On August 14, 1862, General E. Kirby Smith left Knoxville, Tenn., with an army of some 1,000 men, about 1,000 of whom were cavalry. This army, by forced marches, passed rapidly across the intervening mountainous country, subsisting to a great extent upon the roasting ears growing in the fields along their route, and on August 30 its advance brigades, about 5,000 strong, hungry and pugnacious, struck the Federal Army, under General William Nelson, some 16,000 strong, at Richmond, Ky., and destroyed it. It has been said that in no battle in the Civil War was an army so completely destroyed as Nelson's was in this fight. At the same time General Braxton Bragg entered Kentucky from another direction with a strong force and advanced upon Louisville; and thus, for the first and only time during the war, nearly the whole of Kentucky was within the Confederate lines. During the six weeks it was so situated, a number of Confederate regiments was recruited in the State.

On Sunday, August 31, 1862, the day after the battle at Richmond, Mr. David Walter Chenault, a prominent citizen of Madison County, then about thirty-six years old, went to Richmond from his country place, and on arriving at the town found that a great many young men of Madison and some of the neighboring counties were there, and anxious to join the Confederate Army, and that Messrs. Carey Hawkins, John D. Harris, Clifton Estill, Dr. Jennings, and several other prominent and influential citizens of the county, of Southern sentiment, had united in recommending him (Chenault) to General Kirby Smith as one of the most suitable men in Kentucky to recruit and organize a regiment of Kentuckians for the Confederate service. As Mr. Chenault's sympathies were already deeply engaged in the cause, he was easily persuaded to accept the commission; and Joseph T. Tucker, of Winchester, and James B. McCreary, of Richmond, were named and commissioned, respectively, as lieutenant-colonel and major of the proposed new regiment.

Ten days later (September 10, 1862) the regiment, then consisting of nine companies and 800 officers and enlisted men, was mustered into the service at Richmond, and assigned to General J. H. Morgan's Cavalry Brigade. It was the first regiment of Kentucky soldiers mustered into the service after Bragg and Kirby Smith advanced into Kentucky; and, properly speaking, it should have been designated the 1st Kentucky Cavalry, for it was mustered in before the regiment that was designated the First (Colonel D. Howard Smith's), and in fact before any of the other regiments of cavalry raised in Kentucky, after the Fourth. Chenault's Regiment was first called the Seventh, by which designation it was known for several months. But Colonel R. M. Gano claimed the designation of 7th for his regiment, and was given it; after which Chenault's Regiment was known as the 11th Kentucky Cavalry.

General Adam R. Johnson's book, The Partisan Rangers, commanded by Colonel William Hollis, of Webster County, gives a roster of another 11th Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. A., where, and in the adjoining counties, this regiment of 410 men was recruited. On June 22, 1863, this regiment was defeated in a fight with the 35th U. S. Cavalry, and Colonel Hollis was killed. The regiment then disbanded and the men joined other organizations.

So Chenault's Regiment had the distinction of having borne two numerical designations—first the 7th Kentucky Cavalry, and second, the 11th Kentucky Cavalry—when there were already other regiments claiming these designations and bearing them,

Chenault's 11th Kentucky Cavalry was composed altogether of ten companies. Companies A and C were recruited in Clark County; Companies E, B and F in Madison County; Company D in Estill County; Company G in Bourbon County, and Company H in Madison, Estill and Montgomery Counties. I do not know where Company I was recruited, though probably it was in Estill County. Company K was recruited in Clinton and Wayne Counties, Ky., while the regiment was doing outpost duty in that section of the State early in 1863. After the accession of this company the regiment had a strength of more than 900 men. Some of the companies were consolidated and their letter designations changed, while the regiment was in Tennessee.

That the 11th Kentucky Cavalry was intended for real use rather than for ornament is shown by the fact that on the very day that it was mustered into the service (September 10, 1862), orders were received from General Kirby Smith, then at Lexington, for one of its companies to go on an expedition to Irvine and Estill Counties to find out whether there had been any movement of the Federal General George H. Morgan's forces from Cumberland Gap, in that direction; and to remain upon the scout until they had found out something definite about his movements, in whatever direction. Another order, received on the same day, directed that part of the regiment should operate with General John H. Morgan in one of his scouting forays in the mountains. On September 15 four companies of the 11th were sent into the Fox or Sugar Hill Country, in Garrard County, to hunt up, disperse or capture a little army of home guards and bushwhackers under the command of a man named King, who was giving a great deal of trouble in that direction. On the same day Lieutenant J. L. Wheeler was assigned to the command of Winchester and Clark County with his company (C) and directed to suppress all bushwhacking and break up all communications with the enemy, and to take away the arms of the Winchester home guards and parole the men.

