Brice's Crossroads Artillery Project

[Dartmouth Down South]

We have started the process of bringing interpretive artillery displays to the Brice's Crossroads Battlefield. We have secured a few carriages and will weld, clean, and paint them, and then fundraise to purchase non-firing reproduction barrels. We aim to be accurate in getting the correct types of barrels and in placing these displays as close to the spots the specific batteries were in action on the battlefield on June 10, 1864. There were a total of 30 artillery pieces at Brice's (22 Union, 8 Confederate). While it is unlikely that we will place all 30 pieces, our goal is to represent every artillery unit that was at the fight with at least 2 interpretive pieces in the future. We need as many sharp research minds to assist us as possible! We are putting together a comprehensive OOB with just the artillery units. See where we are at below:
The Artillery of Brice's Crossroads

Confederate Artillery (8 Total guns)

Morton's Artillery (8 guns)
Captain John W. Morton commanding

Rice's Battery (4 guns)
Captain T.W. Rice commanding
-Lt. Haller's section: Two 12-pound Howitzers
-Lt. Briggs' section: Two 6-pound smoothbores

Morton's Battery (4 guns)
Lt. T. Saunders Sale commanding
-Lt. Mayson's section: Two 3-inch Ordinance Rifles
-Lt. Brown's section: One 3-inch Ordinance Rifle, (One "Iron 3-inch gun" or One "12-pound Iron smoothbore"?)


Union Artillery (22 Total guns)

Waring's Cavalry Brigade

-4th Missouri Cavalry: (4 guns)
Four Mountain Howitzers (uncaptured)

-14th Indiana Battery, one section: (2 guns)
(Two Rifles ?) (possibly "borrowed" guns of another unit in Memphis?)

Winslow's Cavalry Brigade

-Co. A, 10th Missouri Cavalry, Captain Joyce commanding: (2 guns)
Two Rifled 6-pounders (uncaptured)

-7th Wisconsin Battery, one section, Captain H.S. Lee commanding: (2 guns)
(Two Rifled 12-pounders??)

US Cavalry Division (10 guns)

Wilkin's Infantry Brigade

-Co. E, 1st Illinois Light Artillery, Captain J.A. Fitch commanding: (4 guns)
Three 12-pound Napoleons m/1857
One 3.80 James Rifle

-6th Indiana Battery, one section, Captain M. Mueller commanding: (2 guns)
(Two??)

Hoge's Brigade (Illinois)

-Co. B, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery, Captain F.H. Chapman commanding: (4 guns)
(Four??)

Bouton's Brigade (USCT)

-Co. F, 2nd USCLA, Captain C.A. Lamberg commanding (2 guns)
(Two??)

US Infantry Division (12 guns)

Notes: 6 Union guns make it back to Memphis, 16 are captured.

O.R. Captured list:
-1 = 3-inch steel gun, rifled
-2 = 3.8-inch James bronze guns, rifled
-2 = 12-pounder bronze howitzers
-3 = 12-pounder Napoleon bronze guns
-3 = 6-pounder James bronze guns, rifled
-5 = 6-pounder bronze guns

*Priority number 1 is finding out, if possible, all the type/make models of ALL the guns that were at the battle. We are almost there with the CSA and there seems to be only one gun in question so any help with that would be be great! On the Union side there is a lot of holes at this point. We know that 6 Union guns made it back to Memphis, we know what those are. We know the type of guns Co. E, 1st Illinois Artillery lost on the expedition, so we can lay those over the "Captured List". But many others remain ambiguous or totally unknown. It may be that if we can find what two or three of the other Union batteries were carrying that we can have a great guess at the unknown ones by process of elimination on the "Captured List".

We do know some of the total men engaged and casualty listings for SOME of these units, but chose not to include them here to further clutter things up. If you come across such figures or command structures we would be grateful to see those too! Thanks for taking a gander at this as I have never closely researched artillery or an artillery unit. My knowledge is OK at best.

 

[mt155]

Is there any possibility of getting any "surplus" tubes from one of the big five Military Parks? Ones that may be sitting in a warehouse that have not been seen in a few years? Id hope to see those tubes as opposed to the gold plaster type looking ones like at Raymond.

 

[Dartmouth Down South]

Is there any possibility of getting any "surplus" tubes from one of the big five Military Parks? Ones that may be sitting in a warehouse that have not been seen in a few years? Id hope to see those tubes as opposed to the gold plaster type looking ones like at Raymond.

Nope, no possibility of that. There are some repros that look great, just depends on generosity of donations.

 

[Stryker65]

Morton's Battery (4 guns)
Lt. T. Saunders Sale commanding
-Lt. Mayson's section: Two 3-inch Ordinance Rifles
-Lt. Brown's section: One 3-inch Ordinance Rifle, (One "Iron 3-inch gun" or One "12-pound Iron smoothbore"?)

