Army of Eastern Kentucky

A title applied to the troops under Brigadier-General Humphrey Marshall, consisting of the militia of Wise, Scott and Lee counties, in 1861. It was a small force of about fifteen hundred men, and was scattered by Federal troops under Brigadier-General James A. Garfield. Its chief action was at Pound Gap, March 16, 1862.

Brigadier-General Humphrey Marshall (U. S. M. A.. 1832) was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, January 13, 1812. He resigned from the army the year after his graduation and became a lawyer. He went to the Mexican War as colonel of cavalry, and led a charge at Buena Vista. In 1849, he became a member of Congress, and, after being commissioner to China in 1852, served again until 1859. He entered the Confederate service, being made brigadier-general in October, 1861. At the head of a small force, sometimes called the Army of Eastern Kentucky, he undertook the conquest of that region, but was driven from it by Brigadier-General James A. Garfield in March, 1862. After this, he had several commands in Virginia and resigned from the service in June, 1863. He resumed his practice of law and was elected member of the Confederate Congress from Kentucky. He died in Louisville, March 28, 1872.

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