Season 9, Ep. 2: “Ohio v. Invasion” : When the US Almost Lost Cincinnati. In September 1862, the US Civil War was raging and the Confederates were winning victory after victory. Today, Alex talks about the overlooked story of the Defense of Cincinnati as the Rebels moved in to take the Queen City of the West in the fall of 1862. It was an incredibly close run thing. We talk about Cincinnati, the 6th largest city in the US in 1862, and how average Ohioans stepped up to defend the city from an invading Confederate Army. 

Our guests include Peter Bronson, author of the book The Man Who Saved Cincinnati (2023). Peter’s amazing book is one of our favorite books on Ohio history. Peter takes us through the fall of Kentucky to the Confederate Army and the heroes that emerged to save Cincinnati from invasion and destruction. From the subject of his book General Lew Wallace to the ragged militia of “Squirrel Hunters” and including the first African American brigade in the Civil War, the Black Brigade of Cincinnati. All joined forces to prepare Cincinnati for invasion. An invasion they narrowly avoid. Buy The Man Who Saved Cincinnati on Audible or here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Saved-Cincinnati-History/dp/B0CLZ71DP9

Our second guest, Jason French of the Crawford-Behringer Museum in Covington, KY shares the story of the Defense of Cincinnati and Kentucky’s precarious position as a border state in the Civil War. Jason talks about the little reported assassination attempt in Cincinnati on President-Elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861. A story we were completely unaware of until reading Peter’s book. Check out the Behringer-Crawford Museum, the leading museum on the history of Northern Kentucky here: https://www.bcmuseum.org/

Contact Alex and the show at ⁠ohiovtheworld@gmail.com⁠ or on the podcasts’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts ⁠http://www.evergreenpodcasts.com⁠.