Eleazor Paine was one of the Union army's most notorious partisan rangers from Tennessee. He was based out of Gallatin. Military Governor Andrew Johnson had tasked him with carrying out the Jackson Purchase. The Jackson Purchase was made up of the counties in the far western part of Kentucky. Paine's job was to go throughout this territory and cleanse the area of Confederate sympathizers, most notably guerrillas. While many details are unknown, it is believed that Paine and his men threatened to send any Confederates that they caught north to Canada. Paine and his men also pursued Nathan Bedford Forrest, during his raid into west Tennessee and Kentucky. Paine was later put in command of Grant's Union headquarters in Paduch, Kentucky. He was eventually removed for being to harsh toward civilians. It is noted that he threatened to kill a man for flying the Confederate flag outside his home. If Paine caught a guerrilla, that person would be executed. This harsh treatment of citizens, throughout the Jackson Purchase region, led Abraham Lincoln to remove Paine from army command altogether. While not much is known about Eleazor Paine, he is defiantly an interesting character to study.
Map of the Jackson Purchase
The book Border Wars has a chapter in it devoted solely to Paine and the Jackson Purchase.
Stay tuned for more blog posts about tales from Tennessee and beyond.
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