Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
Page County's sole artillery battery - The Dixie Artillery
Article of March 9, 2000
By the latter part of June 1861, scores of Page's men had marched off with the first three units formed in the county at the outbreak of the Civil War. However, on June 21, the fourth and last company formed exclusively in the county and almost entirely of Page men was organized. Proclaimed the Dixie Battery or Dixie Artillery, the unit had ultimately been the brainchild of William Henry Chapman. Having recently left his studies, like most others, at the University of Virginia, Chapman sought out John Kaylor Booton to spearhead the effort. Booton himself had been the former commander of the little company of artillery that fired their two iron guns at 4th of July celebrations for a number of years.
Since funds for the organization of another company from the county were exhausted, Chapman tasked himself with convincing Booton to financially back the new unit. While Booton was initially reluctant to fund such an enterprise, after some persistence, Chapman succeeded in convincing the pre-war self-proclaimed inventor. In short order, a meeting was called at Honeyville for all interested men. By June 21, eighty-two men had enrolled for service in the battery.
Despite Booton's financial support, the company was extremely ill prepared for war. In need of horses, harnesses, and gun equipage, the men made due with little the battery had available. Not until after moving to Winchester was the battery made complete with new equipment by the order of General Joseph E. Johnston.
In November 1861, Booton resigned his post, having been elected as a member of the Virginia Legislature. In turn, Chapman was elected to battery command and would hold the position for the life of the company. William Crisp, father of the future U.S. Speaker of the House (who was at that time a member of the Page Volunteers or Company K, 10th Virginia Infantry), and William's brother, Samuel F. Chapman held the posts of senior 1st lieutenants.
Assigned to General James Longstreet's "wing" in the spring of 1862, the Dixie Artillery, alongside the famous battalion of Washington Artillery from New Orleans, marched in the Peninsula Campaign without seeing any action. However, on June 27, while held in reserve, the battery endured its first baptism of fire at Mechanicsville. Three days later, on Monday, June 30, Chapman's gunners made the battery's guns speak for the first time at the Battle of Frazier's Farm and according to the recollections of both Chapman brothers, the battery suffered "considerably." It would be nearly a month and a half before the Dixie Battery's guns would bark out again.
Before the close of the summer, as a direct participant in which its guns blazed, the Dixie Battery could add only three more actions to its list of battle honors � Rappahannock Station (August 23), 2nd Manassas (August 30), and Boteler's Ford on the Potomac (September 19). While not engaged, the company had also been present at the surrender of Harpers Ferry (September 15) and Sharpsburg/Antietam (September 17).
On October 4, 1862, as a result of the consolidation and reorganization of the artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Dixie Battery was disbanded and the majority of the men remaining (46) were reassigned to the famous Purcell Artillery (Cayce's) of Richmond.
As for William and Samuel Chapman, larger famed loomed on the horizon as members of John S. Mosby's famous command. But that is another story and rest assured that the "Fighting Chapmans" will appear in their own glory in a forthcoming feature of Heritage and Heraldry.
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