General E.A. Paine in Western Kentucky: Assessing the Reign of Terror of the Summer of 1864

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

When General E. A. Paine assumed command of the military District of Western Kentucky at Paducah in the summer of 1864, he encountered an unwelcoming and defiant populace, a thriving black market and an undisciplined army plagued by low morale. Outside the picket lines, armed guerrillas were pillaging towns, terrorizing citizens and even murdering the vocal few that supported the Union. Paine was assigned the impossible task to cure the district’s many ailments and defend a hostile area that covered over 2,300 square miles. In less than two months, he succeeded where past commanders had failed. To the region’s secessionist majority, Paine’s tenure was a reign of terror; to the Unionist minority, it was a happy and jubilant time.
An abolitionist, Paine supported the Emancipation Proclamation, promoted the enlistment of African American troops and encouraged fair wages to former slaves. These principled views, however, led to his downfall. His critics and enemies wanted him out. Falsified reports led to his removal from command and court martial. Paine was exonerated on all but one minor charge, yet generations of local and state historians perpetuated the Paine-the-monster myth. This book tells the true story of General E. A. Paine.