The 53rd 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 53rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry was organized at Covington, Kentucky

Covington, Kentucky

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...

 and mustered in September 1864 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...

 Clinton J. True.

The regiment was attached to Military District of Kentucky and Department of Kentucky, to September 1865

The 53rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry mustered out of service September 17, 1865.

Detailed service

Guard duty along the Kentucky Central Railroad between Lexington and Cincinnati. Scouting in central Kentucky and operating against guerrillas until November 1864. Moved to Crab Orchard, Kentucky, November 24, and joined General Stoneman. Stoneman's Raid into southwest Virginia December 10–29. Near Marion, Virginia, December 17–18. Saltville, Virginia, December 20–21. Capture and destruction of salt works. Operating against guerrillas at various points in Kentucky by detachments until September 1865.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 49 men during service; 1 officer and 8 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 40 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...