The Charlottesville, Lee Lynchburg and Johnson's Bedford Artillery

THE CHARLOTTESVILLE, LEE LYNCHBURG and JOHNSON'S BEDFORD ARTILLERY
by Robert H. Moore, II

(Published by H. E. Howard, Inc., 1990)
142 pages including maps, photographs, rosters, and bibliography
ISBN 1-56190-008-7

For pricing and availability contact:
H.E. Howard, Inc.
Rt. 2 Box 496H
Appomattox, Virginia 24522

About the Book:

Charlottesville Artillery

“ . . .. I got hold of the lanyard and was pulling it off when I felt someone pulling my overcoat tail, and I found one of my men named Bishop . . . laying at the trail of the gun, he said to me, look there, I looked a little to the right, and there stood a Federal officer in a colonel's uniform with a pistol cocked and directed at my head . . .. I turned suddenly taking him as much by surprise as he had taken me, knocked his pistol off and got mine on him, when he very cooly said to me, I could have killed you, and here are my men all around you, and sure enough within twenty steps of me there were a number of men laying down with their muskets cocked . . . .Mr Fife said to me, 'Goodbye.'"

In the flash of a moment the Federal onslaught on the "East Angle" at Spotsylvania put an end to the brief but shining career of the Charlottesville Artillery. Gallantly the artillerists stood by their guns that day until one-half of the men present were captured, wounded, or killed.

Two years prior to that fateful day in May 1864, the company came into existence under the guidance of James McDowell Carrington and was equipped through the influence of his coercive and magnificent mother. By the end of the day on March 15, 1862, the Charlottesville Artillery closely mirrored the already popular Rockbridge battery, in that forty-four of its number had attended some of Virginia's finest colleges and universities; most of those had attended the University of Virginia. Many came from the surrounding countryside of Albemarle County.

After joining "Stonewall" Jackson's army in the Shenandoah Valley, the battery served with distinction and took a particularly brilliant stand at aiding in the preventing the capture of "Stonewall" Jackson at Port Republic on June 8, 1862.

Crossing over the Blue Ridge to join Robert E. Lee, the company continued noteworthy service with the Army of Northern Virginia until the day of its demise in the spring of 1864. With only a handful of men, what was left of the Charlottesville Artillery would serve one or two guns as assigned to Garber's Staunton Artillery until the war's close.

Lee Lynchburg Battery

The Lee Battery was formed by an energetic Tennessean, former West Pointer, and hero of Chapultepec, Pierce Butler Anderson. Under his engineering, the Lee Lynchburg battery was raised and in battle one month after it enlisted, sustaining high casualties. Recuperating from the fight at Rich Mountain, the company fought again at Greenbrier River and Camp Alleghany, where the Tennessee Captain received an untimely death on December 13, 1861.

Under the command of Captain Charles Raine, the company nobly served in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign under "Stonewall" Jackson and on through the season of victory for the Confederacy until the high tide at Gettysburg. From the fields of Pennsylvania, the Lynchburg company marched on with the Army of Northern Virginia and steadily declined with its nation, losing Captain Raine on November 30, 1863 and taking severe beatings while back in the Shenandoah in 1864. Lt. Charles W. Statham temporarily held command after Raine's death. Finally in April 1865, under command of William W. Hardwicke, the few men that remained submitted to surrender at Appomattox, just yards away from where their Captain Raine lay buried.

Johnson’s Bedford Artillery - The Bedford Artillery was a company that faced nothing but disappointment and missed opportunities. From the date of the unit's conversion from infantry to artillery, almost one full year elapsed before the unit finally became engaged in a full-scale battle at Second Manassas. Less than a month later, the Bedford men took a beating at Sharpsburg and suffered horrible casualties. Partially as a result of the battle and the reorganization of the artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, the battery was disbanded and reassigned in October, 1862. While a good number of men were reassigned to the Purcell Artillery, a large number were also reassigned to the Lee Lynchburg Artillery.

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