Daniel Butterfield’s Brigade played a crucial role at the Battle of Hanover Court House on May 27, 1862, launching a determined charge through driving rain and deep mud that ultimately broke the Confederate position during the Peninsula Campaign. Advancing through tangled woods to cut off the enemy’s retreat, the brigade captured a 12‑pounder howitzer along with large quantities of camp equipment and small arms. The victory secured the vulnerable right flank of McClellan’s army as it pushed toward Richmond and earned Butterfield’s men wide recognition throughout the Army of the Potomac. The captured howitzer was later photographed on a glass plate negative — a striking image of the battle’s aftermath — and identified as a standard U.S. Model 1841 bronze piece, not a Tredegar‑manufactured gun as once believed.