≡ Menu

Norfolk Harbor Guard and Marine Virginia Artillery (Young’s VA Battery)

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this unit’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Note: This unit was also known as the Norfolk Howitzers. It is an odd unit in that it was officially a cavalry unit, though it served the entire war as a heavy artillery unit, mostly at Chaffin’s Bluff, Virginia, except for a brief stint as infantrymen during the Appomattox Campaign.

Muster In: Organized July 6, 1861 as a Harbor Guard for Norfolk, Va.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Lieutenant John E. Winder
Commander Image

Commander 2
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army4

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army5

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army6

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army7,8

  • Commander: Lieutenant John E. Winder9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army10

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army11,12

  • Commander:
    • None listed. (November 1864)13
    • Lieutenant John E. Winder (December 1864)14
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army15,16

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant John E. Winder (January 1865)17
    • None listed. (February 1865)18
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: This unit was temporarily attached to Custis Lee’s Division, starting January 9, in January 1865.19

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Chaffin’s Bluff Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army20,21

  • Commander: None listed. (March & April 1-2, 1865)22,23
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles24:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Fort Harrison (September 29, 1864)
  • Chaffin’s Farm (September 29, 1864)
  • Fort Gilmer (September 29-30, 1864)
  • Sayler’s Creek (April 6, 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

      Sources:

      1. Brunswick Rebel, Johnston, Southside, United, James City, Lunenburg Rebel, Pamunkey Heavy Artillery and Young’s Harborguard by Jeffrey C. Weaver, page 100
      2. Brunswick Rebel, Johnston, Southside, United, James City, Lunenburg Rebel, Pamunkey Heavy Artillery and Young’s Harborguard by Jeffrey C. Weaver, page 115
      3. Brunswick Rebel, Johnston, Southside, United, James City, Lunenburg Rebel, Pamunkey Heavy Artillery and Young’s Harborguard by Jeffrey C. Weaver, pages 108-115
      4. Brunswick Rebel, Johnston, Southside, United, James City, Lunenburg Rebel, Pamunkey Heavy Artillery and Young’s Harborguard by Jeffrey C. Weaver, pages 108-115
      5. Brunswick Rebel, Johnston, Southside, United, James City, Lunenburg Rebel, Pamunkey Heavy Artillery and Young’s Harborguard by Jeffrey C. Weaver, pages 108-115
      6. Brunswick Rebel, Johnston, Southside, United, James City, Lunenburg Rebel, Pamunkey Heavy Artillery and Young’s Harborguard by Jeffrey C. Weaver, pages 108-115
      7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 145
      8. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1315.
      9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 145
      10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 153
      11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 161
      12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 170
      13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 161
      14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 170
      15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 179
      16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 188
      17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 179
      18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 188
      19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178
      20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 197
      21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 206
      22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 197
      23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 206
      24. Brunswick Rebel, Johnston, Southside, United, James City, Lunenburg Rebel, Pamunkey Heavy Artillery and Young’s Harborguard by Jeffrey C. Weaver, pages 108-115
      { 0 comments… add one }

      Leave a Reply