Eleazer A. Paine
Union Army general
Eleazer Arthur Paine (September 10, 1815 – December 16, 1882) was an American lawyer, author and a Union officer from Ohio. He provoked controversy as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, while commanding occupation troops in western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee in the 1860s. Paine was charged with brutality toward civilians and violating their civil rights. He was known to have suspected spies summarily executed in the town square of Gallatin, Tennessee while based there. He had directed the occupation's protection of railroads and policing of civilians in Middle Tennessee from there. He was replaced in April 1864.
Early life and career
Paine was born in Geauga County, Ohio. He was a first cousin to Halbert E. Paine, also born in that county. (H. E. Paine also became Union general in the Civil War.)
After being educated in local schools, Paine received an appointment to the United States Military Academy and graduated in the Class of 1839 at West Point. He served in the Seminole Wars in Florida before resigning his commission in 1840.
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This entry incorporates text from “Eleazer A. Paine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.