| The union lines contained numerous artillery emplacements. Battery
Degolyer was established on May 25. It contained the largest concentration of cannon (22)
in the union siege lines, and is representative of the Federal cannon that were positioned
at important locations. The battery consisted of guns from the 8th Battery Michigan Light
Artillery, Yost's Independent Ohio
Battery, Battery L, 2nd Illinois Light
Artillery, and
the 3rd Battery Ohio Light Artillery. It was named after its commander, Capt. Samuel
Degolyer, who was mortally wounded during the siege. Battery Degolyer faces the Great
Redoubt, a Confederate fortification constructed to guard the Jackson Road entrance to the
city. On May 22, the northerners made a desperate, but unsuccessful, assault in an
effort to capture the Great Redoubt. Guns such as these supported the assault and
afterwards continued to bombard the Confederate stronghold. However, it was not until the
surrender of the city on July 4, that federal troops set foot in the Great Redoubt. |
 
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