Sept. 6, 1861

Sept. 6, 1861: In response to Gen. Polk’s Confederates invading Kentucky, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, in Cairo, Illinois, quickly moves troops with riverboats up the Ohio and occupies Paducah, Kentucky, where the strategically important Tennessee River joins the Ohio. Paducah, a very pro-Secesh town, now becomes a Union base for an invasion of the Deep South in future months. Grant leaves a garrison of troops there under command of Gen. C.F. Smith. Against the wishes of Kentucky’s Gov. Beriah Magoffin, the Kentucky State Assembly issue a proclamation condemning the Confederate invasion under Polk, not the Union move under Grant. Kentucky declares for the Union.