Richards' Company, Mississippi Light Artillery (Madison Light Artillery)

Brief History
Madison Light Artillery was organized at Canton, Mississippi, during the early spring of 1863 with men from Madison County. Ordered to Virginia, the unit first served at Suffolk, then was assigned to W.T. Poague's Battalion of Artillery, Army of Northern Virginia. It was active from Gettysburg to Cold Harbor, then fought in the Petersburg trenches in the Appomattox Campaign. The battery had 4 officers and 87 men at Gettysburg. There were 36 present in September, 1864, but none were at Appomattox. Its captains were Thomas J. Richards, George Ward, and John W. Yeargain.

Regiment Companies with the County of Origin
Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

Other Sources

 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in ‘Mississippi 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.


 * Mississippi in the Civil War describes many Confederate and Union sources, specifically for Mississippi, 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.