Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 35.djvu/274

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Southern Historical Society Papers.

Joseph T. Tucker, of Winchester, and James B. McCreary, of Richmond, were named and commissioned, respectively, as lieutenant-colonel and major of the proposed new regiment.

Ten days later (September 10, 1862) the regiment, then consisting of nine companies and 800 officers and enlisted men, was mustered into the service at Richmond, and assigned to General J. H. Morgan's Cavalry Brigade. It was the first regiment of Kentucky soldiers mustered into the service after Bragg and Kirby Smith advanced into Kentucky; and, properly speaking, it should have been designated the 1st Kentucky Cavalry, for it was mustered in before the regiment that was designated the First (Colonel D. Howard Smith's), and in fact before any of the other regiments of cavalry raised in Kentucky, after the Fourth. Chenault's Regiment was first called the Seventh, by which designation it was known for several months. But Colonel R. M. Gano claimed the designation of "7th" for his regiment, and was given it; after which Chenault's Regiment was known as the nth Kentucky Cavalry.

General Adam R. Johnson's book, "The Partisan Rangers," commanded by Colonel William Hollis, of Webster County, gives a roster of another 11th Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. A., where, and in the adjoining counties, this regiment of 410 men was recruited. On June 22, 1863, this regiment was defeated in a fight with the 35th U. S. Cavalry, and Colonel Hollis was killed. The regiment then disbanded and the men joined other organizations.

So Chenault's Regiment had the distinction of having borne two numerical designations first the 7th Kentucky Cavalry, and second, the nth Kentucky Cavalry when there were already other regiments claiming these designations and bearing them,

Chenault's 11th Kentucky Cavalry was composed altogether of ten companies. Companies A and C were recruited in Clark County; Companies E, B and F in Madison County; Company D in Estill County; Company G in Bourbon County, and Company H in Madison, Estill and Montgomery Counties. I do not know where Company I was recruited, though probably it was in Estill County. Company K was recruited in Clinton and Wayne Counties, Ky., while the regiment was