Regret to inform that the above is incorrect; at the onset of the campaign, Morton's battery consisted of 2 steel 3-inch Rodman guns and 2 12-lb brass howitzers. On the morning of June 10, Forrest's cavalry captured 2 more steel 3-inch Rodmans, which were then exchanged with the howitzers, thereby giving Morton a battery of four 3-inch Rodmans for the rest of the battle. (source, page 176).

Although it is not listed, I would extrapolate further and say that the captured Rodmans were from the 14th Indiana Battery, since the Rodmans that made up Morton's battery from the start had actually been captured nineteen months before, from that same battery, and it would make sense that the 14th still used Rodmans of that make.

 

[UCVRelics]

We have started the process of bringing interpretive artillery displays to the Brice's Crossroads Battlefield. We have secured a few carriages and will weld, clean, and paint them, and then fundraise to purchase non-firing reproduction barrels. We aim to be accurate in getting the correct types of barrels and in placing these displays as close to the spots the specific batteries were in action on the battlefield on June 10, 1864. There were a total of 30 artillery pieces at Brice's (22 Union, 8 Confederate). While it is unlikely that we will place all 30 pieces, our goal is to represent every artillery unit that was at the fight with at least 2 interpretive pieces in the future. We need as many sharp research minds to assist us as possible! We are putting together a comprehensive OOB with just the artillery units. See where we are at below:
The Artillery of Brice's Crossroads

Confederate Artillery (8 Total guns)

Morton's Artillery (8 guns)
Captain John W. Morton commanding

Rice's Battery (4 guns)
Captain T.W. Rice commanding
-Lt. Haller's section: Two 12-pound Howitzers
-Lt. Briggs' section: Two 6-pound smoothbores

Morton's Battery (4 guns)
Lt. T. Saunders Sale commanding
-Lt. Mayson's section: Two 3-inch Ordinance Rifles
-Lt. Brown's section: One 3-inch Ordinance Rifle, (One "Iron 3-inch gun" or One "12-pound Iron smoothbore"?)


Union Artillery (22 Total guns)

Waring's Cavalry Brigade

-4th Missouri Cavalry: (4 guns)
Four Mountain Howitzers (uncaptured)

-14th Indiana Battery, one section: (2 guns)
(Two Rifles ?) (possibly "borrowed" guns of another unit in Memphis?)

Winslow's Cavalry Brigade

-Co. A, 10th Missouri Cavalry, Captain Joyce commanding: (2 guns)
Two Rifled 6-pounders (uncaptured)

-7th Wisconsin Battery, one section, Captain H.S. Lee commanding: (2 guns)
(Two Rifled 12-pounders??)

US Cavalry Division (10 guns)

Wilkin's Infantry Brigade

-Co. E, 1st Illinois Light Artillery, Captain J.A. Fitch commanding: (4 guns)
Three 12-pound Napoleons m/1857
One 3.80 James Rifle

-6th Indiana Battery, one section, Captain M. Mueller commanding: (2 guns)
(Two??)

Hoge's Brigade (Illinois)

-Co. B, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery, Captain F.H. Chapman commanding: (4 guns)
(Four??)

Bouton's Brigade (USCT)

-Co. F, 2nd USCLA, Captain C.A. Lamberg commanding (2 guns)
(Two??)

US Infantry Division (12 guns)

Notes: 6 Union guns make it back to Memphis, 16 are captured.

O.R. Captured list:
-1 = 3-inch steel gun, rifled
-2 = 3.8-inch James bronze guns, rifled
-2 = 12-pounder bronze howitzers
-3 = 12-pounder Napoleon bronze guns
-3 = 6-pounder James bronze guns, rifled
-5 = 6-pounder bronze guns

*Priority number 1 is finding out, if possible, all the type/make models of ALL the guns that were at the battle. We are almost there with the CSA and there seems to be only one gun in question so any help with that would be be great! On the Union side there is a lot of holes at this point. We know that 6 Union guns made it back to Memphis, we know what those are. We know the type of guns Co. E, 1st Illinois Artillery lost on the expedition, so we can lay those over the "Captured List". But many others remain ambiguous or totally unknown. It may be that if we can find what two or three of the other Union batteries were carrying that we can have a great guess at the unknown ones by process of elimination on the "Captured List".

We do know some of the total men engaged and casualty listings for SOME of these units, but chose not to include them here to further clutter things up. If you come across such figures or command structures we would be grateful to see those too! Thanks for taking a gander at this as I have never closely researched artillery or an artillery unit. My knowledge is OK at best.

Just wandering who the "We" is? The battlefield is part of the NPS so how is all this going work? Brice's Crossroad is very near and dear to me as my Dad and I use to relics hunt there back in the late 70's. I would be interested in helping out.

