Formerly Captain H. Baker’s Company
This battery was formed by the division of Captain George H. Monsarrat’s Battery, “The Harding Artillery, into two companies, the exact date not known. The Harding Artillery was organized at Nashville in 1861, soon moved to Mill Springs, Kentucky, where it was divided into two batteries. One of these was Captain H. Baker’s Company, known as Company 11, Tennessee Artillery Corps, and also as Company “A”, Monsarrat’s Tennessee Light Artillery Battalion.
Baker’s Company was first reported in the Official Records on February 23, 1862, at the organization of the Central Army, with Headquarters at Murfreesboro. At that time it was in Major General George B. Crittenden’s Division, Brigadier General William H. Carroll’s Brigade. On April 26, 1862, shortly after the battle of Shiloh, it was reported in Major General William J. Hardee’s Corps, Brigadier General 3. S. Marmaduke’s Brigade at Corinth, Mississippi. At that time it reported 84 effectives, but nothing was said as to what type of guns it had. It was again reported in Marmaduke’s Brigade on May 26. Captain Baker resigned, and General Braxton Bragg appointed W. R. Browne as Captain on June 16, 1862.
On June 30, 1862, Browne’s Battery was reported in the Artillery Reserve of Bragg’s Army of Mississippi, with headquarters at Tupelo, Mississippi. Company reports state it left Tupelo July 20 for Okolona, Mississippi, and on August 28 moved to Saltillo, Mississippi, where it was stationed on September 1, 1862.
In October, 1862, the men were transferred to Sengstak’s Battery, Co. “D”, 2nd Alabama Artillery Battalion. Captain Browne was reported as Assistant Adjutant Inspector General, 3rd Brigade, Brigadier General D. H. Maury’s Division, on October 25, 1862. No record of the activities of the battery was found.
This unit history was extracted from Tennesseans in the Civil War, Vol 1. Copyrighted 1964 by the Civil War Centennial Commission of Tennessee and is published here with their permission. This history may not be republished for any reason without the written permission of the copyright owner.