Unit

Confederate Battery

Richmond 'Letcher' (VA) Artillery

"Davidson's Battery"

Commanding Officer:
Capt. Greenlee Davidson

Arms:
  1   3-in. Ordnance Rifle
  2   Napoleon
  1   6-pdr. Gun

Battlefield Tablets for this Unit:
   Tablet #372: Artillery Battalion, A.P. Hill's Division - 17 Sep, 3 PM to 19 Sep, 7 AM
   Tablet #348: Hill's Light Division, Jackson's Command - 17 Sep, 7 AM to 19 Sep, 9 AM

This Battery's Chain of Command:
  Army - Army of Northern Virginia
  Corps - Jackson's Command
  Division - A. P. Hill's Light Division
  Brigade - A. P. Hill's Light Division Artillery

History of the Unit:
"The most colorful unit in W.R.J. Pegram's battalion, the Letcher Artillery, sprouted into existance during the Spring of 1862. A Even though the unit was organized in Richmond, the battery's ranks were filled with men who lived throughout the South. In a disproportionate number, the company attracted recruits from the 'lower walks of life.' In fact, the Letcher Artillery received a steady supply of men from 'Castle Thunder,' a prison for spies, criminals, and deserters. The unit's first captain, Greenlee Davidson, captured the personality of the battery when he wrote in 1862 that "I have a very desperate & unruly set of men." But these delinquent artillerists fought like savages on the battlefield, and their superiors commended their performance at Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville (where Davidson was killed on May 3, 1863 and succeeded by Thomas A. Brander), Gettysburg, and Reams' Station. One of the battery's officers explained the seemingly paradoxical nature of the Letcher Artillery. he wrote: 'The Meanest Material will stand to their post.' "
(from Moore)

In the Antietam Campaign:
This battery remained at Harpers Ferry after the Confederate seige and capture of that place on September 15th. It was not at Sharpsburg on the 17th.

References, Sources, and other Notes:
Unit history sketch based on the Virginia Regimental History series, introduced online by Robert H Moore III, quoted above.

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