Felix Kirk Zollicoffer, Confederate general, was born in Maury County, Tennessee, on May 19, 1812. Starting in the newspaper printing business at age sixteen, he rose to prominence as editor of several influential papers and journals, including the Nashville Republican Banner. He served as a lieutenant in the Second Seminole War in 1836, then as comptroller of the Tennessee state treasury (1845-49), state senator (1849-52), and member of the U.S. Congress from 1853 to 1859. A powerful Whig politician, Zollicoffer was highly instrumental in carrying the state of Tennessee for the Whig candidate for president, Winfield Scott, in 1852. A strong advocate of states' rights, he hoped for compromise in the sectional struggle, supported John Bell for president in 1860, and was a member of the Washington Peace Conference in 1861.

Appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate Army July 9, 1861, Zollicoffer was sent to strongly pro-Union east Tennessee. On September 9, 1861, he advanced into Kentucky and later fortified the Cumberland Gap . On September 19 his troops engaged the Home Guard s at Barbourville. Zollicoffer participated in the unsuccessful battle of Wildcat Mountain on October 21 and then withdrew to Cumberland Ford . On November 29 he moved his army to Mill Springs and camped on the south side of the Cumberland River . Against the advice of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston , and in advance of the arrival of his immediate superior, Maj. Gen. George B. Crittenden, Zollicoffer moved his army to the north side of the Cumberland River near Somerset, Kentucky, in December 1861, and prepared for winter encampment.

With the approach of Union troops under Brig. Gen. George H. Thomas, Crittenden faced the choice of withdrawing Zollicoffer's army back across the Cumberland River from its poor position or advancing to engage the Union armybefore reinforcements joined Thomas's troops. On January 19, 1862, Crittenden engaged the Union troops at Mill Springs at dawn in a surprise attack . In a foggy rain, the nearsighted Zollicoffer rode into a Federal unit that day and was killed; his military career ended too early for any real appraisal of his talents. Zollicoffer was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Nashville.

C. David Dalton, "Zollicoffer, Crittenden, and the Mill Springs Campaign: Some Persistent Questions," FCHQ 60 (Oct. 1986): 463-71

Raymond E. Myers, The Zollie Tree (Louisville 1964).

D. WARREN LAMBERT
Entry Author

In the print edition this entry appears on page 975