 

[Dartmouth Down South]

Regret to inform that the above is incorrect; at the onset of the campaign, Morton's battery consisted of 2 steel 3-inch Rodman guns and 2 12-lb brass howitzers. On the morning of June 10, Forrest's cavalry captured 2 more steel 3-inch Rodmans, which were then exchanged with the howitzers, thereby giving Morton a battery of four 3-inch Rodmans for the rest of the battle. (source, page 176).

Although it is not listed, I would extrapolate further and say that the captured Rodmans were from the 14th Indiana Battery, since the Rodmans that made up Morton's battery from the start had actually been captured nineteen months before, from that same battery, and it would make sense that the 14th still used Rodmans of that make.

No need to have regret! It's why I posted. Thanks!

 

[Dartmouth Down South]

Just wandering who the "We" is? The battlefield is part of the NPS so how is all this going work? Brice's Crossroad is very near and dear to me as my Dad and I use to relics hunt there back in the late 70's. I would be interested in helping out.

We is the Brice's Crossroads Foundation. The NPS is responsible for maintaining and interpreting 1.1 acre. They keep the grass cut and do a program at their Tupelo VC once a year or so. We interpret the 1,700 other acres that surround the NPS site. We consistently host interpretive programming, bring in great speakers, give tours, put up markers and now cannon! Please give us a look we are on Facebook and have a website as well!
Brice's Crossroads Foundation

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

We have started the process of bringing interpretive artillery displays to the Brice's Crossroads Battlefield. We have secured a few carriages and will weld, clean, and paint them, and then fundraise to purchase non-firing reproduction barrels. We aim to be accurate in getting the correct types of barrels and in placing these displays as close to the spots the specific batteries were in action on the battlefield on June 10, 1864. There were a total of 30 artillery pieces at Brice's (22 Union, 8 Confederate). While it is unlikely that we will place all 30 pieces, our goal is to represent every artillery unit that was at the fight with at least 2 interpretive pieces in the future. We need as many sharp research minds to assist us as possible! We are putting together a comprehensive OOB with just the artillery units. See where we are at below:
The Artillery of Brice's Crossroads

Confederate Artillery (8 Total guns)

Morton's Artillery (8 guns)
Captain John W. Morton commanding

Rice's Battery (4 guns)
Captain T.W. Rice commanding
-Lt. Haller's section: Two 12-pound Howitzers
-Lt. Briggs' section: Two 6-pound smoothbores

Morton's Battery (4 guns)
Lt. T. Saunders Sale commanding
-Lt. Mayson's section: Two 3-inch Ordinance Rifles
-Lt. Brown's section: One 3-inch Ordinance Rifle, (One "Iron 3-inch gun" or One "12-pound Iron smoothbore"?)


Union Artillery (22 Total guns)

Waring's Cavalry Brigade

-4th Missouri Cavalry: (4 guns)
Four Mountain Howitzers (uncaptured)

-14th Indiana Battery, one section: (2 guns)
(Two Rifles ?) (possibly "borrowed" guns of another unit in Memphis?)

Winslow's Cavalry Brigade

-Co. A, 10th Missouri Cavalry, Captain Joyce commanding: (2 guns)
Two Rifled 6-pounders (uncaptured)

-7th Wisconsin Battery, one section, Captain H.S. Lee commanding: (2 guns)
(Two Rifled 12-pounders??)

US Cavalry Division (10 guns)

Wilkin's Infantry Brigade

-Co. E, 1st Illinois Light Artillery, Captain J.A. Fitch commanding: (4 guns)
Three 12-pound Napoleons m/1857
One 3.80 James Rifle

-6th Indiana Battery, one section, Captain M. Mueller commanding: (2 guns)
(Two??)

Hoge's Brigade (Illinois)

-Co. B, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery, Captain F.H. Chapman commanding: (4 guns)
(Four??)

Bouton's Brigade (USCT)

-Co. F, 2nd USCLA, Captain C.A. Lamberg commanding (2 guns)
(Two??)

US Infantry Division (12 guns)

Notes: 6 Union guns make it back to Memphis, 16 are captured.

O.R. Captured list:
-1 = 3-inch steel gun, rifled
-2 = 3.8-inch James bronze guns, rifled
-2 = 12-pounder bronze howitzers
-3 = 12-pounder Napoleon bronze guns
-3 = 6-pounder James bronze guns, rifled
-5 = 6-pounder bronze guns

*Priority number 1 is finding out, if possible, all the type/make models of ALL the guns that were at the battle. We are almost there with the CSA and there seems to be only one gun in question so any help with that would be be great! On the Union side there is a lot of holes at this point. We know that 6 Union guns made it back to Memphis, we know what those are. We know the type of guns Co. E, 1st Illinois Artillery lost on the expedition, so we can lay those over the "Captured List". But many others remain ambiguous or totally unknown. It may be that if we can find what two or three of the other Union batteries were carrying that we can have a great guess at the unknown ones by process of elimination on the "Captured List".

