Organized in March 1862 under the leadership of Capt. William Badham Jr., Lt. John M. Jones, and Lt. Nelson McClees, the Edenton Bell Battery was composed of men primarily from Chowan, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties. Lacking adequate artillery, various institutions of Edenton donated their bells to be melted and cast into four bronze cannon at Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, Va., on April 28, 1862.The cannon were named the Edenton, the Columbia, the Fannie Roulhac, and the Saint Paul by the men of the Battery. Designated as Company B, Third Battalion, NC Light Artillery, the unit served with the Army of Northern Virginia at Winchester, Culpeper Courthouse, Seven Days Battle, and protected a critical bridge south of the Battle of Fredericksburg. The Battery was then transferred to North Carolina where it opposed Union advances towards the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad and fought at Whitehall Bridge, Goldsboro, and Kinston. The unit was later garrisoned at Fort Fear River. By January 1865, the Battery was evacuated to Fort Anderson after the fall of nearby Fort Fisher to the advancing Union Army. It then saw action around Wilmington and with the Army of Tennessee at Bentonville and Cox's Bridge.
The 12-pounder howitzer Saint Paul, foundry #1533, was captured at the Battle of town Creek in Brunswick County, N.C., on February 20, 1865 and is on loan from the Old Fort Niagara Association of New York. The Saint Paul was poured primarily from the bell of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The 6-pdr gun Edenton, foundry number #1531, was surrendered at Greensboro, N.C. on May 26, 1865 and is on loan from Shiloh National Military Park of the National Park Service. The Edenton was poured primarily from the bell of the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse. The Muzzles of each of the cannon indicated the foundry number and the distinctive "EB" for "Edenton Battery". The location of the two remaining cannon of the Edenton Bell Battery is unknown.
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