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Massachusetts Light Artillery, 5th Battery (E)

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Muster In: Organized at Lynnfield and Reedville and mustered in December 10, 1861.1
Muster Out: June 12, 18652

Commander(s):
Bvt. Major Charles A. Phillips
CharlesAPhillips5thMABttyv95p48743

Lieutenant Joseph E. Spear
Commander Image

Lieutenant Harrison O. Simonds
Commander Image

Commander 4
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army4,5

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 6 x 3-inch Ordnance Rifles (March 31, 1864)6

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army7,8

  • Commander: Lieutenant Joseph E. Spear (June 30, 1864)9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army10,11

  • Commander: Captain Charles A. Phillips (July 31, 1864)12
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army13,14

  • Commander: Lieutenant Joseph E. Spear (August 31, 1864)15
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army16

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army17,18

  • Commander: Captain Charles A. Phillips (October 31, 1864)19
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: This battery accompanied the Fifth Corps in the field and was present for the Battle of Boydton Plank Road on October 27-28, 1864.20

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army21,22

  • Commander: Brevet Major Charles A. Phillips (December 31, 1864)23
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 6 x 3 in. Rifles (December 7-12, 1864)24
  • Note: This battery accompanied Crawford’s Division on Warren’s Stony Creek, or “Apple Jack” Raid to Belfield and Hicksford, Virginia from December 7-12, 1864.25

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army26,27

  • Commander:
    • Brevet Major Charles A. Phillips (January 1, 1865)28
    • Lieutenant Harrison O. Simonds (January 31, 1865)29
    • Brevet Major Charles A. Phillips (February 28, 1865)30
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | V Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army31,32

  • Commander: Brevet Major Charles A. Phillips (March 31, 1865)33
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Temporarily attached to the Artillery Reserve during the Ninth Offensive but was detached in the field and serving with Ninth Corps.34

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles35:

  • Before Petersburg June 16-19.
  • Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865.
  • Six Mile House, Weldon Railroad, August 18-21, 1864.
  • Non-Veterans mustered out October 3, 1864.
  • Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher’s Run, October 27-28.
  • Warren’s Raid on Weldon Railroad December 7-12.
  • Dabney’s Mills February 5-7, 1865.
  • Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9.
  • Assaults on and fall of Petersburg April 2.
  • Moved to City Point April 4, and duty there until May 3.

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3) ↩
    2. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3) ↩
    3. Charles A. Phillips image.  MOLLUS-Mass Civil War Photograph Collection, Vol. 95, Page 4874.  United States Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, PA. ↩
    4. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), p. 225 ↩
    5. 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. 547 ↩
    6. Volume 3 (Ordnance Returns for the First Quarter, January-March, 1864); 5th Battery Massachusetts Light Artillery Entry, Page 111; Summary Statements of Quarterly Returns of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores on Hand in Regular and Volunteer Army Organizations, 1862-1867, 1870-1876. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1281, Roll 1); Records of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, 1797-1969, Record Group 156; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: Not many returns exist for June 30, 1864, and none exist past that, so I’ve made the decision to include the March 31, 1864 ordnance return data in the absence of better information.  I’ll add more immediate reports of tube numbers and types as they are found. ↩
    7. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), p. 225 ↩
    8. 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. 547 ↩
    9. 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. 547 ↩
    10. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), page 257 ↩
    11. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 3 (Serial Number 82), page 733 ↩
    12. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 3 (Serial Number 82), page 733 ↩
    13. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 2 (Serial Number 88), page 616: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864” ↩
    14. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87), page 125: “Return of Casualties in the Union Forces (August 1864)” ↩
    15. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 2 (Serial Number 88), page 616: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864” ↩
    16. 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. 1300. ↩
    17. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 462: “Organization of the Union Forces” (October 31, 1864)” ↩
    18. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87), page 157: “Return of Casualties in the Union Forces…Boydton Plank Road, Va., October 27-28, 1864” ↩
    19. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 462: “Organization of the Union Forces” (October 31, 1864)” ↩
    20. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87), page 157: “Return of Casualties in the Union Forces…Boydton Plank Road, Va., October 27-28, 1864” ↩
    21. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 1119: “Organization of the Union Forces” (December 31, 1864) ↩
    22. Calkins, Chris. “The Apple Jack Raid: For This Barbarism There Was No Real Excuse.” Blue & Gray Magazine Summer 2005: 18-25 (OOB on page 60). ↩
    23. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 89), page 1119: “Organization of the Union Forces” (December 31, 1864) ↩
    24. Calkins, Chris. “The Apple Jack Raid: For This Barbarism There Was No Real Excuse.” Blue & Gray Magazine Summer 2005: 18-25 (OOB on page 60). ↩
    25. Calkins, Chris. “The Apple Jack Raid: For This Barbarism There Was No Real Excuse.” Blue & Gray Magazine Summer 2005: 18-25 (OOB on page 60). ↩
    26. 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 329: “Organization of the Union Forces” (January 31, 1865) ↩
    27. 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 743: “Organization of the Union Forces” (February 28, 1865) ↩
    28. Mills, Charles J. Through Blood and Fire: The Civil War Letters of Major Charles J. Mills, 1862-1865. Edited by J. Gregory Acken, Revised and Expanded ed., The Kent State University Press, 2023, p. 256: “Phillips of my class, Capt. of the 5th Mass. Battery and Bvt. Major, is close by and came over to dinner. The band played the class song and altogether it was a very jolly New Year’s day.” ↩
    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 329: “Organization of the Union Forces” (January 31, 1865) ↩
    30. 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 743: “Organization of the Union Forces” (February 28, 1865) ↩
    31. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), page 565: “Organization of the Union Forces” (March 31, 1865) ↩
    32. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), page 581: “Return of casualties in the Union Forces commanded by Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, March 29-April 9, 1865” ↩
    33. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), page 565: “Organization of the Union Forces” (March 31, 1865) ↩
    34. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), page 565: “Organization of the Union Forces” (March 31, 1865) ↩
    35. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3) ↩

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