We do know some of the total men engaged and casualty listings for SOME of these units, but chose not to include them here to further clutter things up. If you come across such figures or command structures we would be grateful to see those too! Thanks for taking a gander at this as I have never closely researched artillery or an artillery unit. My knowledge is OK at best.

What you are doing is commendable!

 

[UCVRelics]

We is the Brice's Crossroads Foundation. The NPS is responsible for maintaining and interpreting 1.1 acre. They keep the grass cut and do a program at their Tupelo VC once a year or so. We interpret the 1,700 other acres that surround the NPS site. We consistently host interpretive programming, bring in great speakers, give tours, put up markers and now cannon! Please give us a look we are on Facebook and have a website as well!
Brice's Crossroads Foundation

I'm very familiar with BCF. PM me what your needs are and how I can help.

 

[J C J Barefoot]

DAN MASTERS has vast knowledge and might be able to help. When are you going to start raising funds? I think there are those that had ancestors at Brices that would like to help out.
https://dan-masters-civil-war.blogspot.com/2025/06/federal-arms-of-brices-crossroads.html

 

[DixieRifles]

-Co. F, 2nd USCLA, Captain C.A. Lamberg commanding (2 guns)
(Two??)

I'm not sure if this helps, but Captain Lamberg's section of Battery "D", 2 USCLA, that fought at Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864 had two(2) 6-lb James Rifles.

Text of marker at the Inner Fort.

Union Artillery 6 Pound James Rifles
Inscription.
At the right of the Battery of Fort Pillow these two middle embrasures or openings in the parapet were fortified with two 6 pounder rifles. These were manned by members of Battery D, 2nd U.S. Light Artillery (colored). During the final assault on the fort, all Union artillery was largely ineffective because the guns could not be depressed enough to fire upon the Confederates on the steep terrain below.

 

[redbob]

Regret to inform that the above is incorrect; at the onset of the campaign, Morton's battery consisted of 2 steel 3-inch Rodman guns and 2 12-lb brass howitzers. On the morning of June 10, Forrest's cavalry captured 2 more steel 3-inch Rodmans, which were then exchanged with the howitzers, thereby giving Morton a battery of four 3-inch Rodmans for the rest of the battle. (source, page 176).

Although it is not listed, I would extrapolate further and say that the captured Rodmans were from the 14th Indiana Battery, since the Rodmans that made up Morton's battery from the start had actually been captured nineteen months before, from that same battery, and it would make sense that the 14th still used Rodmans of that make.

Would these be Morton's Singer-Nimick steel guns?

 

[Stryker65]

Would these be Morton's Singer-Nimick steel guns?

No idea -- Morton reported they were Rodmans, although you might be right.

 

[redbob]

I believe that they are as only six were ever made and Morton had four of them. Three remain, one at Gettysburg and two at Chickamauga.

 

[redbob]

I hope that this project works out as artillery certainly adds interest and interpretation to a battlefield.

 

[UCVRelics]

Would these be Morton's Singer-Nimick steel guns?

Yes they are. Duffy called me a little while ago about this. He has been able to acquire some of the old 1920's era carriages for this project. I remember not long ago there were 2 guns up at the site down the road and the last time I stopped there last year they were gone. I'm going to donate a tube to this project as long as its a CS tube.

 

[Dartmouth Down South]

DAN MASTERS has vast knowledge and might be able to help. When are you going to start raising funds? I think there are those that had ancestors at Brices that would like to help out.
https://dan-masters-civil-war.blogspot.com/2025/06/federal-arms-of-brices-crossroads.html

Dan was our keynote speaker this past June and I consider him a personal friend at this point.He has been very helpful with many things.

We are fundraising now! You can check out our website or send me a message. I will let you know all the great projects we have going and more specifics on Artillery if interested. Thanks!

 

[Dartmouth Down South]

I've become convinced that if we can just figure out what Company B, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery had (4 guns total) and what the 6th Indiana Battery (2 gun section) had, I can match the rest for the others by using the "captured list".

 

[Stryker65]

I believe that they are as only six were ever made and Morton had four of them. Three remain, one at Gettysburg and two at Chickamauga.

As two of those would have been captured from the 14th Indiana Battery during the war, is it plausible that all were originally assigned to that battery?

 

[redbob]

As two of those would have been captured from the 14th Indiana Battery during the war, is it plausible that all were originally assigned to that battery?

Forrest had already captured two Singer-Nimick cannon from the 14th Indiana in December, 1862. If the two guns lost by the 14th Indiana at Brice's Crossroads were Singer-Nimicks; then that would account for four of the six that Fremont commissioned.