Unit History – 7th Louisiana Infantry

(Also called the Pelican Regiment) was organized in May, 1861, and entered Confederate service at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in June. The men were from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Donaldsonville, and Livingston. Ordered to Virginia with more than 850 men, the unit served under General Early at First Manassas. Later it was brigaded under R. Taylor, Hays, and York. It was prominent in Jackson’s Valley Campaign and on many battlefields of the Army of Northen Virginia. The 7th served from the Seven Days’ Battles to Cold Harbor, then was involved in Early’s operations in the Shenandoah Valley and the Appomattox Campaign. It took 827 men to First Manassas, had 132 disabled at Cross Keys and Port Republic, and lost 68 during the Seven Days’ Battles and 69 in the Maryland Campaign. The unit sustained 80 casualties at Chancellorsville and 24 at Second Winchester, lost twenty-four percent of the 235 engaged at Gettysburg, and had 180 captured at Rappahannock Station. It surrendered with no officers and 42 men. The field officers were Colonels Harry T. Hays and Davidson B. Penn, Lieutenant Colonels Charles DeChoiseul and Thomas M. Terry, and Major J. Moore Wilson.

From Joseph H. Crute, Jr., Units of the Confederate States Army, p. 145

Unit History – Lynchburg Artillery (Latham’s-Blount’s Battery)

Completed its organization at Lynchburg, Virginia, in April, 1861. After taking an active part in the Battle of First Manassas, the unit was assigned to J. Dearing’s, H. P. Jones’, J. P. W. Read’s (38th Battalion), and R. M. Stribling’s Battalion of Artillery. It fought with the Army of Northern Virginia from Williamsburg to Gettysburg, moved to North Carolina, and later was involved in the Plymouth expedition. Returning to Virginia it was active on the Bermuda Hundred line and saw action at Cold Harbor and in front of Petersburg. It sustained 10 casualties of the 96 engaged at Gettysburg, and many were captured at Rice’s Station on April 6, 1865. It surrendered at Appomattox with only 3 men. Captains Joseph G. Blount, James Dearing, James W. Dickerson, and J. Gery Latham were in command.

From Joseph H. Crute, Jr., Units of the Confederate States Army, pp. 402-403