Captured at the fall of Fort Donelson, Tennessee in February 1862

Kentucky Cavalry Commander under General Nathan Bedford Forrest

He escaped from capture at Red Hill, Alabama in January 1865, by his quick thinking and daring action and shooting a Yankee sergeant

(1836-1907) He was born in what is now Lyon County, Kentucky, to a wealthy plantation family, and was the grandson of Congressman Matthew Lyon. He graduated in the West Point class of 1856, and was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Artillery Regiment on duty at Fort Myers during the Third Seminole War. After hostilities with the Seminoles ended, Lyon was transferred to the 3rd U.S. Artillery and sent to Fort Yuma in California. The following year he was ordered to the Washington Territory, where he took part in two battles with local Indian tribes. When the War Between the States erupted in April 1861, Lyon resigned his commission in the U.S. Army, and threw his lot in with the Confederacy. He soon after raised Company F, of the 3rd Kentucky Infantry, which later became part of the 1st Kentucky Artillery. Lyon equipped the unit, which initially was known as "Lyon's Battery," later "Cobb's Battery." In January 1862, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 8th Kentucky Infantry, and his regiment was part of the garrison at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. After fighting off three attacks by the Union Army, the fort finally surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, and Lyon was among those captured. He was sent as a prisoner of war, first to Camp Morton at Indianapolis, and then to Camp Chase, Ohio. He and other captured officers were later sent to Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, where he was finally exchanged in September, 1862. His regiment was reorganized and now re-enlisted for three years, with Lyon appointed as its colonel. He fought in the forces of General Earl Van Dorn, and then General John C. Pemberton during the Vicksburg Campaign. He and 250 of his men managed to avoid surrendering to General Grant, and he led them to Jackson, Mississippi, where they joined the Confederate forces there. Later, General Braxton Bragg appointed him as commander of two cavalry regiments under General Joseph Wheeler, and he later served under General James Longstreet during the Siege of Knoxville. Following the Battle of Chattanooga, Lyon was placed in charge of General Bragg's artillery, saving them from capture during his subsequent retreat. He returned to commanding cavalry in 1864, this time in Mississippi as a brigadier general under General Nathan Bedford Forrest. In December 1864, he led 800 Kentucky cavalrymen on a raid into Tennessee and western Kentucky both to enforce Confederate draft laws, and to draw Union troops away from General John Bell Hood's Nashville campaign. His men burned seven county courthouses that were being used to house Union troops, including those at Princeton, Marion and Hopkinsville. He retreated south after the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Nashville to rejoin General Forrest in Mississippi. In January 1865, General Lyon was surprised while sleeping in a private home in Red Hill, Alabama, by a detachment of the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. After he was captured, he shot and killed the Union sergeant who captured him, Arthur Lyon, by asking to retrieve his clothes and grabbing a hidden pistol, he escaped in his nightgown. When the war ended, Lyon refused to surrender and he accompanied Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris into Mexico with the intention of joining up with the forces of Emperor Maximilian. He was a civil engineer in Mexico for nearly a year before finally returning to his home in Eddyville, Kentucky, where he resumed farming and opened a prosperous mercantile business. He also served as state prison commissioner, primarily responsible for what is now the Kentucky State Penitentiary located in his hometown of Eddyville. His initials are still inscribed over the Kentucky State Penitentiary's front gate. Lyon died on April 25, 1907, at his home in Lyon County, Kentucky.

Card Signature With Rank: Superb card signature in ink, H.B. Lyon, Brigadier General, Comdg. Kentucky Brigade, Forrest Cavalry, C.S.A. This 3 3/4 x 2 1/2 card is tipped to a larger card that measures, 4 1/2 x 3 1/4. Light wrinkle at center. Bold and neatly written autograph. Extremely desirable and very scarce in this format.