The 7th Kansas Cavalry Regiment (also known as "Jennison's Jayhawkers") was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

that served in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Service

The 7th Kansas Cavalry was organized at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

on October 28, 1861. It mustered in for three years under the command of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Charles R. Jennison. The regiment was attached to

Department of Kansas The Department of Kansas was a Union Army command department in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the American Civil War. This department existed in three different forms during the war. 1861 The first "Department of Kansas" was created on N ...

to June 1862. 5th Division,

Army of the Mississippi Army of the Mississippi was the name given to two Union armies that operated around the Mississippi River, both with short existences, during the American Civil War. History 1862 The first army was created on February 23, 1862, with Maj. Gen ...

, to September 1862. 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Army of the Mississippi, to November 1862. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, XIII Corps, Department of the Tennessee, to December 1862. 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, XVI Corps,

Army of the Tennessee The Army of the Tennessee was a Union Army, Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. A 2005 study of the army states that it "was present at most of the great battles that became turning points ...

, to March 1863. Cavalry Brigade, District of Corinth, 2nd Division, XVI Corps, to June 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, XVI Army Corps, to August 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, XVI Corps, to February 1864. Unattached, 1st Cavalry Division, XVI Corps, to June 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, District of West Tennessee, to September 1864. District of St. Louis, Missouri, Department of Missouri, to July 1865. Department of Kansas to September 1865. The 7th Kansas Cavalry mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth on September 29, 1865.

Detailed service

Duty in western Missouri until January 31, 1862. Spring Hill, Missouri, October 21, 1861 (1 company). Little Blue November 11, 1861 (Companies A, B, and H). Little Santa Fe November 20. Independence, Little Blue, November 20 (detachment). Columbus, Missouri, January 9, 1862. Moved to Humboldt, Kansas, January 31, and duty there until March 25. Moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, March 25; then to Columbus, Kentucky, May 18-June 2, and to Corinth, Mississippi, June 7, escorting working parties on Mobile & Ohio Railroad and arriving at Corinth July 10; then moved to Jacinto and Rienzi, Mississippi, July 18–28. Expedition from Rienzi to Ripley, Mississippi, July 27–29. Reconnaissance to Jacinto and Bay Springs and skirmish August 4–7. Reconnaissance from Rienzi to Hay Springs August 18–21. Marietta and Bay Springs August 20. Kossuth August 27. Rienzi September 9 and 18. Battle of Iuka, Mississippi, September 19 (Companies B and E). Ruckersville October 1 (detachment). Baldwin October 2. Battle of Corinth October 3–4. Pursuit to Ripley October 5–12. Ruckersville October 6. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign October 31, 1862, to January 10, 1863. Capture of Ripley November 2, 1862. Orizaba November 3. Jumpertown November 5. Reconnaissance from LaGrange November 8–9. Lamar and Coldwater November 8. Holly Springs November 13, 28 and 29. Waterford or Lumpkin's Mill November 26–30. About Oxford December 1–3. Tallahatchie December 2. Water Valley December 4. Coffeeville December 5. Moved to Moscow, Tennessee, December 31, and duty on line of Memphis & Charleston Railroad at Germantown, Tennessee, until April 14, 1863. Joinerville January 3, 1863. Near Germantown January 27. Near Yorkville January 28 (1 company). Tuscumbia, Alabama, February 22. Expedition to Colliersville and to LaFayette and Moscow March 8–16. Lafayette Depot March 15. Moscow March 16. Germantown April 1. Scout in Beaver Creek Swamp April 2–6. Moved to Corinth April 14–17. Dodge's Expedition into northern Alabama April 15-May 8. Hock Cut, near Tuscumbia, April 22. Tuscumbia, Dickson Station, and Leighton April 23. Town Creek April 27. Expedition from Burnsville to Tupelo, Mississippi, May 2–8. Tupelo May 5. At Corinth, Mississippi, May 8, 1863 to January 8, 1864. Expedition to Florence May 26–31, 1863. Florence May 28. Hamburg Landing May 30. Iuka, Mississippi, July 9 and 14. Near Corinth August 16. Expedition into western Tennessee August 27-October 1. Swallow Bluff September 30 (Companies A and C). Operations in northern Mississippi and western Tennessee against Chalmers October 4–17. Ingraham's Mills, near Byhalia, October 12. Wyatts, Tallahatchie River, October 13. Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad November 3–5. Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad against Lee's attack November 28-December 10. Molino November 28. Ripley December 1 and 4. Jack's Creek December 24. Moved to Memphis, Tennessee, January 18, 1864. Veterans on furlough February 4-March 4; then moved to St. Louis, Missouri, March 12. Moved to Memphis June 6. Near Memphis May 2 (detachment). LaFayette June 9.

