5th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry - Legacy

Legacy

The Louisville Legion nickname was derived from an earlier Kentucky militia unit that was first constituted on January 21, 1839 in Louisville, and was mustered into federal service for the Mexican-American War, from May 17, 1846, as the 1st Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment. It saw action in the Battle of Monterey. On May 17, 1847, in New Orleans, it was mustered out.

Of the regiment's service during the Civil War, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman wrote, "No single body of men can claim more honor for the grand result than the officers and men of the Louisville Legion of 1861."

Ten years after the Civil War the Louisville Legion would again organize as the Kentucky State Guard's 1st Regiment of Infantry. In this incarnation it would take part in the French Eversole Feud and the Rowan County War. In the Spanish-American War it would be the first unit from Kentucky to reach Puerto Rico. Afterwards it would maintain the peace around Frankfort, Kentucky after the assassination of Governor William Goebel, and then patrol the Mexican border.

The 138th Field Artillery and 149th Armor Brigade of the Kentucky National Guard are directly descended from the Louisville Legion.