This company was first mustered into Confederate service at Camp Sneed, Knoxville, on August 19, 1861, as Company "C", 4th Tennessee Infantry, Provisional Army, Confederate States (later 34th Tennessee Infantry Regiment). Company reports state the company was first organized May 28, 1861 at Knoxville, and that Captain Burrough took charge the latter part of June and instructed the company in artillery drill. Being unable to obtain guns, it joined the 4th (34th) Tennessee Infantry. In October, 1861 it was detached and ordered to Cumberland Gap as artillery, and took charge of the guns at that post. By order of the Secretary of War it was mustered in as a company of Light Artillery January 21, 1862, with two officers, 54 men present for duty, 72 present and absent. Colonel James E. Rains, 11th Tennessee Infantry, was in command of the post. The battery reported engagements on March 22 and April 9, 1862.
On May 31 the battery was reported in Brigadier General C. L. Stevenson's Brigade, but on June 10 Stevenson was in command of a division, and Colonel Thomas H. Taylor in command of the brigade. The battery remained at Cumberland Gap until its evacuation June 18, when it moved to Cedar Ford, Tennessee. In July, 1862, in Taylor's Brigade it was under fire at Tazewell, but not actively engaged. It took part in the siege of Cumberland Gap August 10-September 21, 1862, while General E. Kirby Smith was making his invasion of Kentucky. On October 31, it was stationed at Lenoir, Tennessee, and in December was back at Cumberland Gap in Brigadier General A. Gracie, Jr's., Brigade.
It remained at Cumberland Gap until April 5, 1863, when it was placed in Brigadier General A. E. Jackson's Brigade, and moved to Zollicoffer (now Bluff City). In June, one section, under Lieutenant Graham, was stationed at Carter's Depot (now Watauga). It remained at Zollicoffer until the evacuation of East Tennessee in September, 1863.
During September and October, 1863, the battery, still in Jackson's Brigade, reported engagements at Livingston Depot September 8; at Limestone Station or Telford's Station September 9, where it charged and captured a blockhouse and took 255 prisoners; at Rheatown, September 11, and on September 20, at Carter's Station on the Watauga River. On October 10 it was with General J. S Williams and about 2000 cavalry at Blue Springs in Greene County in an engagement which lasted all day; on October 11 at Henderson Mills near Rheatown; and on October 14, with General W. E. Jones, was engaged for five or six hours at Blountville, and fell back to Abingdon, Virginia. On October 28, it was ordered to report to the commander of the post at Saltville, Virginia, under Major General Sam Jones.
On November 30, Rhett's Battery, in Lieutenant Colonel J. F. King's Battalion of Artillery reported an aggregate of 78 on roll, armed with rifled guns, number not stated. On December 31, it was reported on detached service at Saltville, Virginia, along with McClung's Battery. In February, 1864, still at Saltville, it reported three officers, 38 men present for duty, 84 present and absent. On April 20, in Brigadier General A. E. Jackson's Brigade, with Headquarters at Carter's Depot, the battery reported 40 effectives, 84 present and absent. On April 30 Burrough's and McClung's batteries were still at Saltville, Virginia, under Colonel William H. Browne.
On June 9, 1864 Captain Burrough was in command of the Post at Lead Mines, Virginia, and the battery was stationed there during July and August. On August 1, it reported three officers, 74 men present for duty, 110 present and absent, and four pieces of artillery.
On October 13, it was at Wytheville, Virginia, under the command of Major R. C. M. Page, Chief of Artillery, Department of Southwestern Virginia and East Tennessee. In December, the battery was with Major General John C. Breckinridge, in the fighting in Rye Valley, on the road to Mount Airy, North Carolina and around Saltville, Virginia. General Breckinridge spoke highly of the ingenuity and efficiency of Captain Burrough in moving his battery across mountain roads which were never meant for artillery. Captain Burrough was furloughed by General Breckinridge on January 20, 1865, and paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina in May, 1865.
The last report on the battery was a report of Major General John Echols' Department, Major R. C. M. Page's Artillery Battalion, dated February 28, 1865, showing the battalion composed of Burrough's, Lynch's, and McClung's Tennessee Batteries, and Douthat's Virginia Battery. General Echols disbanded his command in Virginia when he learned of General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.
Burrough's Battery was one of the first companies organized, an East Tennessee command, which fought for almost four years in the East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia theatre, and served throughout the war under the same captain, -an unusual record.
This unit history was extracted from Tennesseans in the Civil War, Vol 1. Copyrighted © 1964 by the “Civil War Centennial Commission of Tennessee” and is published here with their permission.
This history may not be republished for any reason without the written permission of the copyright owner.
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