Captain G. Moody
09-09-2017, 11:11 AM
Madison Light Artillery "Moody's Battery"
Also known as the Madison "Tips" (Tipperarys), this was a unit mostly made up of Irishmen.
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/dd/78/72/dd78722f2938b216802c3d36014f9ec9--irish-proverbs-celtic-heart.jpg
"Organized at New Carthage as an infantry company, this unit proceeded to Virginia and was mustered in at Lynchburg on May 23, 1861. On August 23, it was converted into an artillery company. After completing its organization at Richmond in October, the battery went to Manassas with two 12-pounder howitzers, two 3-inch rifles, and two 6-pounder smoothbores. The battery saw its first fighting during the Seven Days' Battles, engaging the enemy at Garnett's Farm, Golding's Farm, and Fair Oaks Station, June 26-29, 1862. During the 2nd Manassas Campaign, the battery served in General James Longstreet's corps but saw no fighting.
At the Battle of Sharpsburg, the battery reportedly had two 3-inch rifles and two 24-pounder howitzers. The men helped to repulse numerous enemy attacks during the battle.
When the Federal General Mansfield's XII Corps troops began their counterattack through the East Woods and into farmer Miller's Cornfield, the men where on the field behind Ripley's Brigade.
In the late afternoon of 17 September Units of Sykes' US Regular Division are in position to break through the center of the Confederate line on the outskirts of Sharpsburg. The battery was located at the front line(!) during this attack and had to fall back to a safe location to continue the fighting.
During the early stages of the Battle of Fredericksburg, the battery shelled the enemy-occupied city. Late in the afternoon, two guns relieved the Washington Artillery on Marye's Heights and fired until they ran out of ammunition. At Chancellorsville, the battery participated in artillery duels on May 3 and 5 near Salem Church. The battery consisted of four 24-pounder howitzers during the Gettysburg Campaign. It fought in support of elements of Longstreet's corps on July 2 and 3. The battery accompanied the corps to Georgia in September, 1863, but arrived on the battlefield of Chickamauga after the fighting had ceased. From November 4 to December 23, the battery participated in Longstreet's campaign against Knoxville. The battery went back to Virginia in time to participate in the battles of the Wilderness Spotsylvania. The men followed the fortunes of Longstreet's corps through the Petersburg Campaign and surrendered at Appomattox on April 9, 1865--3 officers and 41 men signing paroles there."
24-pdr Field Howitzer
Battle of Fredericksburg
Edward Porter Alexander, George V. Moody
Madison Light Artillery
The battle of Fredericksburg might have “effectively” ended with the stalled assaults on Marye’s Heights at sunset on December 13, 1862. But the Federals continued to occupy the city and ground in front of Marye’s Heights for two more days. The battle lines exchanged fire throughout those days. Among the shots fired on December 15 came from 24-pdr field howitzers in Captain George V. Moody’s Madison Light Artillery (Louisiana). Lieutenant Colonel E. Porter Alexander directed those shots.
https://i0.wp.com/farm5.staticflickr.com/4150/5004763530_59392d057e.jpg
… Monday morning was again thick and hazy, but when the sun was about an hour high the nest of sharpshooters in the tanyard announced their ability to see by opening a very lively fusillade. I happened to be nearby, & I at once determined to try & route them. But the building was so nestled in the hollow, & hidden by intervening low hills & trees, that only one gun, one of Moody’s 24 pr. howitzers, could even the peak of its roof be seen. But I knew that if I only skimmed the top of the low intervening hill the shell would curve downward & probably get low enough for the loop holes. The howitzer was on the south of the Plank Road & some 400 yards off. I got the line of the obnoxious corner of the roof & sighted in that line, & then fixed an elevation which I thought would just carry the shell over the low hill, aiming myself, & taking several minutes to get all exact. Then I ordered fire. Standing behind we could see the shell almost brush the grass, as it curved over the hill, & then we heard her strike & explode. At once there came a cheer from our picket line in front of the hill, & presently there came running up an exited fellow to tell us. He called out as he came – “That got ’em! That got ’em! You can hear them just a hollering & a groaning in there.”
