George B. Crittenden in uniform. University of Kentucky
George Bibb Crittenden was born in Russellville, Kentucky, on March 20, 1812, the son of John J. Crittenden — a U.S. Representative and Senator from Kentucky and a former U.S. Attorney General. His father's influence would rescue him again and again.
A troubled early career
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1832 | graduates from West Point, through an appointment his father secured; serves in the Black Hawk War |
| 1833 | finishes a law degree and practices in Kentucky |
| Texas | joins the Mier Expedition and is captured with 176 other Texans by Santa Anna's army. Santa Anna orders one in ten prisoners executed, chosen by drawing beans — white to live, black to die. Crittenden survived; a story has it that he drew a white bean, gave it to a comrade with a wife and children, then drew another white one. Either way, his father's connections got him released |
| Mexican-American War | a captain in Lt. Col. William Wing Loring's Mounted Rifles; arrested three times for drunkenness on duty, court-martialed and dismissed — then restored in 1849, again thanks to his father |
| June 1861 | resigns from the U.S. Army to join the Confederacy, splitting his family: his father stays loyal to the Union, and his brother Thomas and half-brother Eugene serve in the U.S. Army |
Mill Springs
Promoted to brigadier general and serving briefly in Virginia, then on November 9, 1861 to major general, Crittenden took command of the District of East Tennessee. His predecessor, Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer, had moved his troops to the north bank of the Cumberland River, fortifying winter camps at Beech Grove and, on the south side, at Mill Springs — 10 miles south of today's Nancy, Kentucky. Crittenden ordered him back across; arriving two weeks later, he found Zollicoffer still on the north bank, blaming floods and a lack of boats.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| January 17, 1862 | Union Gen. George H. Thomas reaches Logan's Crossroads with two brigades, soon joined by a third from Gen. Albin Schoepf |
| Night of January 18 | Crittenden's council of war hears from local spies that Thomas has only a few regiments and that the flooded Fishing Creek will keep Schoepf away. Unaware that Thomas brought two brigades and has already been reinforced by Schoepf, it votes to attack |
| January 19, before dawn | Zollicoffer's and William H. Carroll's brigades march about 10 miles north with cavalry and artillery; at about 6:10 a.m. the cavalry meets Union pickets at Timmy's Branch |
In rain and heavy fog, Zollicoffer mistook Union soldiers for his own, rode up to their lines and was killed. Crittenden, who had left much of the fighting to him, ordered a general advance — but many of his men carried old flintlock muskets that misfired in the rain. Fresh Union troops and a bold bayonet charge broke the Confederates, and the retreat to Beech Grove became a rout, men throwing away guns and blankets to run faster.
Union troops shelled Beech Grove until dark. Crittenden ferried his army across the Cumberland on a steamboat, then burned it so Thomas couldn't follow, and retreated into Tennessee.
Aftermath
The next night, rumors spread that Crittenden had been drunk during the battle. His reputation had caught up with him. He asked for a court of inquiry in February, but on April 11, 1862, he was again arrested for drunkenness on duty, and a court recommended a court-martial. He resigned, returned to duty in 1863 in various roles, and was paroled in May 1865.
Back in Kentucky he faced an indictment for treason in federal court, but President Andrew Johnson pardoned him in 1867. He served as Kentucky State Librarian from 1867 to 1874, died in Danville in 1880, and was buried near his father in Frankfort.
Sources
Based on "George Bibb Crittenden at the Battle of Mill Springs," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The Park Service cites Bruce S. Allardice, Lawrence L. Hewitt and James M. Prichard, Kentuckians in Gray (2008), and Kenneth A. Hafendorfer, Mill Springs: Campaign and Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky (2001).
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
1
0
0
0
Comments
