Orphan Brigade
| First Kentucky Brigade | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1861 – 1865 |
| Country | Confederate States of America |
| Branch | Mix of infantry, cavalry, and artillery |
| Size | Brigade |
| Nickname(s) | The Orphan Brigade |
| Engagements |
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
John C. Breckinridge Roger W. Hanson Benjamin Hardin Helm Joseph Horace Lewis |
The Orphan Brigade was the nickname of the First Kentucky Brigade, a group of military units recruited from the Commonwealth of Kentucky to fight for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The brigade was the largest Confederate unit to be recruited from Kentucky during the war. Its original commander was Major General John C. Breckinridge, former Vice President of the United States and candidate for President, who was enormously popular with Kentuckians.
The regiments that were part of the Orphan Brigade were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th Kentucky Infantry Regiments. Units of the Orphan Brigade were involved in many military engagements in the American South during the war, including the Battle of Shiloh. In 1862, Breckinridge was promoted to division command and was succeeded in the brigade by Brig. Gen. Roger W. Hanson. At the Battle of Stones River, 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—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 in the Union, but was represented by a star in both countries' flags). The term was not in widespread use during the war, but it became popular afterwards among the veterans.
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Wikipedia