Kentucky Confederates in Canada | Dr. Cassandra Jane Werking

Think of the Confederacy, and your focus probably shifts to the U.S. South. Yet during the Civil War era, the Canadian border emerged as an important political and military battleground. On one hand, enslaved people went to great lengths to forge freedom in Canada. Confederates, however, also executed violent attacks on the Union home front from Canada. As a border state, Kentucky played a crucial role in these excursions between North and South. Join us today for a discussion of how Confederate Kentuckians exploited the Canadian border during the Civil War. Our guest is Dr. Cassandra Jane Werking, a December 2024 research fellow at the Kentucky Historical Society. Dr. Werking is from East Greenbush, New York, and graduated with a PhD in history from the University of Kentucky in May 2025. Her dissertation is titled "Refuge, Raids, and Confederates on Sleighs: How the Confederacy Exploited Canada and the International Border and Shaped the American Civil War." Werking now plans to publish her dissertation as a book and pursue her dream of becoming a history professor. When Werking is not researching the military, political, and social history of the American Civil War and the long nineteenth century, she can be found enjoying Dunkin iced coffee and going on roads trips to the Adirondack Mountains. We are also sending a shout-out to Clay Wallace, the Kentucky History Award winning podcast host of "Any Old Place" for the Capital City Museum: https://www.aop.frankfortpodcast.org/ Kentucky Chronicles is inspired by the work of researchers worldwide who have contributed to the scholarly journal, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, in publication since 1903. https://history.ky.gov/explore/catalog-research-tools/register-of-the-kentucky-historical-society Hosted by Dr. Allen A. Fletcher, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. https://history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-researchers/research-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. https://history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation This episode was recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, with support and guidance from Dr. Stephanie Lang. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary,” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: https://history.ky.gov/ https://history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts