HomePosts tagged 'Andrew Fagan'
Andrew Fagan
Summary Statement, 3rd Quarter, 1863 – 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery
5 November 2018 Craig Swain American Civil War, Artillery, Ordnance Summary Statements	1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, 43rd Pennslyvania Volunteers, Andrew Fagan, Andrew Rosney, Battery A 1st Pennsylvania, Battery B 1st Pennsylvania, Battery C 1st Pennsylvania, Battery D 1st Pennsylvania, Battery E 1st Pennsylvania, Battery F 1st Pennsylvania, Battery G 1st Pennsylvania, Battery H 1st Pennsylvania, Belden Spence, Bristoe Station VA, Camp Barry, Culpeper VA, Harpers Ferry WV, James H. Cooper, Jeremiah McCarthy, John G. Simpson, Maryland Heights, Portsmouth VA, R. Bruce Ricketts, Robert M. West, Thomas G. Orwig, Yorktown VA
The 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery (43rd Pennsylvania Volunteers) consisted of nine batteries. One of those nine, Battery I, did not muster until near the war's end. And among the batteries on the rolls for the end of the third quarter of 1863, two were consolidated with other batteries in the regiment. Colonel Robert M. West remained in command of the regiment, but was serving as garrison commander at Yorktown, Virginia.
Reviewing the summary, at first glance the regiment seems complete. The Ordnance Department received at least something from seven of eight batteries:
But this is somewhat deceptive. Only four of the lines report cannon on hand. Thus there are gaps to reconcile, starting right from the top:
Battery A: No return. Captain John G. Simpson's battery was assigned to Getty's Division, Seventh Corps, at Portsmouth, Virginia. All part of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. I believe the battery retained four 12-pdr Napoleons.
Battery B: Reporting from Bristoe Station, Virginia, with four 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Captain James H. Cooper remained in command. And the battery remained with First Corps, Army of the Potomac.
Battery C: At Maryland Heights, Maryland, with no artillery indicated. For the previous quarter the battery reported six 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Captain Jeremiah McCarthy remained in command. The battery was among those transferred out of the Army of the Potomac in June, and assigned to Twenty-second Corps, Defenses of Washington, at Camp Barry. But the battery moved forward to Maryland Heights as part of Lockwood's Division (Later the Maryland Heights Division), which by August was part of the Department of West Virginia. Most sources have this battery consolidated with Battery D on October 23. McCarthy was discharged on October 8.
Battery D: Just an annotation of "Consolidated with Baty. C." Like Battery C, Battery D left the Army of the Potomac in June and was assigned duty at Camp Barry. In August, the battery transferred to the Department of West Virginia, and served at Harpers Ferry. Lieutenant Andrew Rosney was the ranking officer with the battery at that time.
Battery E: At Williamsburg, Virginia with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Captain Thomas G. Orwig commanded this battery, assigned to the Yorktown garrison, Department of Virginia and North Carolina.
Battery F: Indicated at Culpeper, Virginia, with six 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Captain R. Bruce Ricketts commanded a combined Batteries F and G. After Gettysburg, the battery transferred to Second Corps' artillery brigade.
Battery G: The annotation "Consolidated with Battery F" tells the story. Although some sources considered this an "attachment" instead of consolidation. Lieutenant Belden Spence was the ranking officer remaining with the battery.
Battery H: At Camp Barry, D.C. with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Captain Andrew Fagan commanded this battery, which arrived at Camp Barry in June 1863. The battery remained there through the spring of 1864, assigned to the Light Artillery Camp of Instruction.
Battery I would not muster until March 1865, and thus escapes our attention here.
Turning to the ammunition, with the smoothbore columns first:
Two batteries with Napoleons reporting:
Battery E: 176 shot, 64 shell, 192 case, and 80 canister for 12-pdr Napoleons.
Battery H: 182 shot, 52 shell, 162 case, and 64 canister for 12-pdr Napoleons.
Then the Hotchkiss page:
Again, two batteries to consider:
Battery B: 127 canister, 34 percussion shell, 242 fuse shell, and 335 bullet shell for 3-inch rifles.
