1st Kentucky Artillery The 1st Kentucky Artillery ( also known as Cobb ' s Battery ) was an artillery battery that was a member of the Orphan Brigade in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . It fought in several engagements throughout the Western Theater , including the battles of Shiloh , Baton Rouge , Siege of Jackson , Sulphur Trestle , Resaca , Murfreesboro , Jonesborough , Chickamauga , Missionary Ridge , and Johnsonville . Following the end of the Atlanta Campaign , Cobb ' s Battery was detached from the Orphan Brigade and reassigned to defend Mobile , Alabama . Formation . The battery was organized at the very outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 at Mint Springs , Kuttawa , Kentucky . Former United States Army Officer , Hylan B . Lyon — who had resigned his commission when war became inevitable — he was elected the first Captain of the battery . However , due to Kentucky ' s official policy of neutrality during the early days of the conflict , Captain Lyon found that he could not train and drill his battery properly in Mint Springs . Therefore , the battery moved to Clarksville , Tennessee and enlisted as a group to join the Confederate States Army . At Camp Boone , the battery was trained in artillery , and from this point forward was known either as the 1st Kentucky Artillery or Cobb ' s Kentucky Battery . Following Lyon ' s promotion to General , Robert L . Cobb was made Captain of the battery , and it was under his command that the unit moved to Bowling Green , Kentucky , and was officially brought into John C . Breckinridge ' s 1st Kentucky Brigade , later to gain fame as the " Orphan " Brigade . Armament . When the battery was organized , it started its service with four M1841 6 - pounder smoothbore guns and two M1841 12 - pound Howitzers . By July 1863 , it had acquired four M1857 12 - pounder Napoleon Guns , and , by the Atlanta Campaign , it had acquired a total of 6 12 - pounder Napoleon Guns . Three of the Napoleon Guns were named by the battery after Orphan Brigade commanders ' wives , these guns being called " Lady Breckinridge , " " Lady Buckner , " and " Lady Helm . " Battles . Shiloh . The battery , listed on the Confederate Order of Battle as Lyon ' s Battery , took part in the Battle of Shiloh on 6 April 1862 . Designated a reserve unit along with the remainder of Gen . Breckinridge ' s Division , the six - gun battery engaged the Federal Army at about 11 : 30 a . m . , and its position was overrun by about noon , with all guns captured . The guns were subsequently recaptured by Confederate forces , but four removed from the field were not used again during the battle . The Shiloh National Military Park Marker also states that all horses were killed when the Federals overran the position , but another report indicates that horse belonging to Frank Gracey escaped death . That same report states that 34 members of the battery were killed in action during the combat . The battery could very well have been misnamed by Brig . Gen . Daniel Ruggles in his official report , calling the battery , " Captain Trabue ' s Kentucky , " ( which according to another Shiloh Military Park Marker , is a unit that is not mentioned another time in the Official Records , and Shiloh Military Park ' s Marker Finder attributes the location to " Cobb ' s Company . " ) which was used later in the day to reinforce the Confederate line , and also allowed Ruggles ' Division to push further into the Federal line . Baton Rouge . During the Battle of Baton Rouge , 5 August 1862 , Cobb ' s Battery was a participant only at the beginning of the battle . The battery was ordered to the rear while the battle was still being fought , and was able to escape the Battle of Baton Rouge without a single casualty due to enemy fire . However , while in the swampland between Vicksburg , Mississippi and Baton Rouge , Louisiana , the entire Orphan Brigade was hit hard by malaria , to the point that by 11 August 1862 , Cobb ' s Battery had dropped from 117 men fit for duty to only 36 . Chickamauga . Cobb ' s Battery , along with Slocomb ' s Battery and the residue of the Orphan Brigade under the brigade command of Brig . Gen . Benjamin H . Helm , and making up a portion of Breckinridge ' s Division , was deployed across Glass ' Ford with two cannons on 19 September 1863 . During the ensuing artillery duel , the commands of Cobb , Slocomb , and Helm suffered 22 wounded or dead , which equaled the Union losses during the battle . On the following day , a portion of the battery was sent to Brig . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest to assist in repelling the Union advance . Missionary Ridge . The battery , still in Breckinridge ' s Division , was set on the left flank of Bragg ' s Army of Tennessee , and was credited by Bragg with causing " much confusion before the enemy reached musket range . " However , following the collapse of the Confederate defensive line on the ridge , guns " Lady Buckner " and " Lady Breckinridge " were captured by forces under Maj . Gen . Philip H . Sheridan . Reenactment . There is a Cobb ' s Battery unit , serving in the Washington Civil War Association .