The Chicago Civil War Round Table visited the Mill Springs Battlefield as part of their 59th annual.The groups’ 2009 tour was centered on “Kentucky & Lincoln”.  Headquartered in the Campbell House in Lexington, the Round Table visited various historically significant places in Kentucky, during the last weekend in April.  Some of the places included: Perryville Battlefield, Wildcat Mountain, Lincoln’s Birthplace, Richmond Battlefield and Mill Springs Battlefield.

The Round Table’s tour was attended by 90 people from the Chicago area and other interested members from as far away as Denver, Colorado.  Noted Historian Ed Bearss, lead the group through the rough terrain of the Mill Springs Battlefield on Friday, April 24, 2009.  Mr. Bearss retired as a chief historian for the National Park Service and now gives battlefield tours for various Civil War roundtables, and other tour groups. Bearss is also  responsible for placing the Mill Springs Battlefield on the list of the 25 most endangered Civil War Battlefields which has resulted in the Mill Springs Battlefield Association qualifying for various grants from the American Battlefield Protection Program National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.

Round Table members were complimentary of the MSBA for the interpretation and the upkeep of the battlefield.  “Mill Springs was one of the most important battles of the early part of the Civil War,” said Bearss, “It was the first victory of any significance in the Western Theatre of the Civil War and the first breech of the Southern Defensive line.”