The Battle of Middle Creek was Eastern Kentucky’s most significant Civil War battle. It was fought during the first phase of the war, when the question of which government would control the region was still in doubt. The strategic advantage which the Confederates lost as a result of the battle was never regained.
Although Floyd County and the Upper Big Sandy Valley remained a no-man’s land for the duration of the war, the Battle of Middle Creek effectively ended the Confederacy’s first bid to gain control of the region.
For Kentuckians the battle was a poignant example of neighbor against neighbor. Floyd County men of the 5th Kentucky Infantry, C.S.A. and the 14th Kentucky Infantry, U.S.A. fired volleys at each other, charged each other’s lines, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the steep hillsides above the Forks of Middle Creek.
The battle’s outcome brought national attention to the Union commander and called into question the military competence of the Confederate commander. Former Ohio State Senator James A. Garfield would use his success at Middle Creek as a stepping stone to the White House, and Kentucky politician and Mexican War hero Humphrey Marshall would find Confederate authorities questioning his military judgment. |
