18th Indiana Battery

On September 20, 1863, the 18th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery, with six 3-inch rifles and four mountain howitzers, served with Wilder's Brigade, Reynolds' Division, Thomas' Corps under Captain Eli Lilly, with 1st Lieutenant Joseph A. Scott, 2nd Lieutenant Moses M. Beck, and 2nd Lieutenant William B. Rippetoe. In the forenoon, the battery took position on the ridge west of Crawfish Spring Road, southwest of this position. About 11:30 a.m., troops on the left were faltering before the advancing enemy, and the brigade moved at the double-quick to support them. The battery shifted a few hundred yards left from its former position and opened very rapidly, shelling a field beyond a narrow strip of timber through which the enemy was moving. The brigade soon cleared the woods, and one section moved to this position and opened with canister on the retreating enemy until it was out of range. Soon after noon, the battery moved to its former position and soon after to Chattanooga Valley, five miles from Chattanooga. Its battle casualties were 2 men killed and 8 wounded, with 6 horses killed and 1 wounded, and it expended 778 rounds of ammunition.

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia · United States