The First McCoy Death

Union soldier Asa Harmon McCoy the brother of Randolph McCoy of Hatfield / McCoy fame was discharged from the army December 24^th 1864.

Asa Harmon McCoy was born in Pike County, Kentucky 1828.  He was the younger brother of Randolph McCoy.

McCoy enlisted in the Union Army under the name of Asa H McCay, and served in Company E of the 45^th Kentucky Infantry.  He suffered a broken leg while in service and was discharged from service on December 24^th 1864 with the rest of his company.  Soon after his return home he was confronted by members of the “Logan Wildcats” a Confederate Home Guard.  The “Wildcats” where Company D of the 36^th Virginia Infantry.  It is believed that Jim Vance an uncle of Anse Hatfield was among those who fired a warning shot at McCoy, and then tracked him to the cave on Blue Spring Creek, where he was hiding and on January 7^th 1865 and killed him.

A Well Built Tug

Rear Admiral Francis Gregory

The USS Buckthorne was purchased for the Union Navy December 22^nd 1863.

The USS Buckthorne was a wooden hulled screw steamer, outfitted with one mast, she was 87 feet long.  She was built in East Haddam, Connecticut, and was purchased for $26,500 from George W Jewett on December 22^nd 1863 by Union Rear Admiral Francis Gregory.  The Buckthorne was commissioned April 7^th 1864 at New York City under the command of Lieutenant W Godfrey.

The Buckthorne was well built and was placed in service as a tug.  She served as a part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and was present during the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5^th 1864.  She was used to carry dispatches and as a tender for the rest of the fleet.

When the war ended the Buckthorne was moved to the Pensacola Navy Yard.  She was sold for $3,000 on September 7^th 1869.

Harbor Defenses Or Indian Reservation

Union Camp Santa Catalina was proposed as an Indian reservation December 21^st 1863 on Santa Catalina Island, California.

On an isthmus located on west end of Santa Catalina Island, California, that a Union camp was located in 1863.  Camp Santa Catalina was proposed and built following an incident along the coast with the Confederate privateer CSS JM Chapman.  It was thought that it would be a good place for harbor defenses.

The garrison commander Union General George Wright was given the authority to have all persons on the island removed.  Wright proposed on December 21^st 1863 that the Camp be made into an Indian reservation, to hold the natives currently fighting against Union volunteers in northwest California.  Company C of the 4^th California Infantry was posted at the Camp January 1^st 1864 and served there until the end of the year, when all Union property was removed from the island.

Defeat And Destroy

The Second Battle of Saltville was fought December 20^th and 21^st 1864 near the town of Saltville, Virginia.

The Union tried once in October 1863 to destroy the saltworks at Saltville, Virginia, but was defeated.  In early December 1864, Union General George Stoneman brought together a force of about 1,400 men, including a brigade commanded by Brigadier General Alvan C Gillem to try again.

The Union force began its advance on Saltville with a Confederate defeat at Marion, Virginia on December 18^th 1864.  At Saltville Confederate Colonel Robert Preston had 500 men, with a brigade of cavalry commanded by General Basil W Duke on its way.

The Union troops attacked on December 20^th 1864, with two columns joining up.  There was some determined skirmishing before the Union troops overwhelmed the Confederate defenses.  Preston had to order his men to retreat.  Stoneman’s men entered the town the next day and accomplished the objective by destroying the saltworks.

The Last Veteran

Walter Washington Williams who claimed to be the last living Confederate veteran died December 19^th 1859.

Walter Washington Williams was born in Itawamba County, Mississippi, he said in 1842.

Williams claimed to have served in Confederate General John Bell Hood’s brigade, beginning in 1864 as a forgemaster.  Research into his military service has never been proven, nor even has his age been verified.

When the war ended Williams moved to Texas, where he settled on a farm in Eaton, Texas.

When the rest of the “last Claimants” had died, Williams became celebrated as the “last Confederate veteran”.  Williams died December 19^th 1859 in Houston, Texas at the home of his daughter.  The chairman of the Civil War Centennial; Ulysses S Grant III, said the Williams death was an occasion for national mourning, which United States President Dwight D Eisenhower had declared.  He is buried in the Mount Pleasant Church Cemetery in New Baden, Robertson, Texas.  His name is listed on the “Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy” monument at the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Battlefield, with the inscription, “Walter Washington Williams -- who was recognized by the government of the United States as the last surviving Confederate veteran died 1959 at the age of 117 years."

