Kentucky’s Civil War leaders …
Murray was newspaper editor, governor,
controversial figure following Civil War

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 35th in a series about Kentucky’s officers and battle leaders during the Civil War.)

Eli Houston Murray had the unenviable task of confronting the first cavalry charge of Nathan Bedford Forest.

That happened at the Battle of Sacramento in December 1861 as the Confederates won the day routing Murray’s Union troops. Murray’s 3rd Kentucky Cavalry suffered casualties of one-third and the then major had a horse shot from under him. He escaped capture only by seizing a horse from a Confederate officer who had just been killed.

Murray, a native of Cloverport in Breckinridge County, also led the 3rd Kentucky as it participated in the Kentucky Campaign of 1862 where they captured the 3d Georgia Cavalry. Later that year, Murray was promoted to colonel and took permanent command of the regiment.

Under Murray’s command, the 3rd Kentucky was sent on numerous missions in Middle Tennessee and participated in the Battle of Stone’s River. In February 1863, the regiment was ordered back to Kentucky, where they fought a number of actions and helped pursue John Hunt Morgan. By December, Murray’s outfit was on its way back to Tennessee to take part in William Smith’s expedition to Corinth.

Murray was brevetted to brigadier general in March 1865, then appointed U.S. Marshal for Kentucky in 1866 and served in that capacity for 10 years. He earned a law degree from the University of Louisville and was married to Evelyn Neal of Louisville with whom he had a son and a daughter.

He was a newspaper editor when President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him the territorial governor of the Utah territory in 1880. As governor, he opposed polygamy and his attacks on the Mormons influenced national policy. In 1886, he was dismissed from the office by President Grover Cleveland and worked as a journalist in San Diego before returning to Kentucky.

Murray helped found The Louisville Daily Commercial, which he served as editor and manager. He established the newspaper as the only Republican journal south of the Mason-Dixon line. At age 52, Murray died in Bowling Green and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The city of Murray in Salt Lake County, Utah is named for him.