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The 4th Arkansas Field Battery (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army artillery battery during the American Civil War. The battery spent its entire existence in the Department of the Trans-Mississippi, including time in the Indian Territory. Late in the war the battery supported operations in Louisiana. Also known as: Desha County Artillery and West's Battery. == Organization == West's Battery was formed during the spring of 1862 and for a time served in the District of the Indian Territory.〔National Park Service, "4th Field Battery, Arkansas Artillery (West's)", Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, Accessed 13 January 2013, http://www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/regiments.cfm〕 It was led by Captain Henry Clay West.〔United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1888, Page 903; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154600 : accessed February 03, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.〕〔Gerdes, Edward G., "Organization of the Artillery in 1864", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 2 June 2010, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/artillry.html〕 Captain West had previously served as the 1st Lieutenant of Woodruff's Weaver Light Artillery of Pulaski County.〔Woodruff, W.E. With the Light Guns in '61-'65: Reminiscences of Eleven Arkansas, Missouri and Texas Batteries in the Civil War. (Little Rock, AR: Central Printing Co., 1903).〕 The other battery officers were First Lieutenant Dan J. Murphy; Second Lieutenant Benjamin B. Brett; Third Lieutenant John J. Brooks. Lieutenant Brett resigned in the early part of the war, and Lieutenant Brooks succeeded him, the place of the latter being filled by Third Lieutenant Peter Dumas.〔"Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas", Goodspeed Publishing Company (1890), Accessed 12 January 2012, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ardesha/gdspdhis.htm#M〕 At the time that Lieutenant West learned that he had been elected Captain of a battery organized from Desha County, he was at Fort Smith with the Weaver Light Artillery and the new Desha County battery was report to be at Dardanelle. West joined the unit at Dardanelle and eventually moved the unit to Indian Territory where it was joined in an artillery battalion with the Weaver Light Artillery under the command of Major Woodruff.〔Woodruff, W.E. With the Light Guns in '61-'65: Reminiscences of Eleven Arkansas, Missouri and Texas Batteries in the Civil War. (Little Rock, AR: Central Printing Co., 1903).〕 West's battery spent the remainder of the winter and spring in Indian Territory. When Major General Thomas C. Hindman assumed command of the Department of the Trans-Mississippi on May 31, 1862, on of his first acts was to order General Pike to return first Woodruff's Battery and eventually West Battery to Arkansas.〔United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 13., Book, 1885; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154621/m1/870/?q=Woodruff Battery : accessed February 03, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.〕 This action touched off a bitter struggle between Brigadier General Pike and Major General Hindman that ultimately resulted in Pike demanding to be relieved of command of the Indian Territory.〔United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 13., Book, 1885; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154621/m1/984/?q=Woodruff Battery : accessed February 03, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.〕 In an August 1, 1862 telegraph from Major General Thomas C. Hindman to Colonel Charles A. Carroll at Fort Smith, Arkansas giving him direction to divide two bronze guns obtained from Fort McCulloch in Indian Territory and the six guns of Wests battery between Colonel Carrol, Colonel Cooper and Brigadier General Rains. Hindman gave further instructions on August 8, 1862 when he instructed Colonel Cooper to choose between West's Battery and Howell's battery take three of the bronze guns. On the same day Hindman wrote to Major (former Brigadier General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce of the Confederate Commissary Department at Fort Smith stating, "I want these batteries completely effective by August 25th."〔Odom, Danny, "Re: West's 4th Arkansas Battery in the summer of 63" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 1/14/2013, Accessed 15 January 2013, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?page=1;md=read;id=27720〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「4th Arkansas Field Battery」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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