The 48th 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 48th Kentucky Mounted Infantry was organized at Princeton, Kentucky

Princeton, Kentucky

Princeton is a city in Caldwell County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 6,329 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Caldwell County.-History:...

 and mustered in for one year on October 26, 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...

 Hartwell T. Burge.

The regiment was attached to District of Southwest 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 April 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Kentucky, 5th Division, XXIII Corps, Department of the Ohio, to December 1864.

Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H of the 48th Kentucky Mounted Infantry mustered out of service at Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

 on December 26, 1864; Companies I and K mustered out of service on April 12, 1865.

Detailed service

Duty at Princeton, Ky., until December 1, 1863. Moved to Russellville December 1 and duty there (Companies B, F, G, and H) and at Bowling Green, Ky. (Companies A, D, I, and K), until April 6, 1864. Guard duty on line of Louisville & Nashville Railroad from Cave City to Louisville, Ky. Company A at Elizabethtown; Companies B, F, and H and headquarters at Munfordville; Companies C and K at Fort Boyle, Colesburg; Company D at Cave City; Company E at Shepherdsville; Company I at Louisville, and Company G at Smithland until July 8, 1864. Action at Salem August 8 (detachments from Companies B and C). Regiment relieved and mounted. Moved to Calhoun August 13–19 and join Hobson's operations against Adam Johnson August 19–24. Canton, Ky., August 24. Moved to Cadiz, thence to Princeton, Ky., and operating against guerrillas in counties bordering on the Cumberland River until December 1. Skirmish in Union County August 31 (detachment). Weston September 14. Action with Lyon's forces November 6 (detachment Companies F and K). Eddyville October 17. Providence November 21.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 104 men during service; 7 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 96 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...