3rd Arkansas Light Artillery

The 3rd Arkansas Light Artillery, also known as the Jackson Light Artillery (1861–1865), was a Confederate Army artillery battery during the American Civil War. The battery spent the majority of the war serving in Confederate forces east of the Mississippi River. The battery is also known as McCown's Battery, Hubbard's Battery, and Thrall's Battery in official reports.

Organization

The Jackson Light Artillery was organized at Jacksonport, Jackson County, Arkansas, on June 15, 1861.Watson, Lady Elizabeth, Fight and Survive!: a history of Jackson County, Arkansas, in the Civil War, Jackson County Historical Society, 1996, Page 9 Most of the original members of the battery were from Jackson County, but there were men from neighboring Craighead, Independence, Lawrence, White and present-day Woodruff counties who also joined the battery at Jacksonport. Although officially named the Jackson Light Artillery, it was the practice in the Confederate Army to refer to a battery by the name of its current commander; thus, it is variously identified in most contemporary records as McCown's Battery, Hubbard's Battery, and Thrall's Battery. In the "Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Arkansas," the service records of these men are carried under the heading "Thrall's Battery" on Roll 42.

At the battery's organization, George W. McCown was elected captain, James C. Thrall was elected first lieutenant, George T. Hubbard was elected second lieutenant, and Robert S. Anderson was elected third lieutenant. The battery marched to Pitman's Ferry, near Pocahontas in Randolph County, where it enlisted in the Confederate service on July 25, 1861. A week earlier, on July 17, Captain McCown had resigned and returned to Jacksonport. Lieutenant Hubbard was elected captain in his place.Howerton, Bryan R., "Jackson Light Artillery (Thrall's Battery)", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 30 January 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/jackson.html

A total of 165 men served in this unit from June 15, 1861, to May 11, 1865. A remarkable number of original members served with the battery through the entire conflict. The battery had one of the lowest desertion rates in the Confederate Army. Even among the large number of conscripts who joined the battery in 1863 there were relatively few deserters. From all contemporary accounts, it seems that the Jackson Light Artillery enjoyed competent leadership and high morale throughout the war.

On July 14, 1861, Confederate Brigadier General William J. Hardee arrived in Little Rock to assume unified Confederate command in the state. The following day the state Military Board signed an "Article of Transfer", which provided that all state forces would be transferred on a voluntary basis to the command of the Confederate States of America. The Articles of Transfer included Major Francis A. Shoup's battalion of artillery;

:Company A, Captain A. W. Clarkson's Helena Light Artillery,
:Company B, Captain John T. Trigg's Arkansas Battery; and
:Company C, Captain George T. Hubbard's Jackson Light Artillery.

Many Confederate artillery units seem to have begun the war named for the city or county that sponsored their organization. In the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, artillery units are most often referred to by the name of their battery commander. During the war, efforts were made to organize artillery units into battalions and regiments, but the battalions seldom functioned as a consolidated organization, in fact batteries were often broken out and fought as one or two gun sections. Shoup's battalion would be an exception to this rule.

Service

The battery, as part of Shoup's Battalion moved to central Kentucky with Hardee's forces. Major Shoup's battalion was associated with Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne's brigade when it moved into Kentucky and remained so until after the battle of Shiloh. The Battalion was in the retreat from Bowling Green to Corinth, Mississippi, following the fall of Forts Donelson and Henry.;

During the Battle of Shiloh, a.k.a. Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, Sunday, April 6, 1862 – Monday, April 7, 1862, the battery, armed with two 6-pounder smoothbores and two rifled 3-inch guns became involved in what was at that time, the largest massed artillery attack in North America. The unit was attached to General Patrick Cleburne's 2nd Brigade of Major General William J. Hardee Third Army Corps. By the afternoon of Sunday, April 6, 1862, men of Prentiss's and W. H. L. Wallace's divisions had established and held a position nicknamed the ''Hornet's Nest''. The Confederates assaulted the position for several hours rather than simply bypassing it, and they suffered heavy casualties during these assaults. It was not until the Confederates, led by Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles, assembled over 50 cannons, including on section of Hubbard's Battery, commanded by Lieutenant Thrall, into a position known as "Ruggles's Battery" to blast the line at close range that they were able to surround the position, and the Hornet's Nest fell after holding out for seven hours.

