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| James West, 2nd Cavalry (KY) - KIA at Shiloh |
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 Carte
De Visite of Lieutenant James West, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry.
Lt. James West was elected 2nd Lieutenant of "Morgan's Company", the former Lexington Rifles militia unit, when the company was mustered into Confederate service in October 1861. (Basil Duke was elected 1st Lieutenant.) When Morgan's Company was combined with two other cavalry companies, the three companies formed a command called "Morgan's Cavalry Squadron", which gained renown under the sobriquet of "Morgan's Raiders". Company B was under the command of Capt. Thomas Allen, and Company C was under the command of Capt. James Bowles, while Capt. Morgan retained command of both Company A and overall command of the squadron. Captain Morgan did not secure promotion to Colonel until the eve of the battle of Shiloh.
Morgan's Squadron went into battle at Shiloh near Owl Creek and then combined with other cavalry commands (Col. Wharton's 8th TX, Col. Forrest's 3rd TN, and Adams' 1st MS) at Fallen Timbers. Colonel Morgan did not recruit additional companies to raise a regiment (the 2nd KY Cavalry) until May-June 1862 in Chattanooga. At that time, Basil Duke was promoted to Lt. Col. and Captain Jacob Cassell took over command of Company A (the former Lexington Rifles).
Lt. West knew John Hunt Morgan mostly as a Captain, since Morgan was promoted to Colonel only 2 days before West was killed at Shiloh. West never served in a capacity higher than a company line officer.
On October 27, 1861, the Lexington Rifles, with 84 men reporting for duty, was mustered into Confederate States’ service. On the steps of the Green River Baptist Church in Woodsonville, Kentucky, the oath of enlistment was administered by Major William Preston Johnston, who was the son of General Albert Sidney Johnston, nephew of General William Preston, and a close personal friend of General Robert E. Lee. Elections of company officers were held thereafter.
West is listed on the regimental roster as "Second Lieutenant" on this web site
Here's an account of the 2nd's involvement at Shiloh:
On April 6, Colonel Morgan led his squadron on the first day of the Battle of Shiloh, routing the enemy in a mounted charge toward Owl Creek. They defeated Colonel John McDowell’s 6th Iowa Infantry of General Wm. T. Sherman’s 5th Division, but not without losses to Company A. Included in the company’s casualty list were 1st Lt. Basil W. Duke, who was severely wounded, and 2nd Lt. James West, Pvt. Sam Buckner, Pvt. James Chiselin, and Pvt. Archie Moody, who were all killed in action.
When fighting tapered on the first day of the battle, the squadron learned of the unfortunate death of General A. S. Johnston. On the second day, April 7, this news was coupled with the information that General Grant’s Army of the Tennessee had been reinforced overnight by the 17,900 fresh troops of General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio. Outnumbered and short on ammunition, but not in spirit, Morgan’s Squadron was joined by Texas Rangers in holding their positions along Owl Creek.
 Receiving new orders from General Breckinridge, the squadron was to help cover the return of the battered Army of the Mississippi south to Corinth. Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest was placed in command of the fragmented cavalry units for this purpose, and so Morgan’s Kentuckians joined with Forrest’s 3rd Tennessee, Wharton’s 8th Texas, and Wirt Adams’ 1st Mississippi. On April 8, while blocking the Corinth Road, Forrest ordered the cavalry to charge the pursuing Union infantry at a place called "Fallen Timbers". The resultant victory was the last engagement of the Battle of Shiloh, after which the squadron then returned to its base at Burnsville, Mississippi.
With the death of Lt. James West and the wounding of Lt. Basil Duke at Shiloh, command of Company A, fell to Lt. Van Buren Sellers. A fourth company of 25 troopers from Mississippi and Alabama was added to the squadron and designated as Company D. And so, from a handful of loyal Lexington Rifles as its core, Morgan had now built a formidable cavalry squadron.
[The content was taken from the Lexington Rifles' web site.]
Reenactment units related to the 2nd:
Quirk's Scouts
2nd KY (CA) site
Bibliography on John Hunt Morgan's Raiders
Duke, Basil W. History of Morgan's Cavalry.
Holland,Cecil Fletcher, Morgan and His Raiders, A Biography of the Confederate General
Noel, Lois, John Hunt Morgan.
Swiggett, Howard, Rebel Raider: A Life of John Hunt Morgan)
Ramage, James A., Rebel Raider: The Life of General John Hunt Morgan
Young, Bennett H., Confederate Wizards of the Saddle: Being Remininscences and Observations of One Who Rode With Morgan.
Bibliography on Morgan's Cavalry - 2d Kentucky Cavalry - compiled by the USAMHI (1995)
Brown, Dee A. The Bold Cavaliers: Morgan's Kentucky Cavalry Raiders. Phila: Lippincott,l959.
Castleman, John B. Active Service. Louisville, KY: Courier-Journal, 1917.
Confederate Military History, Extended Edition. Vol. 11: Kentucky. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot, 1988.
See p. 204 (1 photocopied page) for an incomplete list of officers. The source contains numerous scattered references to Kentucky units throughout.
Crute, Joseph H., Jr. Units of the Confederate States Army. Midlothian, VA: Derwent Books, 1987. Ref.
See p. 129 (1 photocopied pages) for a concise summary of the regiment's service.
Kentucky. AGO. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky: Confederate Kentucky Volunteers, War l86l-65. Vol. 1. Frankfort, KY: State Journal Co., 1918. pp. 540-93.
Sifakis, Stewart. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Kentucky.... NY: Facts on File, 1995. p. 14 (1 photocopied page). (Unit organizational history).
The USAMHI Photo Archive includes images of individuals of this unit.
The following pertinent personal papers are in the Institute's Manuscript Archive:
Burke, Curtis - BurkeColl Sellers, Van J. (Letter) - LeighColl Book 4l #110
Webber, Thomas & Watt - CWTIColl
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Harper's Weekly
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