The Orphan Brigade was the nickname of the First Kentucky Brigade, a group of military units recruited from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

to fight for the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

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 ...

. The brigade was the largest Confederate unit to be recruited from Kentucky during the war. Its original commander was John C. Breckinridge, former

United States vice president The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The ...

, and Kentucky's former senator, who was enormously popular with Kentuckians.

History

The regiments that were part of the Orphan Brigade were the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th Kentucky Infantry Regiments. Units of the Orphan Brigade were involved in many military engagements in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...

during the war, including the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater of the ...

. In 1862, Breckinridge was promoted to division command and was succeeded in the brigade by Brigadier General Roger W. Hanson. At the

Battle of Stones River The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Ci ...

, the brigade suffered heavy casualties in an assault on January 2, 1863, including General Hanson. Breckinridge—who vehemently disputed the order to charge with the army's commander, General

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army Officer (armed forces), officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate General officers in the Confederate States Army, general in th ...

—rode among the survivors, crying out repeatedly, "My poor Orphans! My poor Orphans," noted brigade historian Ed Porter Thompson, who used the term in his 1868 history of the unit. The name came from how the Confederacy viewed its soldiers from Kentucky (which remained neutral in the Union, though half the state seceded and formed the

Confederate government of Kentucky The Confederate government of Kentucky was a government-in-exile, shadow government established for the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky by a self-constituted group of Confederate States of America, Confederate sympathizer ...

, was claimed by the Confederacy, and was represented by a star in both countries' flags and had representation in both governments). The term was not in widespread use during the war, but it became popular afterwards among the veterans. The Orphan Brigade lost another commander at the Battle of Chickamauga, when Brigadier General Benjamin H. Helm,

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

's brother-in-law, was mortally wounded on September 20, 1863, and died the following day.

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 ...

Rice E. Graves, the artillery commander, was also mortally wounded. The Orphan Brigade served throughout the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, then were converted to mounted infantry and opposed Sherman's March to the Sea. They ended the war fighting in South Carolina in late April 1865, and surrendered at Washington, Georgia, on May 6–7, 1865. Captain Fayette Hewitt, Helm's assistant Adjutant-General, had all the brigade's papers (over twenty volumes of record books, morning reports, letter-copy books as well as thousands of individual orders and reports) boxed up and taken to Washington. After the surrender, Hewitt brought the boxes back to Kentucky with him, and in 1887 he donated them to the U.S. War Department. File:John C. Breckinridge from Waveland Collection cropped.jpg, Brigadier General John C. Breckinridge, who commanded the Kentucky Brigade until 1862 File:Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm (1831-1863).jpg, Brigadier General Benjamin H. Helm, who was mortally wounded while leading the Kentucky Brigade at Chickamauga

Arms

When the Orphan Brigade was mustered into service, weapons were in short supply. The troops were armed with old smoothbore muskets (some flintlock and others percussion) along with shotguns and hunting rifles (Hawkens). They were given a bounty if they brought their own rifle. Some men had no arms at all. Only a week before the

, every regiment except the 9th Kentucky was issued a supply of Enfield rifles imported from England (the 9th armed themselves with Enfields captured during the battle). From that point onward, most of the Orphan Brigade carried the long three-band Model 1853 Enfield rifle. When the unit surrendered in March 1865, some men were still carrying the same rifles they had had since Shiloh.

Organization

The original units of the Orphan Brigade

* 2nd Kentucky Infantry, organized at Camp Boone, July 17, 1861 * 3rd Kentucky Infantry, organized at Camp Boone, July 20, 1861 * 4th Kentucky Infantry, organized at Camp Burnett, September 13, 1861 * 6th Kentucky Infantry, organized at

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, November 19, 1861 * 9th Kentucky Infantry, organized at

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

October 3, 1861, as the 5th Kentucky Infantry (Preliminary organization; final organization not complete until May 15, 1862.Thompson, 1898 ed., p. 434) * Cobb's Battery, organized at Mint Springs, Kuttawa, Kentucky, 1861 (After a period of training at Camp Boone the troops moved to Bowling Green, Ky. in September 1861 and The First Kentucky Battery was formally brigaded under Gen. John C. Breckinridge) * Graves' Battery, commanded by

Rice E. Graves Jr., organized at Bowling Green, November 8, 1861 * Byrne's Artillery Battery, organized in

Washington County, Mississippi Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,922. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named in honor of the first president of the United States, George Washingt ...

, July 1861. (Disbanded during summer 1862, at

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the 2020 census. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg ...

, with men and guns being transferred to Cobb's Battery.) * Morgan's Men, organized at Bowling Green, November 5, 1861

Other units that joined the Orphan Brigade

* 5th Kentucky Infantry * 41st Alabama Infantry (fought as part of the Orphan Brigade at Murfreesboro, the Siege of Jackson and Chickamauga) * 31st/49th Alabama Infantry

Formally in but not directly serving with

* 1st Kentucky Cavalry, organized at Bowling Green 1861

Notable members

Source: * John C. Breckinridge * Marcellus Jerome Clarke (a.k.a. Sue Mundy) * Benjamin H. Helm * John Hunt Morgan * Rice E. Graves Jr. * Thomas Boston Gordon

Notes

References

* Hughes, Nathaniel Cheairs Jr., ''The Pride of the Confederacy: The Washington Artillery in the Army of Tennessee'', Louisiana State University Press, 1997, . * * *

External links

First Kentucky (Orphan) Brigade Homepage

The Orphan Brigade
historical marker {{Authority control 1861 establishments in Kentucky 1865 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Kentucky