Edmund Kirby Smith begins the Confederate incursion into Kentucky as the political turmoil in that state continues.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Edmund Kirby Smith begins the Confederate incursion into Kentucky as the political turmoil in that state continues.
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.
Kentucky’s neutrality, which had been in question for several months, officially ends with the Confederate occupation of Columbus.
The recruitment of Federal troops in Kentucky threatens the state’s delicate neutrality.
Pro-Confederate Kentuckians boycott an election that results in Unionist candidates winning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.