The Dixie Artillery
A Brief
History of the Battery
Under the initial command of Captain John Kaylor Booton, the Dixie Artillery
was formed on June 21, 1861 in Page County, Virginia. Due to lack of supplies and horses, the battery did not join Joseph E. Johnston's army until August 30. Within three months of their arrival, Captain Booton was elected to the Virginia State Legislature and turned over the command to the spearhead behind the battery's original formation, William Henry Chapman.
Brigaded initially with the famous Washington (Louisiana) Artillery, the Page Countybattery was soon in the field, late in the following spring. Under fire first at the Battle of Gaines Mill, the Dixie Artillery received its first true baptism under
fire and took their first losses at the Battle of Frazier's Farm on June 30, 1862. Following the Seven Days battles, the Dixie Artillery was brigaded with General Winfield Scott Featherston's Mississippians and continued to serve with them for the duration of the battery's existance.
From Richmond, the Page County battery followed with its brigade, later being exposed to fire again at the Battle of Rappahannock Station on August 23. In command of a section of the battery's guns, Captain Chapman's brother, 1st Lieutenant Samuel Forrer Chapman commanded the battery's three-inch rifle and twelve pound Napoleon in the artillery duel that ensued.
In the days that followed, the battery continued on with the Army of Northern Virginia to the plains of Manassas where the battery was heavily engaged and played a significant role in the repulse of the Federal advance upon the "Stonewall" Jackson's
lines in the railraod grade.
From Manassas, the Dixie Artillery followed the army again in its move into Maryland but was not engaged in the following battle at Sharpsburg (Antietam) on September 17. In the retreat that followed, the battery was engaged however at action near Boteler's Ford on September 9.
Under permission to recruit new members in Page County, Captain Chapman left the battery for a few days. However, upon his return, the young captain was surprised to find that his Dixie Artillery had been disbanded as a part of the Army of Northern Virginia's artillery rerganization.
While a majority of the men were reassigned to the Purcell Artillery, several others made their way into the ranks of various other units including the the 10th, 22nd, 33rd, and 53rd Virginia Infantry, the 6th, 7th, 12th, 14th, 23rd and 39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry.
For more detailed information on
this company, and the men who fought in it, I recommend the
Danville, Eighth Star New Market and Dixie Artillery
by Robert H. Moore, II
Available from
The Virginia Regimental Histories Series
Or Can be Obtained through:
Roster of the Dixie Artillery
Losses of the Dixie Artillery
Return to the Virginia Light Artillery Page
Return to the Virginia Artillery in the Civil War Home Page
These pages authored and maintained by Robert H. Moore, II.
©1998 All rights reserved.
Robert Moore, II and
Jeffrey C. Weaver;
H. E. Howard, Inc.
Rt. 2 Box 496H
Appomattox, Virginia 24522
Page established: 10/30/97
Last revised: 02/27/98