On this date 150 years ago, President Lincoln, in a letter to the Inspector General of Kentucky's militia, Simon B. Buckner, indicated that Union forces would not enter that neutral state.

General McClellan in West Virginia sent troops forward to meet Confederates at Rich Mountain. The force of four regiments and a cavalry unit was under the command of General William S. Rosecrans. In addition to that movement, General T. A. Morris was sent by McClellan to meet rebels at Laurel Hill, Virginia.