The 9th Kentucky Infantry was organized October 3, 1861, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, under the command of Colonel Thomas H. Hunt and designated the 5th Kentucky Infantry; it did not complete organization until May 15, 1862. (It continued to be referred to as the 5th Kentucky Infantry or 5th (Hunt's) Kentucky Infantry during its existence and after the war.) Men were recruited in Harrison, Jefferson, Logan, Nelson, Ohio, and Scott counties. In 1863, Company I was transferred to the 5th Kentucky Infantry.
The regiment came under heavy fire at the Battle of Stones River on January 2, 1863. Having been ordered by Bragg to attack an area that division commander Maj. Gen.John C. Breckinridge had reconnoitered and determined to be too heavily defended, the First Kentucky Brigade led the charge. Although initially successful, the brigade was met by heavy Union Army artillery fire. Brigade commander Brig. Gen.Roger Hanson was also mortally wounded in the attack. The 9th Kentucky Infantry lost one killed and twenty-eight wounded in the battle.
Later that same year, the First Kentucky Brigade was ordered back to Vicksburg, to help relieve the siege. The brigade arrived after the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, and fell back to Jackson, Mississippi, where they were attacked in mid-July. At the Battle of Chickamauga the regiment lost 44% of its strength of 230 engaged. Weeks later, the 9th Kentucky Infantry was called upon to guard the Confederate army's retreat following the Battle of Missionary Ridge. The army retreated to Dalton, Georgia and went into winter quarters.
The First Kentucky Brigade became part of the Atlanta Campaign on May 7, 1864, when they left their winter camps and took up positions on Rocky Face Ridge. The regiment became part of the fighting retreating force as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman pushed the Confederates further back toward Atlanta. At the Battle of Dallas near New Hope Church, the First Kentucky Brigade made an unsupported charge, losing 51% of its strength. At the Battle of Jonesboro on August 31, 1864, the brigade was ordered to attack the entrenched federal position. At an unseen deep ravine, the attack came to a halt. The following day, the Confederates were overwhelmed when two-thirds of a Union Army division attacked and began to surround their positions. Many of the men of the 2nd Kentucky Infantry, 6th Kentucky Infantry, and 9th Kentucky Infantry were captured. The remnants of the brigade fell back and managed a successful defense against the Union assault, bringing it to a halt. On September 4, only 500 men were present for duty in the entire First Kentucky Brigade.
Private Jacob Blackshear, Company B - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Stones River
Private Nathan Berryman Board, Company G - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battles of Stones River and Chickamauga; mortally wounded at Chickamauga
Corporal John W. Carroll, Company D - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Chickamauga
Private James Luther "Lute" Collins, Company C - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Stones River
Captain Joseph Desha, Company I - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battles of Stones River and Chickamauga; named to the roll by his company after Stones River
Corporal John Lewis Dunn, Company A - Confederate Roll of Honor, killed in action at the battle of Chickamauga
Sergeant Drakeford Gray, Company I - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Stones River
Private Norborn Galt Gray, Company B - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Chickamauga
Sergeant William K. Kinman, Company H - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Stones River
Private Andrew J. Kirtley, Company C - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Chickamauga
Captain James T. Morehead, Company G - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Stones River
Private H. B. Roberts, Company K - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Stones River
Private Euclid C. Shull, Company C - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Ranney's Crossroads
Private J. G. Wakefield, Company A - Confederate Roll of Honor, for action at the battle of Stones River
