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.

Shot Off His Horse

Union Brigadier General Charles Garrison Harker was killed June 27^th 1864 during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

Charles Garrison Harker was born December 2^nd 1835 in Swedesboro, New Jersey.  As a young man, he worked in a store owned by United State Congressman Nathan T Stratton.  Stratton worked to get Harker an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He graduated in 1858 and joined the 2^nd United States Infantry on garrison duty at Governor’s Island in New York Harbor.  He would go on to see service in the Oregon and Washington Territories.

When the Civil War started he assigned to train new recruits in Ohio.  With a couple of promotion he was by October 24^th 1861 the Captain of the 15^th United State Regulars.  He would then move onto the 65^th Ohio Infantry and become their Colonel on November 11^th 1861.  Harker and the 65^th would be in the Battles of Shiloh and Corinth.  He would move up to command a brigade in the Army of the Ohio and the Army of the Cumberland.  For his actions during the Battle of Chickamauga on Snodgrass House Hill, Harker received a promotion to Brigadier General on September 20^th 1863.

As the Atlanta Campaign got rolling in 1864, Harker was commanding a brigade in Union Major General Oliver Otis Howard Corps.  Union General William Tecumseh Sherman made an attempted to push Confederate troops out from behind their lines on Kennesaw Mountain.  During the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain while leading his men on June 27^th 1864, Harker was shot off his horse, receiving a mortal wound.  He died the same day.  Harker is buried in the Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery in Swedesboro, New Jersey.

A Kentucky Unionist

Union Brigadier General James Streshly Jackson, a United State Representative from Kentucky was killed October 8^th 1862 during the Battle of Perryville.

James Streshly Jackson was born in Fayette County, Kentucky September 27^th 1823.  He attended Center College at Danville, Kentucky before graduating in 1844 from Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.  He would also study law at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, practicing law afterwards in Greenup County, Kentucky.  When the Mexican American war started Jackson enlisted as a private in the 1^st Kentucky Cavalry, but after participating in a duel with a fellow soldier, he was sure he’d be court martialed and so resigned in 1846.  In 1859 Jackson ran for Congress, he was elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress serving until December 13^th 1861 when he entered the Union Army.

Jackson raised a company of cavalry that became the Union 3^rd Kentucky Cavalry.  He was elected their Colonel on December 13^th 1861.  He led the 3^rd in the Battles of Shiloh and Corinth.  He received a promotion to Brigadier General of Volunteers July 16^th 1862 and was placed in commanding a Brigade in the Union Army of the Ohio.

Jackson was shot in the chest and killed during the Battle of Perryville October 8^th 1862.  He was buried originally in the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, but his body was moved and reburied March 24^th 1863 in the Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Struck Down By A fever

Confederate General John Bordenave Villepigue resigned his commission with the Union army on March 31^st 1861.

John Bordenave Villepigue was born July 2^nd 1830 in Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina.  He attended the South Carolina Military Academy in 1846, the Citadel in 1847 and finally graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1854, the 2^nd in his class.  Villepigue’s first duty as a Second Lieutenant was with the 2^nd United States Dragoons.  He saw action in Kansas and Nebraska against the Sioux, and was part of the Utah campaign in 1857.  Promoted to First Lieutenant he taught for a time at the Carlisle Cavalry School in Pennsylvania.

Villepigue was on duty in Utah when the Civil War started, he resigned his commission in the Union Army March 31^st 1861.  He took a commission in the Confederate Army of Captain of artillery.  In a short time Villepigue was promoted to Colonel in the 36^th Georgia Infantry, and he took command of Fort McRee in time for the bombing on November 22^nd 1861, where he was seriously wounded.  Serving under Confederate General Braxton Bragg; who praised him for his leadership, Bragg said Villepigue was "an educated soldier, possessing in an eminent degree the love and confidence of his officers and men, he had been specially selected for this important and perilous post."  He moved onto Mobile, Alabama and received an appointment to Brigadier General in 1862.  Villepigue commanded a brigade at the Second Battle of Corinth in October 1862, serving under Confederate Major General Earl van Dorn.

Villepigue caught a fever during the campaign.  He was sent to Port Hudson, Louisiana to recuperate, but developed pneumonia and died November 9^th 1862.  He is buried in the Old Quaker Cemetery in Camden, South Carolina.