Service
The 7th Kentucky Infantry was organized at Camp Dick Robinson and mustered in for a three year enlistment on September 22, 1861. It was mustered in as the 3rd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry under the command of Colonel Theophilus Toulmin Garrard. Another regiment was also mustered in as the 3rd Kentucky Infantry, so the designation was changed. Despite the change, members of the regiment continued to refer to it as the 3rd Kentucky Infantry (or "Old 3rd") well into 1863. The regiment was recruited in Clay, Knox, Laurel, Owsley (including what is now Lee County), and Whitley counties.
The regiment was attached to Thomas' Command, Army of the Ohio, to January 1862. 12th Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Ohio, to March 1862. 24th Brigade, 7th Division, Army of the Ohio, to October 1862. 3rd Brigade, District of West Virginia, Department of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 9th Division, Right Wing, XIII Corps (Old), Department of the Tennessee, to December 1862. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January 1863. 2nd Brigade, 9th Division, XIII Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to February 1863. 1st Brigade, 9th Division, XIII Corps, to July 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, XIII Corps, Department of the Tennessee, to August 1863, and Department of the Gulf to November 1863. Plaquemine, District of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Department of the Gulf, to March 1864, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XIII Corps, to June 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, XIX Corps, to December 1864. District of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to April 1865. Provisional Brigade, District of Baton Rouge, Department of the Gulf, to March 1866.
While at Cumberland Gap, supplies ran desperately low. General George W. Morgan ordered a handpicked detachment of 400 men be mounted on artillery and supply wagon horses, and move toward Lexington, Kentucky to obtain supplies. Colonel Garrard was with these men at a small skirmish at the mouth of Bear Creek. Garrard then left the detachment in the command of Major Isaac N. Cardwell. These men rode into the Battle of Richmond, and were scattered by a rear attack from Scott's Louisiana Cavalry. Some returned to their homes in eastern Kentucky, others rejoined the army at Cumberland Gap, and a small number retreated with the Union forces to Lexington and then to Louisville. Enough men remained to form one company from the 7th Kentucky, one company from the 32nd Kentucky, and one company from the 3rd Tennessee to form Garrard's Detachment at Louisville. (Garrard joined the shattered remains of General William "Bull" Nelson's army at Louisville.) Many men of the 7th Kentucky were captured and paroled at Richmond, and ordered to report to Cincinnati to await exchange.
The 7th Kentucky Infantry mustered out of service in Louisville, Kentucky on October 5, 1864. On December 24, 1864, veterans of the 7th Kentucky, 19th Kentucky Infantry, and 22nd Kentucky Infantry who reenlisted were organized with new recruits as the 7th Kentucky Veteran Volunteer Infantry in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It spent the majority of service on garrison duty in Baton Rouge, and mustered out on March 11, 1866.
Read more about this topic: 7th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry
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