Hi Greg,
My understanding is that with Camp Clay in Ohio and Camp Joe Holt in Indiana (both union, of course) and Forts Donelson and Henry (Confederate) and Confederate troops less than 50 yards from KY at the Cumberland Gap, there was covert recruiting by both sides in Kentucky early on. Well before Polk brought troops into the State. I guess that Kentucky was probably the most evenly divide State in the Country. Some of the books and pamphlets I've read about the counties in Eastern KY: Letcher, Pike, Knott, Perry and Wise( though Wise is in Virginia) describe some simply horrible killings from partisans on both sides. Animosity that lasted into living memory. My wife's family (both sides) are from Letcher County. Though Eastern KY tended to me more Unionist, Letcher County was a Confederate enclave. One of the local rebel leaders was a man named Caudill (a Regular Baptist preacher)....one of his descendants was the pastor (moderator) of our church in Ohio. How I got tied in with Regular Baptist is another story. Never heard of them as a kid here in Ohio.
James Cump Turchin