In Kentucky, unlike in most Union states, Lincoln had to deal with a sizeable disloyal population. Although the state government and most of the citizens supported the Union, Kentucky’s pro-Confederate minority supported Confederate guerrillas throughout the war. As a result, the federal military implemented strategies to curb the insurgency, while not alienating the loyal majority.

Although Kentucky sat on the border between the Union and the Confederacy, the state saw little major military action. After Perryville in October 1862, no large battle was fought in the state. In place of major engagements, Kentucky more often hosted irregular warfare embodied by raiders and guerrillas. From late 1861 through his death in 1864, Confederate John Hunt Morgan led his cavalry on several raids through Kentucky, destroying railroad lines and other infrastructure. The most famous of his actions were the successful December 1862 Christmas Raid and July 1863’s disastrous Great Raid, which ended in Morgan’s capture and imprisonment. By the time of Morgan’s capture, the biggest concern facing federal officials in Kentucky was a guerrilla insurgency. As the war had progressed, the southern sympathizers in Kentucky began to form guerrilla bands, which harassed both the federal military and Unionist civilians.

Beginning in 1862, military officials adopted counterinsurgency tactics, including the arrest of those suspected of fighting as or assisting guerrillas. General Jeremiah T. Boyle, a native Kentuckian and military commander of the state, instated many of these policies and was criticized for his harshness. Boyle also required payment from southern sympathizers for damages done by guerrillas. However, Kentuckians complained the loudest over perceived military interference in state elections, particularly the 1863 gubernatorial election. On January 2, 1864, he was removed from command. In August, General Stephen G. Burbridge, also a native Kentuckian, replaced Boyle as commander of the Department of Kentucky. Burbridge continued many of Boyle’s policies and also began to execute four suspected guerrillas in retaliation for each Union man killed. He also was responsible for upholding Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in Kentucky. The state’s Unionists quickly turned against Burbridge, as they had Boyle, and in February 1865, General John M. Palmer replaced him. Palmer was more popular than either Boyle or Burbridge, and he commanded Union forces in Kentucky through the end of the war.