Kentucky in the American Civil War Kentucky was a border state of key importance in the American Civil War . President Abraham Lincoln recognized the importance of the Commonwealth when he declared " I hope to have God on my side , but I must have Kentucky . " In a September 1861 letter to Orville Browning , Lincoln wrote " I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game . . . . We would as well consent to separation at once , including the surrender of the capital . " Kentucky , being a border state , was among the chief places where the " Brother against brother " scenario was prevalent . Kentucky was officially neutral at the beginning of the war , but after a failed attempt by Confederate General Leonidas Polk to take the state of Kentucky for the Confederacy , the legislature petitioned the Union for assistance , and thereafter became solidly under Union control . Kentucky was the site of fierce battles , such as Mill Springs and Perryville . It was host to such military leaders as Ulysses S . Grant on the Union side , who first encountered serious Confederate gunfire coming from Columbus , Kentucky , and Nathan Bedford Forrest on the Confederate side . Forrest proved to be a scourge to the Union Army in such places as the towns of Sacramento and Paducah , where he conducted guerrilla warfare against Union forces . Kentucky was the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln , his wife Mary Todd , and his southern counterpart , Confederate President Jefferson Davis . Antebellum Kentucky . Kentucky ' s citizens were split regarding the issues central to the Civil War . In 1860 , slaves composed 19 . 5 % of the Commonwealth ' s population , and many Unionist Kentuckians saw nothing wrong with the " peculiar institution " . The Commonwealth was further bound to the South by the Mississippi River and its tributaries , which were the main commercial outlet for her surplus produce , although railroad connections to the North were beginning to diminish the importance of this tie . The ancestors of many Kentuckians hailed from Southern states like Virginia , North Carolina , and Tennessee , but many Kentucky children were beginning to migrate toward the North . Kentucky , along with North Carolina , also boasted the best educational systems in the South . Transylvania University had long been one of the most respected institutions of higher learning in the nation , and while its reputation had begun to fade by 1860 , other Kentucky schools like Centre College and Georgetown College were gaining prominence . Politically , the Commonwealth had produced some of the country ' s best known leaders . Former Vice - Presidents John C . Breckinridge and Richard M . Johnson both hailed from the Bluegrass state , as did Henry Clay and future US president Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis . However , by the time of the Civil War , the Commonwealth was in a politically confused state . The decline of the Whig Party , which Clay had founded , had left many politicians looking for an identity . Many joined the increasingly popular Democratic Party , a few joined the newly formed Republican Party , while still others associated with one of numerous minor parties such as the Know Nothing Party . Kentucky was strategically important to both the North and South . The Commonwealth ranked ninth in population by 1860 , and was a major producer of such agricultural commodities as tobacco , corn , wheat , hemp , and flax . Geographically , she was important to the South because the Ohio River would provide a defensible boundary along the entire length of the state . Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin believed that the rights of the Southern states had been violated and favored the right of secession , but sought all possible avenues to avoid it . On December 9 , 1860 , he sent a letter to the other slave state governors suggesting that they come to an agreement with the North that would include strict enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act , a division of common territories at the 37th parallel , a guarantee of free use of the Mississippi River , and a Southern veto over slave legislation . Magoffin proposed a conference of slave states , followed by a conference of all the states to secure these concessions . Due to the escalating pace of events , neither conference was ever held . Magoffin called a special session of the Kentucky General Assembly on December 27 , 1860 and asked legislators for a convention of Kentuckians to decide the Commonwealth ' s course regarding secession . The majority of the General Assembly had Unionist sympathies , however , and declined the governor ' s request , fearing that the state ' s voters would favor secession . The Assembly did , however , send six delegates to a February 4 Peace Conference in Washington , D . C . , and asked Congress to call a national convention to consider potential resolutions to the secession crisis , including the Crittenden Compromise , authored by Kentuckian John J . Crittenden . When the General Assembly convened again on March 20 , it called for a convention of the border states in the Kentucky capital of Frankfort on May 27 , 1861 . Again , the call went unheeded . Legislators also passed a proposed Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution that would have guaranteed slavery in states where it was already legal . War breaks out . On April 15 , 1861 , President Abraham Lincoln sent a telegram to Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin requesting that the Commonwealth supply part of the initial 75 , 000 troops to put down the rebellion . Magoffin , a Southern sympathizer , replied " President Lincoln , Washington , D . C . I will send not a man nor a dollar for the wicked purpose of subduing my sister Southern states . B . Magoffin " Instead , most Kentuckians favored John J . Crittenden ' s position that the Commonwealth should act as a mediator between the two sides . To that end , both houses of the General Assembly passed declarations of neutrality , a position officially declared by Governor Magoffin on May 20 , 1861 . Both sides respected the Commonwealth ' s neutrality , but positioned themselves strategically to take advantage of any change in the situation . Union forces established Camp Clay in Ohio just north of the city of Newport , Kentucky and Camp Joe Holt in Indiana opposite Louisville , Kentucky . Meanwhile Confederate troops constructed Forts Donelson and Henry just across Kentucky ' s southern border in Tennessee , and stationed troops fewer than 50 yards from Cumberland Gap . Volunteers from the Commonwealth left the state to join up with whichever side they favored . Some covert recruiting also took place . Nearly 60 infantry regiments served in the Union armies versus just 9 in the Confederate . However , a rather large number of cavalry outfits joined the latter . John Breckenridge originally commanded the " Orphan Brigade " of the Army of Tennessee , consisting of the 2nd , 3rd , 4th , 6th , and 9th Kentucky Infantry . The brigade ' s nickname came about allegedly because the soldiers ' home counties were occupied by Union troops for most of the war and they couldn ' t go home to them . Realizing that neutrality was becoming less and less feasible , six prominent Kentuckians met to find some solution for a state caught in the middle of a conflict . Governor Magoffin , John C . Breckinridge , and Richard Hawes represented the states ' rights position , while Crittenden , Archibald Dixon , and S . S . Nicholas advocated the Northern cause . The sextet agreed only to continue the doctrine of neutrality , however , and called for the formation of a five member board to coordinate the Commonwealth ' s defense . The General Assembly created the board on May 24 and vested in it supervision of the state ' s military , a power reserved in the Kentucky Constitution for the governor . The Commonwealth ' s military forces , however , proved to be just as divided as the general populace . The State Guard , under the command of Simon B . Buckner , largely favored the Confederate cause , while the newly formed Home Guard were mostly Unionists . Several close calls almost started a conflict within the state , but Buckner successfully negotiated with Union general George B . McClellan and Tennessee governor Isham Harris to maintain the Commonwealth ' s neutrality through the summer . Elections of 1861 . The tide of public opinion was beginning to turn in Kentucky , however . In a special congressional election held June 20 , 1861 , Unionist candidates won nine of Kentucky ' s ten congressional seats . Confederate sympathizers won only the Jackson Purchase region , which was economically linked to Tennessee by the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers . Seeing imminent defeat at the polls , many Southern Rights Advocates boycotted the election ; the total number of ballots cast was just over half the number that had been cast in the previous year ' s election . Governor Magoffin was dealt a further blow in the August 5 election for state legislators . This election resulted in veto - proof Unionist majorities of 76 – 24 in the House and 27 – 11 in the Senate . From that point forward , most of Magoffin ' s vetoes to protect southern interests were overridden in the General Assembly . After clashing with the Assembly for over a year on even the most trivial issues , Magoffin decided that resignation was his only option . Magoffin ' s lieutenant governor , Linn Boyd , had died in office , and Senate Speaker John Fisk , next in line for the governorship , was not acceptable to Magoffin as a successor . In an intricate plan