A Compromise

Senator John Crittenden

The Crittenden Compromise was proposed on December 18^th 1860 by Kentucky United States Senator John J Crittenden as a way to resolve the growing secession crisis.

The Crittenden Compromise was introduced to the United States Congress by Kentucky Senator John J Crittenden on December 18^th 1860.  It was supposed to address the grievances of the slave states and resolve the growing secession crisis.  The Compromise suggested six constitutional amendments and four Congressional resolutions.  It promised permanents of slavery in the slave states, and suggested extending the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific, guaranteeing slavery south of the 36° 30′ parallel.

The Compromise was praised by the Southern member of the United States Senate, but was opposed by the Republicans.  The Compromise would be tabled by both Houses of Congress on December 31^st 1860.

The proposed Crittenden Compromise that would have affected the constitution read:

“Slavery would be prohibited in any territory of the United States "now held, or hereafter acquired," north of latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes line. In territories south of this line, slavery of the African race was "hereby recognized" and could not be interfered with by Congress. Furthermore, property in African slaves was to be "protected by all the departments of the territorial government during its continuance." States would be admitted to the Union from any territory with or without slavery as their constitutions provided.

Congress was forbidden to abolish slavery in places under its jurisdiction within a slave state such as a military post.

Congress could not abolish slavery in the District of Columbia so long as it existed in the adjoining states of Virginia and Maryland and without the consent of the District's inhabitants. Compensation would be given to owners who refused consent to abolition.

Congress could not prohibit or interfere with the interstate slave trade.

Congress would provide full compensation to owners of rescued fugitive slaves. Congress was empowered to sue the county in which obstruction to the fugitive slave laws took place to recover payment; the county, in turn, could sue "the wrong doers or rescuers" who prevented the return of the fugitive.

No future amendment of the Constitution could change these amendments or authorize or empower Congress to interfere with slavery within any slave state.

Congressional resolutions:

That fugitive slave laws were constitutional and should be faithfully observed and executed.

That all state laws which impeded the operation of fugitive slave laws, the so-called "Personal liberty laws," were unconstitutional and should be repealed.

That the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 should be amended (and rendered less objectionable to the North) by equalizing the fee schedule for returning or releasing alleged fugitives and limiting the powers of marshals to summon citizens to aid in their capture.

That laws for the suppression of the African slave trade should be effectively and thoroughly executed.

Voted Unanimously

The only South Carolina convention to vote unanimously for secession was held December 17^th 1860 at the First Baptist Church of Columbia, South Carolina.

The First Baptist Church of Columbia, South Carolina was organized in 1809, with a building on Sumter Street.  The current church was built in 1856 with funding from the former president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; James P Boyce.

In 1860, following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, the Church became the site of the first South Carolina state convention to discuss secession.  The meeting was called to order by chairman D F Jamison with delegates who had been selected a month early.  They left with a unanimous vote of 159 to 0 in favor of South Carolina seceding from the Union on December 17^th 1860.

The convention at the Church in Columbia lasted only one day do to an outbreak of smallpox.  The South Carolina Order of Secession wasn’t signed until delegates reconvened in Charleston, South Carolina on December 20^th 1860.

Leading His Brigade When Killed

Union Colonel Sylvester Gardner Hill was killed in action December 15^th 1864 during the Battle of Nashville.

Sylvester Gardner Hill was born June 10^th 1820 in North Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island.  He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1840’s working in the lumber business.  When gold was found in California, Hill caught the fever and traveled there, but finding no profit hunting for gold, he moved back east to Muscatine, Iowa.

When the Civil War started, Hill helped to raise the 35^th Iowa Infantry.  He was appointed Colonel of the regiment on September 18^th 1862.  They started out doing garrison duty in Illinois and Kentucky before joining the Union Army of the Tennessee at Vicksburg.  As the Union forces put Vicksburg under siege, Hill was placed in command of the 3^rd Brigade of the 1^st Division in the XVI Corps.  Hill was wounded at the Battles of Pleasant Hill and Yellow Bayou, but was back in command at the Battle of Tupelo.

At the Battle of Nashville on December 15^th 1864, Hill was leading his Brigade against Confederates holding Montgomery Hill.  He was shot in the head and died instantly.  His body was taken home to Muscatin, Iowa where he is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery.

