The 20th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 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 20th Kentucky Infantry was organized at Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

, Camp Dick Robinson

Camp Dick Robinson

Camp Dick Robinson was a large Union Army organizational and training center located near Lancaster in rural Garrard County, Kentucky, during the American Civil War...

, and Smithfield, Kentucky

Smithfield, Kentucky

Smithfield is a city in Henry County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 102 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Smithfield is located at ....

 and mustered in for a three year enlistment on January 6, 1862.

The regiment was attached to 22nd Brigade, Army of the Ohio

Army of the Ohio

The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863.-History:...

, to February 1862. 22nd Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. 22nd Brigade, 4th Division, II Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Left Wing, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland

Army of the Cumberland

The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.-History:...

, to December 1862. District of West Kentucky, 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 June 1863. Unassigned, 2nd Division, XXIII Corps, Department of the Ohio, to August 1863. District of Louisville, Kentucky, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, to April 1864. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Kentucky, 5th Division, XXIII Corps, to May 1864. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, XXIII Corps, to December 1864. Unattached, District of Kentucky, to January 1865.

The 20th Kentucky Infantry mustered out of service on January 17, 1865.

Detailed service

The regiment united at Smithland and was ordered to Louisville, Ky.; thence to Bardstown, Ky., January 1862, and duty there until February. March to Nashville, Tenn., February 23-March 12; thence march to Savannah, Tenn., March 13-April 6. Battle of Shiloh, April 6–7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Phillips' Creek, Widow Serratt's, May 21. Bridge Creek, before Corinth, May 28. Occupation of Corinth May 30 and pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 6. Buell's Campaign in northern Alabama and middle Tennessee June to August. March to Nashville, Tenn.; thence to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg, August 20-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1–22, Glasgow, Ky., October 5. Battle of Perryville October 8. Camp Wild Cat October 17. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 22-November 9, and duty there until December 19. Ordered to Bowling Green, Ky., December 19, and duty there and guarding railroad at various points in Kentucky until July 1863. Morgan's attack on Lebanon July 5. Regiment mostly captured, at Camp Nelson until July 28. Ordered to Louisville, Ky., and provost duty there until May 15, 1864. Ordered to join Sherman's army in the field May 15. Operations and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 30-June 5. Ackworth June 3–4. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11–14. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes' Creek June 19. Kolb's Farm June 22. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2–5. Chattahoochie River July 6–17. Decatur July 19. Howard House July 20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5–7. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy's Station September 2–6. Ordered to Louisville, Ky., September, and guard duty there until January 1865.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 233 men during service; 36 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 3 officers and 194 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...
  
  

External links

• Alphabetical roster of the 20th Kentucky taken from Thomas Speed's Union Regiments of Kentucky