During the Civil War the
Thomas legion recruited more than two thousand five hundred officers
and men (included 400 Cherokees), and they were distributed in infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The artillery battery,
John T. Levi's Light Artillery Battery (a.k.a. Louisiana Tigers), formerly served in the Virginia State Line Artillery and was added to the legion on April
1, 1863.
John T. Levi's Light Artillery Battery, later named Barr's Light Artillery Battery, was initially known as the Virginia State Line Artillery. When it
disbanded and reformed as Levi's Light Artillery Battery on April 1, 1863, and into Thomas' Legion, some of the soldiers formerly
served in one of the regiments within Hay's Louisiana Brigade, a.k.a. Louisiana Tigers. Hence, the name Louisiana Tigers was
adopted. Another version: Hay's Louisiana Tigers and the Virginia State Line Artillery both served in the Army of Northern
Virginia. When the Virginia State Line Artillery disbanded and reformed into Thomas' Legion as Levi's Light Artillery Battery,
they liked the name Louisiana Tigers and adopted it. Regardless, Hay's Brigade has first right to the name.
Original "Louisiana Tigers"
Brigadier General Harry Hays' Louisiana Brigade, known as the "Louisiana
Tigers," charged across the rolling Culp Farm and struck the Union positions at the base of the hill. The nickname for Hays'
men came from former members of the original Louisiana Tigers or Wheat's Battalion, raised in 1861 but disbanded after Major
Robert Wheat's death. The remaining Tigers were transferred into the various regiments of Hays' command where the other Louisiana soldiers had taken a liking
to the nickname and the fame attached to it.
Colonel
Isaac Avery's North Carolina Brigade and Brigadier General Harry Hays' Louisiana Brigade, known as the fierce "Louisiana Tigers",
charged across the rolling Culp Farm and struck the Union positions at the base of the hill. Louisiana
Tigers at the Battle of Gettysburg
The Battery in 1865
In 1864, Captain John T. Levi transferred command of
the "light artillery battery" to Captain John W. Barr. In April 1865, Union and Confederate commanders recorded
the battery in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies as an active battery: General Martin (O.R., 1, 49, pt. 1, p. 1048), General Stanley (O.R.,1, 49, pt. II, p. 309), and Lt. Colonel Stringfield (Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions From North Carolina in the Great War 1861-65, Vol. III, p. 761).
