Confederate Regiments & Batteries * Virginia
The battery had existed since 1821 when it was formed as the Richmond Light Artillery. It took the name Fayette Artillery after an 1824 visit to Richmond by the Marquis de Lafayette, who presented the company with two brass 6-pounders he had brought to America during the Revolution.
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1861
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| April 25 | The Richmond Fayette Artillery was mustered into state service for one year as Battery I, First Virginia Artillery under Captain Henry Coalter Cabell. It mustered four officers and 108 enlisted men. |
| May | The battery was armed with four brass 6-pounders and stationed at the Richmond College artillery barracks. |
| May 8 | Ordered to Glouster Point on the Peninsula. The battery moved to West Point and boarded the steamer Logan. |
| May 9 | The battery took the steamer Logan to Glouster Point and was assigned to Colonel Talliaferro’s troops there. |
| May 30 | Ordered to Yorktown |
| June 10 | To Big Bethel, arriving after the battle |
| June | After a few days at Big Bethel returned to Glouster Point |
| June 30 | The battery mustered three officers and 106 enlisted men |
| July-August | Attempts to recruit a second company failed due to lack of enlistments, but the new men were added to the original company |
| August | Lieutenant Clopton was detached with 40 enlisted men for several weeks to man heavy artillery at Yorktown |
| September 23 | Captain Cabell left the battery to command the First Virginia Artilery Regiment. The battery became Company I of Cabell’s regiment. Lieutenant Miles C. Macon (VMI class of 1856) was promoted to captain and took command of the battery. |
| October | The battery was issued a 3″ Ordnance Rifle |
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1862
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| February 22 | Moved to defensive lines around Yorktown |
| April 3 | Action at Harrod’s Mill |
| April 4 | Moved to Wynn’s Mill |
| April 5 | Artillery duel with Union forces from 11 a.m. until dark |
| April | The battery was under continual fire from Union guns |
| May 4 | A heavy artillery demonstration was followed by a withdrawal from the Yorktown lines |
| May 5 | In support of R.H. Anderson’s Brigade south of Williamsburg and in Fort Magruder |
| May 6 | Lieutenant Clopton brought a section of guns into Fort Magruder to help throw back a Federal assault. Delaware Branch, George K. Smith and two other men were killed, Joseph Beck was mortally wounded, and eight other men were wounded. |
| May 23 | The battery was withdrawn towards Richmond |
| May 31 |
Battle of Seven Pines |
| June 27 |
Battle of Gaines’s MillThe battery was in reserve under Major Lewis Coleman along with Coke’s Williamsburg Artillery |
| June 28 | Moved to south side of the Chickahominy attached to General A.P. Hill |
| June 29 | Moved along Darbystown Road attached to Branch’s Brigade |
| June 30 |
Malvern HillThe battery was in position under fire but did not return fire. |
| July 31 | Sent with other batteries to Hood’s Point to threaten Federal shipping on the James, the night march became a confused mess and the batteries returned to their original positions |
| August | Assigned to McLaws’ Division of Longstreet’s Command of the Army of Northern Virginia |
| August 23 | Moved to Hanover Junction |
| August 30 | To Culpeper Court House |
| September 1-5 | Moved north to join Lee around Manassas |
| September 6 | Crossed the Potomac and marched to Frederick |
| September 7-11 | Moved through Burkittsville and Brown’s Gap to Pleasant Valley |
| September 12 | At Brownsville with Semmes’ Brigade to protect the South Mountain passes |
| September 14 |
South MountainCaptain Macon took a section of 10-pounder Parrotts to supprt the advance on Bolivar Heights while 6-poundr guns under Lieutenant Clopton were sent to support Colonel E.B. Montague’s 32nd Virginia Infantry at Crampton’s Gap |
| September 16 | Moved south to Harpers Ferry, crossed the Potomac and continued on to halt at Halltown. After a short time a courier from General Lee at Sharpsburg ordered the battery back on the march, and it reached Boteler’s Ford at daybreak. |
| September 17 |
Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam)Lieutenant Clopton commanded the battery at Sharpsburg while Captain Miles C. Macon was still detached with the section of Parrott Rifles near Harpers Ferry. |
| September 18 | Recrossed the Potomac at Boteler’s Ford |
| September 25 | In camp along Opequon Creek |
| October 2 | Assigned to Kershaw’s Brigade |
| October 30 | Left the Winchester area to move via Front Royal and Chester Pass to Culpeper Court House |
