The unit was formed by Edward P. Byrne, a native Kentuckian living in Washington County, Mississippi. After South Carolina's secession, Byrne was determined to raise a battery of artillery for service in the Confederate Army. With help from donations from the citizens of Washington County and his own substantial wealth, he raised his company and obtained many horses. He also ordered six guns from a firm in Memphis, Tennessee. He began recruiting in Mississippi and later in his native Kentucky. He went to Louisville, Kentucky, to recruit volunteers, which he helped to secretly move to Camp Boone, where several other pro-Confederacy Kentucky regiments were forming, despite the state's official policy of neutrality.