Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative

The Confederate infantry by this time were about nine-tenths armed with the rifled musket, muzzle loading, mostly of calibre .58, but some of calibre .54. Their artillery was now, also, all organized into battalions, usually of four-gun batteries each. Each corps had five of these battalions. One of these served with each of the three divisions, and the remaining two constituted a corps reserve, under command of the senior artillery officer, who began to be called, and to act, as chief of artillery of the corps.

The general artillery reserve, which had been commanded by Pendleton, was broken up, on the organization of the 3d corps, and it was never reestablished. Pendleton, however, was retained as chief of artillery. It is worthy of note that this artillery organization of a few batteries with each division, and a reserve with each corps, but with no general reserve for the army, was the first of the kind ever adopted by any foreign army, and that it was subsequently copied by Prussia and Austria after 1866, and by France after 1870, and later by England. But, although our reserve under Pendleton had never found the opportunity to render much service, its being discontinued was due to our poverty of guns, not to dissatisfaction with the system. And the fine service at Gettysburg by the Federal reserve of 110 guns, under Hunt, would seem to demonstrate the advantage of such an organization in every large army.

On Wednesday, June 3, Lee began the delicate operation of