Edenton Bell Battery

Last updated

Edenton Bell Battery refers to an artillery unit from North Carolina that served for the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War, the four named guns the unit served throughout the war, and to an American Civil War reenactment group based in Edenton, North Carolina inspired by the original unit.

Contents

Military formation

The Edenton Bell Battery, 3rd Battalion North Carolina Light Artillery Company B, were originally recruited in March 1862 as the Albemarle Artillery by Edenton lawyer William Badham, Jr., as most of the men were from North Carolina's Albemarle Sound area. Drilled as artillery at Richmond, Virginia in April and May, 1862, the unit found themselves in danger of being designated an infantry company, because of the scarcity of cannon available to outfit battery companies. A captain was dispatched back to Edenton for help. [1]

Early in the war, Confederate leader P. G. T. Beauregard, recognizing the immediate need for large metal sources for artillery pieces, suggested one expedient would be for local communities to donate bells from churches, courthouses, and other institutions. A song, "Melt the Bells," widely reprinted in southern presses, [2] [3] inspired many in Chowan and surrounding counties to donate bells for recasting. After four bells from the Edenton, North Carolina area were offered, the Albemarle Artillery was renamed the Edenton Bell Battery.[ citation needed ]

The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia melted down the bells and recast them into four bronze cannon. The company voted to name the resulting cannon to honor each bell's donation. The Edenton, cast from the bell of the 1731 Edenton courthouse, fired six pound shot, as did the Columbia, named for the capital of nearby Tyrrell County, Columbia. The twelve-pounder St. Paul was named for the St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Edenton which donated its bell for the purpose. Fannie Roulac was another twelve-pound weapon, created from the bell once atop the Edenton United Methodist Church, where Miss Roulac was highly regarded and a church leader. [4]

The battery served in Virginia with the Army of Northern Virginia at the Seven Days Battles and Battle of Fredericksburg. In 1863 the battery was sent to North Carolina and fought in the Battle of Kinston. On January 15, 1865 after the fall of Fort Fisher the battery engaged in a fighting retreat towards Wilmington, North Carolina. While retreating, the St. Paul and Edenton and their gun crews were captured in the Battle of Town Creek after inflicting heavy casualties on Union forces. The remaining battery fought in the Battle of Bentonville. The Edenton was surrendered with the surviving men of the battery and Army of Tennessee under General Johnston on April 26, 1865. The Fannie Roulac and Columbia were rumored to have been dumped into the Eno River during the unit's retreat with Confederate forces west of Raleigh after the Battle of Bentonville.[ citation needed ]

The post-war fate of the four cannon was shrouded in mystery until 1990, when an Edenton Civil War re-enactor discovered the Edenton on display at Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh, Tennessee. When contacted, the National Park Service (NPS) stated the Edenton could be returned to its hometown only as part of a trade for a similar early Civil War Confederate cannon tube. However, in 1999, the NPS helped put the Edenton Historical Commission in contact with Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York, where the St. Paul was located in storage. In 2001 the Old Fort Niagara Association loaned the St. Paul to the Commission. From 2006 to 2012, while an accurate reproduction of the gun was being secured, Shiloh National Military Park loaned the original Edenton for display next to the St. Paul in Edenton’s waterfront park. [The Edenton returned to Shiloh NMP in time for the battle's sesquicentennial. Today the Edenton is one of several original Confederate cannon marking the location of Ruggles' Line on Shiloh Battlefield.] [ citation needed ] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chowan County, North Carolina</span> County in North Carolina, United States

Chowan County is one of the 100 counties located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,708. Its county seat is Edenton. The county was created between 1668 and 1671 as Shaftesbury Precinct and later renamed Chowan Precinct. It gained county status in 1739.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Pea Ridge</span> 1862 battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Pea Ridge, also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, took place during the American Civil War near Leetown, northeast of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Federal forces, led by Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, moved south from central Missouri, driving Confederate forces into northwestern Arkansas. Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn had launched a Confederate counteroffensive, hoping to recapture northern Arkansas and Missouri. Confederate forces met at Bentonville and became the most substantial Rebel force, by way of guns and men, to assemble in the Trans-Mississippi. Against the odds, Curtis held off the Confederate attack on the first day and drove Van Dorn's force off the battlefield on the second. By defeating the Confederates, the Union forces established Federal control of most of Missouri and northern Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William J. Hardee</span> Confederate general and businessman

