author

Earl Fenner

b. 1841

A Civil War veteran from Providence, Rhode Island, he turned firsthand notes and veterans’ memories into a detailed history of Battery H. His surviving book offers a ground-level view of artillery service and the effort to preserve those experiences in print.

1 Audiobook

The History of Battery H First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery in the War to Preserve the Union 1861-1865

The History of Battery H First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery in the War to Preserve the Union 1861-1865

by Earl Fenner

About the author

Born in 1841, Earl Fenner is known for writing The History of Battery H, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery in the War to Preserve the Union, 1861–1865, published in Providence in 1894. In the book’s preface, he explains that surviving members of Battery H appointed him historian at a meeting in Providence on June 27, 1891, and asked him to prepare the unit’s history.

Fenner wrote with the perspective of someone who had kept daily memoranda during the war. He says the book was built from those notes as well as consultation with other sources, which helps explain its practical, record-minded tone. The result is a veteran’s chronicle of Battery H rather than a distant retelling, and that firsthand quality is a big part of why the book still draws interest today.

Some library and archival records identify him as "Earl Fenner, 1841-," and genealogy material suggests he was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on April 20, 1841. I could not confirm a reliable portrait from the sources I found, so no profile image is included here.