Lost Forty Percent

Colonel Curran Pope

The 15^th Kentucky Infantry was mustered into Union service December 14^th 1861 under the command of Colonel Curran Pope.

The 15^th Kentucky Infantry was organized in New Haven, Kentucky for a three year enlistment. Most of the men came from the city of Louisville, Kentucky and the surrounding area.   They mustered into Union service December 14^th 1861 and were attached to the 16^th Brigade of the Union Army of the Ohio.  The Colonel of the 15^th was Curran Pope a West Pointer

The men started their duty at Bacon Creek, Kentucky, before moving with the army to Bowling Green, Kentucky, Nashville, and Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They saw their first fighting at the Battle of Perryville on October 8^th 1862, where their Colonel was killed, and the regiment lost about 40% of its strength.  The 15^th would also see action at the Battles of Chickamauga, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, and other western theater battles.

The 15^th mustered out of Union service January 14^th 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.  The regiment had 10 officers and 243 enlisted men die of wounds or disease during their service.

Advanced Even After His Loss

Union Brigadier General Conrad Feger Jackson was killed in action December 13^th 1862 during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Conrad Feger Jackson was born in Alsace Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, September 11^th 1813 the son of Isaac Jackson a part of a family of Quakers.  His father died when he was young and he was raised by an uncle; Joseph Jackson, in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  Jackson started working in warehouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and then moved onto working as a conductor for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.  During the Mexican American War, Jackson carried dispatches for General Winfield Scott.  He would settle after the war in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before moving in the late 1850’s to become the manager of an oil company in the Kanawha Valley area of Virginia.

When the Civil War started Jackson went back to Pittsburgh where he organized the 9^th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry.  He received an appointment from Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G Curtin as the Colonel of the 9^th, leading them with distinction during the Peninsula Campaign.  He was promoted July 17^th 1862 to Brigadier General and placed in command of the 3^rd Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves.  They would see action at Second Bull Run, South Mountain and Antietam.

As the Union Army moved against the Confederates at Fredericksburg, Jackson led his Brigade against the right wing of the Confederates.  His Division commander Union General George G Meade wrote of their movement, “The Third brigade had not advanced over one hundred yards when the battery on the height on its left was re-manned, and poured a destructive fire into its ranks. Perceiving this, I dispatched my Aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Dehon, with orders for General Jackson to move by the right flank till he could clear the open ground in front of the battery, and then, ascending the height through the woods, sweep round to the left and take the battery. Unfortunately Lieutenant Dehon fell just as he reached General Jackson, and a short time after, the latter officer was killed. The regiments did, however, partially execute the movement by obliquing to the right, and advanced across the railroad, a portion ascending the heights in their front. The loss of their commander, and the severity of the fire, from both artillery and infantry, to which they were subjected, compelled them to withdraw."

Jackson was killed December 13^th 1862.  His body was recovered from the field and taken back to Pittsburgh.  He is buried in the Allegheny Cemetery there.

The First Representative

Joseph Hayne Rainey the first African American to serve in the United States House of Representative was seated December 12^th 1870.

Joseph Hayne Rainey was born June 21^st 1832 in Georgetown, South Carolina a slave.  He was the son of Edward L and Gracia Rainey.  Rainey’s father was a slave, but was allowed by his master to earn money working as a barber, and he bought the families freedom in 1840.  Rainey followed his father and became a barber and was working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1859 where he married.

When the Civil War started Rainey was living in Charleston, South Carolina, and working at the Mills House Hotel.  He was forced into service with the Confederacy, working on Charleston’s fortifications, and then latter as a cook on blockade runners.  In 1862 he managed to get his family and himself to St George, Bermuda, were they lived out the war working again as a barber.

When the Civil War ended Rainey returned to Charleston, South Carolina, where he joined the Republican Party and became active in local politics.  He was elected in 1870 to the South Carolina State Senate, and then was appointed to fill the a seat in the United States Congress, left vacant by Benjamin F Whittenmore, who was censured for corruption.  Rainey was seated in Congress on December 12^th 1870, and would be re-elected to Congress four times, serving until March 3^rd 1879.  In May 1874 he became the first African American to serve as Speaker Pro Tempore.

As violence increased in the south Rainey bought a summer home in Windsor, Connecticut and moved his family there in 1874.  Following his term in Congress he worked as an agent for the United States Treasury Department in South Carolina, banking in Washington, DC and was an investor in the Columbia and Greenville Railroad.  Rainey died in Georgetown, South Carolina August 2^nd 1887, and is buried in the Baptist Cemetery there.

