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The Fitzpatrick Farm: Host to a Battle |
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The
Battle of Middle Creek was fought on land owned
by Henry Clay Fitzpatrick (1823-1895), son of
Jonathon Fitzpatrick and grandson of Bath Co.,
Va., native John Fitzpatrick, Revolutionary War
veteran, who established a farm here sometime
before 1800. John is buried on Graveyard Point,
Garfield's command post during the battle.
Henry's son Hiram H. Fitzpatrick, Floyd County
Clerk, inherited the farm and passed it to his
son Henry D. Fitzpatrick, Sr. and daughter Osa
F. Ligon, next owners were Henry D. Fitzpatrick,
Jr., president of The Bank Josephine, and Osa's
daughter, Sallye Ligon Clark. The farm is now
owned by Middle Creek National Battlefield
Foundation, founded in 1992 by Franklin D.
Fitzpatrick, son of H.D. Fitzpatrick, Jr. |
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Though
they were once stained with blood and blackened by the
smoke of two thousand muskets, the hay fields which
welcome today’s visitor to the Fitzpatrick Farm on
Middle Creek look no different than those found on other
Eastern Kentucky farms. Compared to the Battle of
Antietam Creek, the Battle of Middle Creek was only a
skirmish. Nevertheless, it had a significant impact on
the course of the Civil War. It ended Confederate
supremacy in the region, and it launched the career of
the man who became our twentieth president. With good
reason it has been called the battle that launched a
presidency.
On January 10th, 1862, James A. Garfield, an obscure
Ohio college professor and newly-minted colonel of a
regiment of Ohio volunteers, launched an attack on a
brigade of Confederate soldiers holding a position on
the ridges overlooking the Forks of Middle Creek,
located two miles west of Prestonsburg, Kentucky. The
Confederates were commanded by Brigadier General
Humphrey Marshall, a seasoned veteran famous for his
exploits during the Mexican War.
We invite you to read the history of this nationally
significant battlefield, learn about its participants,
and become acquainted with the Middle Creek National
Battlefield Foundation and its development of the
battlefield as a historic site. |
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If you have any questions or would like more information,
please
email us, or
use our online request form. |
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