C. 1886 image which is affixed to a heavy 11” x 14” mount, with the image being just slightly smaller.  Mount is slightly curved and image has yellowed somewhat with age.  Minor corner and edge wear, particularly at lower right; otherwise in fine, clean condition. Photographer’s name at lower left corner, “Tipton / Photo.” Photographer’s logo stamped on reverse: “W. H. Tipton’s BATTLEFIELD VIEWS / ARTISTIC PORTRAITS / PRINCIPAL GALLERY & OFFICE / CHAMBERSBURG ST. GETTYSBURG, PA."

Battery B was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Captain Thomas F. Brown. He was wounded on July 2, and Lieutenant William S. Perrin took command. The battery brought 103 men to the field serving six 12 pounder Napoleons and lost 7 killed, 19 wounded and 2 missing. The battery saw two days of hard fighting. On the afternoon of July 2nd it was advanced from its position on Cemetery Ridge to near the Codori farm to try to stop Longstreet's attack. The battery was partly overrun by Wright's Georgia Brigade, leaving two pieces near the Emmitsburg Road and another near the stone wall on Cemetery Ridge. Captain Brown was wounded at this time. All three guns were recovered in Union countercharges on July 2nd, but only one would be restored to service for the next day. July 3rd saw the four serviceable guns of Brown's Battery, now under Lieutenant Perrin, just south of the Copse of Trees. The battery was pounded by the artillery bombardment preceding Pickett's Charge. One gun was struck on the muzzle by a Confederate shell, killing two gunners. Two men leapt to load the piece, but the ball jammed in the distorted muzzle. They were about to hammer it in with an axe when another Confederate shell shattered one of the gun's wheels and the cannon collapsed. The barrel cooled around the ball, permanently welding it in place. It can be seen on display in the Rhode Island Statehouse. When Union Artillery Chief Howard Hunt rode up he could see that Battery B was a wreck. Only three guns were serviceable, all the officers were killed or wounded, and long-range ammunition was almost expended. Hunt ordered the battery to the rear, an order it obeyed promptly. Its departure from the ridge had an uncalculated effect. Across the field Longstreet's Artillery Chief, E. Porter Alexander, saw it leave. Union gunfire was also slackening following orders from Hunt and Meade. Alexander reported that the Union artillery on the ridge - all of it - was pulling back. If Pickett were to charge, now was the time. And so it was that Battery B helped launch Pickett's Charge.

The monument to Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery is south of Gettysburg on Hancock Avenue near the Copse of Trees.  The monument is of Westerly Granite and stands eight and one half feet high. The top of the monument is a cube with the trefoil symbol of the Second Corps on all four sides, topped by a carved granite 12-pounder ball. The monument was dedicated on October 12, 1886 by the State of Rhode Island.

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