First Battle of Lexington - Preparing For The Final Assault

Preparing For The Final Assault

On September 19, the State Guard consolidated its positions, kept the Federals under heavy artillery fire, and prepared for their final attack. One problem faced by the defenders was a chronic lack of water; wells within the Union lines had gone dry, and State Guard sharpshooters were able to cover a nearby spring, picking off any man who endeavored to approach it. Surmising that a woman might succeed where his men had failed, Mulligan sent a female to the spring. Price's troops held their fire, and even permitted her to take a few canteens of water back to the beleaguered Federals. This tiny gesture, however, could not solve the ever-increasing crisis of thirst among the Union garrison, which would contribute to their ultimate undoing.

General Price had established his headquarters in Lexington in a bank building at 926 Main Street on September 18, 1861, located across the street from the Lafayette County Courthouse. During the Battle of Lexington, Price directed State Guard operations from a room on the second floor. On the following day a cannon ball, probably fired from Captain Hiram Bledsoe’s State Guard Battery, struck the courthouse only about one hundred yards from General Price’s headquarters. This projectile remains lodged in the structure's far left column to this day, and has become a local tourist attraction.

On the evening of September 19, soldiers of Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Harris's 2nd Division (State Guard) began using hemp bales seized from nearby warehouses to construct a moveable breastwork facing the Union entrenchment. These bales were all soaked in river water overnight, to render them impervious to any heated rounds fired from the Federal guns. Harris's plan was for his troops to roll the bales up the hill the following day, using them for cover as they advanced close enough to the Union garrison for a final charge. The hemp bale line started in the vicinity of the Anderson house, extending north along the hillside for about 200 yards. In many places the hemp bales were stacked two high to provide additional protection.