In response to a request from Brig. Gen. Ruggles, Captain Thrall filed a report on April 1, 1863, of his and other Arkansas artillery unit's roll in the Battle of Shiloh and the formation of Ruggles' Battery:United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 10, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1884; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154613/m1/487/?q=thrall : accessed February 10, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.

James C. Thrall succeeded Captain Hubbard as battery commander on May 12, 1862, and remained in command until the end of the war.

Heavy Artillery

After fighting at Shiloh the unit was assigned to the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana and was active in the Siege of Jackson during the Vicksburg Campaign in the summer of 1863.

The battery is listed in an August 29, 1862, report of Heavy Artillery at Columbus, Mississippi and again on September 14, 1862.

The battery is listed as Thrall's Heavy Battery and is listed as being stationed at Columbus Mississippi, according to a report of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton in December, 1862. On January 1, 1863, Colonel Adams reported:

The battery is mentioned again by Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton on January 31, 1863, the battery was assigned to the Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana, Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles' First Military District.

On March 6, 1863, Brigadier General Ruggles ordered that Thrall's battery be supplied with sufficient horses to be assigned to support cavalry in the field. In June 1863, General Ruggles described his efforts to equip Thrall's battery as a six gun light battery for field service.

According to another report from Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton in April 1863, the battery was assigned to the Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana, Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles' First Military District. On July 1, 1863, during the Siege of Vicksburg, the battery was reported to be stationed a Columbus Mississippi, still assigned to Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles' First Military District.

After the fall of Vicksburg, the battery was included in a January 5, 1864, list of light batteries in the Army of the West, commanded by Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk. The battery is described as consisting of four-6 lb bronze smoothbore- Two-6 lb 3.80 inch bronze rifled guns. General Polk list the battery again in his report on the composition of his army on January 20, 1864, as being assigned to Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles command of Brigadier General James R. Chalmers Division of Major General Stephen D. Lee's Cavalry Corps.

Horse Artillery

During the early stages of the Chattanooga Campaign, Confederate General Bragg ordered Major General Forrest to transfer the majority of his Cavalry Corps to Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps. In response, an angry Forrest threatened to kill Bragg if he attempted to give him any further orders. This dispute compelled Confederate President Jefferson Davis to transfer Forrest to Mississippi to raise a new corps from western Tennessee; this transfer placed him under the command of Stephen D. Lee's Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana. In December 1863 Forrest led a raid/recruiting mission into Western Tennessee and eventually organized his recruits into two divisions commanded by James R. Chalmers and Abraham Buford number over 3000 men.

Forrest moved his newly recruited force to Commo, Mississippi, which is probably where Thrall's battery joined the new command. By January 25, 1864, Thrall's Battery was assigned to Forrest's command. In February 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman launched a two pronged attack eastward toward Meridian, Mississippi.Meridian, Mississippi, Official Website
/ref> Meridian was an important railroad center and was home to a Confederate arsenal, military hospital, and prisoner-of-war stockade, as well as the headquarters for a number of state offices.History of Meridian, Mississippi
Sherman planned to take Meridian and, if the situation was favorable, push on to Selma, Alabama, and possibly even threaten Mobile, Alabama. While Sherman set out on February 3, 1864, with the main force of 20,000 men from Vicksburg, he ordered Brig. Gen. William Sooy Smith to lead a cavalry force of 7,000 men from Memphis, Tennessee, south through Okolona, Mississippi, along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to meet the rest of the Union force at Meridian.