William Joseph Hardee was a career U.S. Army and Confederate States Army officer. For the U.S. Army, he served in the Second Seminole War and in the Mexican–American War, where he was captured and exchanged. In the American Civil War, he sided with the South and became a general. Hardee served in the Western Theater and quarreled sharply with two of his commanding officers, Braxton Bragg and John Bell Hood. He served in the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 and the Carolinas Campaign of 1865, where he surrendered to General Joseph E. Johnston to William Tecumseh Sherman in April. Hardee's writings about military tactics were widely used on both sides in the conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Rappahannock Station</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The First Battle of Rappahannock Station, as took place on August 23, 1862, at present-day Remington, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Newtonia</span> 1862 battle of the American Civil War

The First Battle of Newtonia was fought on September 30, 1862, between Confederate soldiers commanded by Colonel Douglas H. Cooper and a Union column commanded by Brigadier General Frederick Salomon near Newtonia, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Cooper's force had moved into southwestern Missouri, and encamped near the town of Newtonia. The Confederate column was composed mostly of cavalry led by Colonel Joseph O. Shelby and a brigade of Native Americans. A Union force commanded by Brigadier General James G. Blunt moved to intercept Cooper's force. Blunt's advance force, led by Salomon, reached the vicinity of Newtonia on September 29, and attacked Cooper's position on September 30. A Union probing force commanded by Colonel Edward Lynde was driven out of Newtonia by Cooper's forces on the morning of the 30th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Albemarle Sound</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Albemarle Sound was an inconclusive naval battle fought in May 1864 along the coast of North Carolina during the American Civil War. Three Confederate warships, including an ironclad, engaged eight Union gunboats. The action ended indecisively due to the sunset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cobb's Battery</span> Military unit

The 1st Kentucky Artillery 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampton's Legion</span> Military unit

Hampton's Legion was an American Civil War military unit of the Confederate States of America, organized and partially financed by wealthy South Carolina planter Wade Hampton III. Initially composed of infantry, cavalry, and artillery battalions, elements of Hampton's Legion participated in virtually every major campaign in the Eastern Theater, from the first to the last battle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Confederate)</span> Military unit

The 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Wright (Tennessee)</span>

Fort Wright was constructed in 1861 and located on the second Chickasaw Bluff at Randolph, Tipton County, Tennessee. Fort Wright was a Civil War fortification and the first military training facility of the Confederate Army in Tennessee.

Blakely rifle or Blakely gun is the name of a series of rifled muzzle-loading cannon designed by British army officer Captain Theophilus Alexander Blakely in the 1850s and 1860s. Blakely was a pioneer in the banding and rifling of cannon but the British army declined to use Blakely's design. The guns were mostly sold to Russia and the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Blakely rifles were imported by the Confederacy in larger numbers than other Imported English cannon. The State of Massachusetts bought eight 9 in (23 cm) and four 11 in (28 cm) models.

Trigg's Arkansas Battery (1861–1862) was a Confederate Army artillery battery during the American Civil War. the unit is also known as the Austin Artillery, Auston's Artillery, Austin's Artillery, and Company B, of Shoup's Artillery Battalion. This battery is distinguished from a later organization, the 9th Arkansas Field Battery, which was also commanded by Captain John T. Trigg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas's Texas Battery</span> Military unit

Douglas's Texas Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. In June 1861, the unit was formed by combining one group of men from Dallas with a second group from Tyler and placing them under the command of John Jay Good. The battery fought at Pea Ridge in March 1862 and soon afterward transferred to the east side of the Mississippi River. James Postell Douglas replaced Good as commander and led the battery at Richmond, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, the Atlanta Campaign, Franklin, and Nashville. After operations around Mobile, Alabama, Confederate units in the region surrendered and the survivors of the battery were paroled on 12 May 1865. It was the only Texas field artillery unit that served east of the Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landis's Missouri Battery</span> Artillery battery of the Confederate States Army

Landis's Missouri Battery, also known as Landis's Company, Missouri Light Artillery, was an artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the early stages of the American Civil War. The battery was formed when Captain John C. Landis recruited men from the Missouri State Guard in late 1861 and early 1862. The battery fielded two 12-pounder Napoleon field guns and two 24-pounder howitzers for much of its existence, and had a highest reported numerical strength of 62 men. After initially serving in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, where it may have fought in the Battle of Pea Ridge, the unit was transferred east of the Mississippi River. The battery saw limited action in 1862 at the Battle of Iuka and at the Second Battle of Corinth.

The 3rd Missouri Light Battery was an artillery battery of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery originated as a Missouri State Guard unit active in late 1861, and was officially transferred to the Confederate States Army on January 28, 1862. The battery provided artillery support at the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862, and was lightly engaged at the Battle of Iuka in September. In October 1862, the battery was lightly engaged at the Second Battle of Corinth and saw action at the Battle of Davis Bridge, where it lost at least one cannon. The 3rd Light Battery saw action at the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16, 1863, and had its cannons captured at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge the next day. After participating in the Siege of Vicksburg, the battery was captured on July 4, 1863 and was paroled and exchanged. The battery was then consolidated with the Jackson Missouri Battery; the 3rd Light Battery designation was continued. In early 1864, the battery received replacement cannons and was assigned to the defense of Mobile Bay. The 3rd Light Battery saw action at the Battle of Spanish Fort in March and April 1865. When the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana surrendered on May 4, 1865, the battery was again captured; the men of the battery were paroled on May 10, ending their military service.

