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[612] their sentiments. On the contrary, the House, six days thereafter, resolved--71 to 26--that the Governor be directed to order by proclamation the Confederate troops encamped on the soil of that State to decamp immediately. An attempt so to amend the resolution as to require all Union as well as Disunion forces to quit the State, was decidedly voted down; and the two Houses united in passing, by overwhelming votes, the following:
Resolved, That Kentucky's peace and neutrality have been wantonly violated, her soil has been invaded, and the rights of her citizens have been grossly infringed, by the so-called Southern Confederate forces. This has been done without cause: therefore,

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That the Governor be requested to call out the military force of the State to expel and drive out the invaders.

Resolved, That the United States be invoked to give that aid and assistance, that protection against invasion, which is guaranteed to each one of the States by the 4th section of the 4th article of the Constitution of the United States.

Resolved, That Gen. Robert Anderson be, and he is hereby, requested to enter immediately upon the active discharge of his duties in this military district.

Resolved, That we appeal to the people of Kentucky, by the ties of patriotism and honor, by the ties of common interest and common defense, by the remembrances of the past, and by the hopes of future National existence, to assist in expelling and driving out the wanton invaders of our peace and neutrality, the lawless invaders of our soil.

These resolves were adopted — in the House by 68 to 26, and in the Senate by 26 to 8.

Magoffin promptly vetoed them. The Legislature as promptly passed them over his veto by overwhelming majorities. Gen. Grant, commanding at Cairo, had already telegraphed to the Legislature, Sept. 5th, that Western Kentucky had been invaded by a large Rebel force, who were then holding and fortifying strong positions on the east bank of the Mississippi at Hickman and Chalk Bluffs. The Legislature referred this dispatch to a Special Committee, which telegraphed thereupon to Gov. Harris, of Tennessee, who thus responded:

The Confederate troops that landed at Hickman last night did so without my knowledge or consent; and, I am confident, also without the consent of the President. I have telegraphed President Davis, requesting their immediate withdrawal.1

Gen. Grant did not see fit to depend on the fair promises of Gov. Harris, nor the amenity of Gen. Bishop Leonidas Polk, nor yet of President Davis, for the safety of his department, but occupied, next morning, Paducah, on the south bank of the Ohio, near the mouth of the Tennessee, with two regiments and a battery, finding Rebel flags flying over many of the buildings in that little city, in anticipation of the speedy appearance of a Confederate force, reported

1 Gov Magoffin communicated to the Legislature, Sept. 9th, a message to him from the four Commissioners of the Governor of Tennessee, in explanation of the reason why the Confederates had not been withdrawn from Kentucky, from which the following is an extract:

The undersigned yesterday received a verbal message, through a messenger, from Gov. Harris. The message was, that Gov. Harris had, by telegraphic dispatch, requested Gen. Polk to withdraw the Confederate troops from Kentucky, and that Gen. Polk had declined to do so; that Gov. Harris then telegraphed to Secretary Walker, at Richmond, requesting that Gen. Polk be ordered to withdraw his troops from Kentucky; and that such order was issued from the War Department of the Confederacy; that Gen. Polk replied to the War Department that the retention of the post was a military necessity, and that the retiring from it would be attended by the loss of many lives. This embraces the message received.

The messenger, it is true, in conversation, said that he had heard in Nashville that Secretary Walker had sent a dispatch to Gen. Buckner, giving Gen. Polk a discretion to hold to or withdraw from the occupation of the post in Kentucky.

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