Battle of Sacramento- Sacramento, KY

The Battle of Sacramento went down December 28th of 1861.  This was actually a pretty important fight in the Civil War (as all of the battles were- big and small) but this was one encounter where one of the legends of the Civil War started to make a name for himself.  Confederate Colonel Nathan Forrest impressed a lot of people in this fight, especially Brigadier-General Charles Clark.  Of note was his courage leading his men into battle and engaging in hand to hand combat with 4 Union soldiers- killing three and capturing one.  This particular battle has come to be known as "Forrest's First".

There is a very cool folk HEROINE (on the Confederate side) associated with this battle.  A young Molly Morehead warned Forrest of the Union troops nearby.  Forrest wrote about the girl (he did not know her identity at the time). 

There is a historic driving trail between Calhoun and Greenville on 181.  There is a great brochure giving the stops and info on each one.  There is also a great website about the battle, the reenactment, and history.

This is yet ANOTHER example of a place I have been to many times, and never realized the great history of the area.  I have driven this stretch of road probably 100 times and never realized its significance.

I DID make a point to go out and actually drive to the stops on the tour- and I did it during the weekend of the Battle of Sacramento Reenactment.

The reenactment event has been going on since 1995, and you can tell the guys putting this event on have become pretty efficient.  Sacramento is a nice, small town, and it was pretty easy getting around at the event and all.  PLUS, it is only $5 for an all weekend pass (its actually not a "pass" but a nice little button).

We were only able to stop by Friday for several hours, as the weather was terrible all weekend!  That didn't stop the festivities though!

I had a great time (and spent WAY more money than I planned) in the vendor area.  We bought a lot of honey that was made by a fellow from Hartford.  Great stuff!  There was a fun and friendly couple from Greenfield, Illinois called Pop Jack's.  The couple running the booth were super friendly.  They were selling homemade root beer!  This was the perfect setting for that, and I refilled my bottle with them more than once.  You could buy a bottle for $3, then it was a buck per refill for the rest of the festival!  They even said that next year you could bring your bottle back for $1 refills!  They had several flavors, but I had been craving sassafras for some time, so that was my pick.

Another couple- Knox and Mary Adler (Adlers Dry Goods) had a lot of pioneer related toys and clothes items.  These guys were super friendly too, and they seemed to really enjoy the whole retro vibe going on here.  I bought some lead soldiers from them, and they made me a very good deal!

There were several other interesting vendors there, but these were the ones I interacted with the most.

There was an AMAZING country band that played for a short period of time (their set was cut short due to the weather), but I really enjoyed these guys.  They did a great Merle Haggard cover, a couple of gospel standards and a few others before it was over.  These guys were solid musicians who weren't trying anything fancy.  They were playing old classics the way they were meant to be played, and you could tell that the crowd loved it!

Check out my photos, which are mostly from the stops on the trail, with a few from the reenactment event.