by Robert Perry
When visitors to Eastern Kentucky drive
from Prestonsburg to Pikeville on U.S. Route 23, they pass through Ivel, a
hamlet located at the mouth of Ivy Creek. If you judge Ivel by its appearance,
it has very little to recommend it. For a long time now, it has lacked a
roadside historical marker, despite the fact that it is the site of one of the
region’s most important Civil War battles. In fact, Ivel is the site of a
broken dream. If the Commonwealth of Kentucky had honored the promise that it
made to James Hatcher in 1928, today’s visitor to Ivel would be able to pull
off the road and admire a magnificent memorial arch. On the arch would be this
inscription:
Here, on November 8th, 1861, 250 men of
the 5th Kentucky Infantry, C.S.A., com-
manded by Captain A. J. May, fought a
delaying action against three Federal
regiments commanded by Gen. William
“Bull” Nelson. Armed only with shot-guns
and squirrel rifles and outnumbered six
to one, May’s mountaineers nevertheless
delayed Nelson’s progress long enough
to allow Col. John S. Williams to vacate
Piketon and move the main body of the
5th Kentucky to Pound Gap. Union losses
were six killed and 24 wounded. Confed-
erate losses were ten killed, fifteen
wounded, and forty missing.
Over the years local citizens have made several attempts to mark the battlefield and make it a tourist attraction. During the 1920s the property was owned by “Uncle Jim” Hatcher, the popular Pikeville hotel-keeper and owner of the Hatcher Coal Company. Hatcher was passionate about local history, and in 1928, when the State Highway
Commission
approached him and asked him to donate right-of-way across the battlefield for
the construction of the Mayo Trail, he agreed to their request on the condition
that they erect a concrete arch commemorating the Battle of Ivy Mountain.
Signed on August 30th, 1928, the deed to the right-of-way reads as
follows:
James Hatcher, the party of the first part,
being desirous of perpetuating the historic
memory of the Battle of Ivy Mountain, does
hereby sell, grant, and convey to the
Commonwealth of Kentucky, the party of the
second part, a certain tract of land [at this
point the property is described] for the sole
consideration of the agreement and undertaking
of the party of the second part to construct,
complete and maintain a concrete arch over the
Mayo Trail upon the strip of land hereinbefore
described, at or near the mouth of Ivy Creek
on the lands of the party of the second part,
soon after the completion of the said highway.
Unfortunately, the promise contained in the deed was never honored. A year after it was signed, the New York Stock Market went into a tailspin, triggering a chain of events that led to the Great Depression and giving the highway commissioners a good reason for postponing the project indefinitely. It wasn’t until the halcyon days of 1946 that the citizens of Floyd County, their ranks swelled by the battle-scarred veterans of World War II, made a second attempt to honor the men who had fought and died at Ivy Mountain. On April 10th, 1946, Dr. Earl Arnett, the vice-commander of the Floyd County American Legion, released this statement to the local press:
We feel that the highway department, even at
this late date, will not attempt to evade its
pledge, given in consideraton for right-of-way,
that otherwise would have cost the State of
Kentucky a lot of money.
Despite the confident tone of this
statement,the Legionnaires failed to persuade the Highway Department to make
good their promise. They did, however, manage to get a marker erected at the
site.
Beginning in 1949, the Kentucky
Historical Highway Markers Committee began erecting markers along Kentucky’s
highways, and sometime during the 1950s a marker commemorating the Battle of
Ivy
Mountain
was erected at the mouth of Ivy Creek. Unfortunately, it was subsequently
damaged by vandals and had to be removed and taken to Frankfort to undergo
repairs.
According to Dianne Wells, the Manager of
the Historical Highway Marker Program for the Kentucky Historical Society,
Marker #164, “The Battle of Ivy Mountain,” is currently being stored in the
repair
barn
for historic marker at Frankfort. On March 5th, 1996, Ms. Wells
informed Daniel Kidd, a coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Travel
Development, that Marker #164 needs to be repainted, and that
it
needs a new base. Furthermore, these repairs will cost the citizens of Floyd
County $380. “If the amount can be raised locally, repair work would be
assured.”
According to the Guidebook for Kentucky’s
Historical Highway Markers, the inscription on Marker #164 reads as follows:
“Site of the first important Civil War engagement in Big Sandy Valley,
November
8, 1861, when Confederate forces led by Captain Andrew Jackson May were
defeated by Federal troops under General William Nelson.”
I have done quite a bit of research on
this battle in preparation for my book on A. J. May, and in my opinion, this
inscription is inaccurate. As I have already pointed out, the engagement was by
no means a Confederate defeat. On the contrary, it was a successful delaying action
fought by troops who were badly outnumbered and faced with superior firepower.
Given the fact that the inscription on
Marker #164 is unsatisfactory, not to mention the fact that the Commonwealth of
Kentucky still hasn’t honored its promise to James Hatcher, it seems to me that
to ask the citizens of Floyd County to cough up 380 dollars for a patched-up,
inaccurate marker is to add insult to injury.
I think that I speak for everyone in
Floyd County when I say that we deserve something better. At the very least, we
deserve a new marker, paid for by the State of Kentucky, with a more accurate
inscription.
We also want the state to build us a paved parking lot adjacent to the marker
for those motorists who wish to read the marker, and a highway sign that alerts
motorists to the fact that they are approaching the Ivy Mountain Battlefield
Site. Furthermore, we think that the Commonwealth of Kentucky should honor its
promise to James Hatcher and build the memorial arch that it promised to build
seventy years ago.