Background:
The Fifth U.S. Light Artillery, Battery "D", was known as the
West Point Battery, because it had been stationed at the U. S.
Military Academy for a number of years prior to the Civil War.
The company was moved to Washington City in May of 1861, where it was assigned to the Army of the Potomac until 1863. The unit then joined the Department of Washington until March of 1864, when it returned to the Army of the Potomac for the duration of the War.