Rice's Battery, Tennessee Light Artillery

Brief History
Rice's Battery, Tennessee Light Artillery, was organized at Memphis, Tennessee, in May, 1861, under the name of "Sumter Grays". It shortly became part of the organization known as the 38th Regiment Tennessee Volunteers and was assigned to Company A. It was later detached from the 38th Regiment and assigned to the command of a heavy battery. On May 4, 1865 it was included in the surrender of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. However, some of its members had been transferred to Morton's Battery in Mississippi and 9 men surrendered with that unit.

Other Sources

 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier or sailor. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in 'Tennessee in the Civil War' and 'United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865' (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * Tennessee in the Civil War describes many Confederate and Union sources, specifically for Tennessee, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States and Confederate States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * Lindsley, John B. The Military Annals of Tennessee: Confederate, First Series; Embracing a Review of Military Operations, with Regimental Histories and Memorial Rolls, Compiled from Original and Official Sources. 1886. Reprint. Spartanburg, South Carolina: Reprint Co., 1974. (FS Library book 976.8 M2L.) Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Internet Archive.  A brief history can be found starting on page 864.  Memorial rolls for Rice's Battery can be found on page 874 &amp; 877.


 * Tennesseans in the Civil War, Captain Thomas W. Rice's Battery, (accessed 31 Dec 2011).