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"THE CIVIL WAR IN KENTUCKY"
BY
LOWELL H. HARRISON
The Civil War brought Kentucky few full-scale battles. The scene was mostly one of crossroad skirmishes and guerilla terror, of quick incursions against specific targets and equally quick withdrawals. Yet Kentucky was crucial to the military strategy of the war for either side.
This account of the war in Kentucky reveals the political temper that made the military situation almost inevitable. The state - along with many of its institutions, many of its families - was hopelessly divided against itself. It was also divided against its neighbors: the fiercest partisans of the South tended to be doubtful about the wisdom of secession, and the staunchest Union men questioned the legality of many government measures.
What this division meant militarily is made clear as Lowell H. Harrison traces the movement of troops and the outbreaks of violence. What it meant to the social and economic fabric of Kentucky and to her postwar political stance is another major theme of the book.