5th Company Washington Artillery

Washington Artillery Battalion was organized in 1838 and fought in the Mexican War. It then was known as the “Native American” Battery. Reorganized in 1852 as the Washington Artillery, it was mustered into Confederate service on May 26, 1861, with five companies. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Companies fought at First Manassas and in the difficult campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from Seven Pines to Gettysburg. They were involved at Drewry’s Bluff and Cold Harbor, then in the Petersburg siege south and north of the James River and the Appomattox Campaign. The battalion lost 4 killed and 26 wounded during the Maryland Campaign, had 3 killed and 22 wounded at Fredericksburg, and of the 329 engaged at Gettysburg, eighteen percent were disabled. On April 9, 1865, only 3 officers and 22 men were present. The 5th Company fought at Shiloh, was active in the Kentucky Campaign and the Battle of Murfreesboro, then moved to Mississippi. Later it participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Nashville and 1865 shared in the defense of Mobile. The company lost 1 killed and 4 wounded at Murfreesboro, had 5 officers and 132 men fit for duty in January 1863, and reported 10 killed and 20 wounded at Chickamauga. It totalled 118 men in December 1863, and 116 in April 1864. Most of the unit was captured when Mobile fell, but a small number surrendered at West Point, Georgia, in mid-April, 1865.

Photograph courtesy of Confederate Memorial Hall Museum
New Orleans, Louisiana