Questions on the Kentucky State Guard

OldReliable1862

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One of my favorite sub-categories of Civil War study is Kentucky and its role. I have questions about the Kentucky State Guard I was hoping could be answered:
1) How many men did the KSG number in 1861 (particularly July-September)
2) What was the organizational structure of the KSG?
 
Does anyone know how the KSG was organized, and who were its commanders? Also, if the KSG had artillery (and I'm guessing they had at least a few cannon), who was its commander?
 
Simon Bolivar Butler was Inspector General and Commander of the Kentucky State Guard.

By July 1861, two State Guard Regiments was reorganized for Confederate service at Camp Boone. Roger Hansons State Guard Regiment became the 2nd Kentucky and another state Guard Regiment became to 3rd Kentucky.
It's hard to find any organization charts, but there is some info in the link above. Looks like companies was scattered around in various cities and towns.

Anyway, here are the staff of the state guard 1860-61:

Major General S. B. Buckner, Inspector General, and Commander of Kentucky State Guard
Colonel Frank Tryon, Assistant Quartermaster General, Assistant Commissary-General
Colonel Benjamin Hardin Helm, Assistant Inspector-General, Assistant Adjutant-General
Colonial Isaac W. Scott, Assistant Surgeon-General
Colonel Charles D. Pennebaker, Assistant Paymaster General
Colonel Samuel Gill, Chief Engineer
Major James A. Beattie , Judge-Advocate
Captain Philip Vacaro, Captain in the Subsistence Department
Rev. James Craik, Chaplain


34887-3.jpg
 
I've commented before about Buckner's odd and distinctive-to-him-only collar insignia on his frock coat. Supposedly he designed it himself for himself, but in 1861 when Illustrated Weekly news magazines wanted to picture commanders of the new Confederate States Army they copied Buckner's uniform onto existing photos of others, in this case T. J. Jackson of Virginia:

CSA Gen Cards 004.jpg jackson_thomasj.jpg
 
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Was the Kentucky State Guard Confederate?
This seems obvious - yes! - but CAN be confusing due to the existence of the competing Unionist Kentucky Home Guard. Since the state passed into Union control fairly early following a period of attempted neutrality, most Kentuckians of the Confederate persuasion withdrew into Tennessee to organize their units, most of which ended up in the so-called "Orphan" Brigade commanded by former U. S. Vice President and Kentuckian John C. Breckinridge. In one particular case, members of the State Guard company from Lexington commanded by John Hunt Morgan smuggled their arms from the state into Tennessee where they became famous as Morgan's Raiders, frequently returning to the state to harass Unionists and recruit others.
 
This seems obvious - yes! - but CAN be confusing due to the existence of the competing Unionist Kentucky Home Guard. Since the state passed into Union control fairly early following a period of attempted neutrality, most Kentuckians of the Confederate persuasion withdrew into Tennessee to organize their units, most of which ended up in the so-called "Orphan" Brigade commanded by former U. S. Vice President and Kentuckian John C. Breckinridge. In one particular case, members of the State Guard company from Lexington commanded by John Hunt Morgan smuggled their arms from the state into Tennessee where they became famous as Morgan's Raiders, frequently returning to the state to harass Unionists and recruit others.
Missouri had a similar experience when neutrality was declared and an armed militia known as the Missouri State Guard (pro-Confederate) was formed.

However unlike Kentucky which had no major armed battles or invasion Missouri had as Nathaniel Lyon was able to drive out secessionist governor Claribone Fox Jackson from the government but it wouldn't be the last of him and the secessionists as they were able to organize and fight at Wilson's Creek resulting in the death of Lyon and recruitment for the Confederates swelling with Sterling Price (the commander of the Missouri State Guard) going as far north as Lexington and until January 1862 had a considerable army in southwestern portion of the state according to Henry W. Halleck.
 
Simon Bolivar Butler was Inspector General and Commander of the Kentucky State Guard.

By July 1861, two State Guard Regiments was reorganized for Confederate service at Camp Boone. Roger Hansons State Guard Regiment became the 2nd Kentucky and another state Guard Regiment became to 3rd Kentucky.
It's hard to find any organization charts, but there is some info in the link above. Looks like companies was scattered around in various cities and towns.

Anyway, here are the staff of the state guard 1860-61:

Major General S. B. Buckner, Inspector General, and Commander of Kentucky State Guard
Colonel Frank Tryon, Assistant Quartermaster General, Assistant Commissary-General
Colonel Benjamin Hardin Helm, Assistant Inspector-General, Assistant Adjutant-General
Colonial Isaac W. Scott, Assistant Surgeon-General
Colonel Charles D. Pennebaker, Assistant Paymaster General
Colonel Samuel Gill, Chief Engineer
Major James A. Beattie , Judge-Advocate
Captain Philip Vacaro, Captain in the Subsistence Department
Rev. James Craik, Chaplain


View attachment 213163
Thanks for sharing this! I'm going to assume from the above that the KSG did have some kind of regimental structure? If so, do we have any surviving information on strength, location, and officers?
 
