≡ Menu

Surry Virginia Artillery (Hankins’ 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 by the conversion of 1st Company I, 3rd Virginia, to artillery service in the spring of 1862.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Captain James D. Hankins
Commander Image

Lieutenant William R. Barham
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

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

  • Commander: Captain James D. Hankins4
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

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

  • Commander: Captain James D. Hankins6
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

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

  • Commander: Captain James D. Hankins 8
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

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

  • Commander: Captain James D. Hankins10
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army11,12

  • Commander: Captain James D. Hankins13
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army14

  • Commander: Lieutenant William R. Barham15
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle:

Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (November 1864)16

Gary’s Cavalry Brigade | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (December 1864)17

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant William R. Barham (took a leave of absence starting on December 23)(November & December 1864)18,19
    • ? (while Lt. Barham was out on a leave of absence in late December) 20
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: This unit was probably just serving with Gary’s Cavalry Brigade in December and still belonged to Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion.  More research is needed.

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (need sources)

  • Commander:
    • ? (before Barham returned to duty)(January 1865)21
    • Lieutenant William R. Barham (returned to duty in early January 1865)(January 1865)22
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: The Surry VA Artillery is no longer listed in F. Ray Sibley’s order of battle book starting in February 1865.  However, the Official Records still has the Surry Light Artillery present in Lightfoot’s Battalion until the end of the war. I have chosen to keep Surry in Lightfoot’s Battalion as a result.  More research is needed.
  • Note: An inspection report for March 1, 1865 has the Surry Light Artillery operating with Gary’s Cavalry Brigade of Fitz Lee’s Division.  Could it have been permanently detached there?23

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Lightfoot’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery Defenses | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (need sources)

  • Commander: Lieutenant William R. Barham (March 1865)24
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Appears to have been attached to Gary’s Cavalry Brigade in March 1865. Sibely does not list this unit anywhere else in the order of battle.  I assumed they were still with Lightfoot’s Batalion in the Department of Richmond.  More research is needed.25

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles26:

  • 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, pp. 94-95 ↩
      2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 94-95 ↩
      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 127 ↩
      8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 127 ↩
      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. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 144 ↩
      12. 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. ↩
      13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 144 ↩
      14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 153 ↩
      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 161 ↩
      17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169 ↩
      18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 161 ↩
      19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169 ↩
      20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169 ↩
      21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178 ↩
      22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178 ↩
      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 1274: “Organization of the Infantry and Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, February 28, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from February 28, 1865.  However, leaders listed are from January.  I’ve chosen to ignore the leaders and just use this source for the organization of the order of battle. ↩
      24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 196 ↩
      25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 196 ↩
      26. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 94-95 ↩

      Tagged as: , ,

      { 0 comments… add one }

      Leave a Reply

      Next post:

      Previous post:

      Search SOPO

      SOPO RSS Feed

      Subscribe to The Siege of Petersburg Online RSS Feed

      Links