Battery "I", 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment

Battery "I", 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment was an artillery battery from Illinois that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The battery was organized in February 1862. It fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Jackson, Missionary Ridge, Knoxville, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. The battery mustered out of Federal service in July 1865.

Battery "I", 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment
14-pounder James rifle at Vicksburg National Military Park
Active10 Feb. 1862 – 26 July 1865
Country United States
Allegiance Union
 Illinois
BranchUnion Army
TypeField Artillery
SizeArtillery Battery
Equipment4 x 14-pounder James rifles (Sep. 1863)[1]
Engagements
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Edward Bouton

Formation

Battery I, 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment mustered into Federal service at Camp Douglas, Chicago on 10 February 1862.[2] Its original officers were Captain Edward Bouton of Chicago, First Lieutenants Henry A. Rogers and Albert Cudney both of Chicago, and Second Lieutenants William M. Lansing of New York City, John C. Neeley of Belvidere, Illinois, and Joseph A. McCartney of Philadelphia. Cudney was promoted captain on 16 June 1863. Neeley was promoted captain on 10 February 1864. Neeley and Lansing became first lieutenants on 5 May 1862, and McCartney on 31 August 1863. Other second lieutenants were Elisha S. Russell, Robert Cowden, Steven Tart, and Henry Bennett.[3]

First Lieutenant Rogers was promoted to captain of Battery "D", 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment on 5 May 1862. Captain Bouton was promoted to colonel of the 59th United States Colored Infantry Regiment on 28 June 1863. Second Lieutenant Robert Cowden was promoted major in the same regiment on 28 July 1863. First Lieutenant Lansing was promoted major of the 4th United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment on 3 September 1863. Captain Cudney resigned on 10 February 1864.[4] By 23 March 1864, Captain Neeley commanded the battery and McCartney was first lieutenant. By 1 September 1864, Russell was first lieutenant and Tart and Bennett were second lieutenants. [4]

History

Battery I traveled to Benton Barracks at St Louis, Missouri on 1 March 1862. From there they moved to Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee on 1–4 April 1862.[2] At the Battle of Shiloh on 6–7 April 1862, the battery was with Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee but unassigned to any division or brigade. Captain Bouton was in command.[5] On the first day, the battery joined two other newly-arrived and unassigned units, the 15th Iowa and 16th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiments. At first they took position at Pittsburg Landing where they faced a horde of panicky stragglers from the battle. Grant then sent the Iowa regiments forward to support John Alexander McClernand's division.[6] Later in the day, Grant's chief of staff Joseph Dana Webster began placing available artillery units on the final defense line. These included Battery "B", 2nd Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, 8th Ohio Battery, Battery "H", 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, and Battery I. Webster massed most of his guns at the landing, but sent Battery I to the right flank to hold the Snake Creek bridge until Lew Wallace's division arrived. Captain Bouton reported that the horses assigned to the battery had never been harnessed, so they could not be used to haul the guns. Instead, the men had to drag the guns into position.[7]

Battery I started Shiloh's second day with McClernand's divison. During the early fighting, Alexander McDowell McCook's division converged with McClernand's troops, passing in front of them. Nevertheless, McClernand positioned Battery I at the edge of Woolf Field. Soon Battery I was in the front line alongside McCook's 29th Indiana, 30th Indiana, and 34th Illinois Infantry Regiments.[8] McCook's troops came under heavy attack and Battery I retreated, leaving two guns behind. Captain Bouton reported that the guns could not be hauled away because the horses were not "drilled sufficiently to stand fire". The abandoned guns were recaptured by the infantry.[9]

After Shiloh, Battery I was assigned to the 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee through July 1862. The battery took part in the advance upon and Siege of Corinth from 29 April–30 May. The unit was in action at Russell House on 17 May. After Corinth, the battery marched to Memphis, Tennessee from 1 June–21 July. From that date until November 1862, the unit was part of Artillery, 5th Division, District of Memphis. Battery I was assigned to 1st Division, Right Wing, XIII Corps in November–December 1862. 1st Division was transferred to XVII Corps in December 1862–January 1863. During this period, the battery participated in Grant's Central Mississippi campaign. Subsequently, the unit transferred again to 1st Division, XVI Corps in January–June 1863. The battery spent these months guarding the railroad in and around Memphis, except on 11 May when it was in action at Wall Hill.[2]

