later the organizations that had received arms were gathered together and Camp Dick Robinson was formed in Garrard County, near the centre of the State, commanded by General Nelson. The mask was thrown off. Camp Dick Robinson became a regular Union recruiting station. This was the first violation of Kentucky neutrality. On August 19th, Governor Magoffin sent a protest to President Lincoln accompanied by the request to remove these forces from the State, and on August 24th sent a communication by special commissioner to the Confederate Capital with a request that the Confederate government would continue to respect the neutrality of Kentucky. The following replies were received:

"Washington, August 24, 1861.

"To His Excellency, B. Magoffin,

"Governor of the State of Kentucky.

"Sir: Your letter of the 19th instant in which you 'urge the removal from the limits of Kentucky of the military now organized and in camp within that State,' is received.

"I may not possess full and precisely accurate knowledge upon this subject, but I believe it is true that there is a military force in camp within Kentucky, acting by authority of the United States, which force is not very large, and is not now being augmented.

"I also believe that some arms have been furnished to this force by the United States.

"I also believe this force consists exclusively of Kentuckians, having this camp in the immediate vicinity of their own homes, and not assailing or menacing any of the good people of Kentucky.

"In all I have done in the premises, I have acted upon the urgent solicitation of many Kentuckians and in accordance with what I believed and still believe to be the wish of a majority of all the Union-loving people of Kentucky.

"While I have conversed on this subject with many of the eminent men of Kentucky, including a large majority of her members of Congress, I do not remember that any

one of them, or any other person except your Excellency and the bearers of your Excellency's letter, has urged me to remove the military force from Kentucky or to disband it. One very wealthy citizen of Kentucky did solicit me to have the augmenting of the forces suspended for a time.

"Taking all the means within my reach to form a judgment, I do not believe it is the popular wish of Kentucky that this force shall be removed beyond her limits; and with this impression I must respectfully decline to remove it.

"I most cordially sympathize with your Excellency in the wish to preserve the peace of my own native State, Kentucky. It is with regret I search for and cannot find, in your not very short letter, any declaration or intimation that you entertain any desire for the preservation of the Federal Union.

"Your obedient servant,

"A. Lincoln."

"Richmond, August 28, 1861. "To Hon. B. Magoffin, Governor of Kentucky, etc.

"Sam: I have received your letter informing me that 'since the unhappy difficulties pending in the country the people of Kentucky have indicated a steadfast desire to maintain a position of strict neutrality between the belligerent parties.' In the same communication you express your desire to elicit an authoritative assurance that the government of the Confederate States will continue to respect and observe the neutral position of Kentucky.'

"In reply to this request I lose no time in assuring you that the government of the Confederate States neither desires nor intends to disturb the neutrality of Kentucky. The assemblage of troops in Tennessee, to which you refer, had no other object than to repel the lawless invasion of that State by the forces of the United States, should their government seek to approach it through Kentucky, without respect for its position of neutrality. That such apprehensions were not groundless has been proven by the course

of that Government in the States of Maryland and Missouri, and more recently in Kentucky itself, as you inform me 'a military force has been enlisted and quartered by the United States authorities.'

"The Government of the Confederate States has not only respected most scrupulously the neutrality of Kentucky, but has continued to maintain the friendly relations of trade and intercourse which it has suspended with the United States generally.

"In view of the history of the past, it can scarcely be necessary to assure your Excellency that the Government of the Confederate States will continue to respect the neutrality of Kentucky so long as her people will maintain it themselves.

"But neutrality to be entitled to respect must be strictly maintained between both parties; or, if the door be opened on the one side for the aggressions of one of the belligerents, upon the other it ought not to be shut to the assailed when they seek to enter it for purposes of self-defense.

"I do not, however, for a moment believe that your gallant State will suffer its soil to be used for the purpose of giving an advantage to those who violate its neutrality and disregard its rights, over others who respect both.

"In conclusion, I tender to your Excellency the assurance of my high consideration and regard, and am, sir, very respectfully,

"Yours, etc.,

"Jefferson Davis."

These letters are characteristic of their respective authors. The reader cannot fail to note the shrewdness of the one and the dignity of the other. It was idle to speculate as to the course of the United States. The president in his special message to Congress, July 4, 1861, had denounced "armed neutrality" in the severest language, and had plainly indicated his intention not to respect it. The invasion of the State now openly began. The doctrine of neutrality had

proven the means to prevent secession, and to turn the State over to Federal control. Instead of serving the purpose of uniting the different political factions of the State, it served to separate them in implacable hatred. The Unionists gained control of the State government, and the Secessionists formed a provisional Government.

As early as May 7, 1861, Major Robert Anderson, the "hero of Fort Sumter," promoted to the rank of brigadiergeneral, had been placed in command of a recruiting camp at Cincinnati, for the purpose of enlisting recruits from Kentucky. The Department of the Cumberland, consisting of Kentucky and Tennessee, was formed on August 15th, and General Anderson was assigned to the command, with headquarters at Louisville. Early in September, Generals W. T. Sherman and George H. Thomas reported to General Anderson for duty. General Sherman succeeded, on October 7th, General Anderson, who resigned, and on November 9th, General Sherman was removed to Missouri, and General Don Carlos Buell was appointed to the command of the Department of the Ohio. The portion of Kentucky west of Cumberland River was attached to the Department of Missouri. The Federal forces were assembled along Ohio River, and a fleet of ironclad gunboats, under Flag-officer Andrew H. Foote, was being assembled. On September 4th, General Leonidas Polk, commanding the Confederate forces, took possession of Columbus and Hickman on Mississippi River; on September 10th, General Albert Sidney Johnston was assigned to the command of the Department of the West, and at once moved the Confederate army into Kentucky and established the "Line of the Cumberland" across the State.

The legislature passed several acts which showed that the State government sympathized with the Union, and considered neutrality at an end. One of these acts instructed the governor to demand that all Confederate forces should withdraw from the State; another declared enlistment in the Confederate army to be a misdemeanor and

invasion of the State by Confederate troops a felony; still another act, passed September 25th, directed the governor to call out forty thousand men "to repel the invasion by armed forces from the Confederate States." The troops of Kentucky were transferred to the United States.

As long as any hope remained of the preservation of neutrality the Southern sympathizers respected it and no Confederate recruiting camp was formed in the State. Many ardent Southern men, however, left the State and joined the Confederate army. When the United States authorities by general orders created the Department of the Cumberland and assigned General Anderson to the command, the legislature of Kentucky, September 18th, invited him to take command of the State troops and expel the Confederates. When such acts were passed by the legislature as those related above, and when finally the military authorities began arresting prominent citizens who had committed no act amenable to law and against whom no charge could even be invented except Southern sympathy, the Southern men abandoned all hope of peace or neutrality and took steps for their own safety. Many of them fled to Camp Boone near the Kentucky line in Tennessee. There they organized the Kentucky recruits for the Confederate army, and subsequently accompanied the Confederate army in its advance into Kentucky. Ex-Vice-president John C. Breckinridge, evading a party of soldiers sent to arrest him, General S. B. Buckner, and other prominent leaders, left the State. Both the gentlemen above named were appointed to high command in the Confed

erate army.

During all this time there had been no serious fighting. Light skirmishes had taken place at Lucas Bend, September 26th; Hillsboro, October 4th; Upton Hill, October 12th; Wild Cat, October 21st; West Liberty, October 23d; Hedgeville, October 23d; Saratoga, October 26th; Woodbury, October 29th; Piketown, November 9th, and Cypress Bridge, November 17th. The battle of Belmont