Home / Civil War Genealogy / Kentucky / 1st Kentucky Infantry
1st Kentucky InfantryCSA Flag
Company Unknown
William Cooley
Rank Unknown
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Contact Name: Ray
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Date Added: 5/27/2002

Company Unknown
Thomas Michael Kemp
- 1st Lieutenant
Enlisted at Clinton Kentuckey. Elected sargent.Later promoted to 1st lieutenant and served as a scout under General Joseph Johnson and later under General Nathen B. Forrest.
Little is actually known after 1st Kentucky was disolved but he did serve the duration of the war.
Contact Name: Roger P. Sharp
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Date Added: 1/15/2006

Company Unknown
addison ward murray
- Private
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Contact Name: jacqueline (murray)mcmillan
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Date Added: 11/6/2007

Company Unknown
Thomas P. Saunders
Rank Unknown
Served in CO F, 1st KY CAV CSA during the Civil War.

Enlisted in Thompson's Cavalry (R. A. Thompson) Aug 14, 1862.

Captured during a raid of the enlistment camp Aug 17, 1862 by 2 units of KY militia from Louisville, KY during which Capt Thompson was killed.

After being held shortly in Louisville, was transferred to Camp Morton, Indianapolis, IN.

Transferred to Johnson's Island near Sandusky, OH on Aug 26, 1862.

Sent to Vicksburg, MS and exchanged, part of the 770 men who boarded the steamer Charm on Dec 8, 1862.

Enlisted in Company F, 1st Regiment KY Cavalry (Butlers) before Jan 1, 1863

Sometime during the period of May - June 1864 he was listed as 'Abesent, sick at hospital in Atlanta, GA'

Listed as 'absent without leave since Sep 20, 1864', it is unkown at this time if he ever returned to his unit.
Contact Name: David
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Contact Homepage: http://shieldsgenealogy.com/
Date Added: 7/11/2017

Company A
Thomas J. England
- Private
No comments
Contact Name: Greg Watson
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Date Added: 7/2/2007

Company A
Daniel J. Saunders
- Private
No comments
Contact Name: David
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Contact Homepage: http://shieldsgenealogy.com/
Date Added: 7/11/2017

Company B
Charles Dwayne Compton
- 1st Lieutenant
No comments
Contact Name: joshua compton
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Date Added: 7/25/2012

Company B
Doctor James Henry Wright
- Private
Walked from Marion County, Alabama to Kentucky to join a Confederate force of any kin to get into battle. D.J. was recruited by Captain Lapaille in Louisville. on 23 April 1861.Enlisted in the 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment C.S.A. on May
4, 1862 at Yorktown, Va. by Col. O'Neal.
State of Texas, County of Erath
Before me the undersigned authority of this day personally appeared J.C. Wright, personally knows to me to be a creditable man, and after being by me duly sworn deposes and says, that he is a brother of D.J.Wright, decd.whose widow is an applicant for a Confederate pension,that he was at home living with said D.J.Wright Decd. prior to the breakingout of the civil war, and that his brother D.J. Wright at the beginning of the war left home went to Va. to enlist in the service, he joined the First Ky. Battallian for twelve months,this was disbanded at the expiration of 12 months, and he enlisted again in Va.(I think) in the 26th Alabama Reg. that he does not remember the letter of the co.That the affiant was not personally with Dec'd but often heard from him while he was in the war, that he corresponded with Decd. wrote to him received letters from him, while thery wre in the service, that he served with the opening till the close of the war, he was at the battles of Manasses( Bull Run), that while affiant was not with Decd, he knows from these facts and other similar facts that Decd. was in the actual service, and that he never deserted the Confederacy. That Decd died at Morgan Mill for years ago
Signed: J.C.Wright
subscribed sworn to me this the 17th day of August 1907
M.J.Thompson
County Judge of Erath County, Texas
Note: While visiting the battle field of Manassas Junction (or Bull Run) I was told by one of the guides there that the 1st Ky did not fight there. I told the guide that I had seen a record that stated the opposite of what he was telling everyone. The above was taken from that record.
I listed this gg uncle for the records for the 1st Ky CSA
Thanks for you work in this field.
Paul Wright
w1937@bellsouth.net
Contact Name: Paul Wright
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Date Added: 9/20/2013