In August 1861 the Kentucky State Guard had 73 Riflemen and Infantry companies, 9 Cavalry companies, and 7 Artillery companies. Attempting to list all of these would take some time. I will only list the companies that were formed in to battalions: Louisville Bn.. Lexington Bn., Green River Bn., Bourbon Bn., Marion Rifle Bn., Henderson Bn., Kentucky River Bn., Adair Bn., and Salt River Bn Provisional). Note many companies remained independent and never joined a battalion

I will use the Lexington Battalion Kentucky State Guard for an example. Active 1860-1861 and included Lexington Rifles, Union Grays, Lexington Chasseurs, Jessamine Riles, and Governor' Red Artillery.
 
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I should have stated that the above information came from American Military Equipage 1851-1872 by Frederick P. Todd. In mid-1861 there were 6,000 men in the State Guard. I will let others tell us about the uniforms of the Kentucky State Guard.
 
However unlike Kentucky which had no major armed battles or invasion Missouri had as Nathaniel Lyon was able to drive out secessionist governor Claribone Fox Jackson from the government but it wouldn't be the last of him and the secessionists as they were able to organize and fight at Wilson's Creek resulting in the death of Lyon and recruitment for the Confederates swelling with Sterling Price (the commander of the Missouri State Guard) going as far north as Lexington and until January 1862 had a considerable army in southwestern portion of the state according to Henry W. Halleck.

Not so! In addition to the several incursions by Morgan I alluded to (and which I believe @Buckeye Bill has well-documented here in threads) the late summer of 1862 saw invasions by not one but TWO separate Confederate armies: In July, Edmund Kirby Smith led what amounted to a corps from Knoxville to Lexington, fighting and destroying a Union division along the way at Richmond. In September he was followed by Braxton Bragg's even larger force which met the Union army commanded by Don Carlos Buell in the Battle of Perryville, Oct. 8:

https://www.civilwartalk.com/threads/the-battle-of-perryville-kentucky-october-8-1862.139216/

This was no mere skirmish and the Confederates actually more or less won the battle, but for various valid reasons retreated from the state leaving it securely in Union hands afterwards, save for visits by Morgan and I believe even N. B. Forrest.
 
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Not so! In addition to the several incursions by Morgan I alluded to (and which I believe @Buckeye Bill has well-documented here in threads) the late summer of 1862 saw invasions by not one but TWO separate Confederate armies: In July, Edmund Kirby Smith led what amounted to a corps from Knoxville to Lexington, fighting and destroying a Union division along the way at Richmond. In September he was followed by Braxton Bragg's even larger force which met the Union army commanded by Don Carlos Buell in the Battle of Perryville, Oct. 8:

https://www.civilwartalk.com/threads/the-battle-of-perryville-kentucky-october-8-1862.139216/

This was no mere skirmish and the Confederates actually more or less won the battle, but for various valid reasons retreated from the state leaving it securely in Union hands afterwards, save for visits by Morgan and I believe even N. B. Forrest.
I am referring to the July-December 1861 to January 1862 period by the way. And yes I am already familiar with John Hunt Morgans's raids into Tennessee and Kentucky as well as the Confederate Heartland Campaign by Edmund Kirby Smith and Braxton Bragg.
 
I am referring to the July-December 1861 to January 1862 period by the way. And yes I am already familiar with John Hunt Morgans's raids into Tennessee and Kentucky as well as the Confederate Heartland Campaign by Edmund Kirby Smith and Braxton Bragg.
Oh, I see; the first part of that was a slack time, mainly due to Kentucky's attempted neutrality - that is, until Polk violated it by occupying Columbus.
 
Oh, I see; the first part of that was a slack time, mainly due to Kentucky's attempted neutrality - that is, until Polk violated it by occupying Columbus.
Polk's invasion was an idiotic move that destroyed mostly any pro-Confederate sympathy in that state. I wonder how Kentucky would have ended up if Polk never took Columbus.
 
One of my favorite sub-categories of Civil War study is Kentucky and its role. I have questions about the Kentucky State Guard I was hoping could be answered:
1) How many men did the KSG number in 1861 (particularly July-September)
2) What was the organizational structure of the KSG?
I was wondering if you have ever been to Camp Wildcat?
 
I was wondering if you have ever been to Camp Wildcat?
Unfortunately no. I've been to Nashville to visit our cousins, and I wanted like anything to go to the battlefields at Franklin, Nashville, and Murfreesboro, but we didn't have the time.
 
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