The 17th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

The 17th Kentucky Infantry was organized at Hartford

Hartford, Kentucky

Hartford is a city in Ohio County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,571 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Ohio County. It is believed to be named for a deer crossing on the nearby Rough River....

 and Calhoun, Kentucky

Calhoun, Kentucky

Calhoun is a city in McLean County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 836 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of McLean County. It is included in the Owensboro, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 and mustered in for a three-year enlistment in December 1861 under the command of Colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 John Hardin McHenry, Jr. Colonel McHenry was relieved of command on December 4, 1862 for issuing an order to his men to return runaway slaves to their masters, which was contrary to standing orders.

The regiment was attached to 13th Brigade, Army of the Ohio

Army of the Ohio

The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863.-History:...

, to December 1861. 13th Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Ohio, to February 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Tennessee

Army of the Tennessee

The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee....

, to March 1862. 3rd Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to April 1862. 10th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to July 1862. 9th Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. District of Western Kentucky, Department of the Ohio

Department of the Ohio

The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.General Orders No...

, to November 1862. Post of Clarksville, Tennessee, Department of the Cumberland, to March 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, XXI Corps, Army of the Cumberland

Army of the Cumberland

The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.-History:...

, to October 1863. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, IV Corps, to January 1865.

The 17th Kentucky Infantry mustered out of service at Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 on January 23, 1865.

Detailed service

Duty at Calhoun, Ky., until February 1862. Action at Woodbury, Ky., October 29, 1861. Morgantown October 31. Moved to Fort Donelson, Tenn., February 11–13. Investment and capture of Fort Donelson, Tenn., February 13–16. Expedition to Crump's Landing, Tenn., March 14–17. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6–7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Bridge Creek before Corinth May 28. Pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 12. Buell's Campaign in northern Alabama and middle Tennessee June to August. March to Nashville, Tenn., thence to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 26. Moved to Bowling Green, Ky., thence to Russellsville, Ky., and duty there until December. Ordered to Clarksville, Tenn., and duty there until March 1863. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., thence to Murfreesboro, Tenn., and duty there until June. Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. At McMinnville until August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga Campaign August 16-September 22. Battle of Chickamauga September 19–20. Siege of Chattanooga, September 24-November 23. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23–27. Orchard Knob November 23–24. Missionary Ridge November 25, March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 8. Operations in eastern Tennessee December 1863 to April 1864. Moved to Cleveland, Tenn. Atlanta Campaign May to September. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8–11. Battle of Resaca May 14–15. Adairsville May 17. Near Kingston May 18–19. Near Cassville May 19. Advance on Dallas May 22–25. Operations on Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Pickett's Mills May 27. Ackworth June 6. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11–14. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Assault on Kennesaw June 26. Ruff's Station July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5–17. Peachtree Creek July 19–20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy's Station September 2–6. Operations against Hood in northern Georgia and northern Alabama September 29-November 3. Moved to Nashville and Pulaski, Tenn. Columbia, Duck River, November 24–27. Battle of Franklin November 30. Ordered to Louisville, Ky., December.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 298 men during service; 7 officers and 128 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 5 officers and 158 enlisted men died of disease.

See also

• List of Kentucky Civil War Units
• Kentucky in the Civil War
  Kentucky in the Civil War
  Kentucky was a border state of key importance in the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln recognized the importance of the Commonwealth when he declared "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." In a September 1861 letter to Orville Browning, Lincoln wrote "I think to lose...
  
  

External links

• Alphabetical roster, history, photographs, & biographical sketches of the 17th Kentucky Infantry (Archived 2009-10-19)