Was Shoemaker's Battery at Five Forks?

There are three scholarly books that are the recognized authorities on the horse artillery. One is Galloping Thunder. Another is the two volume "Memoirs of the Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion." Both of these works were written or edited by Robert Trout. The third book is The Long Arm of Lee by Jennings Cropper Wise.

All three say Shoemaker was not at Five Forks.

There were two battalions of the stuart horse artillery, both under command of Robert Preston Chew. One was commanded by James Breathed. The other was commanded by McGregor. Mooreman's Battery aka Shoemaker's was with Breathed and departed Petersburg for the Valley in August 1864 where it fought until December. It spent the winter of 1864-65 at Lynchburg. .McGregor's battalion fought at Petersburg through 1864 and 1865.

In the first volume of "memoirs"Trout deals with Mooreman's and Hart's Batteries. This volume contains a book "History of a Famous Company of the War of the Rebellion" which is the history of Shoemaker's battery written by Lewis J. Nunnelee.

According to Nunnalee on page 119 the battery left Lynchburg on March 28, 1865 and reached Petersburg the next day His march 29th entry is "Got battery off the train and will have to be furnished with horses before we can move." The battery camped at the Williams' lot on the Richmond Turnpike in Chesterfield County. The battery remained in camp up till April 1st . The next day Nunnelee went to Richmond to get equipment for the battery and Petersburg fell while he was away from the battery He never rejoined it.. This information can be found on pages 119-120.

In Galloping Thunder on page 639 Trout writes concerning April 2nd, "Shoemaker's Battery had been stationed on the right of the Petersburg defenses across the Cox Road. Here Chew and Breathed received their orders to begin the retreat and turned Shoemaker's four guns westward. They had not fired a shot."

On page 932 of volume 2, Wise writes of April 2nd, ". . . Chew threw four pieces into action on the right of the Cox Road." This matches what Trout wrote.

bryce