19 January 1862, Kentucky, War Between the States

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The Parker and Ludington Families in the Battle of Mill Springs

Minerva Ludington was the daughter of John F. and Susannah N. Ludington. John had served in the 40th Indiana Infantry Regiment during the Civil War in the campaign against the Army of Tennessee.(4) The Civil War was a backdrop for fascinating events in the history of the family which we will explore shortly.

Bessie Williams was the daughter of Henry Webster Williams and Adele Parker. Bessie's grandfather, Henry's father, had married Emily Webster, and little more is presently known about that branch of the family. Henry and Adele had three chidren, Bessie, William and Tandy.

Tandy was named after Edele Parker's father, Tandy Parker. Tandy Parker was the son of a first or second generation Irish immigrant. His parents were Tandy R. Parker and Elizabeth Davis, who were married July 2, 1846. He was born in 1847 and lived with his parents in Carroll County, Tennessee, until the Civil War. On August 15, 1861, Tandy Parker, who must have lied about his age, enlisted in Company I of the 19th Tennessee Infantry at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.(5) The 19th Tennessee Regiment was part of the brigade sent to Kentucky under the leadership of Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer, C.S.A. The brigade's mission was to screen against a possible movement toward Tennessee by Federal forces. Indeed, on January 19, 1862, Private Tandy Parker, as a member of Zollicoffer's brigade met Union forces led by Brigadier General George H. "Pap" Thomas, in an engagement known variously as the Battle of Mill Springs, Logan's Crossroads, or Fishing Creek.

On the other side, John Ludington enlisted as a recruit in the 40th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on October 23, 1861,(6) serving in Company K of that regiment until July 20, 1864. John's younger brother, James Ludington, had earlier enlisted in the 10th Indiana Volunteers. James joined the U. S. Army September 18, 1861, for three years, after having been mustered out August 6, 1861, when a previous three month elistment had expired. James served as a private in Company H of the 10th Regiment(6) where he remained until his discharge with disability April 21,1864.(4)

At one point during the celebration of James' and Bessie's wedding, James regaled the assembled guests by telling how his regiment had routed Confederate soldiers in Kentucky so unexpectedly that the "Johnny Rebs" fled leaving their breakfast behind. Bessie noted that her Grandpa Parker did not seem to be amused and asked him what the problem was. He replied, "We were the one's who left the breakfast."

Until this year, the tale has been no more than an apocryphal family tradition. It is now established, however, that Tandy Parker's 19th Tennessee Infantry did, indeed, meet James A. Ludington's 10th Indiana infantry regiment. The 10th Indiana was a part of Thomas' forces at Mill Springs. In fact, the map published in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. I, shows the 19th Tennessee and the 10th Indiana Regiments arrayed face to face not more than 60 yards apart when the forces closed with one another. The published history of the Tennessee 19th cites, in part, "The 19th was present, but not actively engaged at the affair at Wild Cat, Kentucky, on October 22, 1861, and its first major engagement was at Fishing Creek, Kentucky on January 19, 1862. Here it was in Zollicofer's Brigade, composed of the 15th Mississippi, 19th, 20th, 25th Tennessee Infantry Regiments, and Rutledge's Tennessee Battery. Here Zollicofer was killed and Colonel Cummings took command of the Brigade after his death. The 19th had 34 casualties in this battle."(7)

From Turner,(8) we read, "On the 22d of September, it (the 10th Indiana Regiment) left Indianapolis for Kentucky, and after remaining a few days at Louisville, was moved to Bardstown where it went into camp. Remaining here for about a month, it was marched to New Haven and Lebanon, in which vicinity it remained until the advance to meet Zollicofer's forces in January, 1862. On the 19th of January, it participated in the Battle of Mills Spring, or Logan's Field, and there achieved an enviable reputation for gallantry, the regiment at one time saving the day, by its firm resistance of a desperate charge by Zollicofer's forces."

Battles and Leaders cited above gives further color to the incident. "The road which the retreating (Confederate) force followed was strewn with evidences that the retreat had degenerated into a panic. . . and, most convincing proof of all, the flying foe had thrown away their haversacks filled with rations of corn pone and bacon. Those were the days when stories of 'rebel atrocities' in the way of poisoning wells and food were current, and the pursuers, who had gone into the fight breakfastless, were doubtful about tasting the contents of the first haversacks they observed. Their great number, however, soon became a guarantee of good faith, and the hungry soldiers seized upon them with avidity."(1) Bruce Catton recounts the incident in his book, This Hallowed Ground.(2) He writes that the "Confederates were finally driven off in rout, abandoning camp and commissary stores, eleven pieces of artillery, and more than a thousand horses and mules. Happy Federal soldiers laid in vast stocks of Confederate rations and amused themselves by cooking flapjacks, made mostly of flour and sugar, living on these so extensively that whole regiments came down with bowel trouble."

It was apparently from this incident that the military career of James Ludington took an unfortunate turn. He was mustered out of the 10th Indiana on April 16, 1864 after an eight month siege of diarrhea which began in July 1862, during the march of the 10th Indiana from Bowling Green to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.(4)

The military career of Tandy Parker was cut even shorter, for the records of the 19th Tennessee Infantry erroneously show him to have been killed in action on February 12, 1862. Tandy had been wounded and left for dead while the Army of Tennessee was withdrawing from Kentucky.(5) Fortunately for his descendents, he survived and eventually settled near Henderson, Kentucky. There he met Mary Ann Gish Alexander who was then widowed from a previous marriage. Adele Parker, Bessie's mother, was the oldest child in Tandy's and Mary Ann's family. The next younger was Thomas Parker, followed by Charles Parker, a sister, Eulale, and a younger sister, Iceletta Parker. The Parker family remained in the Henderson, Kentucky area raising tobacco.

1. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, 1887, Century War Series, New York.
2. Catton, Bruce, This Hallowed Ground, 1956, Doubleday and Company, New York.
3. Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: a Narrative Vol. 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, 1985, Vintage Books, New York.
4. National Archives: pension records of John F. Ludington and James A. Ludington.
5. Records of Company I muster roll, 19th Tennessee Infantry.
6. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Vol. IV. - 1861- 1865,1866, Samuel M. Douglas, State Printer, Indianapolis.
7. Tennessee in the Civil War, Vols. 1 and 2.
8. Turner, Ann, Guide to Indiana Civil War Manuscripts, 1965, Indiana Civil War Commission, Indianapolis.

This narrative was downloaded from http://chinasaur.simplenet.com/family/gnology/amer.html, which is now a broken link.

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