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1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery A

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Muster In: June 6, 18611
Muster Out: Non-Veterans mustered out June 18, 1864…Transferred to Battery “B,” 1st Rhode Island Artillery, September 30, 1864.2

Commander(s):
Lieutenant G. Lyman Dwight
Commander Image

Lieutenant Walter S. Perrin
Commander Image

Sergeant William D. Child (Batteries A & B combined)
Commander Image

Commander 4
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | II Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army3,4,5

  • Commander: Lieutenant G. Lyman Dwight (June 13-18, 1864)6
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 6 x 3-inch Ordnance Rifles (March 31, 1864)7

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | II Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army8,9

  • Commander: Lieutenant G. Lyman Dwight (June 30, 1864)10
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | II Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army11,12

  • Commander: Lieutenant Walter S. Perrin (July 31, 1864)13
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | II Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army14,15

  • Commander: Sergeant William D. Child (Batteries A & B combined)(August 31, 1864)16
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Batteries A and B of the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery were already combined as of August 31, 1864.17,18

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | II Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army19

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: This unit was officially absorbed into the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery B on September 30, 1864. In reality it appears the units were serving together under one commander as early as late August 1864.20,21

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle:

  • No longer an independent command.22

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle:

  • No longer an independent command.23

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle:

  • No longer an independent command.24

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle:

  • No longer an independent command.25

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles26:

  • Before Petersburg June 16-18.
  • Non-Veterans mustered out June 18, 1864.
  • Siege of Petersburg June 16-September 30.
  • Jerusalem Plank Road June 21-23.
  • Deep Bottom July 27-28.
  • Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30 (Reserve).
  • Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, August 14-18.
  • Ream’s Station August 25.
  • Transferred to Battery “B,” 1st Rhode Island Artillery, September 30, 1864.

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. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), p. 222
    4. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 2 (Serial Number 81), p. 545
    5. Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Part I, Reports, Vol. 7, pp. 219-222
    6. Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Part I, Reports, Vol. 7, pp. 219-222
    7. Volume 3 (Ordnance Returns for the First Quarter, January-March, 1864); 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery A 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.
    8. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), p. 222
    9. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 2 (Serial Number 81), p. 545
    10. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 2 (Serial Number 81), p. 545
    11. 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 254
    12. 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 731
    13. 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 731
    14. 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 614: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864”
    15. 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 130: “Return of Casualties in the Union Forces (August 1864)”
    16. 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 614: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864”
    17. 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 614
    18. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    19. 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. 1299.
    20. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 2 (Serial Number 88), p. 614: This source lists William D. Child as the commander of the combined batteries on August 31, 1864.
    21. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    22. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    23. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    24. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    25. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
    26. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3)
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