The 5th Arkansas Field Battery (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army artillery battery during the American Civil War. The unit was originally referred to as the 'Appeal Artillery or the Memphis Appeal Battery."Organization of the Artillery in 1864." Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 15 June 2012, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/artillry.html Battlefield markers at the National Vicksburg Military Park describe the unit as Appeal (Arkansas) Battery.Appeal [Arkansas] Battery, National Park Service, Vicksburg National Military Park, Accessed 4 February 2013, https://www.nps.gov/vick/historyculture/appeal-arkansas-battery.htm The unit served east of the Mississippi River until it surrendered at the end of the Vicksburg Campaign. After being exchanged, the battery re-organized and served the remainder of the war in the Department of the Trans-Mississippi.
Organization The Appeal Artillery was organized at Memphis, Tennessee, on March 7, 1862, under the command of Captain William C. Bryan. Many of the original members came from Ouachita County, Arkansas, but apparently ten members, half the employees, of the staff of the Appeal newspaper (the Commercial Appeal today), joined the battery."Cannons for Confederate Park, Memphis" Steen Cannons, Accessed 3 Febryar 2013, http://steencannons.com/confederate-park-memphis-tn-getting-new-cannons/ The unit was outfitted by the proprietors of the Memphis Appeal, who had strong connections to Camden in Ouachita County. It is unclear if this outfitting of the battery included the guns themselves. General M. Jeff. Thompson's order-book indicates that the battery's first guns were obtained from a disbanded Missouri State Guard unit.McGhee, Jim, "Re: Companies Raised in Ouachita County" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 10/15/2004, Accessed 3 February 2013, Other sources indicated that the unit was issued four cannons in Memphis: two Iron Ordnance rifles and two bronze field howitzers. These may have come from the Quinby & Robinson Company of Memphis, Tennessee.
On May 6, Captain Bryan and his Appeal Battery were ready. That night, amid tremendous enthusiasm of Memphis citizens, the battery departed from the old Memphis & Charleston Railway depot for Corinth, Mississippi, where the Confederate Army was re-organizing following its defeat at Shiloh the month before. A silken flag was presented to the departing battery by a hoop-skirted young woman whom The Appeals reporter described as, "the lady of Dr. Keller." She made the presentation speech in the flowery language of her time.Commercial Appeal, January 1, 1940, Accessed 3 February 2013, http://www2.dixie-net.com/nemma/appeal.htm
Captain Bryan accepted the silken flag. His speech of acceptance has been lost to history, but The Memphis Appeals reporter assures readers that "he responded in spirited and appropriate terms, and his men received the flag with three hearty cheers for the amiable donor." Several of the men, so the story added, "made earnest appeals to Captain Bryan that to them might be committed the honor of carrying the flag in the fight."
The battery officers included: Captain W. C. Bryan; Lieutenant (later Captain) William N. Hogg; Lieutenant (later Captain) Christopher C. Scott; Second Lieutenant Robert S. Walker. Under Captain Hogg's command: Lieutenant Christopher C. Scott; Second Lieutenant Robert S. Walker; Second Lieutenant R. N. Cotton. Under Captain Scott's command: Lieutenant R. N. Cotton; Lieutenant E. W. Lightfoot.Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, , page 34.
Service The battery was initially assigned to the support of Rust's (later Dockery's and Cabell's) brigade in Maury's division of the Army of the West, camped at that time around Corinth, Mississippi.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 10, In Two Parts. Part 2, Correspondence, etc., Book, 1884; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154614/m1/550/?q=Arkansas Bryan Battery : accessed June 15, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.
The battery supported Colonel William L. Cabell's brigade of Brigadier General Dabney H. Muary's Division of Major General Sterling Price's Corps of Major General Earl Van Dorn's Army of the West throughout the Corinth campaign in the summer of 1862.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 17, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1886; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154626/m1/385/?q=Appeal Arkansas Battery : accessed February 02, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. The unit fought at the battle of Corinth on October 3–4, 1862.National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, Confederate Arkansas Troops, 5th Battery, Arkansas Light Artillery, Accessed 26 July 2017 The unit sustained three killed and three wounded in the conflicts at Corinth and the Battle of Hatchie's Bridge.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 17, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1886; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154626/m1/394/?q=Appeal Arkansas Battery : accessed February 02, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. Lieutenant Hog, who commanded the Appeal Battery during the Battle of Hatchie's Bridge, and his men were specifically cited by Brigadier General Cabel for "especial notice for the skill and efficiency with which they handled the battery and pours shell and grape into the enemy's ranks".United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 17, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1886; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154626/m1/415/?q=Appeal Arkansas Battery : accessed February 02, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.