As the campaigned opened, Thrall's battery was mentioned is several dispatches. On January 19, 1864, Lieutenant General Lineous Polk wrote to Major General Forrest and inquired, "Have you ordered Thrall's battery at Columbus over to General Chalmers? If not had you not better order it?" Major General Forrest wrote from Oxford Mississippi to Brigaider General Chalmers at Panola Mississippi February 8, 1864, to report, "
... Have ordered Thrall's battery to Oakland: if you find the enemy advancing, send for it." Major General Forrest wrote from Oxford Mississippi to Brigaider General Chalmers at Panola Mississippi at 5:40 p.m. on February 9, 1864, directing:

in response, Brigaider Chalmers wrote to Colonel J.E. Forrest, (brother of General Forrest) on February 10, 1864, and directed, "Find Thrall's battery and order it here immediately. It should be near Oalkand"

Smith never reached Meridian; he and his troops encountered resistance from Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest at West Point, Mississippi. Forrest and his army forced Smith to begin to retreat to Tennessee. When Forrest saw Smith's army retreating, he ordered his troops to chase the army down. Forrest, with Thrall's battery, caught up with Smith and defeated them in the Battle of Okolona on February 22, 1864, which ultimately resulted in General Sherman's entire left flank being eliminated during the campaign.American Civil War - Destruction of Meridian
/ref> The battery participated in the Battle of Okolona, Mississippi, on February 22, 1864.

Next the battery, or at least the rifled section of the battery, was involved in the Affair at Yazoo City. Brigadier General R. V. Richardson filed a report on March 7, 1864, that described the battery's part in this action:

The battery is included in a May 10, 1864, report of the organization of Forrest's Cavalry, as being assigned to Brigadier General Abraham Buford's Division. Special Orders No. 55, dated May 14, 1864, issued from the Headquarters, Forrest Cavalry, assigned Thrall's battery, along with the batteries of Morton, Rice and Hudson, to a battalion of artillery to be commanded by Captain John W. Morton, as acting chief of artillery.

Major General Stephen D. Lee, in his June 10, 1864, report on the organization of troops in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, listed the battery as belonging to Buford's Cavalry Division, of Forrest Cavalry Corps.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 39, In Three Parts. Part 2, Correspondence, etc., Book, 1892; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154636/ : accessed January 13, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas. the battery assisted in Forrest's defense of Mississippi during the summer of 1864. In June Union General Samuel D. Sturgis led an expedition into northern Mississippi to keep Forrest from raiding Union supply lines during the Atlanta Campaign. On June 10, Forrest, with Thrall's battery, attacked Sturgis in the Battle of Brice's Crossroads and routed the Union force. Despite losing nearly 500 men, he inflicted over 2,200 casualties and captured 16 cannons, 176 wagons, and 1,500 small arms.National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, Confederate Arkansas Troops, Thrall's Battery, Arkansas Light Artillery, Accessed Jan 14, 2011, During the Battle of Brice's Crossroads, the gunners of Thrall's battery unlimbered their guns and pushed them by hand behind the advancing lines of infantry.

In late June, Union Major General Andrew J. Smith launched another expedition into Mississippi to tie down the Confederate forces in the region. Forrest united with an infantry force commanded by Stephen Lee and attacked the Union forces near Harrisburg, Mississippi, on July 14; uncoordinated Confederate attacks on the Union right wing resulted in a Union victory. Only 3,500 of Forrest's and Lee's 7,000 men joined in the attack and 1,300 became casualties; Smith lost only 674 men. Despite his victory, Smith retreated from the field towards Tupolu, where Forrest attacked again the next day and was again defeated. During the battle, Forrest was wounded in the right thigh and was forced to turn command over to Chalmers. During the Battle of Tupelo, Captain Thrall's Battery was ordered by Captain Morton to support Captain Rice's battery, and did effective service in saving Rice's Battery and protecting the withdrawal from the field of the shattered Kentucky Brigade.

In mid-September, Forrest launched a raid into northern Alabama and central Tennessee to disrupt Sherman's supply lines, returning to northern Mississippi in early October. Although he was able to capture nearly 2,400 Union soldiers and many supplies, Sherman captured Atlanta in early September, before Forrest had started his raid. In Lieutenant General Richard Taylor's September 30, 1864, report of the troops in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, the battery is still listed as belonging to Buford's Division of Major General Nathan B. Forrest's Cavalry Corps.

