Big Sandy Expedition The Big Sandy Expedition was an early campaign in Kentucky that began in mid - September 1861 when Brig . Gen . William " Bull " Nelson received orders to organize a new brigade at Maysville , Kentucky and conduct an expedition into the Big Sandy Valley region of Eastern Kentucky and stop the build - up of Rebel forces under Col . John S . Williams . This was done in three phases . From September 21 to October 20 , 1861 , Nelson assembled a brigade of 5 , 500 Union volunteers from Ohio and Kentucky . On October 23 , the southern prong secured Hazel Green and the northern prong West Liberty . The two prongs were consolidated at Saylersville ( Licking Station ) and they began the final phase on October 31 . This led to the Battle of Ivy Mountain on November 8 and the withdrawal of Rebel forces from Pikeville ( Piketon ) on November 9 , 1861 . Background . During the first week of September 1861 , all pretense of neutrality in Kentucky ended when Maj . Gen . Leonidas Polk had Brig . Gen . Gideon Pillow advance Confederate troops up to Hickman , Kentucky . On September 18 , Kentucky legislators approved the introduction of Federal troops from outside the state . The next day , Simon Bolivar Buckner , the former commander of the Kentucky State Guard , established a Confederate headquarters at Bowling Green , Kentucky while troops under Felix K . Zollicoffer seized Barbourville . Shortly afterward , the bi - speckled newspaperman from Knoxville arrived at Cumberland Ford with approximately 3 , 200 men in four regiments , a field battery of six guns , and four cavalry companies . This posed an imminent threat to Central Kentucky at a time when increasing numbers of Rebels in the Big Sandy Valley of eastern Kentucky appeared intent on entering the Bluegrass Region through McCormack ’ s Gap ( Frenchburg ) . In response , Brig . Gen . George H . Thomas ordered troops from Camp Dick Robinson into southeast Kentucky to defend against any movement toward Big Hill , Richmond , and Lexington . Former Vice - president John C . Breckenridge and his Confederate ally , Col . Humphrey Marshall added to that concern with a call for “ Peace Men ” and “ States ’ Rights Men ” to assemble in Lexington for drill . Instead , both men headed off to Mt . Sterling to join Confederate forces in Western Virginia where took command of the Army of Eastern Kentucky posted at Piketon ( Pikeville ) . Several days later , “ Bull ” Nelson publicly announced he had established his headquarters at Camp Kenton near Washington , Kentucky and would now arm and equip volunteers to end treason in Kentucky . The " Philadelphia Press " believed the Big Sandy expedition would prevent the Rebels from taking control of the mouth of the Big Sandy River where it entered the Ohio River . That would protect the rear and right flank of Brig . Gen . William S . Rosecrans in Western Virginia , allow Nelson to reinforce Camp Wildcat , and push Zollicoffer back to Knoxville . Nelson made Olympia [ n ] Springs ( Mud Lick Springs ) in Bath County the staging area . He named it Camp Gill to honor Harrison Gill the owner of this renowned spa that was eight miles below Owingsville and twenty miles east of Mount Sterling . Directly below there , the Mt . Sterling - Pound Gap Road ( Rt . 460 ) ran through McCormick ’ s Gap ( Frenchburg ) , the gateway to the Bluegrass Region from Prestonsburg . On September 29 , 1861 , Maj . John Smith Hurt secured that vital mountain pass with three militia companies . Col . Lewis Braxton Grigsby added his three - hundred men to Hurt ’ s two - hundred on October 8 . Col . James Perry Fyffe had the Fifty - ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Camp Kenton and Col . Leonard A . Harris arrived in Olympian Springs with the Second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry . Col . Jesse S . Norton came forward from Nicholasville with the Twenty - first Ohio Volunteer Infantry and over the course of the next two weeks , Nelson had a force of approximately 5 , 500 volunteers : 3 , 700 from Ohio and 1 , 800 from Kentucky . At a farm near Prestonsburg , Rebel Captains Andrew Jackson May and John Ficklin assisted “ Cerro Gordo ” John S . Williams with the organization the 5th Kentucky Infantry . The 1 , 010 - man unit was badly clothed some called the hard - nosed group the “ Ragamuffin Regiment . ” The nine companies of infantry and five mounted companies had two pieces of artillery and they carried an assortment of personal weapons that were ill suited for warfare . West Liberty and Hazel Green . On Monday , October 21 , 1861 , troops that Nelson had assembled Camp Dick Robinson became engaged in a protracted fight with Zollicoffer ’ s Confederates along the Wilderness Road at Wildcat Mountain . The next morning Nelson was unaware of this when he ordered 1 , 600 men under Col . Leonard Harris to advance thirty - five miles to West Liberty with two artillery pieces . At dawn Wednesday , Nelson was in front of Hazel Green with about 3 , 500 men and artillery . Thirty - eight of the 200 Rebels surrendered after a brief fight . Twelve miles north at West Liberty 500 - 700 Rebels suffered a loss of 21 dead , 40 wounded , and 34 captured . The Federal loss was two wounded . While Nelson waited for his wagon trains to catch up , he consolidated his forces at Licking Station ( Salyersville ) . The operation resumed on October 31 and on reaching Prestonsburg they found the supposed “ Gibraltar of Eastern Kentucky ” abandoned . Ivy Mountain . Thursday , November 7 , Col . Joshua W . Sill started the northern prong of the Big Sandy expedition toward John ’ s Creek . From there he was to veer south for about forty miles and gain the rear of the enemy at Pikeville . The following morning , Nelson took the main column of 3 , 600 men toward Pikeville on the Old State Road ( Rt . 