Earlington

Earlington is a city in Hopkins County, Kentucky. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 1,649. It was founded in 1870 around the area coal fields.

Earlington in Southern Victory
In 1943 the U.S. Army had crossed the Ohio River and advanced on Earlington. As it advanced, Army Engineers dynamited the entrances to area coal mines to deny their use to the enemy if U.S. forces were driven back.

Behind the advancing front, Confederate civilians engaged in "bushwhacking" U.S. troops. The U.S. retaliated by taking hostages and executing them if the "francs-tireurs" didn't surrender. During a lull in fighting outside Earlington, Captain Wilbur Pease crossed U.S. lines under a white flag to investigate such atrocities.