Richmond was a Civil War engagement fought in Kentucky, 1862. It was a Confederate victory.
In Maj. Gen. Kirby Smith's 1862 Confederate offensive into Kentucky, Brig. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne led the advance with Col. John S. Scott's cavalry out in front. The Rebel cavalry, while moving north from Big Hill on the road to Richmond, Kentucky, on August 29, encountered Union troopers and began skirmishing. After noon, Union artillery and infantry joined the fray, forcing the Confederate cavalry to retreat to Big Hill. At that time, Brig. Gen. Mahlon D. Manson, who commanded Union forces in the area, ordered a brigade to march to Rogersville, toward the Rebels. Fighting for the day stopped after pursuing Union forces briefly skirmished with Cleburne's men in late afternoon. That night, Manson informed his superior, Maj. Gen. William Nelson, of his situation, and he ordered another brigade to be ready to march in support, when required. Kirby Smith ordered Cleburne to attack in the morning and promised to hurry reinforcements (Churchill's division). Cleburne started early, marching north, passed through Kinston, dispersed Union skirmishers, and approached Manson's battle line near Zion Church. As the day progressed, additional troops joined both sides. Following an artillery duel, the battle began, and after a concerted Rebel attack on the Union right, the Yankees gave way. Retreating into Rogersville, the Yankees made another futile stand at their old bivouac. By now, Smith and Nelson had arrived and taken command of their respective armies. Nelson rallied some troops in the cemetery outside Richmond, but they were routed. Nelson and some men escaped but the Rebels captured approximately 4,000 Yankees. The way north was open.
Fought over two days, August 29 and 30, 1862, the clash at Richmond, Kentucky stands as one of the war's most decisive Confederate triumphs. Major General Edmund Kirby Smith led his men against forces under Union major general William "Bull" Nelson, who had been charged with holding the town. This engagement marked the opening major battle of the Kentucky Campaign. Today the site where the armies clashed lies on and around the land now occupied by the Blue Grass Army Depot, just outside Richmond.
By the summer of 1862, two Confederate armies had set out along different routes into Kentucky. Their goals were to restore the exiled Confederate government of the state, which had lost its grip on most of Kentucky earlier that year, to menace Union towns along the Ohio River, and to draw new recruits into Confederate ranks. Smith moved first, guiding the Confederate Army of Kentucky forward on a plan that was largely his own conception. Meanwhile, General Braxton Bragg directed the Army of Mississippi along a course running roughly parallel to the west. Smith set out from Knoxville on August 13, while Bragg began his march from Chattanooga on August 27.
The advance under Smith's command fell to Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne, with Colonel John S. Scott's horsemen ranging ahead of the main force. On August 29, as these mounted Confederates pushed northward from Big Hill along the Richmond road, they ran into Union cavalry and traded fire. The engagement grew after midday when Federal artillery and foot soldiers entered the action, compelling the Southern horsemen to fall back toward Big Hill.
Meanwhile Brigadier General Mahlon D. Manson, overseeing Union forces in that sector, ordered one brigade forward to Rogersville, Kentucky in the direction of the enemy. As afternoon faded into evening, the pursuing Federals traded brief volleys with Cleburne's column before the day's combat wound down. That evening Manson relayed word of the situation to his commander, Bull Nelson, who directed a second brigade to stand ready for reinforcement duty. Manson positioned his four regiments south of Mt Zion church, readying them against an expected assault.
For his part, Smith directed Cleburne to open the attack come morning, pledging that Brigadier General Thomas J. Churchill's division would soon arrive as backup. Setting out early, Cleburne's men moved north through Kingston, scattered Federal skirmishers in their path, and drew near Manson's position along the line at Zion Church. Throughout the day both sides fed more troops into the fight. Once artillery batteries had exchanged fire, the main battle opened, and Manson shifted reinforcements to bolster his left flank, believing it to be faltering. Churchill's men, however, exploited a concealed ravine to work around toward the Union right, and a coordinated Confederate push there broke the Federal line. The beaten Union troops pulled back into Rogersville, attempting one more stand at their former camp, though this too collapsed.
By this point Smith and Nelson had both reached the field and assumed direct command of their respective sides. Nelson attempted to regroup some of his men near a cemetery just outside Richmond, but this final effort ended in rout.
Nelson managed to get away along with a portion of his command, though the Confederates seized more than 4,300 Union soldiers as prisoners. When the tally was finished, the Union side had suffered 5,353 casualties in all, broken down into 206 dead, 844 injured, and 4,303 taken prisoner or unaccounted for. Confederate losses stood far lower at 451, comprising 78 killed, 372 wounded, and a single soldier missing. With the battle decided, nothing stood between the victors and the roads leading toward Lexington and Frankfort.
Shelby Foote, reflecting on the engagement as a historian of the war, observed that Smith had achieved something remarkable in Kentucky, calling it the closest thing to a Cannae that any commander, whether wearing blue or gray, managed to pull off during the entire conflict.
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