The following data record is submitted by:
Thomas Hembrey (thembrey@aol.com)
(Extracted from Index of Civil War Information -
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/statlist.html)

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Kentucky's First Civil War skirmish at Barbourville
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Location:
Knox County

Campaign:
Operations in Eastern Kentucky (1861)

Date:
September 16, 1861

Principal Commanders:
Capt. Isaac J. Black, Commanding the Home Guard (approx. 300 men) [US]
Col. Joel A. Battle, Commanding a Detachment (approx. 800 men) [CS]

Estimated Casualties:
20 total (US 15; CS 5)

Kentucky Union sympathizers had trained recruits at Camp Andrew Johnson, in Barbourville 
throughout the summer of 1861. Confederate Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer entered Kentucky in 
mid-September intending to relieve pressure on Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston and his troops by 
conducting raids and generally constituting a threat to Union forces and sympathizers in the 
area. On September 18, 1861, he dispatched a force of about 800 men under command of Col. Joel 
A. Battle to disrupt the training activities at Camp Andrew Johnson. At daylight on the 19th, 
the force entered Barbourville and found the recruits gone; they had been sent to Camp Dick 
Robinson. A small home guard force commanded by Capt. Isaac J. Black met the Rebels, and a 
sharp skirmish ensued. After dispersing the home guard, the Confederates destroyed the training 
camp and seized arms found there. This was, for all practical purposes, the first encounter of 
the war in Kentucky. The Confederates were making their might known in the state countering the 
early Union presence.
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