The Youngest Medal Of Honor Recipient

William Johnston enlisted in the 3^rd Vermont Infantry December 11^th 1861 at the age of 11 as a drummer boy; he would become the youngest person ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

William Johnston, who was known as Willie, was born July 12^th 1850 in Morristown, St Lawrence, New York, the son of William Johnston.  After the death of his mother, the family moved to Derby, Orleans, Vermont.

When the Civil War started Johnston’s father enlisted to fight for the Union, and Johnston went with his father.  He was enlisted on December 11^th 1861 at St Johnsbury, Vermont.  Johnston was five feet tall and 11 years old.  When the 3rd Vermont infantry was mustered into Union service, Johnston’s father was a private in Company B and Johnston left Vermont as a drummer boy in Company D.  The first time Johnston saw action was at the Battle of Lee’s Mill on April 16^th 1862.

It was during the next campaign, the Seven Days Battles that Johnston would be cited for bravery, and would be subsequently award the Medal of Honor.  During the Union retreat to Harrison’s Landing, when other men threw away their equipment in order to travel faster with less weight, Johnston brought his drum safely back with him to Harrison’s Landing.  It was there that Johnston was asked to drum the division on parade, he being the only drummer boy to bring his instrument off the field.

Johnston was presented with the Medal of Honor on September 16^th 1863 by Union Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton.   Johnston was and is the youngest person ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor.  He would continue to serve throughout the war, mustering out of service on December 30^th 1864.

After the war Johnston attended Norwich University, but did not graduate.  He was living in Chelsea, Massachusetts around 1868.  It was reported that he was working as a mariner.  After this report, there doesn’t seem to any more information about him.

The Had Been Raised In The East

The “California Hundred”, which would become a part of the 2^nd Massachusetts Cavalry, was organized December 10^th 1862 in San Francisco, California.

During the summer of 1862 a number of men living in California, all but one of whom had been raised back East decided to enlist in the Union army, but they wanted to serve the cause in the Eastern Theater of the war.  The men reached out to Massachusetts Governor John Andrew, with offer of 100 men to serve in that state’s cavalry.  Andrew agreed to accept the men as long as they paid their own way to Boston, Massachusetts and equipped themselves.

The “California Hundred”; as they were called, were organized in San Francisco, California on December 10^th 1862.  The shipped out the next day and arrived at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts January 4^th 1863.  The Hundred became Company “A” of the 2^nd Massachusetts Cavalry.  The men were moved in February to Fort Monroe in Baltimore, Maryland, and then sent out on duty around Virginia.  Under the command of Union Captain James Sewall Reed, the men from California were engaged a number of time against Confederate General John S Mosby’s cavalry in the Loudoun Valley.  They were serving with the Army of the Shenandoah under Union General Philip H Sheridan during the Valley Campaign of 1864.  In the spring of 1865 the Hundred were part of the pursuit of Confederate General Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, ending at Appomattox.

The California men took part in the Grand Review on May 23^rd 1865 in Washington, DC, before returning to their homes.  The company lost 90 men, killed, and another 141 who from disease.

Native Against Native

The Battle of Chusto-Talasah was fought in Indian Territory [near todays Tulsa County, Oklahoma] on December 9^th 1861.

The Battle of Chusto-Talasah was a part of series of battles fought between the Union leaning Creek and Seminole Indians against the Confederate leaning Cherokee and Choctaw Indians.  Creek chief Opothleyahola leading his Union force was defeated at Round Mountain and retreated with his band to the northeast.  They were located at Chusto-Talasah [also called the Horseshoe Bend of Bird Creek] on December 9^th 1861 when they were attacked in the afternoon by about 1,300 Confederates led by Colonel Douglas H Cooper.

Opothleyahola had his troops placed in a strong line in heavy timber.  They held their line for four hours as Cooper attacked and tried to outflank the Union soldiers.  Finally just before dark Cooper’s men drove Opothleyahola force across the Bird Creek.  Cooper was short on ammo and did not pursue the Union force.

Opothleyahola moved his band off, having lost about 400 men.  Cooper counted only 52 casualties in the fight.

Amnesty and Reconstruction

President Abraham Lincoln submitted his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction on December 8^th 1863.

