On this date 150 years ago, in Kentucky, the Confederates were making a strong defense along a line including the area around Cumberland Gap, Bowling Green, and Columbus. Pro-Union Kentucky troops were driven out of the vicinity of Barboursville, Kentucky, by General Felix Zollicoffer's rebel forces.

Beleaguered Union troops at Lexington, Missouri, were acutely aware of their precarious position as Price's forces continued to lay siege to the city. Unless reinforcements appeared, surrender was clearly inevitable.