This neutrality was first violated on September 3, 1861, when Confederate Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk occupied Columbus, considered key to controlling the Lower Mississippi.

He believed the campaign would allow them to obtain supplies, enlist recruits, divert Union troops from Tennessee, and claim Kentucky for the Confederacy.

In July 1862 Col. John Hunt Morgan carried out a successful cavalry raid in the state, venturing deeply into the rear areas of Buell's department.

"[5] Bragg considered various options, including an attempt to retake Corinth, Mississippi, or to advance against Buell's army through Middle Tennessee.

Although Bragg was the senior general in the theater, Confederate President Jefferson Davis had established Kirby Smith's Department of East Tennessee as an independent command, reporting directly to Richmond.

[7] The campaign plan was bold but risky, requiring perfect coordination between multiple armies that would initially have no unity of command.

[8] On August 9, Smith informed Bragg that he was breaking the agreement and intended to bypass Cumberland Gap, leaving a small holding force to neutralize the Union garrison, and to move north.

He had to decide whether to continue toward a fight with Buell (over Louisville) or rejoin Smith, who had gained control of the center of the state by capturing Richmond and Lexington, and threatened to move on Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, Bragg left his army and met Smith in Frankfort, where they attended the inauguration of Confederate Governor Richard Hawes on October 4.

The Confederate guns, a pair of six-pounder mountain howitzers known as the "bull pups" fired in return, causing a few hits to the boats as well as some consternation on the part of the gunboat captains.

Duke dispatched the Confederate advanced guard and Company A towards a sand bar on the Ohio River east of town.

Seeing this force coming down off the hill, and knowing the Confederate artillery could cause damage to the lightly defended boats (a single row of hay protected the Belfast's boiler), the gunboats moved upriver away from Augusta, with the Florence Miller counting over 150 holes caused by the Confederate small arms from the force now on the sand bar.

This, along with some deliberate actions on the part of Confederates, caused many buildings to catch on fire, in some cases trapping inside and burning alive the Home Guard defenders.

Duke, who wanted to not only break up the recruiting of a Federal Kentucky regiment in the area (of which Taylor was to be the commanding officer), but also to cross over the Ohio River and threaten Cincinnati, instead had to fall back to Brooksville as the ammunition supply for his artillery was now dangerously low.