The History of Reilly’s Battery
Co. D 10th NCST
Organized May 18, 1858 as the “Rowan Artillery”, this battery of light artillery was called into active duty for twelve months service beginning May 3, 1861. Upon completing its organization at Salisbury, North Carolina, the battery was ordered to Weldon, NC, where the battery enlisted for three years or the war. Here, also, Captain James Reilly was assigned to command and the battery became known as “Reilly’s Battery”. Because of the lack of field pieces and artillery equipment the battery was temporarily assigned as infantry to the 4th Regiment N.C. State Troops.
Leaving for Richmond on July 20, 1861, the battery arrived at Manassas Junction on July 27. Here the battery received two 10 pound Parrots and two Dahlgren Howitzers, trophies of the Battle of Manassas and was assigned to Brigadier General W.H.C. Whiting’s Brigade. The battery remained on the Centerville line until it went into winter quarters at Camp Fisher, near Dumfries, Virginia, on November 19. On March 8, 1862, it joined the army in the move to Yorktown and was actively engaged in rear-guard fighting when the army retired from Yorktown and Williamsburg to Richmond in May.
To bring the battery up to full strength, two 3-Inch Burton and Ascher rifle guns were added on May 20, 1862. Still assigned to Whiting’s Brigade, the battery remained in that brigade when Whiting became divisional commander and Colonel E.M. Law assumed command of the brigade. In June, Whiting’s Division was sent to join General T.L. Jackson’s army at Staunton, Va. and united with that army on its move to strike McClellan’s right flank in front of Richmond. In the series of battles known as the Seven Days’, the battery was officially in Lay’s brigade, Whiting’s Division, Jackson’s command. While the battery was engaged at Gaines’ Mill, the men abandoned one of their Burton and Ascher 3-inch rifle guns for a captured Federal 3-inch rifle gun.
The report of the organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, dated July 23, 1862, carries the battery in Law’s Brigade, Whiting’s Division, General D.H. Hill’s command. When Whiting was ordered to North Carolina, General Jon B. Hood was given Whiting’s old division. Thus, after the reorganization following the Seven Days’, the battery was officially in Hood’s Division, where it served in Major B.W. Frobel’s Artillery Battalion. Now an integral part of the Army of Northern Virginia, the company took part in all major battles fought by that army. It was at Second Manassas, August 29-30, 1862; South Mountain, September 14, 1862; and Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862. After the last named battle it reported two 10-pound Parrotts, two 3-inch rifles, and two 24-pounder Dahlgren Howitzers.
On October 4, 1862, Captain W.P. Lloyd’s Battery, 1st Company G, 40th Regiment NCST (3rd Regiment N.C. artillery), was disbanded and fifty-five men were assigned to this battery. Continuing with the army, the battery saw action at Fredericksburg, Md. on December 13, 1862. Here it the battery remained with the army and went into winter quarters.
With the coming of spring, the battery was ordered to North Carolina to participate in a projected attack on Washington. It left Fredericksburg on February 7, 1863 and stopped at Richmond, where two Dahlgren Howitzers were exchanged for two Napoleons. Arriving at Tarboro on April 6, the battery took part in the attack on Washington on April 10. After the engagement, the battery returned to Tarboro on the 16th and was sent to join Longstreet’s command, which was then moving on Suffolk, Virginia. It arrived before Suffolk on April 26 and took part in the siege operations until May 5 when it was ordered to return to the army. On June 4th, it rejoined it old division at Culpepper Court House.
During its absences in North Carolina, the artillery of the army had been reorganized and “Reilly’s Battery” had been assigned to Major M. W. Henry’s Artillery Battalion, Hood’s Division, Longstreet’s Corps. This battalion was later to become known as Major John C. Haskell’s Artillery Battalion after Major Henry transferred in June 1863. The Battery served in this battalion for the balance of the war.
Moving with the army, the battery was engaged on July 2 and 3, 1863 at Gettysburg. After returning to Virginia, and when Longstreet’s Corps was sent to Tennessee, Haskell’s Artillery Battalion went into winter quarters near Beaver Dam Station on the Virginia Central Railroad on September 12 and was temporarily attached to General A. P. Hill’s Corps. With the promotion of Captain Reilly on September 7, 1863, 1st Lieutenant John A. Ramsey became Captain and the battery was redesignated “Ramsay’s Battery”. With the exception of the Mine Run campaign in December, 1863, the battery remained in winter quarters until May 4, 1864 when it was returned to Longstreet’s Corp and ordered to join the army, then concentrating to meet General U. S. Grant’s expected advance. Just prior to this, on April 9,1864, the battery was reported as equipped with one 3-inch rifle gun, three 10-pound Parrots, and two Napoleons.
The battery remained with Lee’s army from the Wilderness to Petersburg and saw action principally at Spotsylvania Court House on May 9, and at Cold Harbor, June 13. From July 1864 through February 1865, the battery remained in the lines below Richmond. In the last report of equipment in December 1864 the battery possessed three 10-pound Parrots, one 12 pound Whitworth, and two 8-pound Armstrong guns. When Lee evacuated Petersburg on April 2, 1865, the battery joined the retreating army to Appomattox Court House, Virginia, where Lee surrendered his army on April 9.
Reilly's Battery Inc.
The Boys of Thunder
Copyright Reilly's Battery Inc. 2007
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