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 Battery or Zimmerman's Battery.United States. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 41, In Four Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1893; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145053 : accessed January 14, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. P. 641, Accessed 14 January 2012, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145053/m1/658/?q=Coleman The battery spent its entire existence in the Department of the Trans-Mississippi.
Organization Blocher's Battery was created in the summer of 1862 during Major General Thomas C. Hindman's effort to rebuild Confederate forces in Arkansas. When Major General Earl Van Dorn transferred his Army of the West from Arkansas to Northern Mississippi in April 1862, he stripped the state of its military stores and almost every organized military unit, including all of the artillery. The only organized batteries were actually in the Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma) supporting Brigadier General Albert Pike's forces.Woodruff, W.E. With the Light Guns in '61-'65: Reminiscences of Eleven Arkansas, Missouri and Texas Batteries in the Civil War. (Little Rock, AR: Central Printing Co., 1903). One of Hindman's first acts in command was to order Woodruff's Battery, also known as the Weaver Light Artillery, to return to Little Rock from the Indian Territory.Copybook of Orders and Letters from Thomas Hindman's Command, 11 June - 30 Dec. 1862. Peter Wellington Alexander Papers, Box 9, Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University in the City of New York, Page 31 Accessed 7 March 2013, http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/mack/id/8772/rv/compoundobject/cpd/8962/rec/3United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 13., Book, 1885; digital images, (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154621/m1/951/?q=Woodruff McRae Battery : accessed February 3, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 13., Book, 1885; digital images, (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154621/m1/870/?q=Woodruff Battery : accessed February 3, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. When the battery reached Little Rock, General Hindman learned that Woodruff's Battery had not been reorganized as required by the Confederate Conscription Act of April 1862. To correct this, General Hindman ordered that the battery re-organize and a new election of officers occur.Copybook of Orders and Letters from Thomas Hindman's Command, 11 June - 30 Dec. 1862. Peter Wellington Alexander Papers, Box 9, Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University in the City of New York, Accessed 7 March 2014, http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/mack/id/9245/rv/compoundobject/cpd/9396/rec/2 In this election, First Lieutenant William Durbin Blocher and First Lieutenant James Cook were not re-elected. Hindman immediate ordered that these officers remain in the artillery service and directed them to organize a new battery. To facilitate the creation of this new battery, General Hindman arranged for the transfer of an experienced cadre of cannoneers from Woodruff's battery to Blocher's new battery.Copybook of Special Orders from Thomas Hindman's Command, 11 Jun. - 19 Aug. 1862. Peter Wellington Alexander Papers, Box 9, Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University in the City of New York, Accessed 7 March 2014, http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/mack/id/-1/rv/compoundobject/cpd/9396/rec/10
Blocher's Battery was organized at Little Rock, Arkansas, on August 6, 1862. An experienced cadre of veterans from the Weaver Light Artillery (Woodruff's Battery)Howerton, Bryan R., "Arkansas Artillery Batteries", Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board, Posted 12 May 2004, Accessed 2 November 2011, http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs53x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?noframes;read=7332 was assigned to the new battery, which was augmented by unassigned recruits and transfers from other regiments. The battery officers were Captain William Durbin 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.
Service
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. Fagans' brigade of Brigadier General James F. Fagan's division of Major General Thomas C. Hindman's 1st Corps, Army the Trans-Mississippi for the Prairie Grove campaign.Shea, William. Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. .United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1888; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154600/m1/906/?q=west's Arkansas battery : accessed January 14, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas. 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.Maul, A. "In Response To: A. T. Hawthorne letter on Prairie Grove", The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board - Archive, Posted 21 April 2005, Accessed 12 December 2013, http://www.history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/arcwmb/arch_config.pl?md=read;id=10056 The following is Captain Blocher's report of the Battle of Prairie Grove:
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.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 2, Correspondence., Book, 1888; digital images, (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154590/m1/781/?q=blocher : accessed August 05, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
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.With The Light Guns In '61-'65: Reminiscences of Eleven Arkansas, Missouri and Texas Light Batteries, in the Civil War, Pages 94–96, Accessed 5 June 2013, at HathiTrust Digital Library, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89059402198
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.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1888; digital images, (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154600/m1/427/?q=Blocher : accessed August 05, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas. 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."The Division-Defending Little Rock-August 25-Sep.10,1863" by Timothy W Burford & Stephanie McBride.1999 and 2000.United States. War Dept.. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 22, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., Book, 1888; digital images, (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154600/m1/471/?q=Clarendon : accessed August 05, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas. 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".Woodruff, W.E. With the Light Guns in '61-'65: Reminiscences of Eleven Arkansas, Missouri and Texas Batteries in the Civil War. (Little Rock, AR: Central Printing Co., 1903), page 99-102