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.

African American Artillery

The First Alabama Siege Artillery made up of African American was raised in Tennessee and Mississippi and was mustered into service June 20^th 1863.

The First Siege Artillery a regiment made up of men of African American descent was raised in Corinth, Mississippi, LaFayette, LaGrange and Memphis, Tennessee.  They were mustered into Union service on June 20^th 1863.  The regiment renamed on March 11^th 1864 as the 6^th United States Colored Heavy Artillery.  They were placed under the command of Major Lionel F Booth on March 18^th 1864.

The 6^th were sent to Fort Pillow.  The fort was attacked on April 12^th 1864 by about 3,000 Confederate troops.  Booth was shot by a sniper and killed early in the fighting.  Command of the 6^th fell to Captain Charles Epeneter who was also wounded.  The 6^th’s guns weren’t effective as the Confederates stormed the fort as the guns couldn’t be depressed enough to fire on them.

Following the Battle of Fort Pillow, those members of the 6^th who survived were moved into the 11^th United States Colored Troops.

For more information look at 1st Alabama Siege Artillery (African Descent)

Control Of The River

Fort Pillow’s evacuation on June 4th 1862 by the Confederate Army opened the Mississippi River to the Union.


Fort Pillow built by the Confederate Army in 1861 in Maury County, was named for General Gideon J Pillow. It’s strategic location on the Mississippi River, just south of Island Number 10, allowed for controlling movement on the river. Union ships bombarded the Fort for weeks placing pressure on the troops stationed there. But it was the Confederate loss of Corinth, which left Fort Pillow isolated in Union territory which caused Confederate troops evacuated the Fort June 4th 1862 leaving the river clear for Union troops to invade Memphis Tennessee. The Union held the Fort until April 1864 when during the Battle of Fort Pillow the Confederate victory ended in the killing of 229 Union soldiers out of the 262 who where in the battle.