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Powhatan Virginia Artillery (Dance’s VA Battery)

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this unit’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Muster In: Organized on July 16, 1861.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Captain Willis J. Dance
Commander Image

Lieutenant Henry C. Carter
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: 4 x 3-inch Rifles (July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864)4

Second 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: 4 x 3-inch Rifles (July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864)6

Third Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | Carter’s Artillery Division | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army7

  • Commander: Captain Willis J. Dance 8
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 3-inch Rifles (July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864)9

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle:

1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (August 1-7, 1864)10

1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (August 7-31, 1864)11

  • Commander: Captain Willis J. Dance 12
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 3-inch Rifles (July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864)13

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army14,15

  • Commander:
    • Captain Willis J. Dance (wounded September 29, 1864)16
    • Lieutenant Henry C. Carter (at least September 29, 1864 and also when (if?) Dance commanded the battalion)17
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 3-inch Rifles (July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864)18

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Johnston’s Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army19

  • Commander: Captain Willis J. Dance20
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 3-inch Rifles (July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864)21

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: 1st Virginia (Hardaway’s) Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army22,23

  • Commander: Captain Willis J. Dance (November & December 1864)24,25
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 3-inch Rifles (July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864)26

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)27,28

Hardaway’s Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (January 18-February 28, 1865)29

  • Commander: None listed. (January & February 1865)30,31
  • 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.32

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Hardaway’s Artillery Battalion | First Corps Artillery | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army33,34

  • Commander: None listed. (March – April 2, 1865)35,36
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles37:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Chaffin’s Farm (September 29, 1864)
  • Fort Gilmer (September 29-30, 1864)
  • 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. 65 ↩
      2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65 ↩
      3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 117 ↩
      4. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 3-inch Rifles from July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 28, 1864.  What is unclear is if Sifakis can correctly assume this setup never changed at any point in between those dates.  More research is needed. ↩
      5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 117 ↩
      6. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 3-inch Rifles from July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 28, 1864.  What is unclear is if Sifakis can correctly assume this setup never changed at any point in between those dates.  More research is needed. ↩
      7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 127 ↩
      8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 127 ↩
      9. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 3-inch Rifles from July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 28, 1864.  What is unclear is if Sifakis can correctly assume this setup never changed at any point in between those dates.  More research is needed. ↩
      10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 136 ↩
      11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 129 ↩
      12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 129 ↩
      13. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 3-inch Rifles from July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 28, 1864.  What is unclear is if Sifakis can correctly assume this setup never changed at any point in between those dates.  More research is needed. ↩
      14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
      15. 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. ↩
      16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
      17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
      18. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 3-inch Rifles from July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 28, 1864.  What is unclear is if Sifakis can correctly assume this setup never changed at any point in between those dates.  More research is needed. ↩
      19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148 ↩
      20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148 ↩
      21. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 3-inch Rifles from July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 28, 1864.  What is unclear is if Sifakis can correctly assume this setup never changed at any point in between those dates.  More research is needed. ↩
      22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
      23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 163 ↩
      24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
      25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 163 ↩
      26. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 3-inch Rifles from July 1, 1863 to December 28, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 28, 1864.  What is unclear is if Sifakis can correctly assume this setup never changed at any point in between those dates.  More research is needed. ↩
      27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172 ↩
      28. 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. ↩
      29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 182 ↩
      30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172 ↩
      31. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 182 ↩
      32. 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” ↩
      33. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 191 ↩
      34. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 201 ↩
      35. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 191 ↩
      36. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 201 ↩
      37. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 65 ↩

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