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Columbus-Belmont State Park in Columbus, Kentucky, commemorates the Battle of Belmont fought on November 7, 1861: Ulysses S. Grant’s first test as a battlefield commander in the Civil War. In September 1861, Confederate forces moved into Kentucky, established fortifications in Columbus, and broke the state’s neutrality. This strategic location was the northernmost spur of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and gave the Confederacy control of part of the Mississippi River. The Battle of Belmont took place across the river in Belmont, Missouri.