This company was organized in the fall of 1861, some of the officers showing election October 1, 1861. It was mustered into Confederate service at Knoxville, Tennessee on November 29, 1861. It served first in East Tennessee and Kentucky; then at Shiloh, at Vicksburg, Mississippi in the summer of 1862; at Port Hudson, Louisiana, in August, 1862; and returned to East Tennessee in December 1862, served the rest of the war in East Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia.
On December 9, 1861, Brigadier General W. H. Carroll, at Knoxville, reported McClung's Battery with two six-pounders and two 12-pounders, and about 100 men as one of the units reporting to him. On December 26, 1861, Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer reported that it had arrived at Beech Grove, Kentucky. On January 7, 1862, it reported four officers, 79 men present for duty, 106 present and absent.
At the Battle of Fishing Creek, January 19, 1862, two guns under Captain McClung were attached to Carroll's Brigade. General Carroll, in his report of the battle reported that due to the nature of the ground, he was not able to bring his artillery into action. In the evacuation of Beech Grove, Kentucky, following the battle, Major General George B. Crittenden reported that only with great difficulty was he able to ferry his troops across the river, and that the guns had to be left on the north side of the river.
On February 1, 1862, Captain McClung reported to General A. S. Johnston that, in obedience to orders from General Crittenden, he had his company in camp at Nashville, but without guns or equipment, and that he had lost 45 horses in the abandonment of Beech Grove.
At the Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, the battery was unattached to any brigade, but Captain Irving Hodgson, of the Louisiana Washington Artillery attached to Brigadier General Patton Anderson's Brigade, reported that on the 27th, at about 9:00 A.M., McClung's Battery assisted in shelling Federal troops advancing on his position. Colonel George Maney reported "two pieces of McClung's Battery which had just joined me, were brought into effective service under the personal charge of Captain McClung, and were actively and destructively served on the retreating enemy for a distance of several hundred yards." This was in the afternoon of the 7th.
About May 1, 1862, Captain Rutledge's Tennessee Battery was consolidated with McClung's, and the battery attached to Colonel W. S. Statham's Brigade in Brigadier General J. C. Breckinridge's Corps. Shortly thereafter, Statham's Brigade was sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Major General Earl Van Dorn, who took command at Vicksburg June 27, and was in command during the Federal bombardment from July 12-27, 1862, listed McClung's Battery, attached to Statham's Brigade, as part of the troops under his command during that period.
On August 18, 1862, McClung's Battery was ordered to report to Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles at Port Hudson, Louisiana. On August 23, Ruggles wrote: "I want McClung's rifle guns. Shall I retain his company?" Apparently his wishes were not heeded, for on September 12, 1862, at Jackson, Mississippi, a dispatch read: "McClung's Battery, now on cars at the depot, attached to 4th Brigade, Breckinridge's Division, with orders to move to Holly Springs, Mississippi, and report to Brigadier General Villepigue, pending the arrival of the Major General in command." Brigadier General Albert Rust was the commander of the 4th Brigade.
There follows a short hiatus in the record, but on December 27, 1862, the battery was reported in Major General E. Kirby Smith's Department of East Tennessee, Brigadier General Henry Heth's Division, Brigadier General W. G. M. Davis's Brigade, en route to Strawberry Plains and Morristown. On February 20, 1863, with Brigadier General D. S. Donelson in command of the Department, the battery was reported in Colonel C. T. Goode's Brigade at Loudon, where it remained for about two months. On April 25 it was reported attached to Brigadier General A. E. Jackson's Brigade, with Headquarters near Jonesboro. A company report showed the battery stationed at Carter's Depot (now Watauga) on April 30. In May and June, the company report showed station at Charleston. On July 31, Jackson's Brigade was near Zollicoffer (now Bluff City), with the battery under the command of Lieutenant Josiah L. Pearcy.
In an engagement at Carter's Depot September 20-21, Lieutenant Colonel Milton A. Haynes, commanding the artillery under Brigadier General J. S. Williams, reported that he had to abandon the carriages of McClung's Battery, although he brought off the guns.
On October 31, 1863, with Major General Sam Jones commanding the Department, McClung's Battery was reported "unattached," no guns. On November 30, the battery, with 53 effectives, but still without guns, was reported in Lieutenant Colonel J. Floyd King's Artillery Battalion, of Major General Robert Ransom, Jr's., Division. This was composed of Burrough's and McClung's Tennessee Batteries, and four Virginia batteries. Burrough's and McClung's batteries were detached to Saltville, Virginia, where they remained at least through April, 1864, still without guns. In February, the battery reported three officers, 42 men present for duty, 47 present, 54 present and absent. In March the report read two officers, 37 men present for duty, 40 present, 58 present and absent; in April, four officers, 47 men present for duty, 53 present, 60 present and absent. While at Saltville, the company re-enlisted for the duration on January 30, 1864.
Finally on August 1, 1864, the battery reported four field artillery pieces, four officers, 56 men present for duty, 60 present, and 65 present and absent. Brigadier General J. H. Morgan was in command of the Department. Morgan was killed in a surprise attack in Greeneville, Tennessee on September 4, 1864, and Major General J. C. Breckinridge was again placed in command of the department. In October, 1864, there began the final struggle for the possession of East Tennessee during the course of which, on October 28, 1864, in an engagement near Morristown, Captain McClung and most of his command were captured. 17 men who escaped reported to Captain J. P. Lynch's Battery for duty, and served the balance of the campaign with his battery.
The last report of the battery was on February 28, 1865, with Major General John Echols in command of the Department, and Burrough's, Lynch's, and McClung's Tennessee Batteries, and Douthat's Virginia Battery in Major R. C. M. Page's Artillery Battalion. General Echols disbanded his command at Christiansburg, Virginia, on April 12, 1865, on learning of the surrender of General R. E. Lee.
In the early days of the war, McClung's battery was listed as a member of the Artillery Corps of Tennessee, and also as Company "A", 1st Tennessee Light Artillery.
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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