In November 1862, the battery was reassigned to support Hébert's brigade in Forney's division in Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, where it served during the Vicksburg campaign in the early summer of 1863, and was assigned to the Vicksburg defenses during the 47-day siege of that city in May–July, 1863. The unit apparently had a hard time keeping control of its own guns during the siege of Vicksburg:Howerton, Bryan R. "Appeal Battery at Vicksburg" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=23283, Accessed 3 February 2013, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=23283
A detachment of the battery, under Lieutenant Christopher C. Scott, served one 3-inch rifle in the position known as the Third Louisiana Redan, from May 18, 1863, until the surrender, July 4, 1863. The battery's casualties during the siege included four killed five wounded. On May 19, 1863, Captain Hogg was severely wounded, and Lieutenant Walker was killed. A corporal and four privates were also killed or wounded in that incident. Captain Hogg died of his wounds on May 28, 1863.Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Appeal Battery at Vicksburg", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 2/12/2011, Accessed 3 February 2013, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=23325 Christopher C. Scott wounded on duty in the Third Louisiana Redan June 25, 1863.T. Lewis "Re: Appeal Battery at Vicksburg", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 2/12/2011, Accessed 3 February 2013, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=23324
The battery was surrendered with the Vicksburg garrison on July 4, 1863.Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Companies Raised in Ouachita County" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 10/16/2004, Accessed 3 February 2013, http://www.history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?md=read;id=8814 General Ulysses S. Grant initially demanded the conditional surrender of the Vicksburg garrison, but faced with the necessity of feeding 30,000 starving Confederates and having the idea that these soldiers might do more harm to the Confederate cause by being released to return home rather than being exchanged as whole units, he relented and allowed for the immediate parole of the unit. According to the Confederate War Department, the Union leader encouraged the surrendered Confederates to simply return home, rather than being officially paroled and exchanged. The able bodied Confederate soldiers who were released on parole walked out of Vicksburg (they were not allowed to proceed in any military formations) on July 11, 1863. Paroling of these able bodied men was completed in their respective camps inside Vicksburg prior to July 11. Those who were wounded or sick in the various hospitals in Vicksburg were paroled, and were released, as soon as they could leave on their own. July 15/16 is the most common date of these Vicksburg hospital paroles. Some of the most seriously wounded and sick were sent by steamship down the Mississippi River and over to Mobile, Alabama, where they were delivered on parole to Confederate authorities.Simmons, Hugh "Re: 46th AL Co. C – questions re: Demopolis/Vicks", Alabama in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 17 April 2004, Accessed 4 June 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/alcwmb/arch_config.pl?noframes;read=13786
Confederate commanders designated Enterprise, Mississippi, as the rendezvous point (parole camp) for the Vicksburg parolees to report to after they got clear of the last Federal control point at Big Black Bridge. Most of the Arkansas units, including many survivors of the Appeal Battery, appear to have bypassed the established parole camps, and possibly with the support, or at least by the compliancy, of their Union captors, simply crossed the river and returned home. Because so many of the Vicksburg parolees, especially from Arkansas, simply went home, Major General Pemberton requested Confederate President Davis grant the men a thirty to sixty-day furlough.Martin. George, "Re: Paroled", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 14 July 2009, Accessed 11 June 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=20381 The furloughs were not strictly adhered to so long as the soldier eventually showed up at a parole camp to be declared exchanged and returned to duty. Those who went directly home were treated as if they had been home on furlough if they eventually reported into one of these two parole centers. The exchange declaration reports issued by Colonel Robert Ould in Richmond for various units in the Vicksburg and Port Hudson surrenders began in September 1863 based upon men who actually reported to one of the two parole camps. Pemberton eventually coordinated with the Confederate War Department and Confederate General Kirby Smith, commanding the Department of the Trans-Mississippi, to have the Arkansas Vicksburg parolee's rendezvous point established at Camden, Arkansas.Howerton, Bryan R. "Re: Paroled", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 14 July 2009, Accessed 11 June 2012, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=20383