Kentucky remained in the Union, yet Braxton Bragg, with the express authority of the Confederate government, occupied Frankfort in 1862 for the express purpose of replacing the pro-Unionn elected government with an unelected, pro-Confederacy government.
1. So listen, the South was fighting a defensive war from day one. EVERYONE AT THE TIME KNEW IT.
2. The South made several forays into disputed states like Missouri and Kentucky to try to sway them back into the South.
3. Lee invaded PA loaded down with foreign correspondents in a tactical move to make headlines in Europe and try to get GB on the side of the South. Also, Davis was getting political pressure to get the Yanks out of VA, north of the Rappahannock River. So, for a while after Gettysburg, that tactical move worked.
4. Strategically speaking, from day one the war,it was all about the North CONQUERING the SOUTH. The Confederates wanted a stalemate. The other possibility, the South beating the North and the North surrendering is a farcical fantasy. NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, NOT EVEN NEWT GINGRICH WOULD WRITE A FANTASY NOVEL LIKE THAT.