150-Year Anniversary ยท September 1861
Kentucky had tried to remain neutral, but in early September 1861 Confederate forces under Leonidas Polk seized Columbus on the Mississippi. In response, Ulysses S. Grant moved swiftly to occupy Paducah, and Kentucky's fragile neutrality came to an end.
In Missouri, General John C. Fremont issued an order freeing the slaves of disloyal owners. Fearing the effect on the loyal border states, Lincoln required him to modify it, an early clash over the war's relationship to slavery.
The events of September showed how vital the border states were to both governments. Securing Kentucky and Missouri for the Union would prove one of the decisive achievements of the war's first year.
September 1861 was still a war of positions, not of decisive battles. How those positions later broke is explained on the Civil War overview.