worked out with the General Assembly , Fisk resigned as speaker and the Senate elevated Magoffin ' s chosen successor , James F . Robinson , to the post . Magoffin then resigned , promoting Robinson to governor , and Fisk was re - elected as Senate Speaker . Almost immediately following the results of the 1861 election , William " Bull " Nelson established Camp Dick Robinson , a Union recruiting camp , in Garrard County . When Crittenden objected to this violation of Kentucky ' s neutrality , Nelson replied , " That a camp of loyal Union men , native Kentuckians , should assemble in camp under the flag of the Union and upon their native soil [ and ] should be a cause of apprehension is something I do not clearly understand . " Governor Magoffin appealed to President Lincoln to close the camp , but he refused . Meanwhile , Confederate volunteers covertly crossed the Tennessee border and massed at Camp Boone , just south of Guthrie . Kentucky ' s fragile neutrality was nearing an end . Neutrality violated . On September 4 , 1861 , Confederate Major General Leonidas Polk violated the Commonwealth ' s neutrality by ordering Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow to occupy Columbus . Columbus was of strategic importance both because it was the terminus of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and because of its position along the Mississippi River . Polk constructed Fort DuRussey in the high bluffs of Columbus , and equipped it with 143 cannons . Polk called the fort " The Gibraltar of the West . " To control traffic along the river , Polk stretched an anchor chain across the river from the bank in Columbus to the opposite bank in Belmont , Missouri . Each link of the chain measured eleven inches long by eight inches wide and weighed twenty pounds . The chain soon broke under its own weight , but Union forces did not learn of this fact until early 1862 . In response to the Confederate invasion , Union Brigadier General Ulysses S . Grant left Cairo , Illinois and entered Paducah , Kentucky on September 6 , which gave the Union control of the northern end of the New Orleans and Ohio Railroad and the mouth of the Tennessee River . Governor Magoffin denounced both sides for violating the Commonwealth ' s neutrality , calling for both sides to withdraw . However , on September 7 , 1861 , the General Assembly passed a resolution ordering the withdrawal of only Confederate forces . Magoffin vetoed the resolution , but both houses overrode the veto , and Magoffin issued the proclamation . The General Assembly ordered the flag of the United States to be raised over the state capitol in Frankfort , declaring its allegiance with the Union . Its neutrality broken , both sides quickly moved to establish advantageous positions in the Commonwealth . Confederate forces under Albert Sidney Johnston formed a line in the southern regions of Kentucky and the northern regions of Tennessee , stretching from Columbus in the west to Cumberland Gap in the east . Johnston dispatched Simon B . Buckner to fortify the middle of the line in Bowling Green . Buckner arrived on September 18 , 1861 and immediately began intensive drill sessions and constructing elaborate defenses in anticipation of a Union strike . So extensive were the fortifications at Bowling Green that a Union officer who later surveyed them commented , " The labor has been immense – their troops cannot be well drilled – their time must have been chiefly spent in hard work , with the axe and spade . " Confederate government . The elected government of Kentucky being decidedly Union , a group of Southern sympathizers began formulating a plan to create a Confederate shadow government for the Commonwealth . Following a preliminary meeting on October 29 , 1861 , delegates from 68 of Kentucky ' s counties met at the Clark House in Russellville , Kentucky on November 18 . The convention passed an ordinance of secession , adopted a new state seal , and elected Scott County native George W . Johnson as governor . Bowling Green , now occupied by General Johnston himself , was designated as the state capital , though the delegates provided that the government could meet anywhere deemed appropriate by the provisional legislative council and governor . Being unable to flesh out a complete constitution and system of laws , the delegates voted that " the Constitution and laws of Kentucky , not inconsistent with the acts of this Convention , and the establishment of this Government , and the laws which may be enacted by the Governor and Council , shall be the laws of this state . " Though President Davis had some reservation about the circumvention of the elected General Assembly in forming the Confederate government , Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10 , 1861 . Kentucky was represented by the central star on the Confederate battle