Fort Allen (New Haven, LaRue County, Kentucky)
New Haven, LaRue County · Kentucky · Civil War
History & Significance
Fort Allen was a Union fortification named for Captain John K. Allen of the 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment, who led its construction in the strategic corridor between Louisville and Nashville. The fortification, occupied from 1862 to 1864, protected the railroad bridge across the Rolling Fork River.
The stockade gained military prominence on December 30, 1862, during the Battle of New Haven, when three companies from William C. P. Breckinridge's Ninth Kentucky Cavalry, with a 12-pound mountain howitzer, attacked the Federal garrison. After a 90-minute skirmish, the Confederate force withdrew; the Union suffered no casualties and the howitzer did not damage the fort.
Following the successful defense, the 78th Illinois was transferred south in January 1863 and replaced by the 63rd Indiana Infantry, who in turn were transferred to Camp Nelson in January 1864 and replaced by the 33rd Kentucky Infantry. After the fort was abandoned in April 1864, its military buildings were burned on September 19, 1864, by guerrilla Henry C. Magruder. The New Haven Battlefield Site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 8, 2004.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Civil War–era Union stockade ruins with original log construction footprint
- Site of successful 1862 defense against Confederate Morgan's Christmas Raid
- Central brick cooking furnace still visible among remains
- Rural Kentucky landscape reflecting the fort's remote defensive position
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven_Battlefield_Site
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=236706
- https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/kywest.html
- https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/e07c377e-a05c-40aa-afc3-ced1b19b9666
- https://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/news-polls-surveys/civil-war-preservation/4165-new-haven-battlefield-site-added-to-the-nrhp
- https://www.westerntheatercivilwar.com/post/morgan-s-second-kentucky-raid-the-skirmish-at-new-haven