It was in such arduous and perilous work as scouting, fighting bushwhackers, etc., that the young regiment of raw recruits received its baptism of fire, as well as its first military training, before the men were even instructed in the manual of arms or the simplest rudiments of drill and the school of the soldier; and in such work it continued until the retreat from Kentucky.

Although assigned to Morgan's Brigade, the regiment as a whole, did not join him before the retreat, and did not go out of Kentucky with him on the retreat. Morgan went out of the State by way of Versailles, Lawrenceburg, Bardstown, Elizabethtown, Hopkinsville, etc., to Gallatin, in Sumner County, Tenn. Chenault's Regiment, which was the largest in Morgan's command, and perhaps the largest that ever went into the Confederate service from Kentucky, left Richmond on October 18, 1862, and retreated with the forces of General Kirby Smith by way of the Big Hill route across the mountains of Tennessee, and so had no opportunity to engage in the battle of Perryville. However, they had plenty of skirmishing with bushwhackers, as well as other rough experiences by the way.

The regiment remained with Smith until the latter part of November, when it joined Morgan's Brigade (to which it belonged) near Lebanon, Tenn. On November 20, 1862, the Confederate War Department issued an order assigning Chenault's Regiment to General Abram Buford's Cavalry Brigade, which was to be dismounted. This was done by instigation of General Bragg, whose hatred of all Kentuckians was notorious, and who did everything in his power to annoy and humiliate them. He was constantly endeavoring to have Morgan's whole force dismounted and made infantry, and it required great vigilance on the part of General Morgan and his friends to prevent this being done. Notwithstanding the fact that Chenault's Regiment was officially assigned to Buford's Brigade as early as November 20, 1862 (at which time its designation was changed from 7th Kentucky Cavalry to 11th Kentucky Cavalry), Morgan had sufficient influence to keep the regiment under his own command, and it never was a part of Buford's Brigade, only nominally.

Soon after joining Morgan, the Eleventh was prominently engaged in the biggest fight it ever took part in—the battle of Hartsville, Tenn.—one of Morgan's greatest and most brilliant victories. This battle was fought on December 9, 1863—Chenault's Regiment having then been in the service exactly three months. Numerous accounts of the battle have been published, and it is not my intention to add another. Chenault's Regiment was posted in a prominent position and took a very important part in the fight, where his men behaved like veterans and contributed materially toward securing the victory. The regiment, attacking obliquely on the flank, drove the enemy, who were greatly superior to them in numbers, for nearly half a mile, without a check, until the Federal right wing was forced back upon their own left wing.

General Morgan, in his official report on the battle says: Colonel Chenault led on his men with the most determined bravery, encouraging them by voice and example. Colonel Joseph T. Tucker used to say that General Morgan promised to have Colonel Chenault made a brigadier-general for his services in the battle of Hartsville; and no doubt he intended to do so. But Morgan himself was at that time (December 9, 1862) still only a colonel acting as brigadier commander.

General Basil W. Duke, in his History of Morgan's Cavalry, says: The most valuable capture (at Hartsville) was of boots and shoes, for some of the cavalrymen, especially of Cluke's and Chenault's Regiments, had no other covering for their feet than rags.

Soon after this battle, and on account of it, Morgan received his long delayed commission as brigadier-general; and, on December 18, 1862, his forces were organized into two brigades, which he commanded as acting major-general. The 11th Kentucky Cavalry was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, which was commanded by Colonel W. C. P. Breckinridge, of the 9th Kentucky Cavalry, as acting brigadier-general.

On December 22, General Morgan started on what is known as his Christmas Raid into Kentucky—the greatest of all his numerous forays into the enemy's country, except the one known as the Ohio Raid. Starting from his camp at Alexandria, Tenn., he marched as far as Shepherdsville, Ky., before beginning his retreat, fighting nearly every day. He destroyed the L. & N. Railroad from Munfordsville to within eighteen miles of Louisville, rendering it impassible for at least two months; captured 1,877 prisoners, including 62 commissioned officers; killed and wounded a large number of Union troops, and destroyed more than $2,000,000 worth of United States property. His own loss on the raid was two killed, twenty-four wounded and sixty-four missing. His command was back in Tennessee, in camp at Smithville, on January 5, 1863, having spent just two weeks on the raid. He and his men received a vote of thanks from the Confederate Congress for their brilliant services on this raid.

