mill Springs. Soon after they reached Beech Grove, Confederate commander General George B. Crittenden ordered them across the rain-swollen Cumberland River, and the retreat did not end until the army reached Tennessee. When Union soldiers entered the deserted encampment the next day, they found 1,000 horses and mules running loose, ten pieces of artillery with ammunition in the caissons and horses in the traces, as well as a battery wagon, forge, quantities of small arms and ammunition, and untold numbers of personal items. A New York Herald reporter who visited the abandoned camp later dubbed it "Zollie's Den."