460 ) . Heavy rain fell in torrents as they neared Ivy Mountain , a hogback , 1000 - foot hill about one half - mile long . The West Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River restricted movement on the right the seven - foot wide path and knee - deep mud forced the artillery to unlimber their guns and rig them so they could follow the infantry forward in a single file . About fifteen miles west of Pikeville , the advance guard disappeared in the elbow of the path as it turned down toward the crossing at Ivy Creek . Directly to their front , there were 250 Rebels some 100 feet up the hill and hidden behind rocks , trees , and bushes . About 1 : 00 p . m . , that hillside exploded with blue smoke from the doubled - barreled shotguns and old muskets carried by the Rebels . In the next instant , four Union soldiers were dead and another thirteen lay on the ground wounded . Nelson rushed forward with his saber drawn , climbed up on a conspicuously located rock , and told his men “ that if the Rebels could not hit him they could not hit any of them . ” He ordered the Second Ohio Infantry and Twenty - first Ohio Infantry to push up side of the mountain and flank the enemy position from the north . At the same , Nelson had two light artillery pieces take a position near mouth of Ivy Creek and West Levisa Fork and fire directly into the enemy breastworks . About 2 : 20 p . m . , the Twenty - first Ohio Infantry arrived at the top of hill . The rolled large boulders down on the Rebels who ran off in every direction . One half - hour later , Captain May had his men felling trees and burning bridges to retard pursuit . The Battle of Ivy Mountain ( Ivy Narrows ) was a clear victory for Nelson who had gained full control of the field at a loss of six killed and twenty - four wounded . The opposing Rebels had ten dead , fifteen wounded , and forty missing or taken prisoner . Nelson ended the pursuit beyond a burned bridge at Coldwater Creek and near the home of Unionist Lindsay Layne . Williams continued on to Pikeville where he posted a rear guard of four - hundred men to cover a withdrawal to Pound Gap with the remainder of his force . At 3 : 00 a . m . Saturday , November 9 , Nelson had his troops back in pursuit . Terrible road conditions retarded movement and by nightfall , he remained five miles from Pikeville . Early Sunday , November 10 , Nelson had come to within several miles of the objective when a detachment from Joshua Sill ’ s northern prong rode forward to advise they had secured the town at 4 : 00 p . m . Saturday . In Pound Gap , Virginia Colonel Williams reported that Nelson had dispersed an “ unorganized and half - armed , barefooted squad ” that lacked everything , but the will to fight . The " Cincinnati Commercial " noted that Nelson had shown how “ troops could be moved across unforgiving terrain without adequate transportation . ” That determination had truly surprised Williams who believed that Nelson would continue into Virginia with the intent of destroying the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad , a line that connected the Confederate capital at Richmond , Virginia with the Memphis , Tennessee and the Mississippi Valley at Knoxville . In the first accounts of the fighting at Ivy Mountain , Northern news correspondents grossly misrepresented events because their Northern audience wanted a quick conclusion to the war . Those mistakes led the " Cincinnati Gazette " to conclude that while a great victory had been attained , the “ campaign in Eastern Kentucky has no more permanent effect than the passage of a showman ’ s caravan . Five hundred rebel guerrilla cavalry will undo in a week the ornamental work . . . done at so great an expenditure of money and of most precious time . ” The latter issues were of great concern and the reason why Don Carlos Buell replaced William T . Sherman in Louisville . Nelson received orders to report there and his brigade followed on Sunday afternoon , November 24 . As predicted , the Rebels returned and that brought Brig . Gen . James A . Garfield into the region to resume the unfinished task of subduing them . References . This article was derived from chapter six of Donald A . Clark ' s , " The Notorious " Bull " Nelson : Murdered Civil War General " . Carbondale : University of Southern Illinois Press , 2011 . The bibliography for , " A Showman ' s Caravan " : 63 - 78 , follows : Federal and State Publications Published Diaries , Personal Papers , Reminiscences , Memoirs , Speeches , and Other Original Narratives Regimental Histories Secondary Sources Articles Newspapers Also see :