Ohio History Journal

OF THE SANDY VALLEY

JAMES A. GARFIELD'S KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN OF 1861-1862

by ALLAN PESKIN

In the days when the Indians roamed at will through the mountains of

Kentucky they instinctively dreaded this "dark and bloody ground." Later

the white man came, first a cautious trickle through the passes, then a torrent

of settlers with axes, rifles, and families. They cleared the forest, shot the

game, and planted their families in cabins and cities. The Indians went

away, and left Kentucky to civilization. But in 1861 Kentucky promised

once again to be a dark and bloody land. On both sides of her borders

hostile armies gathered. Alarmed Kentuckians, hoping to deflect the con-

flict from her soil, declared the state "neutral." It was a fatuous attempt.

Neither North nor South could afford to surrender Kentucky's strategic

position. Well aware that "to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose

NOTES ARE ON PAGES 83-85

3.