Alexander’s detailed description offers a ready example of the advantages of the howitzers’ low velocity and high angle trajectory when applied to the battlefield. The 24-pdrs were designed with this type of fire effects in mind. Given the reference about distances and the time taken to set the shot, I would assume Alexander had good measures of the field and was able to properly set the fuse for just the right time.
Alexander wasn’t done with Moody’s big howitzers that day. And again, he used the ballistic capabilities of the howitzers to achieve an effect:
… we discovered that quite a little body of the enemy were lying down in a shallow depression about 400 yards from another of Moody’s 24 pr. howitzers, which were my favorite guns. Partly to make the enemy unhappy, & partly to show my companions how effective the gun was, I carefully aimed & fired four shrapnel (each of which contained 175 musket balls) so as to burst each one about 15 feet above the ground & about as many yards in front of the little hollow. While we could not see into it, the bullets & fragment would probe it easily. From the very first shot, we saw, at the far end, men helping three wounded to get out to the rear, but our infantry sharpshooters opened on them & ran them back. The next day, [Lieutenant Colonel Briscoe G.] Baldwin & [Captain Samuel] Johnston visited the spot together to study the effects, & told me that they found 13 dead which they were sure from the fresh wounds & blood were killed by those four shrapnel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blI3vpolz4g
The 24-pounder was a bronze smoothbore, and was part of the 1841 US artillery series. By 1862 it was uncommon in Federal service, because of its short range and heavy weight, but still in Confederate use - valued for its accuracy and 'hitting power'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G5QQEyqiIs
The second most common rifled field artillery in both Armies generally, and the most common on the Maryland Campaign, the 3 inch Ordnance gun was made of hammer-welded, formed, machined iron. It was popular because of its accuracy and reliability
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ot7amDyqbY
Company Roster:
Commanding Officer: Captain Moody
Also known as the Madison "Tips" (Tipperarys), this was a unit mostly made up of Irishmen.
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/dd/78/72/dd78722f2938b216802c3d36014f9ec9--irish-proverbs-celtic-heart.jpg
"Organized at New Carthage as an infantry company, this unit proceeded to Virginia and was mustered in at Lynchburg on May 23, 1861. On August 23, it was converted into an artillery company. After completing its organization at Richmond in October, the battery went to Manassas with two 12-pounder howitzers, two 3-inch rifles, and two 6-pounder smoothbores. The battery saw its first fighting during the Seven Days' Battles, engaging the enemy at Garnett's Farm, Golding's Farm, and Fair Oaks Station, June 26-29, 1862. During the 2nd Manassas Campaign, the battery served in General James Longstreet's corps but saw no fighting.
At the Battle of Sharpsburg, the battery reportedly had two 3-inch rifles and two 24-pounder howitzers. The men helped to repulse numerous enemy attacks during the battle.
When the Federal General Mansfield's XII Corps troops began their counterattack through the East Woods and into farmer Miller's Cornfield, the men where on the field behind Ripley's Brigade.
In the late afternoon of 17 September Units of Sykes' US Regular Division are in position to break through the center of the Confederate line on the outskirts of Sharpsburg. The battery was located at the front line(!) during this attack and had to fall back to a safe location to continue the fighting.
During the early stages of the Battle of Fredericksburg, the battery shelled the enemy-occupied city. Late in the afternoon, two guns relieved the Washington Artillery on Marye's Heights and fired until they ran out of ammunition. At Chancellorsville, the battery participated in artillery duels on May 3 and 5 near Salem Church. The battery consisted of four 24-pounder howitzers during the Gettysburg Campaign. It fought in support of elements of Longstreet's corps on July 2 and 3. The battery accompanied the corps to Georgia in September, 1863, but arrived on the battlefield of Chickamauga after the fighting had ceased. From November 4 to December 23, the battery participated in Longstreet's campaign against Knoxville. The battery went back to Virginia in time to participate in the battles of the Wilderness Spotsylvania. The men followed the fortunes of Longstreet's corps through the Petersburg Campaign and surrendered at Appomattox on April 9, 1865--3 officers and 41 men signing paroles there."
