Part Of Memphis' Defenses

The Memphis Battery Light Artillery which would be part of the Union 1^st Tennessee Battery was mustered into service on October 31^st 1863 at Memphis, Tennessee.

The Memphis Battery Light Artillery was made up of black men and was organized in Memphis, Tennessee.  They mustered into Union service for three years under the command of Captain Carl A Lamberg on October 31^st 1863.  The Memphis Light was attached to the 1^st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Regiment as Battery M.  A part of the 5^th Division of the XVI Corps until January 1864, when they became part of the 1^st Colored Brigade.

The regiment performed garrison duty in Memphis until April 1864.  One section of the Memphis Light was sent to Fort Pillow on February 15^th 1864 where during the assault on the fort they manned two 6 pound James Rifles.  Almost every man from the 35 man detachment was either killed or listed as missing after Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest took the fort on April 12^th 1864.  The next action the Memphis Light saw was in the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads, where the unit had to abandon a section of guns that they spiked before leaving the field.

They were still part of the defenses of the city of Memphis, Tennessee until December 1864.  The men of the Memphis Light mustered out of service on December 11^th 1865.