Confederate Artillery

Confederate Artillery. "A powerful language". , The Confederates had four cannons at the Battle of Hoke's, although only one ,vas used in the fighting., These guns belonged to the 1st Rockbridge Artillery; which had been organized in Lexington, Virginia (in Rockbridge County) in April 1861. They were commanded by Capt. William Pendleton, a West Point graduate. Episcopal priest, and the rector at Lexington's Grace Episcopal Church. , Before leaving Lexington, 1.ndleton received permission to take two of the Virginia Military Institute's lighter-weight 6-pound cannons that the cadets used fir training. (The replica in front of you represents a alder gun.) These guns weighted 560 pounds, 300 pounds lighter than a standard 6-pound gun. The lighter guns war easier to handle during training, but also had greater recoil and were not "considered heavy enough for firing ball cartridges." , Pendleton obtained two additional guns for the battery in Richmond: a heavier, standard-weight 6-pounder, and a 12-pound howitzer, both taken from the captured United Stares arsenal in the city. The members of the regiment, out of respect for Rev. Pendleton, reportedly named their four guns Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, after the four Gospels, because "they spoke a powerful language." During the battle, only "Luke, the standard-weight 6-pounder, was brought forward to take pan in the fighting. The others were left further back, at Pendletons request, due to uncertainty about the size of the Union force and the risk of capture. , The 1st Rockbridge Artillery would go on to fight at many of the most famous battles of the war, including First Manassas (First Bull Run), Antietam, and Gettysburg, and would surrender with the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. , [Caption:] , William Pendleton, a captain at the time of the battle he would end the war as a brigadier general. Courtesy Library of Congress