The 1st and 2nd Stuart Horse Artillery

The 1st and 2nd Stuart Horse Artillery
by Robert H. Moore, II

(Published by H. E. Howard, Inc., 1999)
185 pages including maps, photographs and bibliography
ISBN 1-57864-199-3

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

About the Book:

The American Civil War brought about several units that went down in history as hard fighting and heroic. Among those at the top of the list were the batteries of the Stuart Horse Artillery.

The concept of the horse artillery battery had been judged since the Mexican War as obsolete and costly in its expense of “good horse flesh.” However, the idea still stirred famous cavaliers like Turner Ashby and J.E.B. Stuart to form such batteries for the support of their cavalry. By the middle of spring 1862, horse batteries had reemerged as a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. With all of the men mounted and accustomed to being constantly on the move with the cavalry, the batteries were always in the thick of the fight in the very midst of the enemy. To unlimber, fire, limber and move to unlimber in another position several times in one battle set the horse artillery apart from their counterparts who supported the infantry.

The 1st and 2nd Stuart Horse Artillery batteries are perhaps the best known, along with Chew’s Ashby Artillery, of the horse artillery batteries from Virginia. With the names of Pelham, Breathed, Henry and McGregor attached to these two units, they always seemed to be in the thick of the action. Formed originally from the remnants of the Newtown Artillery, the Stuart Horse Artillery battery was formed in late 1861 as an element for J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry. Made up of men from various states, including Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee, the battery constituted an unusual mixture. The following year, Pelham’s single battery participated in numerous engagements from the Peninsula Campaign to Sharpsburg. In the fall of 1862, with the reorganization of the horse artillery, Pelham’s Stuart Horse Artillery battery was divided into two four-gun batteries that were labeled as the 1st and 2nd Stuart Horse Artillery respectfully.

The 1st and 2nd continued to serve somewhat together through 1864, fighting in countless battles from Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station and Gettysburg to the less recognized battles of Rector’s Cross Roads, Haw’s Shop, and Rio Hill before being spread into two arenas of war in Virginia. The 1st Stuart Horse moved into the Shenandoah Valley and fought in the 1864 Valley Campaign. Meanwhile, the 2nd Stuart Horse Artillery remained around Richmond and Petersburg, fighting well into the closing days of the war at Five Forks.

No matter where the fighting was, both batteries fulfilled the promise of Pelham’s recruiting advertisement of 1862: “whenever or where ever there is likely to be a fight, they are bound to be in the front . . .”

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