Customer Reviews

The Civil War in Kentucky

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This is where brother literally did battle against brother. Kentucky is called a border state (although it is a Commonwealth and not technically a state). As such, they fielded armies for both sides and while their Yankee troops were ruthless and effective, such Rebel outfits as Morgan's Raiders redefined military strategy.

Hard to miss with this wealth of interesting history.

The strongest aspect of this work are the battle essays. Most of the work covers either the early defense of Kentucky by Confederate forces in the winter/spring of '61/62 and the combined invasion of Bragg and Kirby-Smith during fall 1862. The final essay by the editor on the Confederate orphan brigade was moving mostly due to the enormous loses suffered by these Kentucky troops. James Ramage's essay on John Hunt Morgan's raid was disappointing, while Wiley Sword's work on Patrick Cleburne who was not a Kentuckian hardly seemed relevant to the other works. If would have been nice to have seen works on guerrilla warfare, the home-front, slavery in Kentucky, Appalachian Kentucky during the war, or a number of other small raids, but mostly this is a solid work.

Kentucky even though it was south of the Mason Dixon Line it was a border state. They felt the pain where their families were torn apart. Kentucky wanted to remain neutral but Mill Springs on the Cumberland River was the first win on the Union's Western Campaign. Bragg and Buell marched their armies around Kentucky and met in Perryville where there were eight thousand casualties. Bragg leaves the state but John Hunt Morgan, whose mother was a Hunt from Alabama, continued to terrorize our state with his raids. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"