1st Maryland Light Artillery, Battery B

United States Regiments & Batteries > Maryland

The 1st Maryland Light Artillery, Battery B lost 5 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 27 enlisted men to disease in the Civil War. It is honored by a monument at Antietam.

1861
September and October The battery was organized as part of the Purnell Legion at Pikesville Arsenal, under special authority of the Secretary of War. It consisted of nine companies of infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two batteries of light artillery and was commanded by Colonel William Purnell, the Postmaster of Baltimore.  The Legion was attached to Dix’s Division, Baltimore, Maryland.
Duty at Baltimore, Md., and in the eastern shore of Maryland assigned to Dix’s Command, Baltimore, Md.
1862
February Colonel Purnell resigned and the Legion was broken up into a regiment of infantry, two independent companies of cavalry and Battery A and Battery B, Maryland Light Artillery.
May The battery joined the Army of the Potomac on Virginia Peninsula. Peninsula Campaign. Attached to 4th Brigade, Artillery Reserve, 5th Army Corps
June 5 New Bridge
June 25-July 1

Seven days before Richmond
June 26
Battle of Mechanicsville
June 29
Savage Station
June 30
White Oak Swamp
July 1
Malvern Hill
July At Harrison’s Landing
August 15-22 Movement to Fortress Monroe then to Alexandria
September 6-22

Maryland Campaign

Attached to Artillery, 2nd Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac
September 14
Battle of Crampton’s Pass (South Mountain)
September 16-17
Antietam

The battery was armed with six 3″ Ordnance rifles. It fired about 300 rounds of ammunition at a Confederate battery near the Dunker Church. Its only loss was one horse killed by a 6 pound shot.

From the monument along Cornfield Avenue at Antietam:

The Battery under the command of Lieut. Theodore J. Vanneman occupied a position on the edge of the East Woods 240 yards north from this marker.
September At Hagerstown, Md.,
October 29-November 19 Movement to Falmouth, Va.
December 12-15
Battle of Fredericksburg
1863
January 20-24 “Mud March”
May Attached to Artillery Reserve, Army of the Potomac
April 27-May 6

Chancellorsville Campaign

With Provost Guard, Army of the Potomac
June 25 Ordered to Washington, D.C. and duty at Camp Barry, Washington, D.C., 22nd Army Corps
July 5 Ordered to Frederick, Md.
July 8 With Briggs’ occupation of Harper’s Ferry
July Duty in District of Harper’s Ferry
August Attached to 2nd Brigade, Maryland Heights Division, West Virginia
December Atached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Division West Virginia
1864
April 17 Moved to Martinsburg and attached to Artillery, 1st Division West Virginia
April 30-May 16 Sigel’s Expedition from Martinsburg to New Market
May 15
Battle of New Market
May Attached to Artillery Brigade, West Virginia
May 24-July 1 Hunter’s Raid to Lynchburg
May 24-June 6 Advance to Staunton
June 5
Piedmont
June 6 Occupation of Staunton
June 14 Near Lynchburg
June 17 Diamond Hill
June 17-18 Lynchburg
June 19 Liberty
June 20 Buford’s Gap
June 21 Catawba Mountains and about Salem
July Duty in District of Harper’s Ferry attached to Reserve Division, Harper’s Ferry, W. Va.
July 27 to August 8 One section in operations in the Shenandoah Valley
August 1 At Cumberland, Md., and in action at Falck’s Mills, near Cumberland
1864
April Attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, West Virginia
July Mustered out