Contents
Preface
Department of West Kentucky – Order of Battle, March
1865
Appraisal
Preface
This brief order of battle has been compiled chiefly
from OR Volumes XLV.1 and
XLIX.1, which contain them a number of documents pertaining to the
Department. The former includes General Lyon's report of his actions
during the Nashville campaign, including the makeup of his force; the
latter including Taylor's proposed reassignment of General Lyon,
Lyon's protests to Richmond regarding this, and an
Inspector-General's report on Morgan's Men which mentions men of
Johnson's regiment serving in this Department.
Department
of Western Kentucky – OOB, March 1865
Brigadier General Hiram B. Lyon
250 Cavalry [Paris, Tennessee]
Appraisal
The small cadre under Lyon's command, based at Paris in
Tennessee, were the remnants of an 800 strong raiding force that had
operated in Tennessee and Kentucky during Hood's Nashville campaign.
The raiders had been largely new recruits, some sourced by enforcing
the draft laws. The balance consisted of members of Johnson's veteran
Kentucky cavalry regiment, who had arrived with that general when he
had had command of the Department. The raid was largely successful in
achieving its objectives, but led to the near destruction of Lyon's
force between battlefield casualties and wholesale desertion once the
troops learned that Hood had left Tennessee (500 deserted, according
to Lyon). Both his artillery pieces were captured as well.
This left him with “250 undrilled men”. Taylor
sought to dissolve the command, but Lyon sent a passionate letter
defending his Department's existence, on the basis that it
constituted a distraction to the Federals and was of little use to
anyone further south. It is hard to know exactly how accurate his
appraisal was; there is little or no Federal mention of his command
after the Nashville campaign. If perhaps he had gathered together a
few more men and conducted another raid, he may have been proven
correct. We may say more surely that he was correct in the second
part of his argument; 250 extra men were unlikely to have made a
great deal of difference further south, especially given their
general quality.
