What if a case of mistaken identity changed the course of a battle? This is the story of Griffin’s Battery. It played a role in the First Battle of Bull Run.
Griffin’s Battery, or Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery, was formed in 1861. It was organized at West Point. The battery was known as the “West Point Battery”.
Lieutenant Charles Griffin commanded it. His battery had four guns and 70 men. They left West Point early in 1861. Later that year, it became Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery.
At Bull Run, two batteries advanced near Henry House. These were well-commanded regular U.S. Army batteries. Captains James Ricketts and Charles Griffin commanded them.
McDowell ordered the batteries forward. This may have been a mistake. He thought the 11th New York would support them.
Colonel Arthur C. Cummings’s 33rd Virginia Regiment wore blue uniforms. Cummings feared his men would break. He ordered them toward Ricketts’s and Griffin’s guns.
Griffin saw them coming. He swung two guns around and loaded them. Major William F. Barry shouted, “Captain, don’t fire there. Those are your battery support.”
Griffin replied, “They are Confederates”. Barry insisted. The guns returned to their original line. The Virginians marched closer and fired.
Griffin later said, “was the last of us, We were all cut down”. Many horses and gunners died. Ricketts was badly wounded. Griffin tried to save what he could. Cummings’s Virginians captured the guns and ammunition.
A field piece had 12 men. A sergeant led each gun section. It also had a corporal. The section had one gun and a limber. Six horses pulled it. A caisson carried ammunition. Another six horses pulled that. Two spare horses sometimes were available.
Two sections formed a platoon. A second lieutenant commanded it. Six artillerymen rode the left horses. The rest rode on ammunition chests or walked. Three platoons formed a battery. A captain, a lieutenant, and a sergeant commanded it.
Griffin’s Battery saw action in many battles. These include the Peninsula Campaign, Antietam, and Gettysburg. Griffin became a Union general. He commanded a corps in the Army of the Potomac. He fought in key Eastern Theatre campaigns.
Other officers commanded Griffin’s Battery. Henry W. Kingsbury followed Griffin. Charles E. Hazlett died at Gettysburg. Benjamin F. Rittenhouse then commanded. William E. Van Reed and Jacob B. Rawles also commanded.
Griffin’s Battery consolidated with Battery G in late 1864. After the war, it did duty in Washington, D.C.
Consider the chaos of war. A simple misunderstanding led to a devastating loss for Griffin’s Battery.