BY R. M. KELLY, COLONEL, U. 8. V.
MILITARY WATER-SLED. FROM A WAR-TIME
f I MIL military situation in Kentucky in September,-L 1861, cannot be properly understood without abrief sketch of the initial political struggle whichresulted in a decisive victory for the friends of theUnion. The State Legislature had assembled on the17th of January in called session. The governor’sproclamation convening it was issued immediatelyafter he had received commissioners from the States of Alabama and Mississippi , and was followed by thepublication of a letter from Vice-President Breckinridge advising the calling ofa State convention and urging that the only way to prevent war was for Ken-tucky to take her stand openly with the slave States . About this time thelatter’s uncle, the Rev. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge, an eminent Presbyterian minister , addressed a large meeting at Lexington in favor of the Union. Thedivision of sentiment is further illustrated by the fact that one of his sons,Colonel W. C. P. Breckinridge, followed his cousin into the Confederate army,while another son, Colonel Joseph C. Breckinridge, fought for the Union.The position of the Union men was very difficult. They knew that GovernorMagoffin was in sympathy with the secession movement and that the statusof the Legislature on the question was doubtful. The governor had underhis orders a military force called the State Guard, well armed and disciplined,and under the immediate command of General Simon B. Buckner, a graduateof West Point. There was a small Union element in it, but a large majority ofits membership was known to be in favor of secession. Suspicious activityin recruiting for this force began as soon as the governor issued his call forthe Legislature , and it was charged that new companies of known secessionproclivities could get arms promptly from the State arsenal, while thosesupposed to be inclined toward the Union were subjected to annoying delays.The State Guard at its strongest numbered only about four thousand men,but it was organized and ready while the Union men had neither arms nororganization to oppose it.
When the Legislature assembled it was soon ascertained that it was veryevenly divided in sentiment. Old party lines promptly disappeared, andmembers were classed as “Union” or “Southern Rights.” In the Senate therewas a safe majority against calling a convention. In the house on a testquestion the Union men prevailed by only one vote. There were some half-dozen waverers who always opposed any decisive step toward secession butwere equally unwilling to give any active support to the Government. Out-side pressure was brought to bear. Large delegations of secessionistsassembled at Frankfort , to be speedily confronted by Union men, just asdetermined, summoned by telegraph from all parts of the State. Argument
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