The men of the Rowan Artillery have two distinctions at Gettysburg. They were one of the few North Carolina units in Longstreet’s corps, and they made up the far right of the Confederate line.
Lt. Gen. James
Longstreet had no North Carolina Infantry regiments in his corps. His men came
from Alabama, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Virginia. He did
have three North Carolina artillery batteries: Manly’s, Latham’s, and the Rowan
Artillery under Captain James Reilly. Captain Reilly himself is an interesting
story. Born in 1823 in Ireland, he ran away and joined the army, then deserted
and came to America. He enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to the 2nd
US Artillery, serving in the Mexican War. Eventually, he was promoted to ordnance
sergeant, and in 1859, was assigned to Fort Johnson in Southport (then
Smithfield), North Carolina. At the start of the war, he resigned and joined
the Confederate army. Reilly was commissioned a lieutenant in the First North
Carolina Artillery, and a month later, promoted to captain and assigned to
command the Rowan Artillery.
At the time of the
battle of Gettysburg, the Rowan Artillery was a part of Hood’s division, and
with the division moved through Culpeper Court House, Upperville, and crossed
the Shenandoah River at Snicker’s Ford. On June 27 they were at Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania. They went into action on July 2 on the extreme right of the
Confederate line. One member of the battery, about two weeks after the battle,
wrote about the fight on July 2, 1863:
“We halted that night at about 12 o’clock and on the
morning of 2d at about 2 o’clock we again took up the line of march and arrived
at the border of yesterday’s battle field early in the forenoon. Here we
remained till near noon, then our Division (Gen. [John B.] Hood’s) marched to
the extreme right of the Confederate forces and opposite to the strongest point
of the enemy’s line. The Division arrived at this point between three and four
o’clock. The batteries commanded by Capt. [James Reilly], [Alexander] Latham
and [Tyler] Jordon were immediately placed in position and opened fire on the
enemy who replied with spirit, but in a short time two of the his was silenced,
and after a brisk fire of some fifteen to twenty minutes on our side the order
to cease firing rang out as the long line of infantry came on a line with the
batteries. The Artillery ceased to belch forth the missiles of death, but held
their position though under fire, to resume the work of destruction as soon an
opportunity should offer. After waiting for some time and no opportunity
offering to renew the fire, the guns were withdrawn, except one of Capt.
Reilly’s, which had an axle shot off. About five o’clock Capt. Reilly’s Battery
took a position some two or three hundred yards to the left of its first
position, and sent forth a destructive fire of shells over the heads of our
infantry into the yankee lines, and continued the fire until the Confederate
troops ascended up near the top of the first hill. During the firing from this
position, one of the three inch guns bursted [sic], and fortunately, wounded
slightly but one man. Night soon closed the bloody drama for that day, and the
success of our division was the capture of three 10 pounder Parrott Rifle Guns,
and driving the Yankees from the top of the first hill, which was from forty to
fifty feet elevation above the low ground between the two armies to the second,
which was some fifty or sixty feet higher than the first, and immediately in
its rear. The front of both hills was very steep, amounting almost to cliffs.
Before dark, Captain Reilly’s disabled gun was brought off the field and next
day repaired, and one of the captured guns took the place of the bursted gun
and the Battery was again ready with its full compliment of guns for the fight
on the third.”
The site today is marked by two cannon and an iron plaque, just feet from another marker showing the far right of the Confederate line.
I last visited the
site in July 2018.
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