Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[390] valley of the Cumberland from the vast and rich plain known by the name of the ‘blue-grass’ region. The camp of Garrard, to which he had given the name of Wild Cat, was situated a little to the north of London, the first village to be met on the Lexington road after crossing the Cumberland at Barboursville. On leaving London the road forks; one branch, following the valley, runs westward towards Crab Orchard, Camp Dickson, and Frankfort; the other branch, which leads to Richmond and Lexington, rises upon the hills which skirt the valley, crosses Rockcastle Creek, and penetrates into another jumble of rocks (massif) called Big Hill. In the pass between London and Rockcastle Creek Wild Cat Camp was situated, surrounded by forests, flanked by scarped rocks, and only approachable by narrow and tortuous roads, easy to defend, but surrounded by positions which must be occupied, and which required a numerous garrison. A ridge which commanded the camp to the east, at the south-east a mound (mamelon) called Round Hill, and two cliffs jutting out on the south like two bastions to the right and left of the London road, constituted the main features of these positions, which were separated from each other by deep ravines.

After one month of inactivity, Zollicoffer made an attempt to surprise the Federal camp, where no one ever expected to see him again. Garrard's force, consisting of the skeletons of three regiments, only numbered six hundred effective men, three hundred of them being in the hospital. Starting on the 12th or 13th of October with seven regiments and one battery, about three thousand men in all, Zollicoffer only arrived in front of the Federal positions on the 21st. Through his want of activity he lost the opportunity of taking Garrard unawares. The latter, having resolved to defend himself, even without reinforcements, was waiting with his small band for the arrival of a few regiments stationed in the ‘blue-grass’ region, whom he had apprised of the approach of the enemy. If Zollicoffer had attacked him on the 20th, he would probably have obtained an easy victory; but General Schopf, hastening during the night to respond to Garrard's call, arrived with two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. The positions, which had previously only been guarded by advanced sentinels, were now strongly occupied; and when, on the