Action at Timmy's Branch

Union General George H. Thomas placed cavalry at Timmy's Branch on the road between his army and the Confederates as an early warning system against a surprise attack. In the first hours of January 19, 1862, the Confederate army began the eight-mile trek from Beech Grove to present-day Nancy in darkness, cold, clouds, heavy rain, and deep mud that slowed men and horses. Sergeant George C. Thrasher of the 1st Kentucky Cavalry (US) commanded the twenty Union men posted there. Around six o'clock, well before daylight, Confederate cavalry approached, and the Union challenge, "Halt! Who goes there?" was answered with a pistol shot. The Federal soldiers opened fire, firing the first shots of the Battle of Mill Springs. Thrasher's men then dashed to their horses and galloped north, stopping at a small log house on a low rise west of the road, where Thrasher sent word that Confederate infantry was moving in force.

Kentucky · United States