7th Arkansas Field Battery The 7th Arkansas Field Battery , originally known as the Blocher ’ s Battery ( 1862 - 1865 ) , was a Confederate artillery battery that served during the American Civil War . The unit was also known as Blocher ' s or Zimmerman ' s Battery . The battery spent it ' s entire existence in the Department of the Trans - Mississippi . Organization . Blocher ’ s Battery was organized at Little Rock , Arkansas , on August 6 , 1862 . An experienced cadre of veterans from the Weaver Light Artillery ( Marshall ’ s Battery ) was assigned to the new battery , which was augmented by unassigned recruits and transfers from other regiments . The battery officers were Captain William D . Blocher , First Lieutenant James Cook , Second Lieutenant Jesse V . Zimmerman , and Third Lieutenant Edward Visart , all of whom were assigned from the Weaver Light Artillery . Battles . Blocher ’ s Battery served in the Trans - Mississippi Department throughout the war , and campaigned in Arkansas , Louisiana , Missouri and the Indian Territory . In December 1862 the battery was assigned to Brigadier General James F . Fagan s ' brigade of Brigadier General James F . Fagan ' s division of Major General Thomas C . Hindman ' s 1st Corps , Army the Trans - Missippi for the Prairie Grove campaign . During the Battle of Prairie Grove the battery ' s guns were captured by the 20th Wisconsin Infantry . The unit ' s position changed hands repeatedly during the battle . In the re - organization of the Army of the Trans - Mississippi following the Prairie Grove Campaign , in January , 1863 , the battery was assigned to support Fagan ' s Brigade in Hindman ' s Division . Following the retreat of Hindman ' s forces from northwest Arkansas , the battery spent the spring and early summer of 1863 in an artillery camp with the other batteries of Major W . E . Woodruff ' s artillery battalion near St . John ’ s College in Little Rock . Woodruff was assigned as the Chief of Artillery to Major General D . M . Frost ' s Division . Woodruff ' s Artillery Battalion at this time was composed of Etter ' s Battery , Marshall ' s Battery , and Blocher ' s Arkansas Batteries , Tildent and Ruffner ' s Missouri Batteries , and Edgar ' s Texas Battery . This spring encampment was the only time during the war that Woodruff ' s Battalion was able to actually practice the artillery drill as a battalion , since the units usually fought as independent batteries or even sections . The battery fought with Brigadier General Fagan ' s brigade at the Battle of Helena on July 4 , 1863 . Launching the attack on Hindman Hill ( Battery D ) at first light , Fagan ’ s men suffered heavily under enfilading fire from Graveyard Hill ( Battery C ) to Fagan ’ s left . Fagan ’ s men carried lines of rifle pits but could not capture Hindman Hill . Blocher ' s battery was impeded by trees that Union soldier had felled along the roads and all approaches to the Federal positions and did not report any casualties from the battle . During the Little Rock Campaign the battery , while still assigned to Fagan ' s Brigade , participated in the Battle of Bayou Fourche on September 10 , 1863 . During the Battle of Bayou Fourche , Fagan ' s Brigade with Blocher ' s Battery moved to reinforce Brigadier General Marmaduke ' s Cavalry Division in opposing union forces which had forced a crossing of the Arkansas River , east of Little Rock . Blocher ' s Battery occupied a position in from a temporary battery which had been assembled by William E . Woodruff , Jr . Woodruff ' s referred to the temporary organization as his " Bull Battery " because the guns were pulled by oxen . Blocher was apparently warned by Woodruff , " my bulls are not good at maneuvering , they were too new , and when the ball opened , I should fire straight ahead if the aim should happen to lie that way , and that he ( Blocher ) must look " a little out " . In April , 1864 , the battery was assigned to support the Brigadier General William Lewis Cabell ' s cavalry brigade of General Fagan ' s Cavalry Division . The unit participated in the Camden Expedition in the spring of 1864 . Lieutenat Zimmerman led one section of Blocher ' s Battery to support Brigadier General Marmaduke ' s Cavalry Division . Zimmerman ' s section of Blocher ' s Battery participated in the Battle of Elkin ' s Ferry on April 3 , 1864 . The battery was involved in the fighting at the Battle of Prairie D ' Ane on April 10 , 1864 and the Battle of Marks ' Mill on April 25 , 1864 . The battery , under the commander of Lieutenant J . V . Zimmerman , participated in with Dobbins ' brigade in Price ' s Missouri Raid in September and October 1864 in the following engagements : In November 1864 , the battery was redesignated as the Seventh Arkansas Field Battery , and was assigned to the Fifth Artillery Battalion . Captain Blocher , who had been promoted to major , commanded the battalion , and Lieutenant Zimmerman succeeded him in command of the battery . Other component batteries in the Fifth Artillery Battalion were the First Arkansas Field Battery ( McNally ) , Third Arkansas Field Battery ( Marshall ) , Fourth Arkansas Field Battery ( West ) , First Missouri Field Battery ( Ruffner ) , and Third Missouri Field Battery ( Lesueur ) . On December 31 , 1864 , General E . Kirby Smith listed the battery as belonging to Blocher ' s Artillery Battalion of Acting Major General Churchill ' s First Infantry Division of Major General John B . Magruder ' s Second Army Corps , Army of the Trans - Mississippi . Surrender . William E . Woodruff , Jr , in his book , " With the Light Guns in ' 61 - 65 ' reports that Zimmerman ' s 7th Arkansas Field Battery and Marshall ' s 3rd Arkansas Field Battery were consolidated , under the command of Captain Zimmerman , before the end of the war and he indicates that the consolidated organization was in camp near Marshall , Texas when the war ended . Blocher ’ s ( now Zimmerman ’ s ) Battery surrendered with the Trans - Mississippi Army on May 26 , 1865 . The date of the military convention between Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith and Union General Edward Canby for the surrender of the troops and public property in the Trans - Mississippi Department was May 26 , 1865 , however , it took awhile for parole commissioners to be appointed and for public property to be accounted for . As a result , a final report of field artillery which was part of the accounting process , was not completed until June 1 , 1865 . The final report lists both Marshall ' s and Zimmerman ' s batteries as separate units , with Zimmerman ' s four guns located near Collinsburg , Louisiana and Marshall ' s at Marshall , Texas , with no guns .