HISTORICAL NOTES:
The 8th Kentucky Infantry Regiment was organized in September 1861, at Camp Boone in Montgomery County, Tennessee, since Kentucky had officially declared its neutrality in the war. Henry Cornelius Burnett, a former member of the United States House of Representatives, helped organize the regiment and was commissioned its colonel, but he never took active command.
The regiment was captured at the fall of Fort Donelson in February 1862. Of 312 men engaged in the battle, 99 were killed or wounded. Colonel Burnett had joined the regiment prior to the battle — again not commanding — but escaped capture by leaving on a river boat with Brigadier General John B. Floyd's command. Burnett then resigned from the army to serve full-time as a Confederate senator for Kentucky. After being exchanged in September 1862, the regiment was attached first to Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman's Brigade, then to Brig. Gen. Abraham Buford's Brigade in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana.
The regiment fought under Generals Earl Van Dorn and John C. Pemberton during the Vicksburg Campaign. Prior to the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, Colonel Hylan Benton Lyon and 250 men of the 8th Kentucky managed to escape. Lyon led them to Jackson, Mississippi, where they joined the Confederate forces stationed there.
In spring 1864, the 8th Kentucky was converted to mounted infantry and fought the remainder of the war as dragoons. It served under Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest for much of that time.
The 8th Kentucky Regiment surrendered on May 4, 1865, at Columbus, Mississippi, nearly a month after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. It was paroled and the men allowed to make their way home on their own.
OFFICERS:
Colonels Henry C. Burnett and Hylan B. Lyon, Lieutenant Colonel A.R. Shacklett, and Majors Jabez Bingham and R.W. Henry.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Fort Donelson
attached to Tilghman's and Buford's Brigade, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana.
assigned to General Lyon's Brigade.
SERVICE:
13 February 1862 at Fort Donelson, TN
15 February 1862 at Fort Donelson, TN
16 February 1862 at Fort Donelson, TN
6 April 1862 at Shiloh, TN (those who escaped capture at Fort Donelson)
1 December 1862
2 December 1862 at Tallahatchie River
4 December 1862
5 December 1862 at Coffeeville, MS
16 May 1863 at Baker's Creek, MS
4 July 1863 at Vicksburg, MS
10 July 1863 at Jackson, MS
11 July 1863 at Jackson, MS
15 July 1863 at Harrisburg, MS
17 July 1863 at Jackson, MS
22 December 1863
15 February 1864 at Canton, MS
25 March 1864 at Paducah, KY
1 April 1864
18 April 1864 at Paducah, KY
20 April 1864 in Kentucky
10 June 1864 at Tishomingo Creek, MS
11 June 1864 at Tishomingo Creek, MS
20 June 1864 at Kennesaw Mountain, GA
14 July 1864 at Harrisburg, MS
skirmishes in Alabama
Roster:
The roster of this unit contains the names of 1159 men.
Bibliography for Research:
George, Henry. History of the 3d, 7th, 8th and 12th Kentucky C.S.A. (Louisville, KY: C. T. Dearing), 1911.
Thompson, Edwin Porter. History of the First Kentucky Brigade (Cincinnati, OH: Caxton Pub. House), 1868.
Thompson, Edwin Porter. History of the Orphan Brigade (Louisville, KY: L. N. Thompson), 1898. U. S. Government Printing Office.Official Records of the American Civil War Davenport, IA. Eastern Digital Resources.
SAVE $30. Get The Union Regiments of Kentucky FREE when you purchase The Service Records of Kentucky Civil War Soldiers CDs together. This bundle also includes The Kentucky Civil War Soldiers Index - a $15 value, and Confederate Military History - Kentucky Volume - a $15 value.
This site is for sale. Contact John Rigdon for details.
HISTORICAL NOTES:
