Chew's Ashby, Shoemaker's Lynchburg and the Newtown Artillery

CHEW'S ASHBY, SHOEMAKER'S LYNCHBURG and the NEWTOWN ARTILLERY
by Robert H. Moore, II

(Published by H.E. Howard, Inc., 1995)
126 pages including maps, photographs, rosters, statistics and bibliography
ISBN 1-56190-076-1

For pricing and availability contact:
H.E. Howard, Inc.
Rt. 2 Box 496H
Appomattox, Virginia 24522

About the Book:

Chew’s Ashby Artillery

Organized at Flowing Spring, Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia) on November 13, 1861, Roger Preston Chew's Ashby Battery was the first horse artillery battery developed in the Confederate army. Initially serving as a company of the 7th Virginia Cavalry, the battery later served in an independent battery. Chew's battery proved indispensable to Turner Ashby and "Stonewall" Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862. As the war progressed, the guns were commonly assigned to and praised by such leaders as Thomas Munford, "Grumble" Jones, and Thomas Rosser. Serving ultimately in the Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion, the Ashby Battery accompanied other batteries of great fame. By the close of the war this amazing battery had accumulated a service in battles that was matched by very few others and had raised the names of Chew and James Thomson to immortality among the history of the Southern Sons of St. Barbara.

Shoemaker’s Lynchburg Artillery

Formed in Lynchburg under Captain Marcellus Moorman, the Beauregard Rifles were organized initially as a zouave company on April 19, 1861 before obtaining cannons at Norfolk during the summer of 1861. In 1862 it was briefly organized as Co. B, Saunder's Battalion Field Artillery. Engaged at such battles as Frayser's Farm, Malvern Hill and Sharpsburg, the battery was well recognized as a unit that could stand up in a fight. At the close of the activities of the 1862 Maryland Campaign, the battery received additional men from the October disbanding of Grimes' Portsmouth Artillery. In November, 1862, the battery was converted to a horse artillery battery for service under John Pelham's Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion; an honor which the Lynchburg men relished. Regularly assigned to Rooney Lee's Brigade, the Lynchburg battery served with distinction through several engagements from Brandy Station to the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign before being disbanded in January 1865, while under the command of Captain John J. Shoemaker.

Newtown Artillery

Originally organized as the Newtown Artillery, this company was formed under the command of Captain George A. Groves in Newtown, Frederick County on April 19, 1861. A short-lived battery, it participated in only one engagement, at 1st Manassas on July 21, 1861. Later commanded by Capt. Robert Franklin Beckham and, still later, by Lt. John Pelham, the battery was instantly associated with the oncoming formation of the horse artillery. The battery had suffered most severely from desertions by the fall of 1861. Though the life of the company was rapidly coming to a close and was disbanded in the fall of 1861, Pelham brought with him his notoriety for fighting spirit and gallantry that had been well recognized by J.E.B. Stuart. Stuart, like Ashby, had sought his own horse battery and found it in Pelham and the remnants of the Newtown Artillery that served as the very nucleus for the Stuart Horse Artillery.

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