Bøker av William M Ambrose

The Defenses of the Kentucky Central Railroad, Lexington and Frankfort Railroad, and Kentucky River during the Civil War (1861-1865). During the Civil War, railroads for the first time played a vital strategic, logistical, and communications role in military operations. Both the Federal and Confederate forces used the railroad network to transport troops and supplies. In addition, the railroad telegraphs provided instant communications from the battlefield to the home front. The Kentucky Central Railroad connected Covington with Paris, Lexington, and Nicholasville. Supplies and materials were shipped across the Ohio River from Cincinnati to Covington by ferry to the railhead in Covington. The Kentucky Central served the rich agricultural region of Central Kentucky which supplied a large number of hogs and cattle for the Federal Army. The Louisville, Frankfort & Lexington Railroad connected Louisville with Lexington by way of Frankfort.

The Kentucky River is formed in eastern Kentucky at Beattyville, where the North, Middle and South Forks join together. The river then flows 260 miles to the Ohio River at Carrolton. The river drains much of the central region of the state. With the appearance of the early steamboats on the Kentucky River in the 1820s, the river became the primary artery for economic growth with trade with the lower south. This dominance lasted until the Civil War when the railroads surpassed the packetboats with freight traffic. After the war, river traffic shifted to towboats pushing barges of bulk commodities. However, steam packetboats, and later gasboats, continued to service the isolated river communities along the lower river until the Great Depression. In 1836-1842, the Commonwealth of Kentucky constructed five locks and dams, from Carrollton to Tyrone. These dams created pools of water which allowed year round "slackwater" navigation. The state operated these locks until after the Civil War.

The Frankfort & Cincinnati Railroad was a standard gauge, shortline that operated in Kentucky between Frankfort and Paris, by way of Stamping Ground and Georgetown. The line connected with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad at Frankfort and Paris and the Cincinnati Southern Railway at Georgetown. The line operated 40 miles of track. The line was called The Whiskey Route after the number of distilleries located along its right of way.