Rosters of the Companies of the
Washington Artillery of New Orleans

The history of the Washington Artillery is a long and glorious one.  We would be remiss indeed if we failed to record the names of the men who comprised the Washington Artillery of the War Between the States.

Membership in the Washington Artillery was not by open invitation to the public. You had to be more than willing and able in order to be accepted into The Washington Artillery.

The mechanics of becoming a Washington Artillery member would appear from the outside as being rather simple, though.  When they applied for membership in the Washington Artillery, they were given an application form to fill out.  To have their application even considered, the recommendation of a Washington Artillery member was required.  With the recommendation of a Washington Artillery member, a completed form, and a $3 fee paid, the application would then be turned over to an Investigation Committee.  Assuming that the investigation committee found nothing to prevent the addition of another member, the applicant would be added to the ranks of the Washington Artillery. 

What did the Investigation Committee seek to verify?  They sought to determine the financial situation of the candidate as well as their moral and ethical reputation.  Men of public distinction were recruited for the Washington Artillery.  When their recruiting poster said, "Gentlemen...desirous of joining...", they meant gentlemen, the term then suggesting a man of education, culture, and class; even if he worked as a clerk.

The successful applicant, now a new member, would soon thereafter receive a letter of acceptance.

Young men wishing to advance in New Orleans commerce and society saw membership in the Washington Artillery both as prestigious and as a stepping-stone to a better life through better connections within the commercial world.  Many were the clerks who were members of the Washington Artillery; ambitious young men looking to get ahead. 

More so than their peers in the ranks of artillerymen, a Washington Artillery cannoneer was a man of greater educational accomplishments and higher social standing, better moneyed and personally sharper than the other branches of the Confederate service.

Staff
May 27th, 1861 to April 8th, 1865

Aby, Thomas Y.  -  promoted to Assistant Surgeon in February 1863.

Braselman, B.L.  -  Ordnance Officer in May 1861.

Drew, E.S.  -  Surgeon, present with the command in all its marches and battles to the close of the War.

Dupuy, C.L.C.  -  Sergeant Major in May 1861; promoted to Lieutenant of Artillery at Vicksburg.

Eschlemen, B.F.  -  Captain of Fourth Company in May 1861; wounded at Bull Run; promoted to Major of Artillery in 1863; promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of Artillery, vice Colonel Walton, in April 1864.

Geiger, H.G.  -  Assistant Quartermaster in May 1861.

Kursheedt, Edwin I.  -  promoted from Corporal and Sergeant Major to Adjutant, vice Owen, promoted; wounded at Fredericksburg.

Miller, M.B.  -  Captain of Third Company in May 1861; promoted to Major of Artillery; assigned to the Virginia Battalion; reassigned to Battalion Washington Artillery in January 1864.

Owen, William Miller  -  Adjutant, First Lieutenant; promoted to Major of Artillery in August 1863; assigned as Chief of Artillery to Preston's Division, Army of Tennessee; reassigned to Washington Artillery in April 1864 as second field officer; wounded at Petersburg in August 1864; promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1865.

Randolph, W.A.  -  promoted to Sergeant Major in 1864.

Slocomb, Cuthbert H.  -  Quartermaster in May 1861; resigned in November 1861; Captain commanding Fifth Company Washington Artillery of the Western Army.

Walton, J.B  -  Major; promoted to Colonel; made Chief of Artillery to the Army of the Potomac in November 1861.   Appointed by the Secretary of War to the rank of General of Field Artillery; recommended twice by Generals Beauregard and Longstreet for promotion to Brigadier General of Artillery; resigned in July 1864.

Surgeons Assigned to the Battery Who Served With It

Breckinridge, Stanhope P.  -  Assistant Surgeon from October to December 1863.

Bull, W. Izard  -  Assistant Surgeon from September 1864 to April 9, 1865, when he was present for the surrender at Appomatiox Court House, Virginia.

Cohen, L.H.  -  Assistant Surgeon at Dalton, March 1864.

Froemn, L.  -  Surgeon at Dalton, December 1865.

Hall, L.  -  Assistant Surgeon, October 15 1863.