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The Helena Artillery (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army artillery battery during the American Civil War. The unit was known by several other designations during the war including; Clarkson's Battery, Company A, Shoup's Artillery Battalion, Calvert's Battery and Key's Battery.〔(National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System ), Confederate Arkansas Troops, Key's Battery, Arkansas Light Artillery, Accessed 27 January 2011〕 The unit was occasionally assigned to artillery battalions from other states, so the Arkansas unit was at various times designated as Company C, 20th Alabama Light Artillery Battalion and later as Company H, 28th Georgia Artillery Battalion.〔Sikakis, Stewart, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, Florida and Arkansas, Facts on File, Inc., 1992, ISBN 0-8160-2288-7, page 118.〕 The Compiled Service Records of the members of the battery are filed under Key’s Battery, on NARA microfilm roll #39.〔Gerdes, Edward G., "Helena Artillery (Key’s Battery).", Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Page, Accessed 1 November 2011, http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/keysbatt.html〕 ==Organization== The Helena Artillery was organized at Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas, on April 27, 1861. The battery was enrolled in State service for three months on April 29, 1861. Captain A. W. Clarkson was the first commander of the battery, which was initially composed primarily of Phillips County men. Many of the enlistments in the battery appear to have been from the Irish immigrants who worked in the dockyard at Helena. Approximately 50 of the names of the battery appear to be of Irish nationality.〔Rodgers, Thomas G., and Richard Hook. Irish-American Units in the Civil War. Oxford, UK: Osprey Pub, 2008, page 20.〕 On July 6, 1861, the battery was mustered into Confederate service for twelve months (later extended for the duration of the war) at Memphis, Tennessee. A number of men declined to enter Confederate service, and were discharged on July 23, 1861, at Pitman’s Ferry, Arkansas. The Helena Artillery was closely associated with Colonel Patrick R. Cleburne’s 1st Regiment, Arkansas State Troops (later redesignated 15th Arkansas Infantry), and a number of transfers took place between the two units. Later, the Helena Artillery was augmented by transfers from various Alabama, Missouri and Tennessee regiments, and by conscripts recruited in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.〔 On July 14, 1861, Confederate Brigadier General William J. Hardee arrived in Little Rock to assume unified Confederate command in the state. The following day the state Military Board signed an "Article of Transfer", which provided that all state forces would be transferred on a voluntary basis to the command of the Confederate States of America. The Articles of Transfer included Major Francis A. Shoup's battalion of artillery;〔Confederate military history: a library of Confederate States history, Volume 10, Page 327, Accessed 21 February 2013, http://books.google.com/books?id=VZ9YAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA327&lpg=RA1-PA327&dq=Shoup's+Arkansas+Artillery+Battalion&source=bl&ots=5cqzLPSpO0&sig=w_JxMQTxP2Wp2WOErXC1Wb390Dc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZKEmUbGyIMWs2wXGnoCwBA&sqi=2&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Shoup's%20Arkansas%20Artillery%20Battalion&f=false〕〔United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 3., Book, 1881; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154606/m1/697/?q=Arkansas Battery : accessed February 13, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.〕 :Company A, Captain Clarkson's Helena Light Artillery,〔The National Archives Publication Number: M317, Publication Title: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Arkansas, Content Source: NARA, National Archives Catalog ID: 586957, National Archives Catalog Title: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations , compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865, Record Group: 109, Roll: 0039, Military Unit: Hart's Battery, Light Artillery AND Key's Battery, Light Artillery, Accessed 21 February 2013, http://www.fold3.com/image/#20|219834366〕 :Company B, Captain John T. Trigg's Arkansas Battery; and :Company C, Captain George T. Hubbard's Jackson Light Artillery. Many Confederate artillery units seem to have begun the war named for the city or county that sponsored their organization. In the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, artillery units are most often referred to by the name of their battery commander. During the war, efforts were made to organize artillery units into battalions and regiments, but the battalions seldom functioned as a consolidated organization, in fact batteries were often broken out and fought as one or two gun sections. Shoup's battalion would be an exception to this rule.〔Confederate military history: a library of Confederate States history, Volume 10, Page 334, Accessed 21 February 2013, http://books.google.com/books?id=VZ9YAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA327&lpg=RA1-PA334&dq=Shoup's+Arkansas+Artillery+Battalion&source=bl&ots=5cqzLPSpO0&sig=w_JxMQTxP2Wp2WOErXC1Wb390Dc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZKEmUbGyIMWs2wXGnoCwBA&sqi=2&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Shoup's%20Arkansas%20Artillery%20Battalion&f=false〕 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「Helena Artillery」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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