flag . Though it existed throughout the war , Kentucky ' s provisional government had very little effect on the events in the Commonwealth or in the war . When General Johnston abandoned Bowling Green in early 1862 , the government ' s officers traveled with his army , and Governor Johnson was killed in active duty at the Battle of Shiloh . Continuing to travel with the Army of Tennessee , the government re - entered Kentucky during Braxton Bragg ' s campaign in the Commonwealth , but was driven out permanently following the Battle of Perryville . From that time forward , the government existed primarily on paper , and dissolved following the war . Confederate line broken . Many small skirmishes occurred in Kentucky in 1861 , including " Forrest ' s First Fight " at Sacramento , but battles of great military significance did not begin in earnest until 1862 . Battle of Mill Springs . In January 1862 , Union General George H . Thomas began to advance on George B . Crittenden ' s position at Mill Springs . In rainy conditions , Thomas ' army moved slowly , and Crittenden advanced to meet them before they could be reinforced by forces from nearby Somerset . The battle commenced on January 19 , 1862 , and favored Crittenden ' s forces early on . However , in the confusion caused by the rain and fog , Felix Zollicoffer , commander of Crittenden ' s First Brigade , rode into the midst of the Union forces . A Confederate officer galloped in , yelling at Zollicoffer to inform him of his mistake . Upon being identified , Zollicoffer was shot out of the saddle and killed , disheartening the Confederates and turning the tide of the battle . Thomas ' reinforcements arrived , and Crittenden ' s forces were forced to retreat across the flooded Cumberland River . Many drowned in the process , and Crittenden was given the blame for the debacle . Forts Henry and Donelson . General Johnston learned of Crittenden ' s defeat at Mill Springs through an account of the battle printed in a Louisville newspaper . However , he had larger concerns , as Ulysses S . Grant was advancing down the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers toward Forts Henry and Donelson . Union ironclads routed the Confederate river gunboats on the Mississippi River during the Battle of Lucas Bend on January 11 , forcing them back to Columbus . Following Grant ' s victory at the Battle of Belmont , General Polk had anticipated that Union forces would target the Mississippi River and attack Columbus , and had withdrawn most of his forces to that location . Lloyd Tilghman was left to defend Fort Henry with fewer than 3 , 000 men . Union troops began their assault on the fort on February 5 , 1862 , and Tilghman surrendered the following day . General Johnston countered by ordering Pillow , Buckner , and John B . Floyd to the defense of Fort Donelson . None of the three was specifically given command , a decision that would prove costly . Grant arrived at Donelson on February 13 , and found himself outnumbered by some 3 , 000 troops . Floyd failed to capitalize on his advantage , however , and Grant was reinforced the next day . On February 15 , the Confederates had nearly cleared an escape route to Nashville , but arguments among the generals delayed the retreat . Floyd seized a steamboat and used it to evacuate his forces , while Pillow fled in a rowboat . Buckner , left alone in command , proposed a cease - fire to Grant while terms of surrender were negotiated . Grant ' s reply – that only " an unconditional and immediate surrender " could be accepted – made him a hero in Union eyes , and earned him the nickname " Unconditional Surrender " Grant . Confederate withdrawal . The collapse of Forts Henry and Donelson made Polk ' s position at Columbus untenable ; the Confederates were forced to abandon " The Gibraltar of the West . " His line shattered , Johnston abandoned Bowling Green on February 11 , 1862 , retreating first to Nashville , then further south to join P . G . T . Beauregard and Braxton Bragg at Corinth , Mississippi . Cumberland Gap , the final piece of Johnston ' s line , finally fell to Union forces in June 1862 . Morgan ' s first raids . Almost immediately following the Confederate withdrawal from Kentucky , General John Hunt Morgan began the first of his raids into the Bluegrass state . In May 1862 , Morgan ' s riders captured two Union trains at Cave City , but his apparent goal was to agitate Union forces ; he paroled everyone aboard , returned one of the trains , and sent the occupants back to Louisville . This move accomplished little except to embolden Morgan for a more extensive raid in July . On July 4 , 1862 , Morgan and his men left Knoxville , Tennessee and captured Tompkinsville five days later . After a brief stop in Glasgow , where many of Morgan ' s troops were from , they continued to Lebanon , capturing