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1st New Jersey Light Artillery, 1st Battery (A)

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: The orders of battle in the Official Records routinely refer to this unit as the 1st New Jersey Light, Battery A.  However, there was no 1st New Jersey Light Artillery regiment.  Instead, New Jersey produced five batteries of light artillery during the Civil War.  Further research is needed.  For now, I’m including the “1st” at the front of the name because the unit was popularly referred to in this manner.

Muster In: Organized at Hoboken, N.J., and mustered in August 12, 1861.1 
Muster Out: Mustered out June 22, 1865.2

Commander(s):
Captain William Hexamer
Commander Image

Captain Augustin N. Parsons
AugustinNParsons1stNJBttyv66p3286L3

Commander 3
Commander Image

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

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons: 6 x 10-lb. Parrott Rifle, model 1861, 2.9″ bore (March 31, 1864)6

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | VI Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army 7,8

  • Commander: Captain William Hexamer (June 30, 1864)9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle:

Artillery Brigade | VI Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army (July 1-9, 1864)10,11

Reserve Artillery | Army of the Potomac | Union Army (July 10-31, 1864)12,13

  • Commander: Lieutenant Augustin N. Parsons (July 31, 1864)14
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: This unit was detached from the Sixth Corps on July 10, 1864 when that unit left for Washington, D. C.15,16

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: VI Corps Artillery | Reserve Artillery | Army of the Potomac | Union Army17

  • Commander: Lieutenant Augustin N. Parsons (August 31, 1864)18
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: VI Corps Artillery | Reserve Artillery | Army of the Potomac | Union Army19

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: All of the remaining VI Corps batteries at Petersburg comprised “Harn’s demi-brigade” during the Fifth Offensive, and possibly in earlier and later offensives.  This demi-brigade was attached to Major John Hazard’s Second Corps Artillery Brigade during the Fifth Offensive.20

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: VI Corps Artillery | Reserve Artillery | Army of the Potomac | Union Army21

  • Commander: Captain Augustin N. Parsons (October 31, 1864)22
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | VI Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army23

  • Commander: Captain Augustin N. Parsons (December 31, 1864)24
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Once the VI Corps Infantry returned to the Siege of Petersburg, the VI Corps Artillery Brigade was removed from the Artillery Reserve and again placed in VI Corps.

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | VI Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army25,26

  • Commander: Captain Augustin N. Parsons (January 31 & February 28, 1865)27,28
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Artillery Brigade | VI Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army29,30

  • Commander: Captain Augustin N. Parsons (March 31, 1865)31
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles.32:

  • Before Petersburg June 16-18.
  • Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865.
  • Jerusalem Plank Road June 22-23, 1864.
  • At City Point July 9-26.
  • Demonstration north of the James July 27-29.
  • Deep Bottom July 27-28.
  • Fort Fisher, Petersburg, March 25, 1865.
  • Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9.
  • Fall of Petersburg April 2.
  • Sailor’s Creek April 6.
  • High Bridge, Farmville, April 7.
  • Appomattox Court House April 9.
  • Surrender of Lee and his army.

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. Augustin N. Parsons image.  MOLLUS-Mass Civil War Photograph Collection, Vol. 66, Page 3286L.  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. 228 ↩
    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. 548 ↩
    6. Volume 3 (Ordnance Returns for the First Quarter, January-March, 1864); 1st Battery New Jersey Light Artillery Entry, Page 141; 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. 228 ↩
    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. 548 ↩
    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. 548 ↩
    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 251 ↩
    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 729 ↩
    12. 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 251 ↩
    13. 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 729 ↩
    14. 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 729 ↩
    15. 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 251 ↩
    16. 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 729 ↩
    17. 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 612: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864” ↩
    18. 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 612: “Organization of the Army of the Potomac…August 31, 1864” ↩
    19. 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. 1297. ↩
    20. 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. 1297. ↩
    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 458: “Organization of the Union Forces” (October 31, 1864)” ↩
    22. 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 458: “Organization of the Union Forces” (October 31, 1864)” ↩
    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 1120: “Organization of the Union Forces” (December 31, 1864) ↩
    24. 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 1120: “Organization of the Union Forces” (December 31, 1864) ↩
    25. 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 331: “Organization of the Union Forces” (January 31, 1865) ↩
    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 744: “Organization of the Union Forces” (February 28, 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 331: “Organization of the Union Forces” (January 31, 1865) ↩
    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 744: “Organization of the Union Forces” (February 28, 1865) ↩
    29. 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 572: “Organization of the Union Forces” (March 31, 1865) ↩
    30. 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 588: “Return of casualties in the Union Forces commanded by Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, March 29-April 9, 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 572: “Organization of the Union Forces” (March 31, 1865) ↩
    32. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3) ↩

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