History of the 5th Ohio Light Artillery
Civil War History of the 5th Ohio
This battery of light artillery was recruited by authority of Major-General Fremont, then in command in Missouri. Three weeks of active recruiting, principally in the counties ofHamilton, Wayne, Mercer and Jackson, filled the battery to a maximum of 170 men under the command of Captain Andrew Hickenlooper. The battery was mustered into service from Aug. 31 to Sept. 20, 1861, at Cincinnati, by Capt. Wilson, to serve for three years. The men, without ordinance yet, were forwarded to St. Louis as fast as enlisted.
The officers were at length commissioned by the Governor of Ohio, and on September 22, 1861, the battery was organized. Before armament, clothing or other essentials necessary could be procured, General Fremont and his force started on the march, which terminated at Springfield, with the removal of the General from command. On the 11th of October the battery was ordered to Jefferson City. A period of three months now elapsed, passed by the men in doing garrison duty, working on fortifications and drilling with some old iron guns found at the post, Captain Hickenlooper continued to make vain efforts to procure guns and equipments.
Captain Andrew Hickenlooper
At last, on his personal application to the Governor of Ohio, a full battery with all necessary adjuncts was furnished. It arrived January 17, 1862. The six pieces consisted of four six-pounder James rifles and two six-pound smooth bores. On March 7, 1862, the battery shipped on a steamer at Jefferson City and proceeded directly to Savannah, Tennessee, and thence to Pittsburg Landing, arriving there on the 19th. On the 5th of April it joined the command of General Prentiss (6th Division of the Army of the Tennessee), and camped about two and one-half miles from the river, not far from Shiloh Church.
On the following morning, April 6, 1862, while the men were at breakfast, a section (two pieces) was ordered out by General Prentiss and as soon as possible was placed in position by the General in person, a few hundred yards in advance of the camp (in Spain Field). Captain Hickenlooper, anticipating an order to that effect, had the rest of the battery prepared, and in a few minutes joined the first section. The infantry support had been scarcely placed in position when the enemy appeared in force. The infantry support melted rapidly away and two pieces were unavoidably captured by the enemy. The others retired through the woods, slowly firing as they fell back and fighting for some time almost literally without support.
The battery was then ordered further back and took aposition in the "Hornet's Nest" and was actively engaged the rest of the day, falling back in time to save itself from capture with Prentiss's Division. In addition to the loss of many of its men, sixty-five horses were killed and all camp and garrison equipage lost.The monument erected to this battery is the only Ohiomonument in the famous "Hornet's Nest" and stands at the crossing of an old road with the "Sunken road."
About the middle of September the battery marched with its division to Iuka, but was not in position to take part in the action.
It was actively engaged in the battle of Corinth, but suffered no loss. During the siege of Vicksburg the battery was constantly on duty, the position it held being on a prominent hill rather in advance of the general line and the view was uninterrupted for several miles to the right. About 3,000 rounds of ammunition were fired by the battery during the siege and a number of the men were wounded more or less severely but none were killed outright. In the movement that followed against Jackson the battery lost 1 killed and 8 wounded, being posted on an eminence from which it kept up a steady fire for some time. It then took part in the movement against Little Rock, Ark. The battery was mustered out July 31, 1865.
The 5th Ohio Light Artillery Monument at Vicksburg.