KENTUCKY: History comes alive in Elizabethtown 161 years after Civil War battle
HARDIN COUNTY, Ky. — It was just after Christmas, 1862, and Elizabethtown was under attack. Confederate forces had fired more than 100 cannonballs. On Wednesday, outside of the Depp building — where a cannonball from the battle remains — locals took a walk back in time during a two-hour tour.
Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, they learned, had nearly 4,000 men and seven cannons, compared to the Union’s 652, armed only with muskets.
“White flags were seen from the windows of local residents at this site, and it was a ladies’ petticoat. They didn’t want General Morgan to plunder the town any longer,” Susan McCrobie, who helped coordinate the tour, told the group of the short-lived battle.
According to Kenny Tabb, who, like McCrobie, is involved with the Hardin County History Museum, General Morgan knew exactly where to go. He and his troops set up at the highest point in town: Cemetery Hill.
“You had several Confederate troops with Morgan from here and from Hardin County, and they told him the layout, the topography of the land and so forth before they even got here,” Tabb said.
In total, seven Union soldiers lost their lives and more later died from their injuries. “The Christmas Raid” ended with the Confederates setting fire to the L&N Railroad Bridges and cutting off the supply line to the Union.
“It was a terrible time. You had brother against brother and father against son. This town was split,” Tabb explained.
But now, the town is united in learning about its history 161 years later.
The volunteers at the Hardin County History Museum say the walking tour is part of their efforts to have the landmarks from the Battle of Elizabethtown added to the National Registry of Historic Places.
–wlky.com
