5fish
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I know we have heard of Dilger Battery when we read books about battles... Dilger Battery was the 1st Battery, 1st Ohio Light Artillery... It was lead by a German immigrant Hubert Dilger... a Captain that never got promoted but won the Medal of Honor... He seem to be in the right place at the right time with the right artillery piece to save the union army more than once...
nationalinterest.org
snip... 2nd Battle of Bull Run...
Dilger’s battery first made a name for itself at the Battle of Second Bull Run in late August 1862, where its six Napoleons covered the withdrawal of the Federal army on the third day of the battle and forced the Confederates to keep their distance.
snip... Chancellorsville...
By Chancellorsville, nine months later, Dilger had transformed his unit into the best of five batteries in the XI Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Formed on the right flank of the Federal army, the corps stood directly in the path of Stonewall Jackson’s famed flank attack on the late afternoon of May 2, 1863. The battery was forced to withdraw when the Confederates threatened to envelop its flanks. One gun was lost to the enemy when three horses were shot down in a snarl of tangled harness and traces. For more than 30 minutes, Dilger single-handedly held up the Confederate advance, continuing to direct fire until his horse was hit and fell on him, injuring his leg. Dilger limped painfully until his orderly galloped up, heaved the captain onto his horse, and made good thier escape.
snip... Gettysburg... He covers the retreat to Cemetery Hill...
After its service at Chancellorsville, Dilger’s battery marched north in June with the 3rd Division, XI Corps, to what would prove to be its best day of the war. The gunners arrived at the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, around 10 am on July 1, the first day of the battle.
Here I can do it justice what Dilger and his battery did at Gettysburg silence confederate artillery , covered the retreat the town leap frogging his cannons... waiting till the last men past his position to retreat so read the link...
Now lets do to the Western Theater... Polk death...
en.wikipedia.org
On June 14, 1864, Polk was scouting enemy positions near Marietta, Georgia, with his staff when he was killed in action by a Federal 3-inch (76 mm) shell at Pine Mountain.[26] The artillery fire was initiated when Sherman spotted a cluster of Confederate generals — Polk, William J. Hardee, and Johnston, with their staffs — in an exposed area. He pointed them out to Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, commander of the IV Corps, and ordered him to fire upon them. Battery I of the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, commanded by Capt. Hubert Dilger, obeyed the order within minutes. The first round from the battery came close and a second came even closer, causing the men to disperse. The third shell struck Polk's left arm, went through his chest, and exited hitting his right arm, then exploded against a tree; it nearly cut Polk in two.
The National Interest: Blog
snip... 2nd Battle of Bull Run...
Dilger’s battery first made a name for itself at the Battle of Second Bull Run in late August 1862, where its six Napoleons covered the withdrawal of the Federal army on the third day of the battle and forced the Confederates to keep their distance.
snip... Chancellorsville...
By Chancellorsville, nine months later, Dilger had transformed his unit into the best of five batteries in the XI Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Formed on the right flank of the Federal army, the corps stood directly in the path of Stonewall Jackson’s famed flank attack on the late afternoon of May 2, 1863. The battery was forced to withdraw when the Confederates threatened to envelop its flanks. One gun was lost to the enemy when three horses were shot down in a snarl of tangled harness and traces. For more than 30 minutes, Dilger single-handedly held up the Confederate advance, continuing to direct fire until his horse was hit and fell on him, injuring his leg. Dilger limped painfully until his orderly galloped up, heaved the captain onto his horse, and made good thier escape.
snip... Gettysburg... He covers the retreat to Cemetery Hill...
After its service at Chancellorsville, Dilger’s battery marched north in June with the 3rd Division, XI Corps, to what would prove to be its best day of the war. The gunners arrived at the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, around 10 am on July 1, the first day of the battle.
Here I can do it justice what Dilger and his battery did at Gettysburg silence confederate artillery , covered the retreat the town leap frogging his cannons... waiting till the last men past his position to retreat so read the link...
Now lets do to the Western Theater... Polk death...
Leonidas Polk - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
On June 14, 1864, Polk was scouting enemy positions near Marietta, Georgia, with his staff when he was killed in action by a Federal 3-inch (76 mm) shell at Pine Mountain.[26] The artillery fire was initiated when Sherman spotted a cluster of Confederate generals — Polk, William J. Hardee, and Johnston, with their staffs — in an exposed area. He pointed them out to Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, commander of the IV Corps, and ordered him to fire upon them. Battery I of the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, commanded by Capt. Hubert Dilger, obeyed the order within minutes. The first round from the battery came close and a second came even closer, causing the men to disperse. The third shell struck Polk's left arm, went through his chest, and exited hitting his right arm, then exploded against a tree; it nearly cut Polk in two.
