The 16th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

The 16th Kentucky Cavalry was organized at Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...

 and mustered in for three years. It mustered in under the command of Major

Major (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...

 George F. Barnes.

The regiment was attached to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Cavalry Corps, Department of the Ohio

Department of the Ohio

The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.General Orders No...

, to May 1864. 1st Cavalry Brigade, District of Kentucky, 5th Division, XXIII Corps, Department of the Ohio, to October 1864.

The 16th Kentucky Cavalry ceased when it was consolidated into the 12th Kentucky Cavalry

12th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry

The 12th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 12th Kentucky Cavalry was organized at Caseyville and Owensboro, Kentucky and mustered in on November 17, 1862 for three years under the command of Colonel...

 on October 15, 1864.

Detailed service

Duty at Paducah, Kentucky, until April 1864. Fort Anderson, Paducah, March 25–26, 1864. Ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, April 12. Operations against Morgan May 31-June 30. Cynthiana June 12. At Nicholasville, Kentucky, June to August. Cleveland, Tennessee, August 17. Gillem's Expedition from eastern Tennessee toward southwestern Virginia September 20-October 17. Leesburg September 28. Near Rheatown, Duvall's Ford, Watauga River, September 30.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 58 men during service; 3 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 54 enlisted men died of disease.

See also

• List of Kentucky Civil War Units
• Kentucky in the Civil War
  Kentucky in the Civil War
  Kentucky was a border state of key importance in the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln recognized the importance of the Commonwealth when he declared "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." In a September 1861 letter to Orville Browning, Lincoln wrote "I think to lose...