Last updated: June 17, 2015
Person
Humphrey Marshall
University of Kentucky
Quick Facts
Significance:
Confederate general and Congressman
Place Of Birth:
Frankfort, KY
Date Of Birth:
January 13, 1812
Place Of Death:
Louisville, KY
Date Of Death:
March 28, 1872
Place Of Burial:
Frankfort, KY
Cemetery Name:
State Cemetery
Humphrey Marshall was a lawyer, West Point graduate, Mexican War veteran, U.S. Ambassador to China and four-term U.S. Congressman from Kentucky who attached himself to the Confederate cause after Kentucky abandoned its policy of neutrality in 1861.
Marshall joined the Confederate ranks as a brigadier general in October of that year. He served in western Virginia and in Kentucky but he did not distinguish himself. In January 1862, he led a recruiting mission into southeastern Kentucky, which led to a Union victory at Middle Creek, Kentucky and the temporary loss of eastern Tennessee. Disappointed with his standing in the Confederate army, he resigned in June 1862 but was reinstated. He resigned a second time in June 1863 to take a seat in the Confederate Congress where he remained until the end of the war. Pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in December 1865, he reentered private practice after the war.