Battery I, 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment was an artillery battery from Illinois that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The battery was organized in February 1862 at Chicago and within two months it fought at Shiloh. Later, the battery served at Corinth, Vicksburg, Jackson, Missionary Ridge, Knoxville, Franklin, and Nashville. The battery mustered out of Federal service in July 1865.
Personnel
Battery I, 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment mustered into Federal service at Camp Douglas, Chicago on 10 February 1862. Its original officers were Captain Edward Bouton of Chicago, First Lieutenants Henry A. Rogers and Albert Cudney both of Chicago, and Second Lieutenants William M. Lansing of New York City, John C. Neeley of Belvidere, Illinois, and Joseph A. McCartney of Philadelphia. Cudney was promoted captain on 16 June 1863. Neeley was promoted captain on 10 February 1864. Neeley and Lansing became first lieutenants on 5 May 1862, and McCartney on 31 August 1863. Other second lieutenants were Elisha S. Russell, Robert Cowden, Steven Tart, and Henry Bennett.
Battery I was part of the 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment which organized at Chicago, Springfield, Ottawa, and Cairo, Illinois. There were 12 batteries named A–M, excluding J. The different batteries belonging to the regiment formed between 16 July 1861 (A and B) and 12 August 1862 (M), and enlisted for three years' service. Each battery served independently of the others. The regiment's original commander was Colonel Joseph Dana Webster.
First Lieutenant Rogers was promoted to captain of Battery "D", 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment on 5 May 1862. Captain Bouton was promoted to colonel of the 59th United States Colored Infantry Regiment on 28 June 1863. Second Lieutenant Robert Cowden was promoted major in the same regiment on 28 July 1863. First Lieutenant Lansing was promoted major of the 4th United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment on 3 September 1863. Captain Cudney resigned on 10 February 1864. By 23 March 1864, Captain Neeley commanded the battery and McCartney was first lieutenant. By 1 September 1864, Russell was first lieutenant and Tart and Bennett were second lieutenants. In January and February 1864, many soldiers re-enlisted and were classified as veterans. During the war 123 men enlisted as recruits, mostly in 1864.
History
Shiloh to Vicksburg
Battery I traveled to Benton Barracks at St Louis, Missouri on 1 March 1862. From there they moved to Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee on 1–4 April 1862. At the Battle of Shiloh on 6–7 April 1862, the battery was with Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee but unassigned to any division or brigade. Captain Bouton was in command. On the first day, the battery joined two other newly arrived and unassigned units, the 15th Iowa and 16th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiments. At first they took position at Pittsburg Landing where they faced a horde of panicky stragglers from the battle. Grant then sent the Iowa regiments forward to support John A. McClernand's division. Later in the day, Grant's chief of staff Colonel Webster began placing available artillery units on the final defense line. These included Battery "B", 2nd Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, 8th Ohio Battery, Battery "H", 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, and Battery I. Webster massed most of his guns at the landing, but sent Battery I to the right flank to hold the Snake Creek bridge until Lew Wallace's division arrived. Captain Bouton reported that the horses assigned to the battery had never been harnessed, so they could not be used to haul the guns. Instead, the men had to drag the guns into position.
Battery I started Shiloh's second day with McClernand's division. During the early fighting, Alexander M. McCook's Army of the Ohio division converged with McClernand's troops, passing in front of them. Nevertheless, McClernand positioned Battery I at the edge of Woolf Field. Soon Battery I was in the front line alongside McCook's 29th Indiana, 30th Indiana, and 34th Illinois Infantry Regiments. McCook's troops came under heavy attack and Battery I retreated, leaving two guns behind. Captain Bouton reported that the guns could not be hauled away because the horses were not "drilled sufficiently to stand fire". The abandoned guns were recaptured by the infantry.