Born on May 22, 1818 in Mercer County, Kentucky, Jeremiah Tilford Boyle became a prominent Kentucky attorney and businessman following education at Centre College, Princeton University and Transylvania University. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Boyle recruited troops for the Union army and was commissioned a brigadier general. In 1862, Boyle was placed in charge of the Department of Kentucky. Boyle spent most of his tenure as military commander of Kentucky responding to threats from Confederate guerrillas and raiders. In June, Boyle began implementing counterinsurgency tactics, particularly arresting southern sympathizers and forcing pro-Confederates to pay for damages done by guerrillas. Kentuckians, both loyal and not, criticized these policies and wrote to Lincoln complaining about the situation in the state. They also charged that Boyle had used the military to influence state elections, particularly the 1863 gubernatorial election. In 1863, when the Union began plans to enlist black soldiers in Kentucky, Boyle resisted and soon fell out of favor with federal officials. On January 2, 1864, having lost support in Kentucky and in Washington, Boyle was removed from command. He resigned his commission and became involved in the railroad industry. He died on July 28, 1871.

Ross A. Webb, "Jeremiah T. Boyle," in John E. Kleber, ed., The Kentucky Encyclopedia (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992), 109.