2nd U. S. Colored Light Artillery Regiment, Battery “I”

Captain Louis B. Smith. Organized at Memphis, Tennessee, April 19, 1864. The battery was attached to the District of Memphis, XVI Army Corps, Department of the Tennessee until June, 1864, when it was placed in the 1st Brigade U. S. Colored troops, under Colonel Edward Bouton. As part of this brigade it took part in the expedition under Major General Andrew J. Smith, which moved from LaGrange, Tennessee, on July 5, 1864, into Mississippi, and culminated in the battle of Harrisburg on July 14 against Confederate forces under lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee and Major General Nathan B. Forrest. The battery went into action several times during campaign, but suffered no casualties.

It returned to Memphis July 22, and continued to be stationed at that point for the remainder of its existence. On December 31, 1864, it was reported in the Light Artillery, Major Raphael G. Rombauer, District of West Tennessee, Department of Mississippi. On February 28, 1865, the District of West Tennessee was transferred to the Department of the Cumberland, and the Post of Memphis was commanded by Brigadier General Augustus L. Chetlain. Rombauer’s Artillery was under his command until July 14, 1865, when the District of West Tennessee was reorganized.

In this reorganization the battery was attached to the 2nd Infantry Brigade, commanded by Colonel I. G. Kappner, which reported to General Chetlain, who continued in command of the post and defenses of Memphis. The battery continued in this brigade until it was ordered mustered out of service on December 11, 1865.

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