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1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Battery E

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.

Muster In: Organized at Philadelphia August 5, 1861, and ordered to Washington, D.C.1
Muster Out: Mustered out July 20, 1865.2

Commander(s):
Captain Thomas G. Orwig
Commander Image

Lieutenant Henry Y. Wildey
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Williamsburg and Yorktown, Va.3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (March 31, 1864)4

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Williamsburg and Yorktown, Va.5

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle:

Yorktown, Va. (July 1-5, 1864)6

Artillery Brigade | XVIII Corps | Army of the James | Union Army (July 5-31, 1864)7,8

  • Commander: Captain Thomas G. Orwig (July 31, 1864)9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: The 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Battery E was ordered to join the Eighteenth Corps in the field on July 5, 1864.  It had been stationed at Yorktown, Virginia.10

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | X Corps | Army of the James | Union Army11

  • Commander: Captain Thomas G. Orwig (August 31, 1864)12
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | X Corps | Army of the James | Union Army13,14

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | X Corps | Army of the James | Union Army15

  • Commander: Lieutenant Henry Y. Wildey (October 31, 1864)16
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: This battery does not appear to have participated in the Battle of Fair Oaks and Darbytown Road on October 27-28, 1864 because it is not listed in the Union casualty returns for that battle.17

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle:

Artillery Brigade | X Corps | Army of the James | Union Army (November 1-December 3, 1864)18

Artillery Brigade | XXV Corps | Army of the James | Union Army (December 3-31, 1864)19

  • Commander: Captain Henry Y. Wildey (December 31, 1864)20
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: On December 3, 1864, the X Corps and XVIII Corps of the Army of the James were reorganized into the XXIV Corps and the XXV Corps.

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | XXV Corps | Army of the James | Union Army21,22

  • Commander: Captain Henry Y. Wildey (January 31 & February 28, 1865)23,24
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | XXV Corps | Army of the James | Union Army25,26

  • Commander: Captain Henry Y. Wildey (March 31, 1865)27
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles28:

  • At Williamsburg, Va., April, 1864, and in Defenses of Yorktown until July.
  • Ordered to join 18th Army Corps in the field July 5.
  • Siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond July, 1864, to April, 1865.
  • Chaffin’s Farm, New Market Heights, and Fort Harrison September 28-30.
  • Near Richmond September 30.
  • In trenches before Richmond until April, 1865.
  • Duty dismantling forts and removing Ordnance until July.

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    2. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    3. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    4. Volume 3 (Ordnance Returns for the First Quarter, January-March, 1864); 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Battery E Entry, Page 151; Summary Statements of Quarterly Returns of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores on Hand in Regular and Volunteer Army Organizations, 1862-1867, 1870-1876. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1281, Roll 1); Records of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, 1797-1969, Record Group 156; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: Not many returns exist for June 30, 1864, and none exist past that, so I’ve made the decision to include the March 31, 1864 ordnance return data in the absence of better information.  I’ll add more immediate reports of tube numbers and types as they are found.
    5. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    6. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    7. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), page 267
    8. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 3 (Serial Number 82), page 740
    9. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 3 (Serial Number 82), page 740
    10. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    11. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 2 (Serial Number 88), page 620: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864”
    12. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 2 (Serial Number 88), page 620: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864”
    13. 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. 1303.
    14. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87), page 134: “Return of Casualties in the Union Forces (September-October 1864)”
    15. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 466: “Organization of the Union Forces” (October 31, 1864)”
    16. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 466: “Organization of the Union Forces” (October 31, 1864)”
    17. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87), page 150: “Return of Casualties in the Union Forces…Fair Oaks and Darbytown Road, Va., October 27-28, 1864”
    18. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    19. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 1127: “Organization of the Union Forces” (December 31, 1864)
    20. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 1127: “Organization of the Union Forces” (December 31, 1864)
    21. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 337: “Organization of the Union Forces” (January 31, 1865)
    22. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 751: “Organization of the Union Forces” (February 28, 1865)
    23. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 337: “Organization of the Union Forces” (January 31, 1865)
    24. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 751: “Organization of the Union Forces” (February 28, 1865)
    25. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), page 580: “Organization of the Union Forces” (March 31, 1865)
    26. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), page 597: “Return of casualties in the Union Forces commanded by Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, March 29-April 9, 1865”
    27. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), page 580: “Organization of the Union Forces” (March 31, 1865)
    28. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
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