The Battle of Middle Creek

Today (Jan. 10) is the anniversary of the Battle of Middle Creek, in which Col. James Garfield earned promotion to general, and helped secure eastern Kentucky for the Union. It was a very minor affair compared to Shiloh three months later, where Garfield arrived at the very end, and compared to Chickamauga, which he saw more of. From then he was in Congress until entering the White House, serving all too briefly before being felled by an assassin's bullet.

Garfield underestimated both Lincoln and Grant, and was far from a reliable supporter. His worst misjudgment was opposing the Ku Klux Klan bill in 1871, and his presidential victory in 1880 came at the expense of Grant's bid for a third term. Yet as president he supported black civil rights, and it seems likely he would have done more to secure them than his successors did.