* From the start of the US Civil War, combat between Union and Confederate forces took place in two broad theatres: one in the East, focused on Virginia; the other in the West, focused on the Mississippi River. The Mississippi was of critical strategic importance, and seizing control of it was a primary Union war objective. As a necessary secondary objective, the Union also worked to obtain control of central Kentucky and Tennessee. The fight with the Confederacy led to a battle at Perryville, Kentucky, in the fall of 1862, leading to a more significant confrontation at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at the end of the year. This document provides a history of the events leading up to these two battles.