The 11th Kentucky Cavalry was conspicuous for the part it took in this raid. It daily did its full share of the hard and bloody work cut out for the whole command by its daring and brilliant leader, General Morgan. On December 29, Colonel Chenault and his regiment were sent in advance to burn the stockade and trestle at Boston, in Nelson County. This work they successfully accomplished, capturing and paroling the garrison at Boston, as well as destroying the bridge and trestle, and that night they rejoined General Morgan at Bardstown.

On December 31, as Morgan was slowly retreating across Muldraugh's Hill, Captain Alexander H. Tribble, of Chenault's Regiment, and Lieutenant George B. Eastin, of Duke's Regiment, were loitering behind the column, and were attacked in a hand-to-hand conflict by Colonel D. J. Halisy, of the 6th Kentucky Cavalry (Union) and two of his aides, who were riding far in advance of their own column. Lieutenant Eastin killed Colonel Halisy, and the two aides surrendered to Captain Tribble, who engaged them both, and would have slain them, except for their surrender.

On January 14, 1863, Morgan's command went into camp at McMinnville, Tenn., and Chenault's Regiment was immediately ordered to Clinton County, Ky., to guard against a dash of the Federals from that direction. On the next day (January 15) the regiment started in a pelting rain for Albany, the county seat of Clinton. It marched through rain and snow for five days, swimming both the Collins and the Obie Rivers, and reached Albany on the morning of the 22nd, much exhausted, and many of the men dismounted, the hard riding having thoroughly disabled their horses. On the 24th Major McCleary went on a scout to Monticello, twenty-five miles from Albany, and drove a company of Federals, commanded by Captain Hare, out of Monticello and across the Cumberland River.

It will be remembered that Chenault's Regiment, though operating (as it always did) under Morgan's commands, was still officially a part of Buford's Brigade. About January 20, `1863, Colonel Chenault got leave to go to Richmond, Va., where he saw Mr. Davis, the President of the Confederacy, as well as the Secretary of War; and, as the result of his conferences with them, Special Orders No. 25, dated January 30, 1863, were issued, which rescinded the order of November 20, 1862, assigning his regiment to Buford's Brigade. The order concluded with these words: This regiment will remain, as heretofore, with the brigade under Brigadier-General John H. Morgan. Colonel Chenault will immediately proceed from this city to Tullahoma, Tenn., and report accordingly.

It was during this visit to Richmond that Colonel Chenault had the portrait made of which the cut accompanying this sketch is a reproduction. According to his orders, he proceeded from Richmond to Tullahoma, and reported what had been done to General Morgan, and then rejoined his regiment at Albany, Kentucky.

From January 25 until February 15 the regiment scouted and picketed the roads in every direction. The men had good rations and forage, with comfortable quarters, but the duty was heavy and severe, the whole regiment being on guard duty every two days. Tinker Dave Beatty annoyed them so much that a chain picket had to be established around the entire town every night. Colonel Jacobs' Regiment (Federal) was at Creelsboro, twelve miles distant, and Wolford's Brigade was at Burksville, fourteen miles distant. The 11th Kentucky then had about 600 effective men, the others being sick or dismounted, and was 120 miles from support. It was only by the greatest vigilance and activity that they could maintain their position and do the immense amount of scouting and picketing that was required of them.

On February 10, 1863, the scouts brought in some newspapers from which it was learned that Colonel Frank Wolford would make a speech in Burkesville on the 12th. Early on the morning of that day Major McCreary started from Albany with two companies; and, on approaching Burkesville, formed his men behind a hill, and from the bushes near the river watched the assembling of the crowd at the courthouse to hear the speaking. There was a guard of soldiers at the ferry, within 400 yards of the courthouse. Major McCreary charged with his men, on foot, to a school house immediately on the banks of the river, and from there drove the dismounted pickets away from their horses, and broke up the speaking in tremendous disorder. Seven of the Federal troops were killed or wounded. The boys christened the school house Fort McCreary, but it did not last long, for the Federals crossed the river that night and burned it.

On February 19 Colonel Cluke passed near Albany, starting on his raid to Eastern Kentucky. He delivered orders from General Morgan for Colonel Chenault to furnish him two companies from the 11th Kentucky, to go on the raid; and Captain Terrill's and Captain Dickens' companies were detailed for that purpose.

