Danville Artillery

Danville Artillery
Flag of Virginia
Active	April 22, 1861 to April 9, 1865
Country	Confederate States of America
Allegiance	Confederate
Branch	Army
Type	Artillery
Size	Battery of four field guns
Nickname(s)	Shumaker's Company, Wooding's Company, Price's Company, Rice's Company
Stars and Bars
Equipment	M1857 12-pound Napoleon,Whitworth,M1841 6-pounder, 3-inch rifled gun
Engagements	American Civil War,Cheat Mountain, Shenandoah Valley,First Battle of Kernstown, Battle of McDowell, Battle of Princeton Courthouse, Battle of Front Royal, First Battle of Winchester, Battle of Cross Keys, Battle of Port Republic, Sharpsburg,Chancellorsville, Battle of Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor, Seven Day's Battles, Gain's Mill, Battle of Gettysburg, Siege of Petersburg, Appomattox Court House
Commanders
1st	Captain Lindsay M. Shumaker
2nd	Captain George W. Wooding
3rd and Final	Captain R. Sidney Rice, Captain Berryman Z. Price
Insignia
Army of Northern Virginia Battle Flag	File:ANV battle flag.png

The Danville Artillery was a light artillery company in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It was also referred to informally as a battery, although this reference was only informally used during the War.

Formed originally in Danville and the surrounding Pittsylvania County region, Virginia under command of Captain Lindsay M. Shumaker, the Danville Artillery came into service April 22, 1861. Receiving their baptism of fire in the unsuccessful West Virginia Campaign, it participated in General Robert E. Lee's Cheat Mountain Campaign and General Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign, and then served with Major L.M. Shumaker's and Major D.G. McIntosh's Battalion, Army of Northern Virginia.

Reorganized on April 21, 1862 with Captain George W. Wooding as the commander, the battery fought victoriously for General Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. After the Valley campaign, the battery followed General Jackson through another year of battles.

Following the Battle of Sharpsburg, the ranks of the battery were revitalized when the men and equipment of the disbanded Eighth Star New Market Artillery joined the ranks. Following the reorganization, the battery was in action again at Fredricksburg, where Captain Wooding was killed, and up to General Stonewall Jackson's last great tactical feat at Chancellorsville.

Under the command of Robert S. Rice, the battery continued to suffer heavier casualties with each battle as the war continued. The battery took an active part in the campaigns of the army from the Seven Days Battles to Cold Harbor and the Battle of Gettysburg, where it engaged Federal forces with it's Napoleon and Whitworth artillery pieces on both the first and the second day of the battle.

At Gettysburg, the Danville Artillery was the first battery on the left with McIntosh's Artillery Battalion, Colonel Walker's Artillery Reserve, Pender's Division, Lieutenant General A.P. Hill's Third Army Corps. It was also involved in the Petersburg siege south of the James River. The battery closed out its days under the command of Captain Berryman Z. Price. On April 9, 1865, it surrendered 4 officers and 79 men at Appomattox.

It reported 1 killed and 3 wounded at Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill, had 2 killed and 3 wounded during the Maryland Campaign (Sharpsburg), and lost 13 wounded at Fredericksburg. The unit had 3 wounded of the 114 engaged at Gettysburg and 8 wounded during the Briscoe Campaign. Captains Berryman Z. Price, R. Sidney Rice, Lindsay M. Shumaker, and George W. Wooding were it's commanders.

The current Danville Artillery Battery has been in existence since 2002, and is composed of 3 field guns and camp equipment, over 20 reenactors and the M109A3 Deuce and a half Pandora's Box.

References

• Moore, Robert H. II, The Danville, Eighth Star New Market and Dixie Artillery, H. E. Howard, December 1989, ISBN-10 0930919726, ISBN-13 978-0930919726
• Crute, Joseph H., Jr. Units of the Confederate States Army, Olde Soldier Books Inc, June 1987, ISBN-10 0942211537, ISBN-13 978-0942211535

External links

• Danville Artillery