Battery F: 120 canister, 120 (?) fuse shell, and 200 (?) bullet shell for 3-inch rifles. Those last two numbers appear faint, as if erased. So we must wonder if those quantities were "retracted" for some reason.
No Dyer's, James', or Parrott's patent projectiles reported. So we move to Schenkl:
Battery B: 79 shell and 18 case for 3-inch rifles.
Battery F: 120 shell and 640 case for 3-inch rifles.
This brings us to the small arms:
By battery as reported:
Battery B: Sixteen navy revolvers and seventeen horse artillery sabers.
Battery E: Eight navy revolvers and fourteen horse artillery sabers.
Battery F: Eleven army revolvers, eight navy revolvers, one cavalry saber, and nineteen horse artillery sabers.
Battery H: Fourteen navy revolvers and twenty-three horse artillery sabers.
That wraps up a short discussion of what was a small regiment from Pennsylvania. But in addition to this regiment, Pennsylvania's summary for this quarter included thirteen more lines. Those covered a battery from the 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, eleven independent batteries, and an artillery section in the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry. So we have more to examine before completing Pennsylvania's section.
Summary Statement, 2nd Quarter, 1863 – 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery
31 October 2017 3 November 2017 Craig Swain American Civil War, Artillery, Ordnance Summary Statements	1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, 43rd Pennslyvania Volunteers, Andrew Fagan, Andrew Rosney, Battery A 1st Pennsylvania, Battery B 1st Pennsylvania, Battery C 1st Pennsylvania, Battery D 1st Pennsylvania, Battery E 1st Pennsylvania, Battery F 1st Pennsylvania, Battery G 1st Pennsylvania, Battery H 1st Pennsylvania, Belden Spence, Camp Barry, Gettysburg, James H. Cooper, Jeremiah McCarthy, John G. Simpson, Norfolk VA, R. Bruce Ricketts, Rappahannock Station VA, Robert M. West, Suffolk VA, Thomas G. Orwig, Yorktown VA
The 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery (also known as the 43rd Pennsylvania Volunteers) was, perhaps, short-changed with its organization. Instead of a full compliment of batteries, the 1st Pennsylvania only ever had Batteries A through I. And even with that, Battery I was only organized in the war's last months. Thus for the second quarter of 1863, we have only eight batteries to account for.
In June 1863, Colonel Robert M. West led the regiment, on the rolls.
West, appearing in this photo with his lovely daughter, was at Yorktown, Virginia in a role that was more "garrison commander" than "field commander." His staff and one battery were at that location. Overall, of the eight batteries in his small-ish regiment, only five had recorded returns for the quarter:
Accounting for those in detail:
Battery A: No return. Captain John G. Simpson's battery was assigned to Second Division, Seventh Corps, then in the Norfolk area. I believe the battery retained four 12-pdr Napoleons. The battery participated in the Siege of Suffolk and Dix's Peninsula Campaign.
Battery B: Showing as at Rappahannock Station, Virginia, as of August 16, 1863, with four 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. But with an assignment to First Corps, we know well Captain James H. Cooper's battery was, as of June 30, moving up toward Gettysburg.
Battery C: Claiming to be at Culpeper, Virginia… well in October, 1863… with six 3-inch Ordnance Rifles (as opposed to 10-pdr Parrotts from the last quarter). Captain Jeremiah McCarthy remained in command. On June 25, the battery was sent out of the Army of the Potomac to Camp Barry, D.C. However, by the end of the Gettysburg Campaign, the battery was back in the field at Harpers Ferry.
Battery D: No return. Battery D was consolidated with Battery C through August. Thus we list Battery D as at Camp Barry. Lieutenant Andrew Rosney was the ranking officer of the battery.
Battery E: At Yorktown, Virginia with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Captain Thomas G. Orwig commanded this battery, assigned to First Division, Fourth Corps.
Battery F: Indicated at Falmouth, Virginia, with a March 1864 reporting date, with six 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Captain R. Bruce Ricketts commanded a combined Batteries F and G, in 3rd Volunteer Brigade, Artillery Reserve. Thus their proper location, for June 30, was somewhere on the march up from Frederick, Maryland.
