Before Kentuckians marched off to the Civil War, Bluegrass State newspaper editors waged a war of words. Louisville, Lexington, Frankfort, and other towns had competing unionist and secessionist papers. This is the first book written about border-state Kentucky’s vociferous rebel press during the secession crisis of 1860–1861. On the eve of the Civil War, Kentucky had about sixty newspapers; close to half were pro-Confederate, which made support for the secessionist cause seem stronger than it was. Loyalties were divided in Kentucky, but the rebel press was unable to overcome the state’s deep ... More

Before Kentuckians marched off to the Civil War, Bluegrass State newspaper editors waged a war of words. Louisville, Lexington, Frankfort, and other towns had competing unionist and secessionist papers. This is the first book written about border-state Kentucky’s vociferous rebel press during the secession crisis of 1860–1861. On the eve of the Civil War, Kentucky had about sixty newspapers; close to half were pro-Confederate, which made support for the secessionist cause seem stronger than it was. Loyalties were divided in Kentucky, but the rebel press was unable to overcome the state’s deep devotion to the Union. At first, Kentucky tried to remain neutral within the Union—a stance the Confederate papers scorned as untenable and cowardly. But when both sides invaded, Kentucky joined the war to suppress the Southern rebellion. Afterward, the rebel press, deemed disloyal by federal authorities, was silenced, thus setting up a collision between the right of free speech and the government’s right to protect itself against treason. Reflecting Kentucky’s embrace of the “Lost Cause” after the war, many of the rebel editors resurrected their papers. Walter N. Haldeman, whose Louisville Courier was the state’s leading secessionist organ, bought out its top two unionist papers, the Louisville Democrat and Louisville Journal. The result was the Louisville Courier-Journal, which is still Kentucky’s largest newspaper.