Battery I moved from Memphis on 6–11 June 1863 to join the Siege of Vicksburg. The siege was successfully concluded on 4 July.[2] During the siege, the battery was commanded by Lieutenant Lansing and reported to William Sooy Smith who led the 1st Division and Cadwallader C. Washburn who led the XVI Corps contingent.[10] The battery took part in the Jackson Expedition, marching to Jackson, Mississippi on 4–10 July and laying siege to the city on 10–17 July. One source asserted that the unit served in the 4th Division, XV Corps from July 1863 to April 1864.[2] Another authority stated that W. S. Smith's 1st Division changed its designation to 4th Division, XV Corps in September 1863.[11] Battery I guarded the Big Black River until 25 September when it traveled to Memphis. The battery moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee between then and 23 November. During that period, the unit took part in operations on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in northern Alabama on 20–29 October.[2]

Organization

Artillery Reserve, Nashville, Tenn., to November, 1864. Artillery, 5th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division Mississippi, to July, 1865.

Service

Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Tunnel Hill November 24-25. Mission Ridge November 25. Pursuit to Graysville November 26-27. March to relief of Knoxville, Tenn., November 28-December 9. At Scottsboro, Ala., until April, 1864. Garrison duty at Nashville, Tenn., until November. Operations in Tennessee and Alabama and Nashville Campaign against Hood November-December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24-28. Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville, Tenn., December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-19. West Harpeth River December 17. Rutherford Creek December 19. Lynnville and Rockland Creek December 24. Anthony's Gap, near Pulaski, December 25. At Huntsville, Ala.; Florence, Ala.; Eastport, Miss.; Iuka, Miss., and Gravelly Springs, Ala., until July, 1865. Moved to Chicago, Ill., and mustered out July 26, 1865.

Battery lost during service 1 Enlisted man killed and 13 Enlisted men by disease. Total 14.

See also

Notes
  1. Swain 2018.
  2. Dyer 1908, p. 1038.
  3. Reece 1901, pp. 638–639.
  4. Official Army Register 1867, p. 211.
  5. Battles & Leaders 1987a, p. 538.
  6. Smith 2014, p. 172.
  7. Smith 2014, p. 221.
  8. Smith 2014, pp. 370–372.
  9. Smith 2014, pp. 374–375.
  10. Battles & Leaders 1987b, pp. 547–548.
  11. Boatner 1959, p. 196.

References
  • Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 1. Secaucus, N.J.: Castle. 1987 [1883]. ISBN 0-89009-569-8.
  • Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 3. Secaucus, N.J.: Castle. 1987a [1883]. ISBN 0-89009-571-X.
  • Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 4. Secaucus, N.J.: Castle. 1987b [1883]. ISBN 0-89009-572-8.
  • Boatner, Mark M. III (1959). The Civil War Dictionary. New York, N.Y.: David McKay Company Inc. ISBN 0-679-50013-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Cozzens, Peter (1994). The Shipwreck of their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01922-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Dyer, Frederick H. (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, Iowa: Dyer Publishing Co. p. 1038. Retrieved August 11, 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "Official Army Register of the Volunteer Force of the United States Army, Part VI". Washington, D.C.: Secretary of War. 1867. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  • "The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies: Volume 28". Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. 1891. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  • "The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies: Volume 45". Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. 1894. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  • Reece, J. N. (1901). "Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois: 1861–1866". Springfield, Ill.: Journal Company, Printers and Binders. Retrieved August 11, 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Smith, Timothy B. (2014). Shiloh: Conquer or Perish. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-2347-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Swain, Craig (2018). "Summary Statement, 3rd Quarter 1863, 1st Illinois Artillery Regiment". To the Sound of the Guns. Retrieved August 12, 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sword, Wiley (1992). The Confederacy's Last Hurrah: Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. New York, N.Y.: University Press of Kansas for HarperCollins. ISBN 0-7006-0650-5.

This article contains text from a text now in the public domain: Dyer, Frederick H. (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Co.

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