As the Civil War’s third year was coming to an end, President Abraham Lincoln began making plans for a postwar reconstruction of the United States.  Large parts of the south formally held by the Confederacy had been captured by the Union army and some of those States were beginning to rebuild their governments.  Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty covered three main areas for reconstruction for the southern states.  First it gave a pardon to all but the highest Confederate government officials and military men with ranks under Colonel, with a restoration of all properties; not including slaves.  Next it said that any state could set up a new government when 10% of the eligible voters had taken an oath of allegiance to the United States.  And lastly, the states to be readmitted, needed to set a plan to deal with freed slaves that would not impede their freedom.

The Proclamation of Amnesty read, “WHEREAS, in and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the President “shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment;” and

Whereas, a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal state governments of several states have for a long time been subverted, and many persons have committed, and are now guilty of, treason against the United States; and

Whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by congress, declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing rebellion, in any state or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he may deem expedient for the public welfare; and

Whereas, the congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon accords with well-established judicial exposition of the pardoning power; and

Whereas, with reference to said rebellion, the President of the United States has issued several proclamations, with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves; and

Whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and to re-inaugurate loyal state governments within and for their respective states: Therefore–

I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property cases where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:–

“I,                  , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by congress, or by decision of the supreme court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the supreme court. So help me God.”

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate government; all who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion; all who are, or shall have been, military or naval officers of said so-called Confederate government above the rank of colonel in the army or of lieutenant in the navy; all who left seats in the United States congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States and afterwards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which persons may have been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity.

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less than one tenth in number of the votes cast in such state at the presidential election of the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the state existing immediately before the so-called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall reestablish a state government which shall be republican, and in nowise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government of the state, and the state shall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional provision which declares that “the United States shall guaranty to every state in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or the executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) against domestic violence.”

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any provision which may be adopted by such state government in relation to the freed people of such state, which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent as a temporary arrangement with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be objected to by the National Executive.

And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing a loyal state government in any state, the name of the state, the boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new state government.

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this proclamation, so far as it relates to state governments, has no reference to states wherein loyal state governments have all the while been maintained. And, for the same reason, it may be proper to further say, that whether members sent to congress from any state shall be admitted to seats constitutionally rests exclusively with the respective houses, and not to any extent with the Executive. And still further, that this proclamation is intended to present the people of the states wherein the national authority has been suspended, and loyal state governments have been subverted, a mode in and by which the national authority and loyal state governments may be reestablished within said states, or in any of them; and while the mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest, with his present impressions, it must not be understood that no other possible mode would be acceptable.

Given under my hand at the city of Washington the eighth day of December, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth.”

They Served Until The End

The 1^st Arkansas Field Battery; also known as the John D Adams Artillery, was mustered into Confederate service December 1^st 1861.

The 1^st Arkansas Field Battery was organized as the John D Adams Artillery, and mustered in the state militia in April 1861.  The unit was named in honor of Arkansas vet John D Adams, who had served in the Arkansas Mounted Gunmen during the Mexican American War, and was wounded at the Battle of Buena Vista.  The Battery became a part of the Confederate army on December 1^st 1861 under the command of officers Captains James J Gaines and Francis McAnally.

They were assigned to Herbert’s brigade, a part of Confederate General Benjamin McCulloch’s Division.  The 1^st Arkansas was armed with four cannon in the fight on March 7^th and 8^th 1862 during the Battle of Pea Ridge.  Following the retreat the Battery moved with the rest of the army to Corinth, Mississippi.  They were reorganized on May 16^th 1862, becoming part of the Army of the West.  The battery would see action at the Battle of Corinth, and Hatchie Bridge in October 1862.

The Battery was assigned to service at Vicksburg during the siege.  It surrendered with the rest of the garrison on July 4^th 1863.  At the time of the surrender 2 of 1^st Arkansas’ guns were on detached service under the command of First Lieutenant Frank A Moore and escaped capture.  This section was attached to the 2^nd Missouri Battery for the rest of the war.  The remainder of the Battery was exchanged in November 1863 and reorganized with four 6 pounder cannon and assigned to the 5^th Artillery Battalion, commanded by Confederate Major William Durbin Blocher.

The men of the Battery were still serving when orders were read from Confederate General Kirby Smith on April 23^rd 1865 announcing Lee’s surrender.  When the Confederate Trans Mississippi Army surrendered in May 1865, the unit was simply disbanded and the men went home.