The Battle of Mud Lick Springs: Bath County’s Civil War Battlefield

During the American Civil War, most of Kentucky was fiercely contested. The state was officially deemed a neutral state, but Confederate forces edged deeper and deeper into Kentucky in an attempt to hold ground and disrupt the Union. President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Orville Browning in 1861, “I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game”.

Bath County was divided as far as allegiance to either cause, but there were few skirmishes during the course of the war. The Union Army established Camp Gill near the Olympian Springs Resort and used it as a staging point during the 1861 Battle of Ivy Mountain. The camp was also used to protect the Pound Gap Road, which is now US 460, and thwart any raids that would come in from the southeastern mountains into Central Kentucky.

Despite the skirmishes that were fought, the only battlefield that is marked in Bath County is near the intersection of Mud Lick Road and Kentucky 36 East. The Battle of Mud Lick Springs occurred June 15, 1863 at Olympian Springs during what is known as Everett’s Kentucky Raid. Major R.T. Williams and 30 men of the 14th Kentucky Cavalry were camped at Mud Lick Springs, as it was then called, at or near Camp Gill. Confederate Captain Peter Everett of the 8th Kentucky Infantry, with a force of around 300, had engaged a portion of the 14th Kentucky Cavalry at Slate Creek along the Bath and Montgomery County border on June 11. The fight lasted around three hours and resulted in a Union retreat back toward Mount Sterling. Everett’s Army continued on, regrouped near Preston, and marched toward Mud Lick Springs.

Virginia Hunt wrote a summary narrative on Bath County’s Civil War involvement in 1947, which cites a citizen of Preston watching Everett’s Army march along what is now Old State Road as she was outside preparing chickens for a meal. One soldier called out to the young lady, saying, “Make sure you have them chickens skinned and ready when we get back”.

A detachment of Major Williams’ 14th Cavalry was in camp when Everett’s 8th Kentucky ambushed them on the 15th of June. The battle was swift and decisive with Everett’s Army killing 11 and capturing 12. Five more men from Williams’ Army were injured in the fight. During the battle, several cabins and outbuildings at the Olympian Springs Resort were burned by the Confederates to prevent their further use as Union quarters.

The following day, Everett and his army met battle at Triplett’s Creek in Rowan County. Two battalions of the 10th Kentucky Cavalry attempted to take Everett’s 8th Infantry, but during the confusion of battle, Everett and his men slipped away and returned to Virginia. Captain Everett would continue to fight in Kentucky for the remainder of the war, eventually returning to his native Mount Sterling and burning the courthouse later in 1863.

Today, historical marker stands across from the Mud Lick Store on Kentucky 36, at the intersection of Kentucky 3290, that only briefly mentions the Battle of Mud Lick Springs, but the date shows it occurred in October, 1864. The battlefield is now farmland and nothing remains of the resort hotel or Camp Gill. Several battlefield artifacts have been found scattered in the area by farmers or enthusiasts; usually a bullet or an occasional belt buckle and uniform button.

It is said that on late summer nights, one can hear the roar of horses and sounds of battle among the hollows near the Battle of Mud Lick Springs site. Whether this is true or not, the fields and the men who fought there are etched into a piece of our local history forever.