Battery G: Dittos indicating Battery G was with Battery F for the reporting period. Lieutenant Belden Spence was the ranking officer remaining with the battery.
Battery H: At Camp Barry, D.C. with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Captain Andrew Fagan commanded this battery, which in the Artillery Reserve, Fourth Corps. Thus the battery was actually around Yorktown at reporting time. The battery would transfer to Camp Barry in the fall.
And as mentioned above, Battery I would not muster until very late in the war. Batteries K, L, and M never existed, save for a notional line allocated on the clerk's form.
Only two lines of smoothbore ammunition to account for:
No disputes there.
We move to the rifled projectile pages, starting with Mr. Hotchkiss's types:
Three batteries reporting:
Battery B: 20 canister, 180 fuse shell, and 338 bullet shell for 3-inch rifles.
Battery C: 180 canister, 104 percussion shell, and 344(?) bullet shell for 3-inch rifles.
Battery F & G: 120 canister, 120 fuse shell, and 840 bullet shell for 3-inch rifles.
Yes, a lot of case… er… bullet… in those chests.
We skip past the Dyers, James, and Parrott projectiles, with none reported, and go to the Schenkl:
Again, three batteries reporting:
Battery B: 277 shell for 3-inch rifles.
Battery C: 158 shell for 3-inch rifles.
Battery F & G: 120 shell for 3-inch rifles.
Lastly, we look at the small arms reported:
Battery B: Sixteen Navy revolvers and fourteen horse artillery sabers.
Battery C: Seventeen Navy revolvers and five (?) cavalry sabers.
Battery F & G: Sixteen Army revolvers, eight Navy revolvers, one cavalry saber, and nineteen horse artillery sabers.
Battery H: Fourteen Navy revolvers and eleven horse artillery sabers.
Thus rounds out the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery's report for the second quarter, 1863.
Summary Statement: December 31, 1862 – 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery
1 March 2016 1 March 2016 Craig Swain American Civil War, Ordnance Summary Statements	14th Pennsylvania Reserves, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, 43rd Pennsylvania Regiment, Andrew Fagan, Battery A 1st Pennsylvania, Battery B 1st Pennsylvania, Battery C 1st Pennsylvania, Battery D 1st Pennsylvania, Battery E 1st Pennsylvania, Battery F 1st Pennsylvania, Battery G 1st Pennsylvania, Battery H 1st Pennsylvania, Battery I 1st Pennsylvania, Belle Plain, Frank Amsden, James H. Cooper, Jeremiah McCarthy, John G. Simpson, Michael Hall, Portsmouth VA, R. Bruce Ricketts, Thomas G. Orwig, White Oak Church, Yorktown VA
Let us move a little to the east and look at the reported condition and status of the Pennsylvania light artillery batteries at the end of 1862. The Keystone State provided over 360,000 men to the Federal cause. There were 215 numbered regiments formed from that pool of men. Most of those were infantry regiments, of course. However cavalry and artillery regiments were assigned numbers in that range before re-designation. Such was the case for the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery Regiment. It began as the 14th Pennsylvania Reserves (NOTE: not an "infantry regiment" but just a "regiment") in May 1861 and morphed into the 43rd Pennsylvania Regiment. This formation became the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery with eight batteries (A through H), later that year. Battery I was added in 1865, and thus escapes our attention today. The regiment's service through the first half of the war was in Virginia, and mostly associated with the Army of the Potomac. I'm stepping past some of the particulars for the sake of brevity here to reach December 1862. All but two of these batteries were with the Army of the Potomac at the time:
And my what a wonderful summary we have. Eight batteries with eight returns showing!
Battery A: At Portsmouth, Virginia with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Well, Lieutenant John G. Simpson's battery was actually in camp with Third Division, First Corps, at Belle Plain. The Portsmouth location was valid for January 1864, when the return was received in Washington.
Battery B: Belle Plain, Virginia with four 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Another Third Division, First Corps battery. Captain James H. Cooper commanded.