Hiram Bledsoe's Missouri Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Missouri State Guard and the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was formed when the Missouri State Guard was formed as a pro-secession state militia unit in response to the Camp Jackson affair. As part of the Missouri State Guard, the unit was engaged in the Engagement near Carthage and the Battle of Wilson's Creek during mid-1861, before fighting at the Battle of Dry Wood Creek and the Siege of Lexington later that year when Major General Sterling Price led the Guard northwards towards the Missouri River. After the Missouri State Guard retreated into Arkansas in early 1862, Bledsoe's Battery served during the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge in March. The battery, as part of the Army of the West, transferred across the Mississippi River into Tennessee in April, where it left the Guard to enter Confederate service on April 21.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Missouri Field Battery</span> Unit of the Confederate States Army

The 1st Missouri Field Battery was a field artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was formed by Captain Westley F. Roberts in Arkansas in September 1862 as Roberts' Missouri Battery and was originally armed with two 12-pounder James rifles and two 6-pounder smoothbore guns. The unit fought in the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, as part of a Confederate offensive. Roberts' Battery withdrew after the battle and transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Roberts resigned and was replaced by Lieutenant Samuel T. Ruffner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery B, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery Regiment</span> Military unit

Battery B, 2nd 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 June 1861. It fought at Shiloh, First Corinth, and Second Corinth in 1862. Subsequently, the unit garrisoned Corinth, Mississippi until January 1864. It was stationed at Memphis, Tennessee until June 1864 when it fought at Brices Cross Roads. The battery garrisoned Memphis until it was mustered out in July 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1841 24-pounder howitzer</span> Howitzer

The M1841 24-pounder howitzer was a bronze smoothbore muzzle-loading artillery piece adopted by the United States Army in 1841 and employed from the Mexican–American War through the American Civil War. It fired a 18.4 lb (8.3 kg) shell to a distance of 1,322 yd (1,209 m) at 5° elevation. It could also fire canister shot and spherical case shot. The howitzer was designed to be employed in a mixed battery with 12-pounder field guns. By the time of the American Civil War, the 24-pounder howitzer was superseded by the 12-pounder Napoleon, which combined the functions of both field gun and howitzer. The 24-pounder howitzer's use as field artillery was limited during the conflict and production of the weapon in the North ended in 1863. The Confederate States of America manufactured a few 24-pounder howitzers and imported others from the Austrian Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrett's Missouri Battery</span> Military unit

Barrett's Missouri Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. After entering Confederate service on April 1, 1862, the unit was armed with two 6-pounder smoothbore cannons and two 12-pounder howitzers and was commanded by Captain Overton W. Barrett. It was present during the Siege of Corinth, but saw no action. During the Battle of Perryville in October 1862, Barrett's battery provided artillery support for a Confederate brigade. After spending the next several months moving around Tennessee, the battery supported a Confederate attack during the Battle of Stones River in December. The 1863 Chickamauga campaign brought light action for the unit, which also fought in the Battle of Missionary Ridge. When the Confederates retreated after the Missionary Ridge fighting, Barrett's battery was part of the Confederate rear guard at the Battle of Ringgold Gap, earning the praise of Patrick R. Cleburne. Rearmed with four 12-pounder howitzers, the unit was action in the 1864 Atlanta campaign as part of the Confederate reserve artillery, although two of the cannons were lost to attrition. On April 16, 1865, the battery ceased to exist when its flag, cannons, and most of its members were captured during the Battle of Columbus, Georgia. As of January 2021, its battle flag is part of the collection of the Missouri State Museum.

References

  1. "Edenton Bell Battery". Edenton Historical Commission. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
  2. Rockett, F.Y. (1867) [1862]. "Melt the Bells". In Simms, William Gilmore (ed.). War poetry of the South. Appeared in Memphis Appeal. New York: Richardson. p. 234. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  3. General Society of the Daughters of the Revolution, North Carolina Society (July 1905). Moffitt, E. E. (ed.). The North Carolina booklet. Vol. 5. North Carolina Society of the Daughters of the Revolution. p. 28. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  4. "The ordnance of the original Edenton Bell Battery". The Edenton Historical Commission. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2009 via Edenton Bell Battery reenactors group.
  5. Oral history from Haywood S. Harrell, Superintendent of Shiloh National Military Park, 1990-2012

Further reading