Jeremiah Boyle

Jeremiah T. Boyle
Brig. Gen. Jeremiah T. Boyle
Born	(1818-05-22)May 22, 1818 Boyle County,Kentucky
Died	July 28, 1871(1871-07-28)(aged 53) Louisville,Kentucky
Place of burial	Bellevue Cemetery,Danville, Kentucky
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/ branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1861-1864
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands	District of Kentucky
Battles / wars	American Civil War Battle of Shiloh
Other work	Lawyer, Railroad President

Jeremiah Tilford Boyle(May 22, 1818 – July 28, 1871) was a successful lawyer and notedabolitionist.He served as abrigadier generalin theUnion Armyduring theAmerican Civil War.

Biography

Boyle was born and raised in Mercer County (nowBoyle County, Kentucky), and graduated from theCollege of New Jerseyin 1838. He was the son of Judge and Chief JusticeJohn Boyle,for whom Boyle County was named. He then studied law atTransylvania UniversityinLexington, Kentucky.He became a successful lawyer inHarrodsburgandDanville.Although a slave-owningWhigpolitically, he argued for a gradualemancipationof slaves as a delegate to theState Constitutional Conventionin 1849.

He married Elizabeth Owsley Anderson ofGarrard Countyand raised seven children. For a number of years, he was engaged in business with his brother-in-law,William Clayton Anderson,a formerUnited States Congressman.Boyle supported theConstitutional Union Partyin the election of 1860.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Boyle raised abrigadeofinfantryfor service in the Union Army. He was commissioned as a brigadier general on November 19, 1861. After wintering his troops in Tennessee, he joinedMaj. Gen.Don Carlos Buell'sArmy of the Ohioand participated in theBattle of Shiloh.

In May 1862, he was appointed Military Governor ofKentuckybyPresidentAbraham Lincoln,and at times served in command of both theDistrict of KentuckyandDistrict of Western Kentucky.Curiously, theOfficial Recordsrefer to Boyle's command as the "District of Western Kentucky", although at that time it included all of KentuckyexceptWestern Kentucky, which was assigned to theDistrict of Columbus.Boyle dispatched troops several times to combat incursions and cavalry raids byJohn Hunt Morgan.

He resigned in 1864 after his son, the Union Army's youngest colonel, Col. William O. Boyle, was killed in action at theBattle of MarioninTennessee.He had been affectionately known as "the Boy Major."

Following his return home, Boyle speculated in land and became interested in street railways and urged Louisville officials to establish such service. In 1865, he became the president of theLouisville City Railway Companyand oversaw the creation of the firstmass transportationsystem in the commonwealth.

He was president of theEvansville, Henderson and Nashville Railroadfrom 1866 until his death in 1871. He traveled toEuropeand secured French investors to back a project to expand narrow-gauge rail service in Kentucky.

Boyle died on July 28, 1871, in Louisville and was buried inBellevue Cemeteryin Danville.

See also

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)

References

• "Kentucky: A History of the State.Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 4th ed., 1887 ".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-11-21..
• Warner, Ezra J.,Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders,Louisiana State University Press, 1964,ISBN0-8071-0822-7.

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J.,eds. (1900)."Boyle, Jeremiah Tilford".Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.New York: D. Appleton. p. 342.

External links

• "Jeremiah Boyle".Find a Grave.Retrieved2008-08-14.