it on July 12 . From there , the cavalry stopped in Harrodsburg and Georgetown , and upon seeing that Lexington was too heavily fortified , turned their attention to the town of Cynthiana . Morgan was again victorious at Cynthiana , but with Union reinforcements closing in on him , he paroled all the captured soldiers from the battle and rode to Paris . On their exit from the Commonwealth , the cavalry picked up 50 recruits at Richmond . They also stopped in Somerset , where Morgan instructed his telegrapher , George " Lightning " Ellsworth to send taunting messages to General Jeremiah Boyle and publisher George Prentice . At the completion of his escape through the Commonwealth , Morgan claimed to have captured and paroled 1 , 200 enemy soldiers , recruited 300 men and acquired several hundred horses for his cavalry , used or destroyed supplies in seventeen towns , and incurred fewer than 100 casualties . Smith and Bragg advance . Morgan ' s exploits encouraged Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith to move on Kentucky . After conferring with General Braxton Bragg at Chattanooga , Smith moved to drive George W . Morgan from Cumberland Gap in August 1862 . Both generals understood that Smith would capture Cumberland Gap , then join Bragg in Middle Tennessee . When the two armies met , Bragg would command the combined force against Don Carlos Buell in Nashville . Once Nashville was captured , Bragg and Smith would commence an invasion of Kentucky . As the battle at Cumberland Gap wore on , Morgan refused to retreat or surrender his position . Thinking an invasion of Kentucky was preferable to a long siege on the Gap , Smith left a detachment to handle Morgan and proceeded toward Lexington , abandoning the plan to join Bragg and capture Nashville . The move forced Bragg ' s hand , and he too entered Kentucky on August 28 . As Smith progressed toward Lexington , Indiana governor Oliver P . Morton decided that Governor Robinson was doing too little to support the Union cause . He dispatched regiments across the Ohio into Louisville , and considered himself governor of both Indiana and Kentucky . Battle of Richmond . Upon learning of Smith ' s advance into Kentucky , General " Bull " Nelson prepared to engage the invading army at the Kentucky River to take advantage of the better terrain , but delayed the engagement so that more reinforcements could arrive . He ordered the brigades under Mahlon Manson and Charles Cruft not to attack Smith , but to withdraw to Lexington , but the orders either were not delivered in time , or they were ignored . After some preliminary skirmishes , Smith ' s army met Mahlon ' s brigade at Richmond , Kentucky on August 30 . Smith ' s more experienced troops broke the center of the Union line , and Mahlon fell back to Richmond Cemetery . By the afternoon , General Nelson arrived and tried to rally the troops . Riding along the front of the Union line , the portly Nelson exclaimed , " Boys , if they can ' t hit me , they can ' t hit a barn door ! " Unfortunately for Nelson , he was soon hit twice by Confederate gunfire . Though Nelson was seriously wounded , he escaped the battle as Confederate cavalry moved to cut off the Union retreat . He left behind 206 killed , 844 wounded , and 4 , 303 missing . With only 98 killed , 492 wounded , and 10 missing , Smith had won one of the most complete Confederate victories of the entire war . Battle of Munfordville . While Smith was continuing on to Lexington , Bragg was just entering Kentucky , having delayed at Chattanooga until August 28 . Bragg was told that there were ample supplies in the Glasgow area , but upon learning that Bragg had entered Kentucky , Buell left George Thomas to guard Nashville and moved the rest of his army to heavily - fortified Bowling Green . Meanwhile , Smith had dispatched Colonel John Scott to look for Bragg . On the night of September 13 , Scott encountered John T . Wilder at Munfordville , and demanded his surrender . Scott requested the aid of James Chalmers ' Mississippi brigade , which moved to support Scott throughout the night . The assault commenced the next morning , and though outnumbered , Scott ' s forces inflicted more than 200 casualties in the early fighting . At 9 : 30 AM , Chalmers tried to intimidate Wilder into surrender , sending a flag of truce with the message , " You have made a gallant defense of your position , and to avoid further bloodshed I demand an unconditional surrender of your forces . I have six regiments of infantry , one battalion of infantry sharpshooters , and have just been reinforced by a brigade of cavalry , under Colonel Scott , with two battalions of infantry . " Upon receiving this message , Wilder replied " Thank you for your compliments . If you wish to avoid further bloodshed , keep out of the reach of my guns . " Wilder was soon reinforced