Naval lieutenant William Nelson had been detached to his home state of Kentucky to organize Union forces there. Commissioned a Brigadier General, he recruited and led a force of Kentucky volunteers, supported by several Ohio regiments, to drive the Confederates from eastern Kentucky. At Ivy Mountain, near Pikesville, Confederate troops under Colonel J.S. Williams attempted to ambush the advance but were driven off with heavy casualties. Nelson's men occupied Pikesville the next day and the remaining opposing forces retreated into Virginia. (By John Osborne)