Editing Paducah, Kentucky (section)

===Civil War===
{{Further|Kentucky in the American Civil War}}
[[File:Fort Anderson. Fort Anderson, Paducah, Kentucky, and the camp of the 6th Illinois Cavalry, April, 1862 - sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Regt. O.V.U.S.A. LCCN92508857.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Anderson (Kentucky)|Fort Anderson]] was the site of the [[Battle of Paducah]] in March 1864.|left]]
At the outset of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Kentucky attempted to take a neutral position. However, when a Confederate force occupied Columbus, a [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] force under General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] responded by occupying Paducah. Throughout most of the war, [[Colonel (U.S.)|Col.]] [[Stephen G. Hicks]] was in charge of Paducah, and the town served as a massive supply depot for Federal forces along the Ohio, Mississippi, and Tennessee river systems.

On December 17, 1862, under the terms of [[General Order No. 11 (1862)|General Order No. 11]], US forces required 30 Jewish families to leave their long-established homes. Grant was trying to break up a black market in cotton, in which he assumed Jewish traders were involved due to [[racial stereotyping]] associated with [[anti-Semitic tropes]]. [[Cesar Kaskel]], a prominent local Jewish businessman, dispatched a telegram of complaint to [[list of U.S. presidents|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] and met with him. As there were similar actions taken by other Jewish businessmen and loud complaints by Congress about the treatment of their constituents, Lincoln ordered the policy to be revoked within a few weeks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=General Grant and the Jews |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Modern_History/1700-1914/Modern_Anti-Semitism/Grant_Expels_Jews.shtml |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sarna |first=Jonathan D. |date=2012-03-13 |title=When Gen. Grant Expelled the Jews |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/03/ulysses-s-grant-and-general-orders-no-11-how-the-infamous-order-changed-the-lives-of-jews-in-america.html |access-date=2024-03-22 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}</ref>

On March 25, 1864, [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] Gen. [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] raided Paducah as part of his campaign northward from [[Mississippi]] into Western Tennessee and Kentucky. He intended to re-supply the Confederate forces in the region with recruits, ammunition, medical supplies, horses and mules, and especially to disrupt the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] domination of the regions south of the [[Ohio River]]. Known as the [[Battle of Paducah]], the raid was successful in terms of the re-supply effort and in intimidating the Union, but Forrest returned south. According to his report, "I drove the enemy to their gunboats and fort; and held the city for ten hours, captured many stores and horses; burned sixty bales of cotton, one steamer, and a drydock, bringing out fifty prisoners."<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2rZbIVSUNUgC&pg=PA330 | page = 330 | title = Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest | author = John Allan Wyeth | publisher = Harper & Brothers | year= 1899| isbn = 978-0-7222-9281-5 }}</ref> Much of the fighting took place around [[Fort Anderson (Kentucky)|Fort Anderson]] on the city's west side, in the present-day Lower Town neighborhood; most buildings in the neighborhood postdate the war, as most of the neighborhood was demolished soon after the battle to deny any future raids the advantage of surprise that they had enjoyed during the battle. Among the few houses that were not destroyed is the [[David Yeiser House]], a single-story [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] structure.<ref>Cherry, Robert C.  ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Mayor David A. Yeiser House''. [[National Park Service]], 1972-12-27, 9.</ref>

Later having read in the newspapers that 140 fine horses had escaped the raid, Forrest sent Brigadier General Abraham Buford back to Paducah, to get the horses and to keep Union forces busy there while he attacked [[Fort Pillow, Tennessee|Fort Pillow]] in Tennessee. His forces were charged with a massacre of [[United States Colored Troops]] among the Union forces whom they defeated at the fort. On April 14, 1864, Buford's men found the horses hidden in a Paducah foundry, as reported by the newspapers. Buford rejoined Forrest with the spoils, leaving the Union in control of Paducah until the end of the War.