After that date the field of picket duty for the 11th Kentucky Cavalry was extended so as to include Wayne County, as well as Cinton. On March 7 Colonel Chenault, with a great part of his regiment, went to reinforce General Pegram at Beaver Creek, marching by way of Maynardsville and Racoon Valley; and on the 10th they rejoined the regiment at Monticello, in Wayne County. At this time and place Colonel Chenault mustered into his regiment a company of men who had been recruited for it during the time it had been in Clinton and Wayne Counties.

On March 19 Major McCreary crossed the Cumberland River in a horse-trough, with a few men, and marched two miles through the rain to capture a Federal picket. He took two men, and lost one of his own.

After taking station in Kentucky on January 22, and up to April 1, 1863, a period of about sixty days, the regiment lost seventeen men by brain fever, among them Captain Willis F. Spahr and Lieutenant Charles H. Covington. In this disease of brain fever, the men were suddenly seized with intolerable pains in the back of the head; and, after suffering intensely for a few hours, they invariably died. A case of recovery from it was unknown.

About this time General Pegram made an unsuccessful raid into Central Kentucky, going as far as Danville. He was badly defeated at Somerset, as he was retreating. The Federal forces were pressing him sorely; his troops were much scattered and demoralized, and many were captured. It is probable that nearly all of them would have been captured, except for the fact that (April 1) Colonel Chenault marched his regiment to the Cumberland River and protected the crossing of Pegram's fugitives. General Pegram never forgave Colonel Chenault for this kindness, and from that date never lost an opportunity for annoying him.

On April 18 the two companies of the Eleventh that had gone with Colonel Cluke on his raid in Eastern Kentucky, rejoined the regiment. They had suffered much loss on the raid. Captain Robt. B. Terrill and Lieutenant Seth Maupin, of Company E, were both severely wounded in the hot fight at Mt. Sterling (March 21, 1863), and had to be left there. Captain Terrill, who was shot through both legs, did not recover from his wounds until several years after the war was over.

April 19, 1862, Colonel Chenault wrote from Monticello to General Morgan as follows: I hasten to give you all the news we have. There is a rumor here that our forces have been attacked at Big Creek Gap, whether true or not, I do not know. Captain Joseph Chenault has just got in from a scout across the river; he crossed at Creelsburg, went to Jamestown, recrossed at Rowena, found no enemy nor heard of any. Colonel J. J. Morrison has moved his command to Albany, which leaves us a very long and heavy picket duty to perform—from the mouth of South Fork to Burkesville, but with the assistance of Major Bullock I hope to be able to hold the enemy in check. Captain Chenault was within a short distance of Burksville, heard of no force there. There are three regiments (Union) at Columbia. There is, beyond doubt, a large force on the north side of the river, with their headquarters at Danville. What their movements will be I am unable to ascertain. From various reports I have received, I should not be surprised if the enemy were moving on East Tennessee. I shall hold myself in readiness to move at a moment's notice.

On April 20, the Cumberland then being fordable, the Federals crossed in large force at Mill Springs, and also at the mouth of Greasy Creek. Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker met them on the Mill Springs Road, and Major McCreary met them on the Greasy Creek Road. Colonel Chenault, with the remainder of the regiment, remained at Monticello. However, as the Federal force was overpowering in numbers, the three sections of the regiment were reunited at Monticello, which place they were compelled to evacuate that night, falling back in the direction of Travisville, but they re-occupied Monticello again in a few days. From this place Colonel Chenault wrote (April 24) to General Morgan: I have the honor to report to you that we are yet on this side of the Cumberland, and safe from the Yanks. Colonel Morrison moved on Sunday without giving me any notice, and left the front unprotected. I immediately sent out pickets and found that the enemy had crossed the river, but found the ford too deep for artillery, and consequently recrossed before my pickets reached the river. I learn from Colonel Morrison that there are three regiments of Yanks at Burkesville, and that they are scattered all along down the river. I sent a scout across the river night before last; they went eight miles, but found no enemy. I will give you all the news we get. My impression is that the enemy intends to cross the river soon.

On April 28 he again wrote to General Morgan, from Monticello: I have just returned from Mill Springs. The enemy have crossed at Morrins', and I have been skirmishing with them all day. I have just received a note from Major McCreary that they have crossed at Green's Creek, and he is skirmishing with them in that direction. We will fall back to the forks of the road, at Mr. Schull's, tonight, and await their movements. General, if possible, help us.

On April 29 General Pegram reported to General Joe Wheeler that he had assumed command of the regiments of Colonels Cluke and Chenault whilst they remain in Clinton and Wayne Counties. On the same day Colonel Chenault reported to General Morgan, from camp on