Thursday, October 4, 2007

ON THIS DAY: Saturday, Oct. 5, 1861

Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, second in command in Kentucky, writes his younger brother John Sherman in Ohio. John is busy recruiting troops, hopes to lead his own regiment, and believes eastern Kentucky is loyal to the Union, even if fighting will be required in the western portion of the state. Cump seems to have slid into a slough of despond. "I am afraid you are too late to save Kentucky," he writes. The loyalists seem unwilling to actually do anything on behalf of the Union, Cump complains, while secessionists are very active. "The people are all unfriendly," he claims--surely an exaggeration. "I am far from easy about the fate of Kentucky," he tells John. "I hope you will be successful in raising your regiments, but it will be too late."

In London, diplomatic recognition of the Confederate States of America is becoming a hot topic. The Post thinks it would be a good idea, while the Times seems to favor the Union. Diplomatic recognition of the CSA by the British government would go a long way toward legitimizing the Secession in the eyes of the world, and be a blow to the Union.

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