![]() Reunions of Taylor's Battery, 18th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Donelson, February 14, 1880. 25th anniversary of the Battle of Belmont, November 6, 1886. (Public Domain). During the Vicksburg campaign, the battery fought at Thompson Hill (Port Gibson), Champion Hill (where one of the battery's guns is credited with the death of Confederate general Lloyd Tilghman), Big Black River Bridge, and the May 19th & 22nd assaults on the defenses of Vicksburg. During the Union assaults on May 22, 1863, Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Smith called for an artillery battery to advance their guns to assist the infantry. White accepted the task and had several of his men drag a six-pounder cannon down and up the steep terrain to engage the Confederates. Aided by nearby Wisconsin soldiers, White and his band moved the gun into an embrasure of the 2d Texas Lunette and began firing, inflicting casualties and creating havoc for the Texans inside for several hours. When the assaults were pulled back, White and his cannoneers retreated, and the field piece was brought back to the Federal lines later in the day. ![]() Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984) , Oct., 1922 - Jan., 1923, Vol. 15, No. 3/4 (Oct., 1922 - Jan., 1923), pp. 640-663 www.jstor.org/stable/40186945 After the war, White spent twenty years as an orderly in the New York State comptroller's office. He came back to Vicksburg National Military Park in 1903 to assist park commissioner William T. Rigby with locating the Chicago Mercantile Battery's positions and camp. The Vicksburg Evening Post newspaper noted White's enthusiasm visiting the battlefield, the aging captain reportedly stating, "I will be back again." It is not known if he did indeed come back to Vicksburg before his death in Albany, New York in 1915. He never saw his bronze relief portrait placed near the famous location where his exploits gained him the United States' highest military distinction for bravery. ![]() NPS Image Captain, Chicago Mercantile BatteryCommanding Battery, Tenth Division, Thirteenth Corps. Sculptor: Unknown Erected: 1917 Location: East of the 2d Texas Lunette on Confederate Avenue, west of Park Visitor Center. |
Last updated: November 3, 2022