During his first sortie of the Civil War, Confederate Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest was raiding western Kentucky hoping to obtain horses, supplies, and recruits. On 27 December 1861, a young female Southern sympathizer informed him that Major Murray's U.S. cavalry regiment was occupying Sacramento in McLean county. Forrest attacked at a full gallop and quickly routed them. Forrest pursued them in a running battle that covered over five miles.

Louisville Kentucky Weather
27 December 1861
During the
Battle of Sacramento

The previous day had an overcast sky that accompanied the 0.21 inch rain and produced an afternoon high of 63°F. An apparent cold front had passed because the sky was clear as E.N. Woodruff, a Druggist in Louisville in Jefferson county, made his 7 a.m. observations this Friday (27 December). The temperature had fallen during the night to 21°F with a gentle breeze from the west. The barometric pressure was 30.084 inches and rising and the relative humidity was 80%. By 2 p.m., the temperature reached only 31°F under a clear sky, the gentle winds continued from the west, relative humidity had fallen to 52%, and the barometer was 30.086 inches. To the west at Sacramento, the sunshine must have flashed from the cavalry's sabres during the battle.