| November 3 | Went into camp near Culpeper |
| November 23 | Assigned as Company B to the 38th Battalion Virginia Light Artillery under Captain James Dearing. The Lynchburg Artillery and Captain Robert M. Stribling’s Fauquier Artillery were also assigned to the battalion, which was part of Pickett’s Division of Longstreet’s 1st Corps. |
| December 13 |
Battle of FredericksburgThe battery was positioned behind the Howlson House to the left of the center of the Confederate line, and suffered no casualties. Lieutenant Clopton’s section of Parrott rifles fired 180 rounds. |
| December 28 | Went into winter quarters at Ruther Glen in Caroline County. |
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1863
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| January | Captain Dearing was promoted to major, and Thompson’s Louisiana Guard Artillery joined the battalion. Stribling’s and Macon’s batteries had six guns each, Blount’s Lynchburg Artillery had four, and the Louisiana Guard had three. |
| February 15 | Attached with the battalion to Pickett’s Division and ordered to Petersburg on what would come to be known as the Suffolk Expedition. The horses and drivers marched via Telegraph Road while most of the men were moved by rail from Hamilton’s Crossing to Richmond. |
| February 21 | The battalion left Richmond for Petersburg. |
| February 24 | The battalion went into camp at Petersburg. |
| March 25 | Moved toward Suffolk with Hood’s and Pickett’s Divisions |
| March 28 | Arrived at Ivor Station on the Petersburg and Norfolk Railroad. |
| March 7 | To Franklin |
| April 11 | Attacked Suffolk attached to Jenkin’s Brigade, suffering no casualties. |
| April | The Hampden Artillery replced the Louisiana Guard Artillery in the battalion |
| May | Rejoined Lee’s main army on the Rappahannock |
| June | Left the Rappahannock for the Shenandoah Valley, advancing north into Pennsylvania.Redesignated Company B, 38th Virginia Light Artillery Battalion, although the battery continued to be referred to as the Fayette Artillery and the battalion as Dearing’s Battalion. |
| July 1 | At Chambersburg with Pickett’s Division. |
| July 2-3 |
Battle of GettysburgThe battery was commanded by Captain Miles Cary Macon and was equipped with 2 Napoleons and 2 10-pounder Parrott rifles. It arrived on the field around noon after a march from Chamberburg over South Mountain. From the War Department marker on the Gettysburg battlefield: July 3. Advanced to the front about daybreak. Later in the morning took position on the ridge west of Emmitsburg Road and near the Rogers House but remained inactive until the signal guns were fired some time after noon. Moved forward then to the crest of the hill and took a prominent part in the cannonade. Ammunition was exhausted while Longstreet’s column was advancing the last rounds being fired at Union infantry assailing his right flank. Efforts to procure a fresh supply of ammunition proving unsuccessful the Battery was withdrawn. July 4. In line of battle all day with the left wing of McLaws’ Division. Marched at sunset to Black Horse Tavern. Losses not reported in detail |
| July 4-14 | Retreat to Virginia |
| August | Transferred with Pickett’s Division to Richmond and North Carolina |
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1864
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| April 17-20 |
Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina |
| May | Moved to the Bermuda Hundred Defenses |
| May 16 |
Drewry’s Bluff |
| May 31-June 12 |
Battle of Cold HarborThe battery was attached to Major James P.W. Read’s Battalion and commanded by Lieutenant William I. Clopton. Four cannon and a wayside marker near the Visitor Center mark the position of the battery on the battlefield. |
| June 18 |
Siege of Petersburg begins |
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1865
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| April 2 | Evacuation of Petersburg |
| April 6 |
Battle of Sayler’s CreekFought a rearguard action near the Lockett Farm, losing 6 men captured. |
| April 9 |
Appomattox Court HouseThe battery was in the lead of Lee’s army and escaped capture at Appomattox, moving ahead on the road to Lynchburg just before Union forces closed off the escape. Captain Macon was killed was not with the battery at the time and was killed in the last fighting. He is buried is buried in the small Confederate cemetery at Appomattox Court House, one of the last casualties of the Army of Northern Virginia. |
| Mid-April | The battery spiked their guns near Bent Creek near Lynchburg, Virginia. They then disbanded near Lynchburg or Fincastle along with the other batteries of Dearing’s battalion. |