Pound Gap Civil War Memorial

Pound Gap Civil War Memorial

by Joanna Adams Sergent

Last Summer, while we were visiting back home, David and I went to the top of Pine Mountain on US 23.   The Gap is often referred to by the locals as Pound Gap.   There is so much history and so many hidden golden nuggets to be found in the area that David and I thought it would be great to share some of them with everyone.

Everyone is learning about our history and we think that is simply amazing.   The Pound Gap has been associated with several events in its long history…the crossing of Daniel Boone, The Killing Rock Massacre, The Civil War, the building of the improved US 23 highway and its cut through geological discovery.   Many events have been re-discovered and many more may be lying in wait for re-discovery as we speak.

Why is there a Civil War Memorial on top of Jenkins/Pound Mountain?   Well as it turns out this was a hot spot during the Civil War.  Because of the Gap’s easy sloping hills its was thought, by both sides of the conflict that this area would be used as a staging area as well as a path for ease of moving equipment.  Both sides wanted to keep the other side from taking advantage of this naturally occurring site.

There was once a Southern Army Camp consisting of 71 log buildings to hold the area.   President Garfield (then a General) camped out for two weeks where the Jenkins Post Office now stands.   General Garfield ordered that the 71 buildings be taken captive and the buildings being burned down, then left a small regiment to guard the area.   This is one of the few mistakes he made during this war.  General James Hunt Morgan (of the Morgan’s Raiders) later came through this area and met no resistance as they overtook the area once more.

Come with us and discover Eastern Kentucky and Western Virginia as it was and is today.   This is an album of the site that we took while we were there….