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2nd Rockbridge Virginia Artillery (Donald’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.

Muster In: Organized by the conversion of 1st Company B, 52nd Infantry Regiment to artillery service on September 28, 1861.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Captain William K. Donald
Commander Image

Lieutenant Samuel Wallace
Commander Image

Lieutenant William T. Wilson
Commander Image

Commander 4
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps| Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army3

  • Commander: Captain William K. Donald3
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 1 x 24-lb. Howizter (June 3, 1864)5

Second Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps| Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army6

  • Commander: Captain William K. Donald6
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army8

  • Commander: Captain William K. Donald9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army10

  • Commander: Captain William K. Donald11
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army12,13

  • Commander: Captain William K. Donald14
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 3 x 24-lb. Howizters, 1 x 8-inch Howitzer (September 30, 1864)15

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army16

  • Commander: Captain William K. Donald17
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army18,19

  • Commander: Captain William K. Donald (November & December 1864)20,21
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 3 x 24-lb. Howitzers (December 28, 1864)22

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army23,24,25

  • Commander: Lieutenant Samuel Wallace (January & February 1865)26,27,28
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: McIntosh’s Battalion | Third Corps Artillery | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army29,30

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Samuel Wallace (killed April 2)(March & April 1-2, 1865)31,32,33
    • Lieutenant William T. Wilson (after Lt. Wallace was killed)(April 2, 1865)34,35
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 2 x guns36

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles37:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • The Crater (July 30, 1864)
  • Petersburg Final Assault (April 2, 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

Sources:

  1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 86-87
  2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 86-87
  3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113
  4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113
  5. Driver, Robert J, Jr. The 1st and 2nd Rockbridge Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1987), p. 119:The 24-lb. Howitzwer was used as a mortar in the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864.  No mention is made of other guns.
  6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113
  7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113
  8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 122
  9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 122
  10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131
  11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131
  12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140
  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. 1313.
  14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140
  15. Driver, Robert J, Jr. The 1st and 2nd Rockbridge Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1987), pp. 120-121:A September 30, 1864 inspection report showed the 2nd Rockbridge Artillery with 3 x 24-lb. Howizters and  1 x 8-inch Howitzer.
  16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 149
  17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 149
  18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 157
  19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 166
  20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 157
  21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 166
  22. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 86-87
  23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 175
  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 1177: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General R. E. Lee, January 31, 1865”; This list contains many commanders who were not there.  They were the “official” commanders but may have been gone on leave.  I have used none of the leaders from this list as a result.
  25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 185
  26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 175
  27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 185
  28. Driver, Robert J, Jr. The 1st and 2nd Rockbridge Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1987), p. 135
  29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 194
  30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204
  31. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 194
  32. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204
  33. Driver, Robert J, Jr. The 1st and 2nd Rockbridge Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1987), pp. 123, 135: Lieutenant Samuel Wallace was killed leading the battery on April 2, 1865.  He had been in command since January 1865.
  34. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204
  35. Driver, Robert J, Jr. The 1st and 2nd Rockbridge Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1987), pp. 124-125, 136: Lieutenant William Thomas Wilson commanded the remnants of the battery during the Appomattox Campaign.
  36. Driver, Robert J, Jr. The 1st and 2nd Rockbridge Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1987), p. 124: The 2nd Rockbridge Artillery had two guns during the Appomattox Campaign. Exact tube types not specified.  More research is needed.
  37. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 86-87
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