In the American Civil War, the border states were those between Union and Confederate territory - Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia. They were key for both Unionist and Confederate war aims. By controlling them, it would make victory that much more possible. Victor Gamma explains how these states took sides in the US Civil War.
The 1862 Battle of Perryville between Unionists and Confederates in Kentucky. Picture from Harper’s Weekly.
“I hope to have God on my side but I must have Kentucky.” The quote illustrates more than Lincoln’s legendary wit. It also underlines the vital importance of the border states during the American Civil War. By late May 1861 all the states that would form the Confederacy had severed their ties with the union. But the curious fact remained that not every slave state seceded. The states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia, although slaveholding, did not see fit to join their rebellious sisters to the South. That did not mean, however, that these states solidly supported Lincoln. Divided loyalties, in fact, plagued each of them. It was anybody's guess whether they would cast their lot for North or South.
Why were the border states so important? For the South, with the yawning gap between their war-making capacity and that of the North, it was critical to add the strength of the border states to their pitifully weak resources. The white population of the border states equaled almost half as much as the entire Confederacy. For the North, their loss would make the already daunting task of subduing the South insurmountable. The region contained enormous mineral and agricultural resources as well as vital communication and transportation links. These last were especially critical to the Union effort. The Ohio River, for example, ran along the northern boundary of Kentucky and West Virginia. This waterway alone would be essential for supplies and communications in the coming conflict. Its loss would have been a fatal blow to Northern efforts. Additionally, in terms of geography, the border states occupied too central a position to ignore.
Lincoln knew he had to tread carefully; none of the border states supported him in the election of 1860. Abolitionists were pressuring him to end slavery without delay, but Lincoln had a different set of priorities; make sure you can win the war first and then free the slaves. And to win the war he needed the border states. Slavery was still an important part of the border state economy. Kentucky counted more slave owners than Mississippi, for example. The Lincoln administration decided early, though, to apply both political and military measures to reduce inter-state conflicts and suppress disloyalty, even if these measures came under attack as assaults on civil liberties.
Maryland
The first place his policy was tested was in Maryland. Due to its location surrounding the nation's capital, control of Maryland was a number one priority for Lincoln. Its loss would force the government to abandon Washington - a possibly fatal blow to Union prestige. Hostility toward Lincoln’s efforts to suppress the southern rebellion and outright secessionism was strong in the state. A violent outbreak by southern sympathizers demonstrated this fact early on. On April 19, 1861 troops from northern states began passing through Baltimore on their way to Washington. A riot broke out between pro-southern residents and the 6th Massachusetts Regiment. In the resulting ruckus, several citizens and soldiers were killed or injured. These would be the first casualties of the Civil War except for the accidental deaths at Fort Sumter's surrender. Was this "Coercion" by a “Black Republican" Massachusetts regiment? Secessionists thought so and burned bridges and other places to stop more troop arrivals. Lincoln countered with a military buildup along the railroads. Martial law was declared and the writ of habeas corpus was suspended. Some of the more violent and outspoken secessionists were imprisoned. Supreme court Chief Justice Roger Taney demanded the release of the political prisoners and ruled the suspension of the writ unconstitutional. Lincoln ignored him. Lincoln’s firm response worked; secession fever subsided. At length, Maryland Governor Hicks issued a call in May to support the government’s requisition for troops, with the provision that they be assigned for duty in the state. Growing union sentiment showed itself when all six of Maryland’s seats in Congress went to unionists. Despite quite a number of Marylanders heading South to fight for the Stars and Bars, the state stayed firmly in the union.
West Virginia
The next border state to fall to the North was West Virginia, at that time not a separate state. In 1861 those living west of the Shenandoah Valley and north of the Kanawha River brought long-standing statehood sentiment into full force with a Convention at Wheeling on May 13, 1861. Ultimately, a wait-and-see approach was taken as delegates watched to see how Virginia voted on the proposed Ordinance of Secession coming up on May 23. When Virginia duly voted to exit the union a second convention was called, which made the momentous decision to separate from eastern Virginia. In the meantime, Union forces moved in to secure the region. Strategically, the North could not afford to lose West Virginia anymore than it could Maryland. Two major railroads intersected there. It would also be difficult to control the critically strategic Shenandoah Valley without it. The main objective of the initial Union move was the Baltimore & Ohio junction at Grafton. On June 21 General George McClellan arrived. His victories allowed Wheeling to adopt a statehood ordinance. In August Richmond gave General Robert E. Lee took overall command of forces in West Virginia. Lee had more troops, but failed due to several reasons: General William S. Rosecrans’ leadership, rain, sickness and difficult terrain. Rosecrans ended up driving rebels from West Virginia. Firm Union control allowed a statehood referendum. By late 1861, West Virginia was lost to the Confederacy for good. The region joined the union officially as West Virginia on June 20, 1863 as the 35th state.
Kentucky
Lincoln’s attitude toward Kentucky was expressed in a letter of September 1861 in which he declared, “I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.” Kentucky declared that it would stay out of the conflict entirely by enacting a Declaration of Neutrality, promulgated on May 16, 1861. 'Neutrality' was actually secession because it declared the state sovereign to do what it wanted to. In fact, Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin had already defied Washington by refusing Lincoln’s call for troops to put down the secession movement. Lincoln, though, eager to avoid alienating Kentucky, carried out a policy to the effect that if Kentucky "made no demonstration of force against the U.S. he would do nothing to molest her." He allowed trade to continue. Despite the fact that many supplies headed south to aid the Confederacy, Lincoln’s policy paid off. Legislative elections went pro-Union and finally military activity along borders forced Kentucky to take sides by September. Nonetheless, Kentucky became the last state to be admitted to the Confederacy on December 11, 1861, adding a 13th star to the Confederate battle flag. Pro secessionist Kentuckians established a shadow government, which was ineffective in projecting any real power in the state. The battle for Kentucky, though, was just beginning.
