The 54th 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 54th Kentucky Mounted Infantry was organized at New Castle, Kentucky

New Castle, Kentucky

New Castle is a city in Henry County, Kentucky, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 919. It is the county seat of Henry County. It is located on U.S. Route 421 30 miles northeast of Louisville.- History :...

 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...

 Harvey M. Buckley.

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

The 54th Kentucky Mounted 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 September 1, 1865.

Detailed service

Operating against guerrillas in Henry County, Kentucky, until December 1864. 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. Provost duty in country about Lexington, Kentucky, and operating against guerrillas until September 1865.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 30 men during service; 1 enlisted man killed, 29 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...