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3rd Company, Richmond Virginia Howitzers

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Note: This unit was also known as the 1st Virginia Artillery, Company D.

Muster In: Organized prior to May 11, 1861.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Captain Benjamin H. Smith, Jr.
Commander Image

Commander 2
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | Carter’s Artillery Division | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | Carter’s Artillery Division | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army4

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | Carter’s Artillery Division | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army5

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle:

1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (August 1-7, 1864)6

1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (August 7-31, 1864)7

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army8,9

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: at least 2 3-in Rifles (September 29, 1864)10

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army11

  • Commander: Captain Benjamin H. Smith, Jr.12
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army13,14

  • Commander: Captain Benjamin H. Smith, Jr. (November & December 1864)15,16
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (December 28, 1864)17

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle:

1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (January 1-18, 1865)18,19

Hardaway’s Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (January 18-February 28, 1865)20

  • Commander: None listed. (January & February 1865)21,22
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: The 1st Virginia Artillery Battalion was dissolved on January 18, 1865.  At some point in late January or early February 1865 the Battalion was transferred back to the Second Corps Artillery, as other elements of that corps’ artillery moved to the Siege of Petersburg from the Shenandoah Valley.23

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Hardaway’s Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army24,25

  • Commander: None listed. (March – April 2, 1865)26,27
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles28:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • 3rd New Market Heights (September 29, 1864)
  • Chaffin’s Farm (September 29, 1864)
  • Fort Gilmer (September 29-30, 1864)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:
[catlist name=bibliography tags=3rd-company-richmond-virginia-howitzers orderby=name order=asc numberposts=-1 Date=no excludep

  1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 74-75 ↩
  2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 74-75 ↩
  3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 117 ↩
  4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 117 ↩
  5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 127 ↩
  6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 136 ↩
  7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 129 ↩
  8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
  9. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1311. ↩
  10. Field, Ron. Combat 2: Union Infantrymen Versus Confederate Infantrymen: Eastern Theater 1861-65 (Osprey: 2013), p. 58 ↩
  11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 147 ↩
  12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 147 ↩
  13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
  14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 163 ↩
  15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
  16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 163 ↩
  17. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 74-75 ↩
  18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172 ↩
  19. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1176: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General R. E. Lee, January 31, 1865”; This list contains many commanders who were not there.  They were the “official” commanders but may have been gone on leave.  I have used none of the leaders from this list as a result. ↩
  20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 182 ↩
  21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172 ↩
  22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 182 ↩
  23. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1093: “Return of casualties in the Union Forces commanded by Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, March 29-April 9, 1865” ↩
  24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 191 ↩
  25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 201 ↩
  26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 191 ↩
  27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 201 ↩
  28. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 74-75 ↩

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