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Caroline Virginia Artillery (Thornton’s VA Battery)

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Muster In: Organized in Caroline County on July 23, 1861.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Captain Thomas R. Thornton
Commander Image

Lieutenant Walter G. Hudgin
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army3

  • Commander: Captain Thomas R. Thornton4
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army5

  • Commander: Captain Thomas R. Thornton6
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army7

  • Commander: Captain Thomas R. Thornton 8
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army9

  • Commander: Captain Thomas R. Thornton (at least August 31, 1864)10,11
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army12,13

  • Commander: Lieutenant Walter G. Hudgin14
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army15

  • Commander: Lt. Walter G. Hudgin16
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army17,18

  • Commander: None listed.(November & December 1864)19,20
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army21,22

  • Commander:
    • Captain Thomas R. Thornton (January & February 1865)23,24
    • Lieutenant Walter G. Hudgin (January & February 1865)25,26
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: This unit was temporarily attached to Custis Lee’s Division, starting January 9, in January 1865.27

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army28,29

  • Commander: None listed. (March & April 1-2, 1865)30,31
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles32:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 26 ↩
    2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 26 ↩
    3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 117 ↩
    4. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 2 (Serial Number 81), p. 671 ↩
    5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 117 ↩
    6. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 2 (Serial Number 81), p. 671 ↩
    7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 126 ↩
    8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 126 ↩
    9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 136 ↩
    10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 136 ↩
    11. No title. Richmond Examiner. September 1, 1864, p. 1 col. 3: “Among the officers of the defences present who merited special commendation was Captain Thomas Thornton, of Caroline county, Virginia, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, commanding a battery;” ↩
    12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 144 ↩
    13. 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. 1315. ↩
    14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 144 ↩
    15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 153 ↩
    16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 153 ↩
    17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 161 ↩
    18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 170 ↩
    19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 161 ↩
    20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 170 ↩
    21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 179 ↩
    22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 188 ↩
    23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 179 ↩
    24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 188 ↩
    25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 179 ↩
    26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 188 ↩
    27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178 ↩
    28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 197 ↩
    29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 207 ↩
    30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 197 ↩
    31. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 207 ↩
    32. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 26 ↩

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