24-pdr Field Howitzer
Battle of Fredericksburg
Edward Porter Alexander, George V. Moody
Madison Light Artillery
The battle of Fredericksburg might have “effectively” ended with the stalled assaults on Marye’s Heights at sunset on December 13, 1862. But the Federals continued to occupy the city and ground in front of Marye’s Heights for two more days. The battle lines exchanged fire throughout those days. Among the shots fired on December 15 came from 24-pdr field howitzers in Captain George V. Moody’s Madison Light Artillery (Louisiana). Lieutenant Colonel E. Porter Alexander directed those shots.
https://i0.wp.com/farm5.staticflickr.com/4150/5004763530_59392d057e.jpg
… Monday morning was again thick and hazy, but when the sun was about an hour high the nest of sharpshooters in the tanyard announced their ability to see by opening a very lively fusillade. I happened to be nearby, & I at once determined to try & route them. But the building was so nestled in the hollow, & hidden by intervening low hills & trees, that only one gun, one of Moody’s 24 pr. howitzers, could even the peak of its roof be seen. But I knew that if I only skimmed the top of the low intervening hill the shell would curve downward & probably get low enough for the loop holes. The howitzer was on the south of the Plank Road & some 400 yards off. I got the line of the obnoxious corner of the roof & sighted in that line, & then fixed an elevation which I thought would just carry the shell over the low hill, aiming myself, & taking several minutes to get all exact. Then I ordered fire. Standing behind we could see the shell almost brush the grass, as it curved over the hill, & then we heard her strike & explode. At once there came a cheer from our picket line in front of the hill, & presently there came running up an exited fellow to tell us. He called out as he came – “That got ’em! That got ’em! You can hear them just a hollering & a groaning in there.”
Alexander’s detailed description offers a ready example of the advantages of the howitzers’ low velocity and high angle trajectory when applied to the battlefield. The 24-pdrs were designed with this type of fire effects in mind. Given the reference about distances and the time taken to set the shot, I would assume Alexander had good measures of the field and was able to properly set the fuse for just the right time.
Alexander wasn’t done with Moody’s big howitzers that day. And again, he used the ballistic capabilities of the howitzers to achieve an effect:
… we discovered that quite a little body of the enemy were lying down in a shallow depression about 400 yards from another of Moody’s 24 pr. howitzers, which were my favorite guns. Partly to make the enemy unhappy, & partly to show my companions how effective the gun was, I carefully aimed & fired four shrapnel (each of which contained 175 musket balls) so as to burst each one about 15 feet above the ground & about as many yards in front of the little hollow. While we could not see into it, the bullets & fragment would probe it easily. From the very first shot, we saw, at the far end, men helping three wounded to get out to the rear, but our infantry sharpshooters opened on them & ran them back. The next day, [Lieutenant Colonel Briscoe G.] Baldwin & [Captain Samuel] Johnston visited the spot together to study the effects, & told me that they found 13 dead which they were sure from the fresh wounds & blood were killed by those four shrapnel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blI3vpolz4g
The 24-pounder was a bronze smoothbore, and was part of the 1841 US artillery series. By 1862 it was uncommon in Federal service, because of its short range and heavy weight, but still in Confederate use - valued for its accuracy and 'hitting power'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G5QQEyqiIs
The second most common rifled field artillery in both Armies generally, and the most common on the Maryland Campaign, the 3 inch Ordnance gun was made of hammer-welded, formed, machined iron. It was popular because of its accuracy and reliability
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ot7amDyqbY
Company Roster:
Commanding Officer: Captain Moody