Union General William Farquhar Barry
(from New York, 1818-1879)
William Farquhar Barry graduated 17th in his class of 45 from West Point. His branch of service was the artillery. Barry began his military career as a lieutenant of artillery on the Canadian border after he graduated from the United States Military Academy. In the next twenty-three years, he fought in the Mexican, Seminole, and Kansas- Missouri border wars, rising to captain of the 2nd U.S. Artillery.
At the beginning of the Civil War he was promoted to major of the 5th U.S. Artillery, posted at Fort Pickens) Florida and then sent north to General Irvin McDowell's Washington command as chief of artillery for the First Bull Run Campaign. This first major clash was nearly Barry's last. At the height of the action, he led two infantry regiments to support two batteries on the slope of Henry Hill. His command mistook flanking Confederate troops for more Union units coming to their support, and Barry and other Federals were blasted from their position by the enemy's flank fire.
Despite this error, Barry displayed his bravery and organizational skills. On August 20, 1861, he was made brigadier general of volunteers. General George McClellan then appointed him his chief of artillery and had him organize the ordnance army of the Army of the Potomac.
During the Peninsula Campaign, he supervised and saw combat at the Siege of Yorktown, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill. But following action at Harrison's Landing, he asked to be relieved for duty elsewhere. From September of 1862 until March of 1864, he was chief of artillery of the defenses of Washington.
At the outset of the Atlanta Campaign, Barry was sent west as Sherman's chief of artillery. He fought in all the campaign's battles and for his service in the contest for Atlanta, be was breveted a colonel in the regulars and a major general in the volunteers in September of 1864. He then fought in the campaign against Hood's Tennessee invasion and in Sherman's campaign from Savannah through the Carolinas. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier and major general in the regulars for his war service.
After the war, Barry was made a colonel in the regulars, oversaw troops on the Canadian border during diplomatic troubles and ran the army's Fort Monroe, Virginia artillery school for ten years. He died on active duty at Baltimore's Fort McHenry on July 18, 1879.
Confederate General Armistead Lindsay Long
(from Virginia, 1825-1891)
Armistead Lindsay Long graduated 17th in his class of 44 from the United States Military Academy and then entered the artillery.
Long served for eleven years in the artillery in Florida, on the frontier against the Indians and in garrison duty. On May 20, 1861, he was appointed aide-de-camp to his father-in-law, Union General Edwin V. Sumner. The Virginian, however, resigned his commission and entered Confederate service as a major of artillery, initially serving on the staff of William Loring in Western Virginia. In Autumn 1861, he was ordered to Charleston where he joined Lee's staff.
On June 1, 1862, Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia and Long became his military secretary with the rank of colonel. During much of Long's service on the staff, he assisted in the deployment and use of the army's batteries. His exceptional judgement in artillery operations caused Lee to appoint him comman- der of the artillery of the II Corps. He was promoted to Brigadier General of artillery on September 21, 1863, and until the war's end served with the II Corps.
After the surrender, he was an engineer for a canal company until 1870, when he became totally blind from exposure suffered during the war. His wife was named postmistress of Charlottesville, Virginia by President Grant, after his death.
Copyright 1995 The American Civil War Society