A Bridge Too Far: Battle of Hickman Bridge

The Hickman Covered Bridge, constructed in 1838, spanned the Kentucky River along the Lexington-Danville Turnpike. The US Army secured the crossing with artillery batteries and infantrymen. The wooden span was replaced by a steel bridge in the 1930s. The original stone abutments remain today.

The Hickman Covered Bridge over the Kentucky River, circa 1864.
Camp Nelson Photographic Collection, 1864, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.

The Battle of Camp Nelson...?

Our forces, under command of General [Quincy] Gillmore, attacked the enemy yesterday, and drove them from in front of Hickman's Bridge and across Duck River, in the direction of Crab Orchard.
-Major Genral Ambrose E. Burnside

On March 28, 1863, US Army forces commanded by Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore engaged in a firefight with Confederate troops under Brigadier General John Pegram south of Hickman Covered Bridge near the Lexington-Danville Turnpike [US-27]. The bridge was the longest single-span cantilever wooden bridge in the country and was the only crossing of the Kentucky River south of the capital, Frankfort. Its strategic importance necessitated defense, and Federal troops were assigned to ensure its protection. The engagement occurred directly south of the grounds where Camp Nelson was established a month later on April 29th.

The skirmishes around Hickman Bridge occurred between March 28-30, 1863, and were examples of small-scale actions that defined combat in Kentucky following the major battles of Richmond and Perryville in 1862. When Pegram moved into southern and central Kentucky, Gilmore ordered regiments to converge on Hickman Bridge to stop the advance.

During the battle, Gillmore ordered 600 mounted infantry soldiers to protect "a train of 150 wagons" on the north side of the river. On March 30th, Gilmore led the 44th and 45th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the 7th Ohio and 1st Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry into battle against Confederate forces near Somerset, Kentucky. Pegram eventually ordered a retreat and fell back to Tennessee.

In reporting the victory, Major General Ambrose Burnside, commander of the Department of the Ohio, proclaimed that "the entire rebel force has been driven out of Central Kentucky, and much of their plunder has been recaptured." He applauded the service of the troops, writing, "the alacrity with which the troops were concentrated, and the vigor and gallantry of their attack, are highly commendable."

The US Army's defense of Hickman Creek was ensured with the establishment of Camp Nelson on April 29, 1863. In the coming weeks and months, thousands of soldiers and enslaved African Americans constructed a massive supply depot and forward-operating base protected by earthwork fortifications. Hickman Creek was defended by two major earthworks [Fort Bramlette and Battery Fitzgerald] constructed on the heights direclty north of Kentucky River. Light artillery batteries were posted near the bridge to guard against an enemy attack.

 

Major General Quincy Gilmore

Library of Congress

Major General Quincy Gillmore commanded US forces at the skirmishes near Hickman Creek on March 28-30, 1863. He is best remembered for directing the army's successful siege and bombardment of Fort Pulaski in Georgia in April 1862.