During the Franklin–Nashville Campaign, Thrall's Battery accompanied Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest on a 23-day raid through western Tennessee which culminated in an attack on the Union supply base at Johnsonville. On the evening of November 3, 1864, Forrest positioned his guns across the river from the Federal supply base at Johnsonville. On the morning of November 4, the Confederate batteries were attacked by three Union gunboats from Johnsonville and by six Paducah gunboats. The Confederate artillery was completely effective in neutralizing the threat of the Federal fleets. One of the vessels was hit 19 times, and returned to Johnsonville. Thrall's battery assisted in bombarding the Union supply depot and the 28 steamboats and barges positioned at the wharf. All three of the Union gunboats—Key West, Tawah, and Elfin—were disabled or destroyed. The Union garrison commander ordered that the supply vessels be burned to prevent their capture by the Confederates. Forrest observed, "By night the wharf for nearly one mile up and down the river presented one solid sheet of flame. ... Having completed the work designed for the expedition, I moved my command six miles during the night by the light of the enemy's burning property"

While assigned to General Forrest's command the battery had been given the nickname, the "Arkansas Rats". Following the success at Johnsonville, General Forrest announced that he was re-baptizing the unit as the "Arkansas Braves". One sergeant listening to the General's complements allegedly responded " General, talking may be very good, but something to eat would be a heap better: we have been living on wind for two days." General Forrest responded by providing the battery with a feast of ham and hard tack from the stores of his own headquarters.Wyeth, John A. Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. New York, N.Y.: Harper & Bros, 1899, page 528.

The battery is included in a November 20, 1864, abstract of Confederate forces in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana as being assigned to Chalmer's Division. At this time, Forrest was ordered to move into northern Alabama to unite with the Army of Tennessee, now commanded by John B. Hood. Hood was launching an invasion of central Tennessee and wanted Forrest's corps to replace the cavalry corps of Joseph Wheeler, who was on detached duty in Georgia. Thrall's Battery did not accompany Forrest to join Hood's army, but was assigned as part of the garrison of Corinth Mississippi. On November 27, 1864, Major J.W. Eldridge reported from Corinth, Mississippi, that the only battery currently present at Corinth was Thrall's Battery of four bass pieces. Eldridge indicated that at least 16 guns were needed to defend the fortifications around Corinth

Defense of Mobile

Major General Dabney H. Maury included the battery in his organization of the Army of Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, dated December 1, 1864, as being assigned to Brigadier General George B. Hodge's District of Southwest Mississippi and East Louisiana. The battery is included in Major General Dabney H. Maury's March 10, 1865, report on the Organization of troops in the District of the Gulf, as being assigned to the Left Wing, Defenses of Mobile, with other batteries belonging to Lieutenant Colonel L. Hoxton.

The unit participated in the Battle of Spanish Fort, part of the Mobile Campaign, in April 1865. Union forces embarked on a land campaign in early 1865 to take Mobile from the east. Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby's XIII and XVI corps moved along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay forcing the Confederates back into their defenses. Union forces concentrated first on Spanish Fort, five miles to the north. On March 27, 1865, Canby's forces undertook a siege of Spanish Fort, which consisted of a semi-circular line of five redoubts stretching almost two miles long. The Union had enveloped the fort by April 1, and on April 8 captured it. Most of the Confederate forces, including the remnants of Thrall's Arkansas Battery escaped and fled to Mobile.

The fall of Fort Blakeley on April 9, 1865, signaled to Confederate General Dabney H. Maury in Mobile that it was time to begin evacuation of the remaining Confederate troops in the city. On April 12, 1865, Mobile was declared an open city and the remaining Confederate garrison retreated with the intention of joining the remains of the Army of Tennessee, then in North Carolina. The surrender of the Army of Tennessee to General Sherman on April 26, 1865, prevented that option and surrender of the Mobile garrison soon followed. This small force out of Mobile, including the remnants of the Monticello Artillery, was the last Confederate army to surrender east of the Mississippi River.

