Middle Creek was Eastern Kentucky's largest and most significant Civil War battle, fought during the war's first phase when control of the region was still in doubt. The Confederates never regained the strategic advantage they lost there, and although Floyd County and the Upper Big Sandy Valley remained a no man's land for the rest of the war, the battle effectively ended the Confederacy's first attempt to gain control of the region. For Kentuckians, it was a poignant example of neighbor against neighbor, as Floyd County men of the 5th Kentucky Infantry, C.S.A., and the 14th Kentucky Infantry, U.S.A., fired volleys at one another, charged each other's lines, and fought hand-to-hand on the steep hillsides above the Forks of Middle Creek. The outcome brought national attention to Union commander and former Ohio Senator James A. Garfield, whose success there became a stepping stone to the White House, while Confederate commander Humphrey Marshall, a Kentucky politician and Mexican War hero, came under doubt for his military competence.