While all the border slave states were important to the survival of the Union, President Lincoln early in the Civil War said of Kentucky, "I think that to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game." Michael Willever provides an interesting glimpse of four days, October 4th through October 7th, 1862, when the military contest in Kentucky might have decided the issue.
This is not a novel about the fighting men of either just the North or South - but of both. We are guided through the ebb and flow of the contest for Kentucky through the eyes of several leaders, three northern and four southern, during the four days preceding the crucial Battle of Perryville.
In response to President Lincoln's initial call for troops, Kentucky's Governor Magoffin replied, "Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States." But, contrary to what one might have expected, that state's leaders also chose not to leave the Union. Instead, they declared their neutrality in the developing conflict.
In response, the governments in both Washington and Richmond announced their intentions to honor Kentucky's decision to remain neutral. This did not prove to be the case for very long.
Immediately, representatives of the Federal government began to recruit regiments from within Kentucky. In addition, contracts with Kentucky citizens were secured for supplies for Union forces. In response and to gain a significant military advantage, Confederate forces under General Leonidas Polk openly invaded the state on May 3rd, 1861, and occupied Columbus on the Mississippi. Two days later Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant entered Paducah on the Ohio.
The Kentucky governor then asked Union General Robert Anderson to expel the southern forces from the state. This was all the excuse Washington needed to tighten its hold on all territory it controlled in the state. Military occupation forces began to arrest and jail anyone thought to be disloyal to the Union. And so it went.
But in the fall of 1862, the Confederates planned to invade Kentucky with the Army of the Mississippi under General Braxton Bragg. Facing this threat were the Union forces under General Martin.
Thus began the conflict that is the primary subject of this novel. Both leaders directed other officers who actively commanded troops in the field. For the North we see General Phil Sheridan as a tough field officer concerned for the well-being of his men. In General Patrick Cleburne of the Army of the Mississippi we see an engaging officer who is not afraid to lead boldly.
The author reveals military strategies, disagreements, successes and failures through conversations he attributes to these central characters and members of their respective staffs. It is most entertaining. However, the absence of maps throughout the text makes it difficult to follow the contest. Nevertheless, the author paints an interesting and believable explanation of what happened in Kentucky during those four critical days of October 1862.
Reviewer Dr. Michael J. Deeb is the author of Duty and Honor.
