Battery B – First Regiment – Artillery – Volunteers.

This Battery was at the commencement of the Rebellion, a part of the Militia force of the State, and was known as Company F, First Regiment, Independent Essex Brigade. It remained in this connection until September, 1861, when it tendered its services to the Governor for active service. It was accepted under the provisions of an Act of Congress, approved July 22, 1861, and by authority received by the Governor from the War Department, Washington, D. C. The Battery was then fully organized and completed under the requirements of General Orders No. 16, War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, D. C., May 4, 1861. It was fully completed, officered and equipped by the 3d of September, 1861, at which time it was mustered into the service of the United States for three years or during the war, at Camp Olden, Trenton, N. J., by Charles H. Brightly, First Lieutenant Fourth Infantry, United States Army, the strength of the Battery being – Officers, 5; Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates, 159. Total, 164. It left the State October 22, 1861, en route for Washington, D. C.; soon after arrival it was furnished with the necessary outfit of guns, horses and equipments, and under orders crossed into Virginia and went into Camp, near Alexandria, having been assigned to the Third Army Corps. Under the provisions of General Orders No. 191, War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, D. C., June 25, 1863, a number of the enlisted men re-enlisted in the field, for three years or during the war; those who did not re-enlist and whose term of service having expired, reported at Trenton, N. J., and were mustered out September 14, 1864, by James W. Long, Captain Second Infantry, United States Army. At different times during the years 1862, 1863 and 1864, the strength of the Battery was increased by the joining from Draft Rendezvous, Trenton, N. J., of large numbers of recruits. In January, 1864, the strength of the Battery having been increased by the arrival of recruits far beyond the maximum allowed by law, the surplus men were transferred to Batteries C, D and E, in compliance with Special Orders No. 39, War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, D. C., January 26, 1864. The Battery continued its organization and remained in active service until the close of the war, when it was mustered out at Trenton, N. J., June 16, 1865, by R. Burnett Smith, Brevet Captain Eleventh Infantry, United States Army, in compliance with General Orders No. 105, War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, D. C., June 2, 1865.

The Battery was first attached to the Defences of Washington, D. C.; then to an Artillery Brigade, Third Division, Third Army Corps; then to the Defences of Washington, D. C.; then to an Artillery Brigade, Second Division, Third Army Corps; then to an Artillery Brigade, First Division. Third Army Corps; then to an Artillery Brigade, Third Army Corps; then to an Artillery Brigade, Army of the Potomac; then to the Second Brigade, Artillery Reserve, Army of the Potomac; then to an Artillery Brigade, Second Army Corps.

The Battery took part in the following engagements: Siege of Yorktown, Va., April and May, ’62; Williamsburg, Va., May 5, ’62; Fair Oaks, Va., June 1 and 2, ’62; Seven Pines, Va., June 25, ’62; Peach Orchard, Va., June 29, ’62; Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, ’62; Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13 and 14, ’62; Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, and 4, ’63; Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 and 3, ’63; Locust Grove, Va., Nov. 27, ’63; Mine Run, Va., Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, ’63; Wilderness, Va., May 5 to 7, ’64; Spottsylvania, Va., May 8 to 11, ’64; Spottsylvania C. H., Va., May 12 to 18, ’64; North Anna River, Va., May 23 and 24, ’64; Tolopotomy, Va., May 30 and 31, ’64; Cold Harbor, Va., June 1 to 12, ’64; Before Petersburg, Va., June 16 to 22, ’64; Jerusalem Plank Road, Va., June 22 and 23, ’64; Deep Bottom, Va., July 26 and 27, ’64; Hatcher’s Run, Va., Feb. 5 to 7, ’65; Boydton Plank Road, Va., (Capture of Petersburg, Va.,) April 2, ’65; Sutherland Station, Va., April 2, ’65; Sailors’ Creek, Va., April 6, ’65; Farmville, Va., April 6 and 7, ’65; Lee’s Surrender (Appomattox C. H., Va.,) April 9, ’65.

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