First Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, Battery H
&
The Letcher Artillery 
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If you or someone you know can trace their ancestry back to a member of either the First OVLA or the Letcher Artillery, we'd love to talk to you! Please get in touch with us at the email address or phone number at the bottom of the page.
First Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, Battery H Unit Profile
Organized in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 7, 1861.
Commanders: Captain James F. Huntington
Captain Stephen Wallace Dorsey
Captain George W. Norton - commanded as lieutenant at the battles of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg
Lieutenant William A. Ewing - commanded at the Battle of the Wilderness
Co. H, 1st Ohio Light Artillery
Stoneman's Switch, Virginia - March, 1863
From left to right, Edwin I. Hopkins, Albert Merrill, Cecil Hall, William A. Ewing, Lemuel H. Hooker, George F. Spencer, William H. Perigo, James Coder, William Henry Dodd, William E. Parmelee, Benjamin F. McCord, William H. Styer, Francis Tuell, and Clarence Morris.
Service History1862 Left Ohio for Parkersburg, Va., January 20, 1862. Moved from Parkersburg to Paw Paw Tunnel January 1862 until March. Advanced on Winchester March 7–15. Action at Strasburg March 19. Battle of Winchester March 23. Occupation of Mt. Jackson April 17. March to Fredericksburg, Va., May 12–21, Return to Front Royal May 25–30. Battle of Port Republic June 9. Moved to Alexandria June 29 and duty in the defenses of Washington, D.C., until October 17. Moved to Harper's Ferry, W. Va., October 17. Advanced up Loudoun Valley and movement to Falmouth, Va., October 30-November 17. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12–15.
1863 At Falmouth until April 1863. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1–5. Gettysburg Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1–3. Advance from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan September 13–17. Bristoe Campaign October 9–22. Battle of Bristoe Station October 14. Advanced to line of the Rappahannock November 7–8. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2.
1864 Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May 3-June 15, 1864. Battle of the Wilderness May 5–7. Battle of Spottsylvania May 8–21. Battle of North Anna River May 23–27. Line of the Pamunkey May 26–28. Battle of Totopotomoy Creek May 28–31. Balle of Cold Harbor June 1–12. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864 to April 2, 1865. Jerusalem Plank Road, Weldon Railroad June 22–23, 1864.
1865 Fall of Petersburg April 2, 1865. Ordered to Cleveland, Ohio for muster out on June 5, 1865. Mustered out on June 17, 1865. |
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Letcher Artillery Unit Profile
The most colorful unit in W.R.J. Pegram's battalion, the Letcher Artillery, sprouted into existence during the Spring of 1862. Even though the unit was organized in Richmond, the battery's ranks were filled with men who lived throughout the South. In a disproportionate number, the company attracted recruits from the 'lower walks of life.' In fact, the Letcher Artillery received a steady supply of men from 'Castle Thunder,' a prison for spies, criminals, and deserters. The unit's first captain, Greenlee Davidson, captured the personality of the battery when he wrote in 1862 that "I have a very desperate & unruly set of men." But these delinquent artillerists fought like savages on the battlefield, and their superiors commended their performance at Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville (where Davidson was killed on May 3, 1863 and succeeded by Thomas A. Brander), Gettysburg, and Reams' Station. One of the battery's officers explained the seemingly paradoxical nature of the Letcher Artillery. he wrote: 'The Meanest Material will stand to their post.'
Organized in Richmond, Virginia on February 17, 1862.
Initial commander: Captain Greenlee Davidson
Second commander: Thomas A. Brander
Armed from June 26 to July 1, 1862, with two 3-inch Rifles, two 6-lb. Smoothbores, and two 12-lb. howitzers.
From July 1-3, 1863, armed with two 12-lb. Napoleons and two 10-lb. Parrotts.
On December 28, 1864, the armament comprised four 12-lb. Napoleons.
Service History1862 Seven Days Battles (June 25-July 1, 1862) Gaines' Mill (June 27, 1862) Frayser's Farm (June 30, 1862) Malvern Hill (July 1, 1862) Cedar Mountain (August 9, 1862) Warrenton Springs (August 23, 1862) 2nd Bull Run (August 28-30, 1862) Chantilly (September 1, 1862) Harpers Ferry (September 12-15, 1862) Antietam (September 17, 1862) Sheperdstown Ford (September 20, 1862) Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862)
1863 Chancellorsville (May 1-4, 1863) Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) Bristoe Campaign (October 1863) Bristoe Station (October 14, 1863) Mine Run Campaign (November-December 1863)
1864 The Wilderness (May 5-6, 1864) Spotsylvania Court House (May 8-21, 1864) North Anna (May 23-26, 1864) Cold Harbor (June 1-3, 1864) Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865) Ream's Station (June 29, 1864) The Crater (July 30, 1864) Weldon Railroad (August 18-21, 1864) Reams' Station (August 25, 1864) Squirrel Level Road (September 30, 1864) Jones' Farm (September 30, 1864) Pegram's Farm (October 1, 1864) Squirrel Level Road (October 8, 1864) Burgess' Mill (October 27, 1864)
1865 Hatcher's Run (February 5-7, 1865) Fort Stedman (March 25, 1865) Five Forks (April 1, 1865) Petersburg Final Assault (April 2, 1865) Appomattox Station (April 8, 1865) Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865) Surrendered at Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)
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Contact Information
- Telephone: 419-693-2392
- Postal address: 204 Bihl Ave,Northwood, OH 43619
- Email: info at 1stovlabatteryh.com