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Commanding Officers on the Antietam Campaign:
Capt. Dunbar R. Ransom
Lt. Henry S Gansevoort
Arms:
4 Napoleon
4 guns per Artilery Hell.2 Carman3 says 6 guns,
though the battery may have been understrength
to serve all of them.
This Battery's Chain of Command:
Army - Army of the Potomac
Corps - First Army Corps
Division - 3rd Division, 1st Corps
Brigade - 3rd Division, 1st Corps Artillery
On the Antietam Campaign
" 'At about 10 o'clock,' wrote Lieut. Gansevoort, who actually commanded Battery C during the day [Captain Ransom attached to General Hooker's staff for at least part of the day], 'General Hooker ordered our battery to the extreme front, and took it there himself. We passed through a wood, then over a ploughed field into a pasture.' "
" 'The infantry on our right fled, and also on our left. As we came in, a battery on our left retired, and we were left alone without support. The rebels were coming down upon us, and we would have retired to save our pieces; but many of the horses were killed and it was impossible. We therefore continued firing; and, after a short time, the horses of the caissons came up with the caisson limbers, containing fresh ammunition. The enemy after a while retired, and with the last horses we also retired, having accomplished our mission, but with great loss.' "
"General Meade in his report says: 'I cannot close this report without calling your attention to the skill and good judgment, combined with coolness, with which Captain Ransom, his officers (Lieutenants Weir and Gansevoort) and men, served his battery. I consider this one of the most critical periods of the morning, and that to Captain Ransom's battery is due the credit of repulsing the enemy.' "1
Statistics
Initial Strength: not known; Killed in Action (KIA): 1; Wounded (WIA): 1;
Maps Showing this Unit
Detail Map #2: Hood's Division Retakes Miller's Cornfield (7-8 am)
Detail Map #3: Mansfield's Twelfth Corps Attacks into Miller's Cornfield (7-9 am)
Battlefield Tablets for this Unit
Tablet #1: First Army Corps - 16 Sep, 2 PM to 16 Sep, 6 PM
Tablet #15: Meade's Division, First Army Corps - 16 Sep, 2 PM to 16 Sep, 8 PM
Tablet #105: Battery C, 5th U.S. Artillery - 16 Sep, 6 PM to 17 Sep, 12 PM
Tablet #120: Army of the Potomac - 17 Sep, 5 AM to 17 Sep, 12 PM
Tablet #11: Meade's Division, First Army Corps - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 9 AM
We have 5 individuals in the AotW database who were on the Maryland Campaign with this unit:
| Co. | Rank | Name | Casualty? | Details* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Pvt | Bixler, Jr., John A. | WIA 09/17 |  |
| -- | Lt | Gansevoort, Henry Sanford | WIA 09/17 |  |
| -- | Capt | Ransom, Dunbar Richard | | |
| -- | Pvt | Shafer, George | KIA 09/17 | |
| -- | Lt | Weir, Gulian Verplanck | |
* If there's a symbol in the Details column ... - We have a picture for this person - We have details beyond name and rank
Click on their last name to see more
1 Bush, James C. (1st Lt., 5th Arty.), and Theo. F Rodenbough and William L. Haskin, eds., Fourth Regiment of Artillery, Historical Sketches Of Staff And Line, New York City: Maynard, Merrill, & Co., 1896, pp. 380-381 [AotW citation 586]
2 From J.M. Hanson's report (US Park Service) and the H.J. Hunt Papers (Library of Congress).
Johnson, Curt, and Richard C. Anderson, Artillery Hell: Employment of Artillery at Antietam, College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1995, pp. 36, 71 [AotW citation 29399]
3 Carman, Ezra Ayers, and Dr. Thomas G. Clemens, editor, The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, 3 volumes, El Dorado Hills (CA): Savas Beatie, 2010-17, Vol. 2, Appendix 2, pg. 571 [AotW citation 29400]