In 1861, the Mississippi River offered the Union army a potential route of invasion into the seceded Southern states. In September, seeking to preempt such a move, Confederate Gen. Leonidas Polk occupied and fortified the river bluffs at Columbus and closely monitored river traffic, ending Kentucky’s official neutrality. On Nov. 6, 1861, Union Gen. U.S. Grant advanced on Columbus from Cairo, Ill., by steamboat, but because Polk’s defenses there were strong, he attacked Camp Johnston, a Confederate outpost at Belmont, Mo. On Nov. 7, Union troops initially routed the Confederates, but after Southern reinforcements crossed the Mississippi River from Columbus, the Federals returned to Cairo.
