This leather bound journal was used by Alexander A. Lesueur of General Mosby M. Parsons’s Brigade; entries cover the period November 1862 through November 1864. Lesueur fought at the Battle of Helena, leading 32 of his artillerymen (serving as infantrymen) in an attack on the Federal position on Graveyard Hill. Thirteen of the battery’s members became casualties in the action. Lesueur’s entry for the Battle of Helena reads:
“Helena Battle”
1863
July 4
(Saturday)
“Our gallant fellows pressed on through the perfect torrent of shell and shot that was raining on them from every direction, and drove the Federal from their battery, filling the ground in the vicinity with the slain. This battery consisted of two six pounder field pieces, in barbette; protected on the flank by a parapet of sand bags; and manned by such troops as the old fourth, would have been an impregnable position. In rear of where the guns were planted and under the platform was a magazine filled with fine Artillery Ammunition and equipment.”
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30196
