Guarding the Railroad

This chapter examines the military defenses on the Bluegrass corridor of the Kentucky Central Railroad, which was important for military transportation and communications. State Guards, Home Guards, and Union volunteers encamped in the Cynthiana, Ky., area to guard the railroad, including Camp Bruce. The book describes in detail the establishment and activities of Camp Frazer, one of the first Union camps in Kentucky after neutrality ended. It was organized by Col. Van Derveer’s 35th Ohio Voluntary Infantry in September 1861. The reaction of citizens to these troops is explored in the chapter. The book documents other Union regiments who guarded the railroad, including Col. S. R. Mott’s 118th Ohio infantry, who built stockades for Union squads to protect railroad bridges. The chapter examines the interaction of Union troops occupying the county with local citizens, and the military arrest of secessionists caught sabotaging bridges.