Calling a skirmish a battle is like calling a boat a ship.

Words to explain events, and using the right ones help us understand what really happened. For example, in terms of scale, we call the military conflict at Perryville a battle. On October 8, 1862, over 50,000 officers and men from both sides participated in the fighting there; killed, wounded and captured that day numbering in the thousands. Several hundred regiments, battalions and batteries were involved, the Official Records having reports for nearly all on them.

In contrast, on October 4, 1862, perhaps a thousand officers and men from both sides fought near Bardstown. Three Federal cavalry regiments were involved; Confederate forces included two full cavalry regiments, a cavalry battalion and part of a third cavalry regiment. General Thomas mentions about twenty killed and wounded on the Federal side, with a considerable number captured. Confederate accounts mention perhaps eight wounded, one men later dying of wounds. An undetermined number of Confederates were captured. No reports of the skirmish at Bardstown were ever published.

Anyone aspiring to give an account of any event should tell the truth as the understand it. A key element in truth-telling is using the right words. Using wrong words, especially when there's no factual support behind them, makes it more difficult to know what really happened. Also, when other people discover words are being used that don't belong with the event, they tend to question and even discount the rest of the account. It would be sad for people to see the word "Battle" on your proposed marker and decide that the accompanying narrative is out of proportion to what really occured.

Dr. Hafendorfer's book, They Died by Twos and Tens: The Confederate Cavalry in the Kentucky Campaign of 1862, is a history of skirmishes. He documents well over a hundred military actions in great detail which would otherwise be forgotten. I spent fifty dollars plus tax to buy this book, one of the most expensive books I own. Because I believe skirmishes like these to be important, the money was well spent. I also believe the fighting at Bardstown isn't of less importance because it was a skirmish. I hope you understand my intent here.