Battle of London,
August 17, 1862

The Battle of London is also reenacted during the annual Camp Wildcat Reenactment. See the HOME PAGE for the 2008 schedule. Following is information about the original Battle of London:

Battle of London
(Kentucky Historical Highway Marker Number: 560)

County: Laurel
Location: London, Courthouse lawn, Main St., US 25

Description: 500 CSA cavalry led by Colonel J. S. Scott attacked 200 USA troops and 98 convalescents under Colonel L. C. Houk here Aug. 17, 1862; killed 13, wounded 17, captured 111 men and 40 wagons. CSA lost 2 killed, 4 wounded. Houk forced back to Gen. George W. Morgan's main USA force at Cumberland Gap. Cut off from supplies, Morgan began his retreat to Ohio thirty days later.

Excerpts From
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, published by the United States War Department, Chapter XXVIII:

Page 860:

CUMBERLAND GAP, TENN., August 19, 1862

"I had stationed five companies of infantry at Cumberland Ford, five at Barboursville, and a similar force at London and Richmond. I requested General Boyle to re-enforce Richmond and London, but as Boyle's troops were elsewhere ordered, London was not re-enforced, and I ordered Colonel Houk to concentrate his regiment and fall back upon Cumberland Gap. It is rumored that Houk was attacked on the 16th instant and his command captured."

GEORGE W. MORGAN,
Brigadier-General

Page 861:

CUMBERLAND GAP, TENN., August 23, 1862

"On the 17th instant Colonel Houk, Third Tennessee, with part of five companies, amounting to 180 men, was attacked at London [Ky.], by a large force of cavalry. After a gallant resistance of an hour's duration, in which the enemy lost one lieutenant-colonel and a number of soldiers, Colonel Houk retreated to the mountain ridges, and after five days of privations and dangers reached this stronghold."

GEORGE W. MORGAN,
Brigadier-General

(NOTE: The word "instant" is used here to indicate that the date referred to is in the same month -- in this case, August -- as the letter is being written.)