Even More Bracken's Boys - The 10th Kentucky Cavalry

In two previous blog posts we have talked about two of the more common Bracken County units - the 16th Kentucky Infantry (U. S. A.) and the 7th Battalion Mounted Infantry (C. S. A.). Bracken men were not limited to these two units, many would serve in the Fortieth and Fifty-Fourth Kentucky Infantry Regiments (U. S. A.). But one unit that would be closely linked to the Sixteenth Infantry, particularly at veteran reunions after the war, was the Tenth Kentucky Cavalry (U. S. A.). 

The need for mounted units was becoming apparent as the war moved into its second year. There had been resistance earlier in the war to raising mounted units due to cost and the length of time needed to train an effective cavalry unit - keep in mind the prevailing thought that the war would be over in a few months. But as the war slogged on, the various army commanders increased their demands on having mounted troops available - not only in their traditional role of scouting and screening, but also to effectively chase down raiders.

Of the 260 Civil War veterans buried today in Bracken County, at least fourteen served in the 10th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, most of them serving in Company E. Recruiting for the regiment started in Maysville during the summer of 1862.  The regiment was organized to serve for one year at Covington, Kentucky on September 9, 1862, under command of Colonel Joshua Tevis, a native of Shelbyville, Kentucky. Being a mounted unit, organization for the 10th was slow, and the regiment was not fully ready for service until November 11th. However, the regiment would be involved in a skirmish at Florence in mid-September, and then would operate around Mt. Sterling. Portions of the regiment would participate in an expedition into eastern Tennessee in late December, and in 1863 the regiment was mostly involved in the central Kentucky region countering raids and protecting the supply depot at Mt. Sterling. The 10th would muster out of service on September 17, 1863 at Maysville.