Company E
Whitson Rector Henry
- 2nd Corporal
This was my great grandfather
Contact Name: Joe Greer
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Date Added: 10/21/2013

Company E
William Montgomery McConnell
- Lieutenant
Second great uncle.
Charter member of Robert E. Lee Camp 158 United Confederate Veterans. Enlisted in 1861 in Hickman, KY Served in Crossland's Company Duncan's Battalion 1st KY Infantry. Captured while a spy and held as a prisoner of war at Camp Chase and others. Exchanged May 1863 at City Point, VA.

The 1st Kentucky Infantry Regiment was formed by the merger of two Kentucky infantry
battalions led by Blanton Duncan and Thomas H. Taylor. This regiment consisted of eleven
companies numbering some 800 men; mustered in Kentucky. Both battalions arrived in
Virginia just before the Battle of First Manassas. Duncan's battalion arrived at Harper's
Ferry on May 4, 1861. Taylor's battalion arrived in early July.
Interestingly, both battalions were involved in train wrecks while en route to the Eastern
front. The wrecks were at two different locations: Duncan's while en-route to Manassas
and Taylor's while it was en-route to Manassas Junction to merge with the former.
Colonel Taylor was given command of the regiment by direction of the Secretary of War
for the Confederate States on August 7, 1861.
Throughout the summer and early fall of 1861, the 1st Kentucky operated in the
Northern Virginia area. In early December, General Gustavus W. Smith presented the
Kentuckians with their first battle flag.
On December 20th, 1861, the 1st Kentucky along with 3 other Confederate regiments, a
battery of artillery, and 250 cavalry, commanded by J.E.B. Stuart engaged federal forces at
Drainesville, Virginia. The small battle lasted some 3 hours and at last the outnumbered
Confederates were forced to withdraw.
On Christmas Day the regiment went into winter quarters approximately two miles west
of Centerville, Virginia. The winter proved to be long and cold. The conditions were made
worse by daily skirmishes with federal pickets.
The primary area of operation ranged from Frying Pan Road to Chantilly, Virginia.
On March 8, 1862, the Confederate army commenced a grand retreat through Warrenton,
Culpepper Court House, and Orange Court House; a distance of some 70 miles. It
remained at the latter for a period of 3 weeks.
During this time, Colonel Taylor was appointed Provost Marshall and 200 men of the
regiment under Captain Joe Desha were detailed as guards. Major Crossland was given
temporary command of the regiment.
After 3 weeks, the regiment moved to Richmond and on April 14 was ordered to
Yorktown. It was here the Kentuckians encountered the heaviest fighting of the regiment's
history.
On April 16, the regiment repulsed two federal assaults while under cannonading and
small arms fire. The army withdrew from Yorktown and the 1st Kentucky was ordered to
Winder Camp in Richmond. Its 12 months enlistment having expired, the regiment was
mustered out of service on May 13th and 14th.
The war was far from over and the former 1st Kentucky members enlisted in the
Kentucky units operating in Tennessee as well as other various military organizations in
Virginia.
Contact Name: Barry Sowell
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Date Added: 6/24/2025

Company F
William R Smith
Rank Unknown
My Great Grandfather William R. Smith was a member of Company F, First Kentucky Infantry, CSA. I have his original certificate from the Kentucky Department of Confederate Pensions. Pension was $10 per month, paid quarterly.

I would love to find a source for history of this unit.
Contact Name: Michael Gish
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Date Added: 12/5/2010

Company K
John A. Gunn
- Sergeant
Winds of Change, Robertson County, Tennessee in the Civil War list a John A. Gunn as being in the 1st KY Infantry having enlisted June 17, 1861, at Keysburg, KY. I have found little information on this unit.
Contact Name: H. George Pitt
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Date Added: 9/7/2007

Company M
James Edward Edwards
- Private
No comments
Contact Name: Steven Gabel
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Date Added: 1/30/2011