exchanged his surplice for the uniform of a major-general, and was at once placed in command of theforces gathering on the eastern bank of the Missis sippi . There was a curious flavour of medievalismin the appearance of this bishop at the head ofan army in the middle of the nineteenth century.The latest instance of a fighting divine before theRight Reverend Dr. Polk would seem to have beenthe Bishop of Derry, who was slain at the battleof the Boyne in 1690. A characteristic touch ofecclesiasticism appeared in the first general order,which declared that “ the invasion of the South bythe Federal armies had brought with it a contemptfor constitutional liberty and the withering influ-ences of the infidelity of New England and of Ger many combined ! ” With sound military instinct,Polk saw the importance of the town of Cairo ,situated at the junction of the Ohio river with theMississippi , and advancing toward this goal heentered Kentucky and fortified himself at Colum bus , on a bold bluff completely commanding theMississippi river, about twenty miles below Cairo .At the same time General Zollicoffer, coming fromeastern Tennessee , invaded Kentucky by way ofCumberland Gap, and threatened the eastern por-tion of the state.
This simultaneous invasion at points three hun-dred miles apart revealed the deliberate purpose