3rd Arkansas Light Artillery The 3rd Arkansas Light Artillery , also known as the Jackson Light Artillery ( 1861 – 1865 ) , was a Confederate Army artillery battery during the American Civil War . The battery spent the majority of the war serving in Confederate forces east of the Mississippi River . The battery is also known as McCown ' s Battery , Hubbard ' s Battery , and Thrall ' s Battery in official reports . Organization . The Jackson Light Artillery was organized at Jacksonport , Jackson County , Arkansas , on June 15 , 1861 . Most of the original members of the battery were from Jackson County , but there were men from neighboring Craighead , Independence , Lawrence , White and present - day Woodruff counties who also joined the battery at Jacksonport . Although officially named the Jackson Light Artillery , it was the practice in the Confederate Army to refer to a battery by the name of its current commander ; thus , it is variously identified in most contemporary records as McCown ' s Battery , Hubbard ' s Battery , and Thrall ' s Battery . In the " Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Arkansas , " the service records of these men are carried under the heading " Thrall ' s Battery " on Roll 42 . At the battery ' s organization , George W . McCown was elected captain , James C . Thrall was elected first lieutenant , George T . Hubbard was elected second lieutenant , and Robert S . Anderson was elected third lieutenant . The battery marched to Pitman ' s Ferry , near Pocahontas in Randolph County , where it enlisted in the Confederate service on July 25 , 1861 . A week earlier , on July 17 , Captain McCown had resigned and returned to Jacksonport . Lieutenant Hubbard was elected captain in his place . A total of 165 men served in this unit from June 15 , 1861 , to May 11 , 1865 . A remarkable number of original members served with the battery through the entire conflict . The battery had one of the lowest desertion rates in the Confederate Army . Even among the large number of conscripts who joined the battery in 1863 there were relatively few deserters . From all contemporary accounts , it seems that the Jackson Light Artillery enjoyed competent leadership and high morale throughout the war . On July 14 , 1861 , Confederate Brigadier General William J . Hardee arrived in Little Rock to assume unified Confederate command in the state . The following day the state Military Board signed an " Article of Transfer " , which provided that all state forces would be transferred on a voluntary basis to the command of the Confederate States of America . The Articles of Transfer included Major Francis A . Shoup ' s battalion of artillery ; Many Confederate artillery units seem to have begun the war named for the city or county that sponsored their organization . In the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies , artillery units are most often referred to by the name of their battery commander . During the war , efforts were made to organize artillery units into battalions and regiments , but the battalions seldom functioned as a consolidated organization , in fact batteries were often broken out and fought as one or two gun sections . Shoup ' s battalion would be an exception to this rule . Battles . The battery , as part of Shoup ' s Battalion moved to central Kentucky with Hardee ' s forces . Major Shoup ' s battalion was associated with Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne ' s brigade when it moved into Kentucky and remained so until after the battle of Shiloh . The Battalion was in the retreat from Bowling Green to Cornith , Mississippi , following the fall of Forts Donelson and Henry . ; During the Battle of Shiloh , a . k . a , Pittsburg Landing , Tennessee , Sunday , April 6 , 1862 – Monday , April 7 , 1862 , the battery , armed with two 6 - pounder smoothbores and two rifled 3 - inch guns became involved in what was at that time , the largest massed artillery attack in North America . The unit was attached to General Patrick Cleburne ' s 2nd Brigade of Major General William J . Hardee Third Army Corps . By the afternoon of Sunday , April 6 , 1862 , men of Prentiss ' s and W . H . L . Wallace ' s divisions had established and held a position nicknamed the " Hornet ' s Nest " . The Confederates assaulted the position for several hours rather than simply bypassing it , and they suffered heavy casualties during these assaults . It was not until the Confederates , led by Brig . Gen . Daniel Ruggles , assembled over 50 cannons , including on section of Hubbard ' s Battery , commanded by Lieutenant Thrall , into a position known as " Ruggles ' s Battery " to blast the line at close range that they were able to surround the position , and the Hornet ' s Nest fell after holding out for seven hours . In response to a request from Brig . Gen . Ruggles , Captain Thrall filed a report on April 1 , 1863 , of his and other Arkansas artillery unit ' s roll in the Battle of Shiloh and the formation of Ruggles ' Battery : James C . Thrall succeeded Captain Hubbard as battery commander on May 12 , 1862 , and remained in command until the end . After fighting at Shiloh the unit was assigned to the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana and was active in the Siege of Jackson . Later it was attached to Forrest ' s Cavalry Corps , participated in the conflicts at Brice ' s Cross Roads and Harrisburg . Thrall ' s Battery accompanied Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest on a 23 - day raid through western Tennessee which culminated in an attack on the Union supply base at Johnsonville . On the evening of November 3 , 1864 , Forrest positioned his guns across the river from the Federal supply base at Johnsonville . On the morning of November 4 , the Confederate batteries were attacked by three Union gunboats from Johnsonville and by six Paducah gunboats The Confederate artillery was completely effective in neutralizing the threat of the Federal fleets . One of the vessels was hit 19 times , and returned to Johnsonville . Thrall ' s battery assisted in bombarding the Union supply depot and the 28 steamboats and barges positioned at the wharf . All three of the Union gunboats — Key West , Tawah , and Elfin — were disabled or destroyed . The Union garrison commander ordered that the supply vessels be burned to prevent their capture by the Confederates . Forrest observed , " By night the wharf for nearly one mile up and down the river presented one solid sheet of flame . . . . Having completed the work designed for the expedition , I moved my command six miles during the night by the light of the enemy ' s burning property " The Jackson Light Artillery was involved in the following battles : Surrender . The Jackson Light Artillery was among the last of the Confederate troops east of the Mississippi to surrender . The Jackson Light Artillery aided in the defense of Mobile and surrendered with the Department of Alabama , Mississippi , and East Louisiana . The battery spiked their guns and surrendered at Meridian , Mississippi , May 11 , 1865 .