by Colonel Cyrus L . Dunham , who brought a force of 4 , 000 men . Scott and Chalmers sought assistance from Bragg ' s main army . Bragg was incensed , but arrived the next day to take charge of the battle . Bragg deployed forces under William J . Hardee and Leonidas Polk to surround the town , delaying his assault until September 17 . Bragg sent another request for the force ' s surrender . At a council of war , Wilder made an unusual request of Bragg ' s subordinate , Simon B . Buckner – that he be allowed to inspect the forces that now surrounded him to determine whether surrender were the correct course of action . Delighted by this supreme compliment , Buckner obliged , and after surveying the Confederate line , Wilder surrendered . Wilder ' s force of some 4 , 000 men was paroled and directed to Bowling Green , where Bragg hoped they would be a drain on Buell ' s supplies . The delay caused by the Confederate victory at Munfordville may well have cost them a much more important prize – Louisville . Inauguration of Governor Hawes . While Bragg rested his troops and planned his next move , Buell marched north from Bowling Green and arrived in Louisville on September 25 . Seeing his primary objective fallen into Union hands , Bragg turned to Bardstown , where he had expected to meet Smith . Smith was actually operating independently near Frankfort , and Bragg , now painfully aware that the lack of cooperation with Smith might prove the Confederates ' undoing in Kentucky , began to disperse his troops into defensive postures at Bardstown , Shelbyville , and Danville . Both Bragg and Smith had been disappointed with the number of volunteers from Kentucky . Wagonloads of rifles had been sent to the Commonwealth to equip the anticipated recruits , but although Confederate sympathies were high , willing volunteers were not , and many of the rifles remained on the wagons . Bragg hoped to rally potential recruits by installing Richard Hawes , governor of Kentucky ' s Confederate shadow government , in an inauguration ceremony in Frankfort . The elected government fled to Louisville just before the Confederates arrived in Frankfort . The ceremony took place on October 4 , 1862 . First , Bragg addressed the assembled partisan crowd , promising to defend the Commonwealth . Then Hawes , who had taken the oath of office months earlier while traveling with Bragg ' s Army of Tennessee , delivered a lengthy inaugural address . He told the crowd that the provisional government would " institute as far as possible such civil institutions , as will protect persons and property , until the people in their sovereign capacity can establish a permanent Government founded on the will of the majority . " The promises made by Bragg and Hawes were short - lived . Before the inaugural ball could be held , Buell ' s forces had descended on the state capital , firing artillery shells that shattered the jovial atmosphere and put the Confederate forces to flight . Bragg had sorely underestimated Buell ' s ability to make a rapid advance on his position . While preparations were being made for Hawes ' inauguration , Buell was already forcing the Confederate army from Shelbyville . Bragg ordered Leonidas Polk from Bardstown to attack Buell ' s flank , but Polk was already under attack and retreating to Bryantsville . Bragg began a retreat from Frankfort to Harrodsburg to regroup with Polk . Meanwhile , Smith prepared to defend Lexington , where he assumed the bulk of Buell ' s force would be directed . Battle of Perryville . By October 7 , Polk ' s forces had fallen back to the town of Perryville . The dry summer of 1862 had left water in short supply , and when the Union troops learned of water in Perryville ' s Doctor ' s Creek , they began to move on the Confederate position . Bragg shared Smith ' s assumption that the bulk of the Union attack would be directed at Lexington and Frankfort , and ordered Polk ' s forces to attack and destroy the approaching Union force before proceeding to Versailles to meet Smith . The Confederate soldiers in Perryville , however , realized that a much larger force was approaching , and assumed a defensive posture . In fact , Buell , Charles Champion Gilbert , Alexander McCook , and Thomas Crittenden were all approaching Perryville . The Confederates were not the only ones to misjudge the situation , however . When Bragg learned that his men had not attacked as ordered , he came to Perryville himself to lead the attack . In realigning to an attack posture , the Confederates stirred such a cloud of dust that the approaching Union force believed they were retreating to Harrodsburg . This gave Bragg ' s men the advantage of surprise when they opened fire on McCook ' s forces at 2 PM on October 8 . While McCook was being pushed back on the left flank , the Union center held strong until the