Was Kentucky a Confederate state

Answer 1

No it was called a border state and although there was a shadow government that existed and was recognized by the Confederate States of America on 10 December 1861. The Confederate States Army did occupy Frankfort for a brief time in the fall of 1862 but were driven out when they tried to inaugurate a their own government. The political sentiment of the residents of Kentucky rested firmly with the South and their economic interests with the North. In the 1860 Presidential Election that brought on secession Abraham Lincoln received less then one percent of the vote. The Kentucky General Assembly voted for and passed a neutrality position and was controlled by the Unionists. The Governor vetoed every effort to swing support to the Union.

Kentucky's position of neutrality was a farce from the beginning and both sides had armies of occupation in loose control of parts of the state. Grant held Paducah while Gideon J. Pillow occupied Columbus and Simon Bolivar Buckner occupied Bowling Green.