President Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis both maintained hands-off policies when dealing with Kentucky, hoping not to push the state into one camp or the other. From the L&N depot on Ninth and Broadway in Louisville and the steamboats at Louisville wharfs, supporters of the Confederacy sent uniforms, lead, bacon, coffee and war material south. Although Lincoln did not want to upset Kentucky's neutrality, on July 10, 1861, a federal judge in Louisville ruled that the United States government had the right to stop shipments of goods from going south over the L&N railroad.
President Lincoln sought to avoid upsetting Kentucky's neutrality while Confederate supporters in Louisville sent supplies like uniforms, lead, bacon, coffee, and war materials to the South through the L&N railroad and Louisville wharfs. A federal judge ruled on July 10, 1861, that the United States government had the right to stop shipments from going south via the L&N railroad.