The 3rd Massachusetts Battery (or, 3rd Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery), was an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

that served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Service

The battery was organized

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and mustered in September 5, 1861Headley for a three-year enlistmentDyer under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Augustus Pearl Martin. The battery was attached to Porter's Division,

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

, to March 1862. Artillery, 1st Division,

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

, Army of the Potomac, to May 1862.Official Records of the American Civil War of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. War Department Artillery, 1st Division,

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army ...

, Army of the Potomac, to June 1863. Artillery Brigade, V Corps, to September 1864. The 3rd Massachusetts Battery mustered out of service September 16, 1864.

Detailed service

Moved to Washington, D. C., September 5–11. At Hall's Hill, Va., defenses of Washington, until March 1862.BowenHigginsonStevens Advanced on Manassas, Va., March 10–15. Moved to Fort Monroe March 21–24. Reconnaissance to Big Bethel March 27. Warwick Road April 5. Siege of Yorktown April 5-May 4. Hanover Court House May 27. Operations about Hanover Court House May 27–29. Seven Days Battles before Richmond June 25-July 1. Battle of Beaver Dam Creek June 26. Battle of Gaines's Mill June 27. Battle of White Oak Swamp and Turkey Bridge June 30. Battle of Malvern Hill July 1. At Harrison's Landing until August 15. Moved to Fort Monroe, then to Manassas, Va., August 15–28. Pope's campaign in northern Virginia August 28-September 2. Groveton August 29. Second Battle of Bull Run August 30. Maryland Campaign September–October. Battle of Antietam September 16–17. Shepherdstown September 19. At Sharpsburg until October 30. Reconnaissance to Leetown October 16–17. Leetown October 17. Movement to White Plains and Falmouth, Va., October 30-November 19. Battle of Fredericksburg December 11–15, "Mud March" January 20–24, 1863. Duty at Falmouth until April. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1–5. Gettysburg Campaign June 13-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1–3. Bristoe Campaign October 9–22. Rappahannock Station November 7. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. Camp near Rappahannock Station December 4, 1863 to May 1, 1864. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May–June. Battle of the Wilderness May 5–7. Spotsylvania May 8–12. Spotsylvania Court House May 12–21. Bloody Angle May 12. North Anna River May 23–26. Line of the Pamunkey May 26–28. Totopotomoy May 28–31. Cold Harbor June 1–12. Bethesda Church June 1–3. Before Petersburg June 16–19. Siege of Petersburg June 16-September 5. Six Mile House, Weldon Railroad, August 18–21. Left the front September 4. Veterans and recruits transferred to the 5th Massachusetts Battery August 30. Moved to Boston September 5–9.

Casualties

The battery lost a total of 19 men during service; 9 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 10 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Captain Augustus Pearl Martin *

1st Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

Aaron Francis Walcott - commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg

Notes

Bibliography