The 12th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Service

The 12th Tennessee Cavalry was organized at

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on August 24, 1863, under the command of Colonel George Spalding. As late as February 22, 1864, only six companies had completed organization. The regiment was attached to District of Nashville, Department of the Cumberland, to January 1864. Defenses of Nashville & Northwestern Railroad to April 1864. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Cavalry Corps, Department of the Cumberland, to October 1864. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division Mississippi, to December 1864. 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division Mississippi, to February 1865. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division Mississippi, to May 1865. Department of the Missouri to October 1865. The 12th Tennessee Cavalry mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on October 7, 1865.

Detailed service

Scout to Florence, Alabama, July 20–25, 1863 (detachment). Duty at Nashville and on Nashville & Northwestern Railroad at Pulaski, Tennessee, until November 1864. Duck River April 22, 1864. Scout in Hickman and Maury Counties May 2–12. Lincoln County June 14. Scout from Pulaski to Florence, Alabama, July 20–25 (detachment). Triune August 3–4. Florence August 10. Operations against Forrest in northern Alabama and middle Tennessee September 16-October 10. Richland Creek, near Pulaski, September 26. Pulaski September 26–27. Nashville Campaign November–December. On line of Shoal Creek November 5–20. Campbellsville and Lynnville November 24. In front of Columbia November 24–27. Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28. West Harpeth River December 17. Spring Hill December 18. Rutherford Creek December 19. Curtis Creek December 19. Lawrenceburg December 22. Lynnville and Richland Creek December 24. King's Gap, near Pulaski, December 25. At Gravelly Springs, Alabama, until February 1865. At Eastport, Mississippi, until May. Moved to St. Louis, Missouri, May 15–17, thence to Rolla, Missouri, June 20–26, and to Fort Riley, Kansas, June 29-July 8.

Commanders

* Colonel George Spalding - mustered as

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and promoted when the regiment's twelfth company was organized in August 1864

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 226 men during service; 5 officers and 28 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 191 enlisted men died of disease or accident.Fox, William F., Lt.-Col., 'Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865', Albany, N.Y., 1889, p. 520.

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. ;Attribution * {{CWR

External links