right flank began to collapse . It was not until late afternoon that Buell learned of McCook ' s plight , whereupon he sent two brigades from Gilbert ' s corps to reinforce him . This halted the Confederate advance on McCook north of Perryville . Meanwhile , small Confederate brigades encountered Gilbert ' s force of 20 , 000 men to the west and Crittenden ' s force , also 20 , 000 strong , to the south . Only then did Bragg realize that he was facing Buell ' s main force , and that he was vastly outnumbered . As night approached and halted the battle , Bragg conferred with his officers and decided to retreat to Harrodsburg to meet Smith . From Harrodsburg , the Confederates exited Kentucky through Cumberland Gap . For the remainder of the war , there would be no concerted efforts by the Confederacy to hold Kentucky . On December 17 , 1862 , under the terms of General Order No . 11 , thirty Jewish families , longtime residents all , were forced from their homes . Cesar Kaskel , a prominent local Jewish businessman , dispatched a telegram to President Lincoln , and met with him , eventually succeeding in getting the order revoked . Morgan strikes again . His inability to engage Bragg and Smith on their retreat from Kentucky led to Buell being replaced by General William Rosecrans . Rosecrans encamped at Nashville during the fall and early winter of 1862 . Believing that Rosecrans would begin a campaign as soon as sufficient supplies were accumluated , Bragg dispatched John Hunt Morgan back into Kentucky in December 1862 to cut the supply line afforded Rosecrans by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad . The Christmas Raid . Morgan ' s men crossed into Kentucky on December 22 and captured a Union supply wagon bound for Glasgow . On Christmas Day , Morgan ' s men rode through Glasgow , bound for Bacon Creek Station and the L & N bridge span . After quelling the stiff Union resistance , Morgan ' s men destroyed the bridge and several miles of railroad track . Whatever else might happen , they had succeeded in disrupting Rosecrans ' supply line . From Bacon Creek , Morgan rode to Elizabethtown , arriving on December 27 . The Union commander , Colonel H . S . Smith , demanded Morgan ' s surrender , but Morgan turned the tables , surrounded Smith , and , after a short skirmish , accepted his surrender . Again , Morgan destroyed the L & N infrastructure in the area , then began planning an escape back to Tennessee . Colonel John M . Harlan ' s artillery shelled Morgan ' s force as it crossed the Rolling Fork River on December 29 , seriously wounding First Brigade commander Basil W . Duke . Duke was taken to Bardstown for medical treatment , however , and recovered in time to rejoin the Confederate retreat the next day . Freezing rain plagued Morgan ' s men as they encamped at Springfield on the night of December 30 . Worse yet , scouts reported a massive Union force concentrated nine miles away at Lebanon . With Frank Wolford ' s men moving on his position , Morgan made the difficult decision to move out just after midnight in ever - worsening weather . He ordered a few companies to create a diversion , feigning an attack on Lebanon and burning fence rails to give the appearance of campfires , while the main body of his force continued to Campbellsville . The plan worked , and following a march that many described as their most miserable night of the war , Morgan ' s men arrived safely in Campbellsville on New Year ' s Eve and captured some welcome supplies . The following day , they proceeded through Columbia , and returned to Tennessee on January 3 . Morgan crosses the Ohio . Following the Christmas Raid , there were only minor incursions into Kentucky by various units under Roy Cluke , John Pegram , Humphrey Marshall , among others . Frustrated Union commanders could only react to these unpredictable raids . Morgan would soon do them a favor , however , by raising the visibility of his next raid . It was widely reported that since his December 1862 marriage , Morgan had lost some of his bravado . Morgan , eager to dispel such rumors and weary of guarding Bragg ' s left flank , proposed a raid through Kentucky and across the Ohio River . Bragg , fearing an attack from Rosecrans , welcomed the idea of a distraction that would take the pressure off his Army of Tennessee . Morgan gathered his men to an area between Liberty and Alexandria , Tennessee . On June 10 , he addressed his unit , telling them that Bragg had sanctioned a raid to Louisville , and if conditions permitted , across the Ohio River into Indiana and possibly Ohio . He confided Bragg ' s true orders – to halt at the Ohio River – only to trusted confidant Basil Duke . The raid was delayed by orders to intercept a Union raiding party moving on Knoxville , Tennessee , but after three miserable weeks of floundering through muddy