Thomas E. Bramlette

Thomas E. Bramlette
23rd Governor of Kentucky
In office September 1, 1863 – September 3, 1867
Lieutenant	Richard T. Jacob
Preceded by	James F. Robinson
Succeeded by	John L. Helm
Member of the Kentucky General Assembly
In office 1841
Personal details
Born	Thomas Elliott Bramlette (1817-01-03)January 3, 1817 Cumberland County, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	January 12, 1875(1875-01-12) (aged 58) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting place	Cave Hill Cemetery Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Whig Democrat
Spouse(s)	Sallie Travis Mary E. Adams
Profession	Lawyer
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States Union
Branch/service	Union Army
Years of service	1861 – 1862
Rank	Colonel
Unit	3rd Kentucky Infantry
Battles/wars	Civil War

Thomas Elliott Bramlette (January 3, 1817 – January 12, 1875) was the 23rd Governor of Kentucky. He was elected in 1863 and guided the state through the latter part of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. At the outbreak of the war, Bramlette put his promising political career on hold and enlisted in the Union Army, raising and commanding the 3rd Kentucky Infantry. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him district attorney for Kentucky. A year later, he was the Union Democrats' nominee for governor. Election interference by the Union Army gave him a landslide victory over his opponent, Charles A. Wickliffe. Within a year, however, federal policies such as recruiting Kentucky African-Americans for the Union Army and suspending the writ of habeas corpus for Kentucky citizens caused Bramlette to abandon his support of the Lincoln administration and declare that he would "bloodily baptize the state into the Confederacy".

After the war, Bramlette issued a general pardon for most ex-Confederates in the state. He opposed ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau in Kentucky. Among his accomplishments not related to the war and its aftermath were the reduction of the state's debt and the establishment of the Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical College (now the University of Kentucky). Following his term as governor, Bramlette returned to his legal practice in Louisville. He died January 12, 1875, and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.