Kentucky Regiments Involved in the Civil War
According to official records, over 75,000 Kentuckians fought for the Union during the Civil War. This figure does not include the estimated 12,000 men who saw active service with Kentucky's state forces, nor the hundreds who belonged to irregular units such as self-styled "Home Guards" or "Independent Scouts."
Although Kentucky never seceded from the Union, it was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1862 when Confederates in western Kentucky and portions of central Kentucky moved to establish their own government. Thus, Kentucky sent troops to both Union and Confederate forces.
The exact number of Kentuckians who fought for the Confederacy may never be known. Historians estimate that between 25,000 and 40,000 Kentucky volunteers served in the Confederate army, whether as troops in Kentucky-formed regiments or migrating south to join Confederate forces in other states, such as Tennessee or Virginia. The fact that service records for many of these individuals were either poorly kept, lost, or destroyed during the war presents a considerable challenge for researchers.
The table below provides links to listings of Union and Confederate regiments that included troops from Kentucky, as well as the regiment's organization location and date. Please keep in mind that sources for these listings is sketchy, and is thereby incomplete.
Union |
Confederate |
Source Materials
A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. (vols. 1-3) Frederick H. Dyer. New York: Sagamore Press, Inc. 1959. Call number: 973.7 Dyer
Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, The Confederate Units and the Indian Units. Stewart Sifakis. New York: Facts on File. 1995. Call number: K973.742 Sifa
Kentucky Encyclopedia. Kleber, John E., Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, James C. Klotter. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992. Call number: K 976.9003 Kent
* Thanks to the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs Research Branch for assistance with this publication.