The 45th Kentucky Volunteer Mounted Infantry Regiment was a mounted infantry

Mounted infantry

Mounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot . The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry...

 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 45th Kentucky Infantry was organized at large and mustered in on October 10, 1863 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 Mason Brown.

The regiment was attached to District of North Central Kentucky, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, 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 January 1864. District of Southwest Kentucky, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, to April 1864. 4th Brigade, 1st Division, District of Kentucky, 5th Division, XXIII Corps, Department of the Ohio, to July 1864. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, District of Kentucky, to January 1865. Unattached, District of Kentucky, February 1865.

Companies A, B, C, D, E, and F of the 45th Kentucky Infantry mustered out of service on December 24, 1864; Companies G, H, I, and K mustered out of service on February 14, 1865.

Detailed service

First organized as a battalion for service in the eastern counties of Kentucky and on the Virginia border, and so served until October 1863. At Mt. Sterling, Ky., and covered the front from Cumberland Gap to Louisa until March 1864. Action at Saylersville, Ky.; November 30, 1863. Moved to Flemmingsburg March 1864; thence to Irvine, Ky., and operated south of that point until July. Pound Gap April 19 (detachment). Troublesome Creek April 27. Morganfield May 5. Operations against Morgan May 31-June 20. Near Pound Gap June 1. Mt. Sterling June 9. Cynthiana June 12. Operations against guerrillas in Owen and Trimble Counties July and August. Burbridge's Expedition into southwest Virginia September 20-October 17. Action at Saltville October 2. Stoneman's Raid into southwest Virginia December 10–29. Bristol, Va., December 13. Abington, Va., December 15. Near Marion December 17–18. Saltville December 20–21. Capture and destruction of salt works.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 113 men during service; 10 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 102 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, biographies, and pictures of members of the 45th Kentucky Infantry (Archived 2009-10-22)