1st Massachusetts Battery

1st Massachusetts Battery
1st Massachusetts Battery monument on Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg National Battlefield Park
Active	April 20, 1861 – August 2, 1861; August 28, 1861 – October 19, 1864
Country	United States
Branch	Union Army
Type	Field artillery
Size	Battery
Part of	In 1863: Artillery brigade (Tompkins), First Division (Brooks), VI Corps
Commanders
1st	Captain Asa M. Cook
2nd	Capt. William H. McCartney

The 1st Massachusetts Battery (or 1st Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery) was a peacetime militia artillery battery that was activated for federal service in the Union army for two separate tours during the American Civil War. Prior to the war and during its first term of service, the unit was sometimes known as "Cook's Battery" after its commanding officer, Capt. Asa M. Cook. During its first term, the battery primarily served garrison duty in Baltimore, Maryland.^[1] Almost immediately after mustering out, the unit began preparing for a second term, this time volunteering to serve for three years. The battery was attached to the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac during its second term and took part in some of the largest battles of the war including the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in the spring of 1864.^[1]