Battery C: No location given, but with four 10-pdr Parrotts. Captain Jeremiah McCarthy led this battery, assigned to Third Division, Sixth Corps and likely camping near White Oak Church.
Battery D: At White Oak Church, Virginia with four 10-pdr Parrotts. As with Battery C, also assigned to Third Division, Sixth Corps. Captain Michael Hall commanded.
Battery E: No location given, but with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Captain Thomas G. Orwig commanded this battery, assigned to the Artillery Reserve of Fourth Corps, and posted at Yorktown.
Battery F: At Belle Plain, with four 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Lieutenant R. Bruce Ricketts commanded this battery, which supported Second Division, First Corps.
Battery G: Also at Belle Plain and with four 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Likewise, another battery, commanded by Captain Frank P. Amsden, assigned to Third Division, First Corps.
Battery H: At Yorktown, Virginia with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Captain Andrew Fagan commanded this battery, which was part of the Artillery Reserve, Fourth Corps.
So with all batteries reporting, we should have a clean set of information on projectiles? Well, not so fast:
Given the type of guns indicated on the first page, we should only see ammunition for 12-pdr Napoleons on this page. But we have some entries under the 12-pdr howitzer columns – both field and mountain – for Battery E (stationed at Yorktown and Gloucester Point at the time).
Battery A: 239 shot, 181 case, and 92 canister for 12-pdr Napoleon.
Battery E: 176 shot for 12-pdr Napoleon; 64 shell and 192 case for 12-pdr field howitzers; and 80 canister for 12-pdr mountain howitzers.
Battery H: 182 shot, 54 shell, 162 case, and 64 canister for 12-pdr Napoleon.
There are some possibilities here to explain Battery E. This may be a rather conspicuous transcription error, at either end. Or perhaps a miss-identification of the type of fixed ammunition by some battery officer taking inventory. Another possibility, since the battery was on garrison duty, is the rounds counted included those for weapons not directly assigned to the battery. And of course, 12-pdr howitzer rounds, for either the field or mountain type, work under the "if it fits down the bore" rule. However this return was received in Washington in January 1865, when Battery E was in the Petersburg lines. So we might speculate on this all day.
Moving to the rifle projectiles, we find everything fits neatly into two calibers – 3-inch and 10-pdr. Starting with the Hotchkiss-types:
These projectiles are where we expect them:
Battery B: 20 canister and 220 bullet shell in 3-inch bore.
Battery G: 223 shell and 333 bullet shell for their 3-inch rifles.
The Pennsylvania batteries reported quantities of Dyer's and Parrott's projectiles:
Battery G: 97 shell, 87 shrapnel, and 80 canister of Dyer's patent for 3-inch rifle.
Battery C: 278 Parrott case shot for their 10-pdr rifles.
Battery D: 60 shell and 65(?) case shot of Parrott-patent in 10-pdr.
Over to the Schenkl columns:
Two entries here:
Battery B: 285 Schenkl shell for 3-inch rifles.
Battery C: 145 Schenkl shell and 96 Schenkl canister for 10-pdr Parrott.
My first impression is that the rifled batteries of the 1st Pennsylvania were short, or maybe under-reporting, ammunition quantities. Battery B, for instance, had twenty canister on hand. Dividing the shell and case shot equitably between four guns, we'd see only 71 shells and 55 "bullet shell" for each tube.
Lastly, we turn to the small arms:
Battery A: Eight Navy revolvers and nine horse artillery sabers.
Battery C: Seventeen Army revolvers and fourteen horse artillery sabers.
Battery D: Seventeen Navy revolvers and twelve horse artillery sabers.
Battery E: Eight Navy revolver, twenty-four cavalry sabers, and eight horse artillery sabers.
Battery F: Eighteen Army revolvers and four horse artillery sabers.
Battery G: Eleven Navy revolvers and ten horse artillery sabers.
Battery H: Seventeen Army revolvers and twenty-three horse artillery sabers.
I think that reflects a healthy allotment of small arms for the batteries. Not a lot of pistols or sabers. But enough to meet needs which might arise. And no long guns.
Next we will turn to the independent batteries of Pennsylvania.