The 2nd Arkansas Field Battery (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army artillery battery during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Dallas Artillery and Hart's Arkansas Battery.Note that the records of Hart's Dallas (Arkansas) Artillery are sometimes confused with those of Good's Dallas (Texas) Light Artillery. The battery was re-organized on two occasions. Following a charge of cowardice during Battle of Pea Ridge, the battery was ordered to disband. After being cleared of that charge the battery was reorganized and served until it was captured at the Battle of Arkansas Post. After being exchanged and re-organized for the second time, it served until the final surrender of Confederate forces in May 1865.
Organization The Dallas Artillery was organized at Dallas, Polk County, Arkansas, in the late spring of 1861, and enlisted in Confederate service at Fayetteville on August 1, 1861, with 75 officers and men on the rolls. The original officers included Captain William Hart, First Lieutenant J. W. Thomas, and Second Lieutenant Charles Ringer. The battery was equipped with four 6-pounder guns.Shea, William & Hess, Earl. Pea Ridge, Civil War Campaign in the West, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1992: 331-339. No muster rolls for this first organization have been discovered. Officers: Captain William Hart; Lieutenant D. O'Connell; Lieutenant G. W. McIntosh; Second Lieutenant E. A. Dubose; Second Lieutenant James Nolan.
Service In January 1862, Hart's Battery was assigned to Colonel Louis Herbert's 2nd Brigade of Colonel James McIntosh's Division in northwest Arkansas and the Indian Territory.United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 8., Book, 1883; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154611/m1/735/?q=Hart Battery : accessed February 03, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. It was still assigned to the 2nd Brigade when it fought in the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) in Benton County, Arkansas, March 7–8, 1862.Shea, William L., & Earl J. Hess. Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992. : pages 331-339
Pea Ridge
During the first day of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Colonel E. Greer was required to assume command of remaining Confederate forces in the Leetown sector of the battlefield after the death of Brigadier General Ben McCulloch and Brigadier General McIntosh. in his report Greer described the action of Harts battery on the first day:
On the second day of the battle Union forces captured two of the battery's guns, along with its colors. General Earl Van Dorn ordered Hart's Battery and Clark's Missouri Battery from reserve into the front line. Hart's Battery arrived first and unlimbered but came under converging fire from twenty-one Federal guns.William Shea and Earl Hess in "Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West,"
Hart's men, who were green and untried, became unnerved by the enemy fire and within minutes limbered to the rear. On reaching Elkhorn Tavern, Hart complained to Van Dorn that the fire had been too hot for them. In anger Van Dorn placed him under arrest for cowardice, redistributed his ammunition to Clark's Battery and ordered Hart's guns to the rear.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 8., Book, 1883; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154611/m1/316/?q=Hart Battery : accessed February 03, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. In a report of the actual strength of McCulloch's Division on March 11, 1862, three days after the battle of Pea Ridge, Hart's remaining strength is listed as 2 Officers, 52 Enlisted men, 3 guns, 3 caissons, no ammunition.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 8., Book, 1883; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154611/m1/782/?q=Hart: accessed December 09, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
Dallas Artillery disbanded In the reorganization of the Confederate Army of the West that took place after the defeat at Pea Ridge, Hart's unit was initially assigned to Brigadier General D. M. Frost's artillery brigade of Major General Sterling Price's Division.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 8., Book, 1883; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154611/m1/794/?q=Hart battery: accessed February 15, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas The general commanding the Trans-Mississippi District issued General Orders No. 10, dated March 22, 1862, which censured several members of Hart's Battery, and disbanded the battery "for shameful conduct in the presence of the enemy".United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 8., Book, 1883; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154611/m1/336/?q=Hart : accessed December 07, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
Hart's four remaining 6-pounder guns were reassigned to MacDonald's St. Louis Battery. In General Order No. 7, Headquarters Arty Bgde, dated March 25, from Camp Churchill Clark, near Van Buren Arkansas, "the arty co known as [Wm] Hart's Btry is hereby disbanded-those that wish to reenlist in other btrys can do so to redeem the reputation they have lost of a few bad men of this Btry."Odom, Danny "Re: arms brought out by Captain Hart??" Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 12/8/2013, Accessed 10 December 2013, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?page=1;md=read;id=28884Henry W. Williams (1816-1892) Collection, 1835-1953 (bulk 1848-1890), Missouri Historical Society Archives, Civil War Series, Box 2, Folder 4, 1861 Dec 18-1862 Apr 9 Order book of General Orders of Governor Jackson and Daniel M. Frost, primarily in Arkansas, regarding affairs of the Confederate army including: the officers to serve under Frost; the daily schedule in permanent camps; the court martial of Thomas Delaney and William Bamberg with an extensive list of their crimes and punishments; inspections by quartermasters; extensive instructions to prepare for a march from Cove Creek, Arkansas, to Fayetteville, Arkansas; rules for the newly established Camp McCullough. 30 pages
A members of the battery attached themselves to various Arkansas and Missiour commands as General Van Dorn's Army of the West moved east. After boarding steamboats at Des Arc and being transported by water to Memphis and then by rail to Corinth Mississippi, the army arrived just days after the Battle of Shiloh. Captain Hart continued to serve with the Army of the West, attaching himself to Captain David Provence's Battery. The Provence's battery participated in the Battle of Farmington, Mississippi, on May 9, 1862. According to Captain Provence's report, "Captain William Hart, late of Hart's Battery, desired and was permitted to act as gunner at one of the Howitzers, where if reports be true, he served with considerable effect" United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 10, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1884, Page 924; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154613/m1/932/?q=Provence : accessed August 19, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
After the Battle of Farmington, Captain Hart returned to Arkansas. Other former members of the Dallas Artillery remained with the Army of the West in Northern Mississippi, now under command of Major General Price. Many former members of the battery signed a petition requesting a court of inquiry to clear their names. Eventually a court of inquiry was convened into the allegations against Hart's Battery, which resulted in the following action:
It is not possible to track exactly what became of most of the enlisted personnel of the original Dallas Artillery because no muster roll of this first organization has survived, but a few members are mentioned in the Official Records of the American Civil War. Lieutenant Charles Ringer, became an Ordnance Sergeant of Captain Guibor's 1st Missouri Light Artillery and was subsequently captured at Vicksburg.The National Archives, Publication Number: M322, Publication Title: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Missouri, 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, State: Missouri, Short Description: NARA M322. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Missouri units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier., Roll: 0081, Military Unit:, First Battery, Light Artillery, Accessed 11 December 2011, http://www.fold3.com/image/219842222/?terms=Charles Ringer#20/120967291/ As late as October 1862, Lieutenant Ringer was instrumental in assisting the members of Harts Battery which had been cleared by the Court of Inquiry obtain pay which they were due at the time the battery was ordered to be disbanded. There are affidavit in the Compiled Service Records of each of the cleared members attesting to the service and pay records of the men, signed by Lieutenant Ringer.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, State: Arkansas, Short Description: NARA M317. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Arkansas units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier. Roll: 0039, Military Unit: Hart's Battery, Light Artillery AND Key's Battery, Light Artillery, Givenname: Charles E, Surname: Steele, Accessed 24 December 2013, http://www.fold3.com/image/219842222/?terms=Charles#20/219844168/
Second organization Captain Hart left the Army of the West in northern Mississippi and was back in Arkansas by early June, 1862. Hart apparently rejoined other members of his former unit in Arkansas where he was directed to reform his unit by Major General Hindman. By June 14, 1862, Hart was apparently present and busy reorganizing his command:
And June 17, 1862:
And June 19, 1862:
And June 30, 1862: