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Lynchburg Virginia Artillery (Blount’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.

Note: This unit was also known as Company D of the 38th Virginia Light Artillery Battalion.

Muster In: Organized at Lynchburg, Virginia on April 23, 1861.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Major Joseph G. Blount
Commander Image

Captain James W. Dickerson
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Read’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 (6?) x 12-lb. Napoleons (July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864)4,5

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Read’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army6

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength: 87 officers and men PFD (June 26, 1864)7
  • Weapons: 4 x guns (June 26, 1864)8,9

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Read’s Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army10

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864)11

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: 38th Virginia (Read’s) Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army12

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864)13

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: 38th Virginia (Read’s) Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army14,15

  • Commander:
    • Captain (Major) Joseph G. Blount (promoted to Major and Battalion command in October 1864, but when?)16
    • Lieutenant (Captain) James W. Dickerson (led battery after Blount was made battalion commander)(promoted to Captain on October 27, 1864)17
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864)18

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: 38th Virginia (Read’s) Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army19

  • Commander:
    • Captain Joseph G. Blount (until late October 1864)20
    • Captain James W. Dickerson (October 31, 1864)21
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864)22

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: 38th Virginia (Read’s) Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army23,24

  • Commander: Captain James W. Dickerson (November & December 1864)25,26
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864)27

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: 38th Virginia Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army28,29,30

  • Commander:
    • Captain James W. Dickerson (January 1865)31
    • None listed. (February 1865)32
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons (January 1865)33

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: 38th Virginia Artillery Battalion | Artillery | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army34,35

  • Commander:
    • None listed (March & April 1-2, 1865)36,37
    • Captain James W. Dickerson (at least on April 6, 1865)(wounded on April 6, 1865)38
    • ? (April 6-9, 1865)
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles39:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Petersburg (June 17, 1864)40
  • 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. 48-49 ↩
  2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13 ↩
  3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 115 ↩
  4. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons from July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 26, 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. NARA RG 109, Entry 66, Box 106: War Department Collection of Confederate Records, General Records of the Government of the CSA, Battle Reports 1862-1864: Bushrod Johnson’s Report on Petersburg Assaults June 15-18, 1864: Johnson only refers to six “guns”, but does not give tube types.  Combining Johnson’s likely correct observation of six guns and the fact that the unit seems to have had nothing but Napoleons at other dates, you could tentatively conclude that the battery had 6 x 12-lb. Napoleons on June 16, 1864.  More research is needed. ↩
  6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 115 ↩
  7. Moore, Robert H., II. The Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blount Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1991), p. 117: 3 officers and 84 men on June 26, 1864 ↩
  8. Moore, Robert H., II. The Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blount Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1991), p. 117: On June 26, 1864, the battery had “4 guns,” probably the 4 Napoleons Sifakis lists the battery as having from Juy 1863-December 1864. ↩
  9. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons from July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 26, 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 124 ↩
  11. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons from July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 26, 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. ↩
  12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 134 ↩
  13. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons from July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 26, 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 142 ↩
  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. 1314. ↩
  16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150 ↩
  17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150 ↩
  18. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons from July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 26, 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 150 ↩
  20. Moore, Robert H., II. The Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blount Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1991), p. 121: Captain Blount was promoted to Major and placed in command of the battalion in late October 1864. ↩
  21. Moore, Robert H., II. The Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blount Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1991), p. 121: James W. Dickerson was elected Captain of the battery, to replace Blount, on October 31, 1864. ↩
  22. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons from July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 26, 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. ↩
  23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 158 ↩
  24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 167 ↩
  25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 158 ↩
  26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 167 ↩
  27. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13: Sifakis lists this battery as having 4 x 12-lb. Napoleons from July 1, 1863 to December 26, 1864.  The unit had this setup on both July 1, 1863 and December 26, 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. ↩
  28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 176 ↩
  29. 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 1178: “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. ↩
  30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 186 ↩
  31. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 176 ↩
  32. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 186 ↩
  33. Moore, Robert H., II. The Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blount Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1991), p. 122 ↩
  34. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 195 ↩
  35. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 205 ↩
  36. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 195 ↩
  37. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 205 ↩
  38. Moore, Robert H., II. The Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blount Artillery (H.E. Howard: 1991), p. 123 ↩
  39. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 12-13 ↩
  40. “From the Front.” Daily Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA), June 21, 1864, p. 2, col. 3-5, originally printed in The Daily Express (Petersburg, VA), June 18, 1864, page and column(s) unknown. ↩

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