In September, Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk committed one of the Confederacy's worst strategic blunders by seizing Columbus, Kentucky, and ending the state's neutrality, thereby opening the door for Union forces to move through the Bluegrass State. General Albert Sidney Johnston was forced to move a considerable portion of the forces under his command to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to close the hole in his defensive line, and the 19th Tennessee, along with two other regiments, was relocated by General Felix Zollicoffer to Cumberland Ford, now Pineville, Kentucky, where they established Camp Buckner. Other regiments were brought up from the rear to reinforce Cumberland Gap.