Missouri
In the case of Missouri, strong-willed leaders helped to polarize the state more than it needed to be; on behalf of the South, Governor Claiborne Jackson, and for that of the North, Frances Blair and Generals Nathaniel Lyon and John C. Fremont. After a brief period of neutrality, the actions of these men triggered a struggle that would last for the entire war. After failing to bring the state into the Confederacy legally, Jackson worked secretly to take over the state with a coup. The alert Lyon thwarted him, eventually capturing the state capital of Jefferson City. The Union-controlled state government then duly ousted Jackson from office and he fled to Arkansas in exile. Yet, despite the persistence of Union political control, Jackson called a pro-southern legislature into session at Neosho near the Arkansas border.
Pro-Union men could cause difficulties for Lincoln as well, though. Fremont was a political general but his years in the topographical corps gave him a military reputation. Thus it was that the famed “Pathfinder” was appointed to major general of Union troops in Missouri soon after Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, Confederate General Sterling Price moved into the south west of Missouri that summer. Fremont sent Lyon to meet him. Lyon divided his force and sent a flanking column to the south of the Confederate camp. The resulting Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10 was a rebel victory. Price followed this up with the capture of Lexington on September 20. This led to an increase of guerrilla activity which would plague the state throughout the Civil War. To reverse the tide Fremont took a bold step: he took over the state government, declared martial law, included the death penalty for guerrillas, confiscated property and freed the slaves of any Confederates active in the state. The alarmed Lincoln ordered Fremont to modify this order. Fremont refused. Instead, Fremont, with 38,000 men, went on the offensive. Price retreated towards the southwest. Despite this success Lincoln revoked Fremont's emancipation order and removed him to the Virginia Theater where he could keep his eye on him. Meantime, the Missouri secessionists passed an ordinance of secession on October 28, 1861 and Missouri was accepted as the 12th state of the Confederacy. Military events, however, especially the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862, prevented the Confederate government of Missouri from exercising much authority. Pro-Union men controlled the state for the remainder of the war.
Back to Kentucky
By the summer of 1862 Union control included all of Kentucky, most of Tennessee, and a portion of northern Alabama. Confederate Generals Braxton Bragg and Kirby Smith invaded Kentucky in the hope of turning the tide in the West, gaining recruits and persuading Kentucky to join the Confederacy. Bragg and Kirby Smith would potentially have a combined force of 50,000 men. Bragg was confident that their numbers would be swelled by Kentucky volunteers. A stirring broadside was printed and distributed which read, “KENTUCKIANS! The time for hesitation has passed! You have now to fight, either for the Yankees, who will press you into their service, or YOUR HOMES! YOUR FIRESIDES! Your property and your liberty.” As his forces moved north, though, few men joined the Confederates. They were waiting for Bragg to show that he could win. Unfortunately for the South, Bragg did not have enough resources to overcome Union resistance and occupy the state. His move into Kentucky was more a large-scale raid. Smith took the state capital of Frankfort and waited for Bragg. On October 4, a Confederate Governor for Kentucky was inaugurated, a move designed to sway fence sitters. The supreme test for the southern cause, however, was on the field of battle. Outflanking Don Carlos Buell’s forces in Tennessee, Bragg and Smith had moved far into the state, but they failed to win a decisive victory which could have persuaded Kentuckians to side with the South. Although winning a tactical victory at the Battle of Perryville, Bragg, over Smith’s forceful protests, decided to withdraw instead of linking the two forces and pressing the offensive towards Louisville. Bragg’s retreat spelled the end of Confederate hopes for Kentucky, which remained firmly in Union hands for the rest of the war.
In retrospect
Despite initial high hopes, each of the border states was irretrievably lost to the South by the middle of the war. The reasons are several. First, decisive action by key unionists, such as Nathaniel Lyon in Missouri, helped to halt secessionist schemes. Additionally, the Lincoln administration’s wise policy, which combined firmness with sensitivity to the political realities in the states, allowed events to work in their favor. Lack of Confederate military success was another factor. Many did not want to back a “losing horse.” The fact was, by the summer of 1862 the South was clearly losing territory to Federal troops, especially in the West. The erosion of the slave-interest was another factor. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 put slavery in the border states in an awkward predicament, surrounded by free territory, into which their remaining slaves often escaped. West Virginia, Maryland and Missouri had all abolished slavery by war’s end. And so it can be seen that as the war went on, Confederate war aims steadily eroded, and with them, support from the border states. Finally, union support was generally stronger than secessionism in these states. The numbers speak for themselves: a total of 275,000 enlisted for the North as opposed to 71,000 for the South.
What do you think of the battle for the border states in the American Civil War? Let us know below.
Now, you can read Victor’s series on whether it was right to topple President William McKinley’s statue here.
References
McPherson, James, Battle Cry of Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).
Amy Murrell Taylor, “The Border States,” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-border -states.htm
“To Lose Kentucky is to Lose the Whole Game,” Americans Teaching History, https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/to-lose-kentucky-is-to-lose-the-whole-game/
Garry Adelman and Mary Bays Woodside, “A House Divided: Civil War Kentucky,” Hallowed Ground Magazine, April 16, 2010, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/house-divided-civil-war-kentucky
“A State of Convenience; The Creation of West Virginia, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History 2021. http://www.wvculture.org/history/statehood/statehood05.html and http://www.wvculture.org/history/statehood/statehood07.html
