Still under a cloud of suspicion because of his southern birth, Brig. Gen. George H. Thomas did not receive as much credit as he should have after the battle

Despite the fact that Mill Springs was one of the war's most comprehensive tactical wins, Abraham Lincoln withheld judgment and even forbade Harper's Weekly from featuring Thomas on the publication's cover. The President said, "Let the Virginian wait."

Each individual had to choose whether to support the Union or the Confederacy when the Southern states seceded. Whether it meant sticking by your state or because they supported one of the two sides, for some it seemed like an obvious choice. Others, however, would find that picking a side would cause them conflict because they frequently felt divided between state and country, family and conscience, friends and conviction, and government and beliefs. Thomas was one of those who made the difficult choice to fight for the Union despite having grown up in a Southern household.

Sadly, as a result of his decision, he would not be trusted by either side of the conflict: the Confederates would call him a traitor, and even his own family turned against him. The Union, on the other hand, was hesitant to trust him because they thought that, at worst, he was a spy and, at best, he was a hesitant commander who might hesitate when faced with fighting his fellow citizens.