Simmonds' Battery Kentucky Light Artillery
Encyclopedia
Simmonds' Battery Kentucky Light Artillery was an artillery
battery
that served in the Union Army
during the American Civil War
. It was sometimes referred to as the 1st Kentucky Independent Battery, and has the distinction of being the only Kentucky unit in U.S. service to serve in the eastern theater.
from Company E, 1st Kentucky Infantry
at a time when Kentucky
was attempting to remain neutral. It was mustered in under the command of Captain Seth J. Simmonds.
The battery was attached to District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to March 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division
West Virginia, to September 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division, IX Corps, Army of the Potomac
, to October 1862. District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, Department of the Ohio, to March 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, VIII Corps, Middle Department, to June 1863. 1st Brigade, Scammon's Division, Department of West Virginia, to December 1863. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division West Virginia, to April 1864. Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division West Virginia, to July 1864. Reserve Division, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, to April 1865. 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division West Virginia, to July 1865.
Simmonds' Battery Kentucky Light Artillery mustered out of service on July 26, 1865.
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
that served in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It was sometimes referred to as the 1st Kentucky Independent Battery, and has the distinction of being the only Kentucky unit in U.S. service to serve in the eastern theater.
Service
The battery was organized at Pendleton, OhioPendleton, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pendleton is a small neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, located on the east side of Over-the-Rhine, north of the Central Business District, and south of Mount Auburn. It is home of the Pendleton Art Center...
from Company E, 1st Kentucky Infantry
1st Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry
The 1st Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 1st Kentucky Infantry was organized at Pendleton in Cincinnati, Ohio, March - April 1861 as a three-month regiment...
at a time when Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
was attempting to remain neutral. It was mustered in under the command of Captain Seth J. Simmonds.
The battery was attached to District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to March 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division
Kanawha Division
The Kanawha Division was a Union Army division which could trace its origins back to a brigade originally commanded by Jacob D. Cox. This division served in western Virginia and Maryland and was at times led by such famous personalities as George Crook and Rutherford B. Hayes.-Kanawha Brigade:On...
West Virginia, to September 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division, IX Corps, Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
, to October 1862. District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, Department of the Ohio, to March 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, VIII Corps, Middle Department, to June 1863. 1st Brigade, Scammon's Division, Department of West Virginia, to December 1863. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division West Virginia, to April 1864. Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division West Virginia, to July 1864. Reserve Division, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, to April 1865. 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division West Virginia, to July 1865.
Simmonds' Battery Kentucky Light Artillery mustered out of service on July 26, 1865.
Detailed service
Duty at Pendleton, Ohio, until July 1861. Ordered to the Kanawha Valley, Va., July 10. March from Mt. Pleasant to Charleston, Va., July 11–25. Action at Scarry Creek July 17. Tyler Mountain July 24. Capture of Charleston July 25. Advance to Gauley July 26-August 1. Moved to Camp Piatt, arriving August 25. Gauley Bridge August 28. Boone Court House September 1. Peytonia September 12. Moved to Raleigh September 20–27. Chapmansville September 25. Return to Gauley, arriving there October 10. Cotton Hill October 13. Operations in Kanawha Valley October 19-November 16. Gauley Bridge October 23. Attack on Gauley by Floyd's Batteries November 1–9. Movement on Cotton Mountain and pursuit of Floyd November 1–18. Duty at Gauley Bridge until April 1862. Advance on Princeton April 22-May 4. At Flat Top Mountain until August. Wolf Creek May 15. Moved to Washington, D.C., August 14–23. Maryland Campaign September 6–22. Frederick, Md., September 12. Battles of South Mountain September 14, and Antietam September 16–17. Moved to Clarksburg, Suttonville, Summerville, Gauley Bridge and Kanawha Falls, W. Va., October 8-November 14, and duty there until April 1863, and at Camp White, Charleston, W. Va., until July. At Gauley Bridge until September. At Camp Toland, Charleston, W. Va., until January 1864. Scout to Boone Court House October 21–22, 1863. Expedition from Charleston to Lewisburg November 3–13. Capture of Lewisburg November 7. At Fayetteville until April 1864. Crook's Expedition against Virginia & Tennessee Railroad May 2–19. Action at Cloyd's Mountain May 9. New River Bridge May 10. Hunter's Raid on Lynchburg May 26-July 1. Lexington June 11. Diamond Hill June 17. Lynchburg June 17–18. Buford's Gap June 20. Salem June 21. At Camp Piatt and Harper's Ferry until August, and at Camp Fuller, Va., until June 1865.Casualties
The battery lost a total of 13 men during service; 3 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 10 enlisted men died of disease.See also
- List of Kentucky Civil War Units
- Kentucky in the Civil WarKentucky in the Civil WarKentucky was a border state of key importance in the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln recognized the importance of the Commonwealth when he declared "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." In a September 1861 letter to Orville Browning, Lincoln wrote "I think to lose...