Federals and Confederates clash over control of the vital Cumberland Gap on the Confederacy’s fragile defensive line across Kentucky.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Federals and Confederates clash over control of the vital Cumberland Gap on the Confederacy’s fragile defensive line across Kentucky.
A Federal detachment led by a future U.S. president moves to drive Confederates out of southeastern Kentucky.
A former U.S. vice president urges his fellow Kentuckians to resist the Federal occupation of their state.
Confederates strengthen their defense line across Kentucky, as William T. Sherman gives his Federal superiors a gloomy report of affairs in the state.
Confederates form a defense line across Kentucky while Federals open recruitment efforts, thereby ensuring that turmoil in the state will continue.
The Unionist Kentucky legislature demands that Confederates leave the state, but Leonidas Polk refuses unless the Federals do the same.