Smith's Expedition to Tupelo The Smith's Expedition to Tupelo (July 5, 1864 – July 21, 1864) was a campaign conducted by the Union Army in north Mississippi during the Civil War. The offensive was designed to ensure the safety of Sherman's supply lines during the Atla ...

, Mississippi, July 5–18. King's Creek July 9. Pontotoc July 11–12.

Tupelo Tupelo commonly refers to: * Tupelo (tree), a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves * Tupelo, Mississippi, the county seat and the largest city of Lee County, Mississippi Tupelo may also refer to: Places * Tupelo, Arka ...

July 13–14. Oldtown Creek July 15. Ellistown July 16. Tupelo July 25. Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Miss., August 1–30. Tallahatchie River August 7–9. Hurricane Creek, Oxford, August 9. Hurricane Creek August 13, 14, 16 and 19. Moved to St. Louis, Missouri, arriving September 17. Pursuit of Price through Missouri September 30-November 26. Little Blue October 21. Independence October 22. Big Blue and State Line, Westport, October 23. Mine Creek, Little Osage River, October 25. Duty by detachments in St. Louis District until July 18, 1865. Moselle Bridge, near Franklin, December 7, 1864 (Company E). Expedition from Bloomfield into Dunklin County March 3–7, 1865. Skirmishes near Bloomfield March 3 and 7. Dunklin County March 4. Skirmish McKinzie's Creek, near Patterson, April 15, Ordered to Omaha, Nebraska, July 18; thence to Fort Kearney and duty there until September. Moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, arriving September 14. Four soldiers from the 7th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry

Four soldiers from the 7th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 223 men during service; 3 officers and 55 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 164 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel Charles R. Jennison * Colonel

Albert Lindley Lee Albert Lindley Lee (January 16, 1834 – December 13, 1907) was a lawyer, Kansas Supreme Court judge, and Union general in the American Civil War. Early life and career Albert Lee was born in Fulton, New York. His parents were Moses Lee and A ...

* Colonel Thomas P. Herrick * Lieutenant Colonel Daniel R. Anthony – arrested and relieved of command for issuing an order that prevented

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

slave catchers from entering the regiment's camp looking for escaped slaves

Notable members

* Private William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Company H – later scout and showman/entertainer *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

John Brown Jr., Company K – Son of abolitionist John Brown * Captain

Marshall Cleveland Marshall Cleveland (c. 1832 May 11, 1862) was a guerrilla fighter and criminal active during the American Civil War. Ostensibly a Jayhawker fighting for the Union, Cleveland indiscriminately plundered the Kansas-Missouri border until he was kill ...

served a few months before becoming an independent freebooter * Captain Amos Hodgman, Company H – Namesake of Hodgeman County, Kansas, died near

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...

, of wounds from action in the

Meridian Expedition The Meridian campaign or Meridian expedition took place from February 3 – March 6, 1864, from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Meridian, Mississippi, by the Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman captured ...

, October 10, 1863. * Corporal Noah Van Buren Kness, Company G – Namesake of

Ness County, Kansas Ness County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Ness City, Kansas, Ness City. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county population was 2,687. The cou ...

, killed at

Abbeville, Mississippi Abbeville is a town in Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 372. History Abbeville was originally settled by pioneers from Abbeville, South Carolina in the 1830s. They lived in apparent peace ...

, August 22, 1864. *

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Edmund Needham Morrill Edmund Needham Morrill (February 12, 1834 – March 14, 1909) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Kansas and the 13th governor of Kansas. Biography Edmund Needham Morrill was born in Westbrook, Maine, to Rufu ...

– governor of Kansas (1895–1897)

Notes

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * ''Official Military History of Kansas Regiments During the War for the Suppression of the Great Rebellion'' (Leavenworth, KS: W. S. Burke), 1870. ;Attribution *

External links

History of the 7th Kansas Cavalry by the Museum of the Kansas National Guard
{{Kansas in the Civil War Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Union army from Kansas 1861 establishments in Kansas