THE BATTLE OF TEBBS BEND/GREEN RIVER BRIDGE

On July 4, 1863, at the beginning of what would become Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s Great Raid into Indiana and Ohio, a significant battle took place in Taylor County, Kentucky. This battle was fought just south of Campbellsville, Kentucky near a bend in the Green River known as Tebbs Bend. Morgan’s Confederates greatly out numbered the Union troops and the Southerners had four pieces of artillery. Prior to attacking the out manned Union force Morgan made his usual demand for surrender. The Federal commander, Colonel O. H. Moore replied: "This being the Fourth of July, I cannot entertain your proposition to surrender." After the demand for surrender was rejected the Confederates made eight heroic, but fruitless charges against the well entrenched 200 men of the 25th Michigan Infantry. Colonel Moore’s Federals inflected heavy casualties on the rebel troops. The Southern objective was to clear Northern defenders from the area near the strategic bridge so they could proceed northward. The Confederates failed and were forced to withdraw and bypass the area.

Confederate Monument at Tebbs
Bend Battlefield erected in 1872

Tebbs Bend is regarded as one of the bloodiest encounters of the war in the western theater, even though relatively small numbers were involved, and the fighting was of short duration. Morgan lost 24 experienced officers, including a colonel, a major, four captains and eight lieutenants, and 50 good men. The Confederates could ill afford to lose such leadership. A future Kentucky, governor Major James B. McCreary, wrote in his diary: "Many of our best men were killed or wounded. The beginning of this raid is ominous." Some historians claim that this engagement helped deflect Morgan’s Confederate raiders from Louisville, which at the time was poorly defended.

This site demonstrates how crucial it is in a battle to occupy the ground that dominates the surrounding terrain with fields of fire covering enemy approaches. Moore, the Federal commander, had 200 troops, while Morgan had 2,500 men, about 800 of whom he committed to the battle. The Northern forces were protected by a well constructed earthen fortification including the text book abatis, were able to defeat the much superior Southern force.

Green River Bridge

The Battle of Tebbs Bend was of strategic significance since it was fought for control of the Lebanon- Campbellsville-Columbia Turnpike, over which thousands of Federal troops traveled south. This road was crucial to the Federal supply route as rail lined ended at Lebanon some 20 miles north. The Union army utilized the turnpike to transport men and material to south central Kentucky. General George H. Thomas marched a portion of his army over the same road a year earlier to engage a Southern army at Mill Springs. Morgan had utilized the same road on his Christmas Raid of 1862 and again on the Great Raid in the summer of 1863.

Efforts to preserve the site began in 1872 when a monument was erected to mark the Confederate mass grave. The monument was erected by local Confederate veterans who wanted a fitting memorial for their fallen comrades. Very little happen in the intervening 100 years. Then in 1972 a battle reenactment was held and a hiking trail established. Seven years later a local group fought, successfully to save the Confederate field hospital, known as the Atkinson-Griffin House. To save the building from demolition it was moved to the nearby Green River Reservoir. It now houses a museum of the battle. The museum's exhibits include photographs and other images, reproduction uniforms and a diorama of the battle. In 1998 the State of Michigan placed a historical marker on the battlefield to honor their troops who fought at Tebbs Bend.

Atkinson-Griffin House

In the early 1990s a ten-stop driving tour was created to interpret this important battlefield for the public. This tour known as the Morgan-Moore Trail is now on The Civil War Trust’s Civil War Discovery Trail. In 1997 the Confederate Monument was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. That same year a non-profit preservation organization the Tebbs Bend/Green River Bridge Battlefield Association was formed. For more information please call 502-465-3786.