Battles

5th Massachusetts Battery(E) Mission

It is the mission of the 5th Massachusetts Battery to be one of the most authentic Civil War Artillery reenacting units in the Northeast Region with something of interest to everyone. In addition to closely adhering to original drill and field realism, we offer the following additional activities for those who are interested.

Competitive Artillery target shooting with the American Artillery Association. We get the lead out!
Horse drawn Artillery: We are currently working with horses in the field as appropriate for Civil War artillery towards the goal of a horse drawn piece within the next two years. We offer an alternative to horse owning people who may otherwise consider joining a cavalry re-enacting unit.
Blacksmithing: We have use of one of a handful of Civil War traveling artificer forges in existence. Amateur blacksmiths are welcome.
Memorial graveside ceremonies honoring the original members of the 5th Mass Battery.
Geneological research into the original members of the Battery.
Educational historical lectures and presentations in schools and other public forums.
Civilian portrayals of 1860's life. Children and non-military 1860's civilian impressions are always welcome. Our children are the next generation of the 5th Mass Battery.

History and Education

The 5th Massachusetts Battery is a Chapter 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the accurate portrayal of an 1860's period Volunteer Field Artillery Battery. We recreate the 5th Massachusetts Battery originally recruited from the Boston and New Bedford vicinities.

An area where the 5th Mass Battery is concentrating effort is ...

Capt Charles A. Phillips

Research ... and more research

One of the goals of our organizational charters is research into the history of the original 5th Massachusetts Battery. For this purpose, we have ongoing research teams digging out any and all items pertaining to our Battery and other Civil War artillery batteries as they relate to the 5th Mass Battery and Civil War field artillery in general. We have three teams, each with its own objectives:

Research the function and equipment of a battery during the Civil War. This information is pertinent to how we conduct ourselves at re-enactments or living histories.
Research the history of the 5th Mass Battery. What did the men actually see as they marched down a road or through a town ? This is data over and above what is contained in the Battery history
Research the Battery personnel (table of all 321 original members) --their personal history --before, during, and after the war. We have collected many photos and letters etc., but, there is much more still to be discovered.

A personal account of the war by one of our original members provides a first-hand perspective. "Reminiscences of the Rebellion…or what I saw as a private soldier of the 5th Massachusetts Light Battery from 1861-1863" by William Archibald Waugh (born 1843).

Our overall objective is to accumulate data and to make the results available to other interested parties . Also, through the research process we hope to locate and catalog Battery artifacts and to locate original Battery personnel descendents.

This is a major task and would have been even harder if the original Battery members hadn't published their history in 1902. This document is rich with insights into the Battery activities throughout the war. This book was just reprinted by Butternut and Blue in 1997 and is now available to the general public.

If you have any information please contact us.

To the right is an original carte-de-visite (CDV) of Henry D. Scott, 1st Lieutenant Fifth Mass Battery. Wounded at Gettysburg 7/2/63 through the mouth, and wounded a second time a year later, he eventually became Captain of the 16th Mass Battery in 1864, the last field Battery to be formed from Massachusett

Last Updated: February 17, 2018