Advance To Kingstown

Advance To Kingstown. August 30, 1862. General Patrick Cleburne's two brigades encamped at Bobtown the night of August 29. At approximately 4:30 on the morning of August 30 a Confederate cavalry screen led by Captain William L. Garriott [sometimes called Garnett] of the Kentucky Buckner Guards rode north along the Old State Road. Col. Benjamin Hill's Infantry, which had been in line of battle all night, followed. Hill's brigade pushed toward Kingston, some two miles north. Preston Smith's brigade followed 500 yards behind., The Confederate cavalry encountered Union pickets just north of Kingston at the intersection of the Irvine-Lancaster Pike (present-day US 421 and Crooksville Road). Capt. Garriott's men exchanged fire with the pickets, who quickly retreated toward Mt. Zion Church. When Capt. Garriott arrived at the intersection he saw Union infantry deploying near the small redbrick church. He quickly sent word back to Gen. Cleburne, who hurried his two brigades forward. Cleburne deployed his artillery and began firing on the Union line near Mt Zion Church., The Battle of Richmond had begun.