The Jackson Light Artillery was involved in the following battles:Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, , page 118.

*Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, April 6–7, 1862.
*Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, April to June 1862.
*Vicksburg Campaign
** Siege of Jackson, Mississippi, July 10 to July 16, 1863.
*Meridian Campaign, Mississippi, February–March 1864.
** Battle of Okolona, Mississippi, February 22, 1864.
*Forrest's Defense of Mississippi
**Battle of Brice's Crossroads, Mississippi, June 10, 1864.
**Battle of Tupelo, Mississippi, July 14, 1864.
* Forrest's West Tennessee Raid, October 16 – November 10, 1864.
**Battle of Johnsonville, Tennessee, November 4, 1864.
*Mobile Campaign, March 17 – April 12, 1865.
**Battle of Spanish Fort, Alabama, March 27 to April 8, 1865.

Surrender

The Jackson Light Artillery was among the last of the Confederate troops east of the Mississippi to surrender. The Jackson Light Artillery aided in the defense of Mobile and surrendered with the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. The battery spiked their guns and surrendered at Meridian, Mississippi, May 11, 1865.

See also

*List of Arkansas Civil War Confederate units
*Lists of American Civil War Regiments by State
* Confederate Units by State
*Arkansas in the American Civil War
*Arkansas Militia in the Civil War

Notes

References

* Bradley, Michael R. They Rode with Forrest. (Gretna, Louisiana : Pelican Publishing Company, 2012).
* Cunningham, E., Joiner, G. D., Smith, T. B., & ebrary, Inc. (2009). Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862. New York: Savas Beatie.
* Crute, Joseph H. Units of the Confederate States Army. Midlothian, Va: Derwent Books, 1987.
* Eicher, D. J., & Winik, J. (September 16, 2001). Nonfiction – THE LONGEST NIGHT: A Military History of the Civil War. The New York Times Book Review, 23.
* Evans, C. A. (1962). Confederate military history: A library of Confederate States history, in twelve volumes. New York: Thomas Yoseloff.
* Daniels, Larry. Cannoneers in Gray: The Field Artillery of the Army of Tennessee, 1861–1865. (Tuscaloosa, AL: Fire Ant Books, 2005).
* Morton, John Watson. The Artillery of Nathan Bedford Forrest's Cavalry, "the Wizard of the Saddle,". Nashville, Tenn: Publishing house of the M.E. church, South, Smith & Lamar, agents, 1909.
* Nevin, D., & Time-Life Books. (1983). The road to Shiloh: Early battles in the West. Alexandria, Va: Time-Life Books.
*
* O'Brien, Sean Michael. Mobile, 1865: Last Stand of the Confederacy. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2001.
* United States. (1961). Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the State of Arkansas. Washington D.C.: National Archives, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration.
* U.S. War Department
''The War of the Rebellion''
''a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'', U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
* Watson, L. E. (1996). Fight and survive!: A history of Jackson County, Arkansas, in the Civil War. Newport, Ark: Jackson County Historical Society.
* Wills, B. S. (1998). The Confederacy's greatest cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest. Lawrence, Kans: University Press of Kansas.
* Woodruff, W.E. ''With the Light Guns in '61–'65: Reminiscences of Eleven Arkansas, Missouri and Texas Batteries in the Civil War''. (Little Rock, AR: Central Printing Co., 1903).

External links

Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home PageThe Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110718122909/http://arkansascivilwar.com/ The Arkansas History Commission, State Archives, Civil War in Arkansas
{{American Civil War , expanded=CTCBS

Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Arkansas
1865 disestablishments in Arkansas
Military units and formations disestablished in 1865
Military units and formations in Arkansas
Military in Arkansas
1861 establishments in Arkansas
Military units and formations established in 1861
Artillery units and formations of the American Civil War