conditions , Morgan ' s men still had not located the enemy . They finally began entering Kentucky on July 2 , 1863 . Two days later , Morgan engaged Colonel Orlando Moore ' s forces at Tebb ' s Bend , a bridge crossing the Green River near Campbellsville . As was his custom , Morgan demanded an unconditional surrender , but Moore , noting that this was Independence Day , replied " It is a bad day for surrender , and I would rather not . " Moore ' s forces won the day , and Morgan , having suffered 71 casualties , decided to bypass the bridge . Morgan again encountered resistance at Lebanon where , despite the Confederate victory , his nineteen - year - old brother Tom was killed . From Lebanon , Morgan ' s men made haste through Springfield toward Bardstown , where they learned that Union soldiers were less than a day behind , and that Louisville was already bracing for another attack . Morgan had the advantage of surprise , however , having selected Brandenburg as his target instead . He sent an advance detachment to make preparations for crossing the Ohio , and on July 7 , they captured two steamboats , the " John B . McCombs " and the " Alice Dean " . By midnight , all of Morgan ' s men were on Indiana soil . Over the next few weeks , Morgan rode along the course of the Ohio River , raiding Indiana and Ohio . On July 19 , Federal forces captured Duke and 700 of Morgan ' s men , but Morgan escaped with 1 , 100 others . Union pursuit was heavy , and Morgan lost exhausted men daily , his command dwindling to 363 men by the time he surrendered on July 26 , 1863 . Morgan was taken to a penitentiary in Columbus , Ohio , but escaped with several of his officers in November 1863 . Despite the threat of a court martial from Bragg for disobeying orders , the Confederacy so desperately needed leaders that Morgan was restored to his command position . Forrest raids Paducah . Following Morgan ' s capture in the summer of 1863 , there were no major engagements fought in Kentucky until spring of 1864 . Portions of three infantry regiments from Bragg ' s army had requested to reorganize as a mounted infantry under Abraham Buford , but the Confederacy had no horses to supply them . In response , Nathan Bedford Forrest , who had been operating in Mississippi , began to organize a raid on western Tennessee and Kentucky . Besides obtaining mounts for the mounted - infantry - to - be , Forrest intended to disrupt Union supply lines , obtain general provisions for Confederate forces , and discourage enlistment of blacks in Kentucky into the Union army . On March 25 , 1864 , Forrest commenced his attack . He met Colonel Stephen G . Hicks at Fort Anderson and demanded an unconditional surrender . Knowing that Forrest ' s main objectives were to obtain supplies and horses , Hicks declined . For the most part , Hicks was right in his assumption that Forrest would not assault the fort , but Confederate colonel Albert P . Thompson , a native of the area , did briefly attempt to capture it before being killed with 24 men from his unit . Forrest held the city for ten hours , destroying the Union headquarters , as well as the buildings housing the quartermaster and commissary . Forrest also captured a total of 200 horses and mules before withdrawing to Mayfield . Following the raid , Forrest granted furlough to the Kentuckians under his command so they could secure better clothing and mounts . As agreed , every man reported back to Trenton , Tennessee on April 4 . Unionist newspapers bragged after the raid that Union forces had hidden the best horses in the area and that Forrest had only captured horses stolen from private citizens . Furious , Forrest ordered Buford back into Kentucky . Buford ' s men arrived on April 14 , forced Hicks back into the fort , and captured an additional 140 horses in the foundry , exactly where the newspaper reports had placed them . They then rejoined Forrest in Tennessee . The raid was not only successful in terms of gaining additional mounts , but provided a diversion for Forrest ' s attack on Fort Pillow , Tennessee . 1864 - 1865 : Military rule . In response to the growing problem of guerrilla campaigns throughout 1863 and 1864 , in June 1864 , Maj . Gen . Stephen G . Burbridge was given command over the state of Kentucky . This began an extended period of military control that would last through early 1865 , beginning with martial law authorized by President Abraham Lincoln . To pacify Kentucky , Burbridge rigorously suppressed disloyalty and used economic pressure as coercion . His guerrilla policy , which included public execution of four guerrillas for the death of each unarmed Union citizen , caused the most controversy . After a falling out with Governor Thomas E . Bramlette , Burbridge was dismissed in February 1865 . Confederates remembered him as the " Butcher of Kentucky " . - - - -