Battery Rock

United States historic place


Battery Rock
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Battery Rock from its base
37°31′48″N 88°4′49″W / 37.53000°N 88.08028°W / 37.53000; -88.08028
Area	33.5 acres (13.6 ha)
MPS	Caught in the Middle: The Civil War on the Lower Ohio River MPS
NRHP reference No.	98001257^[1]
Added to NRHP	November 5, 1998

Battery Rock is a limestone bluff located at Mile 860 of the Ohio River in Hardin County, Illinois, across from Caseyville, Kentucky. The bluff is a prominent navigational landmark along the river.^[2]

The site played a role in several conflicts during the Civil War. In 1862, the Union Army based its troops at Battery Rock during a standoff with Confederate troops at Caseyville; the standoff ended when the Union troops moved to Caseyville, found that the Confederates had left the town, and punished the rebellious residents. The bluff also played a role in Confederate general Stovepipe Johnson's attack on riverboats in 1864. During the attack, boats used the landing at Battery Rock as a safe harbor and a place to monitor the situation. In addition, two Union recruiters from Kentucky used the bluff as a recruiting station in 1864, and either a Union garrison or a local defense force placed two cannons at the site; graffiti left by an Indiana regiment has also been found at the site.^[2]

The bluff was used as a filming location for the film How the West Was Won in the 1960s.^[2]

Battery Rock was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 5, 1998.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jacobsen, James E. (June 14, 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Battery Rock" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.