The origin of the battery goes back to 1858 when it was established in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia as the National Artillery. However, they did not obtain their first gun until the following year, when they purchased a Type 1 James Rifle. The state of Georgia gave them two bronze 6-pounder guns in December 1860. On January 2, 1861, shortly before the outbreak of hostilities in April, they changed their name to the Troup Artillery in honour of Georgia's former Governor, George M. Troup and on April 24, 1861 the battery left Athens for Savannah, in preparation for participation for the war, with Captain Marcellus Stanley in command. They obtained their fourth gun, a 12-pounder howitzer, donated by the citizens of Athens.
The Battery served in the Cheat Mountain and Sewell Mountain campaigns under Gens. Wm. W. Loring & Robert E. Lee but in November 1861 they were attached to Cobb's Legion on the Virginia peninsula near Yorktown. On April 16 they fought at Dam No. 1, and reorganized April 29, 1862, electing Dr. H. H. Carlton, Captain. It is unclear when the Battery received their 10 pound Parrot rifles but it is possible that they were issued as part of this re-organisation. From this point on they were generally known as Carlton’s Battery and were involved at Savage's Sta. and Malvern Hill during the Seven Days Campaign.
Having missed the battle of Second Manassas, Carlton’s Battery re-joined Lee’s army for the first Confederate invasion of Maryland. In September 1862, at the battle of South Mountain, a section of the battery lost one 6-pound gun at Compton’s Gap in early evening fighting during a rear-guard action against advancing Union infantry. The other section of two 10 pound Parrott rifles participated in General Jackson’s successful attack on Harpers Ferry. These guns were hauled to Maryland Heights where they and other Confederate guns dominated the area. The battery accompanied Jackson to Sharpsburg where they were positioned near General Ransom’s Brigade at the West woods.
Following the battle of Antietam in September 1862, Confederate artillery underwent a reorganization and consolidation. As an independent unit, Carlton’s Battery was assigned to Colonel Henry C. Cabell’s artillery battalion; part of General Longstreet’s First Corps.
The artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia was reorganized in April 1863 and the Troup Artillery became a part of Cabell's Artillery Battalion, fought at Fredericksburg again during the Chancellorsville Campaign May 3, and at Gettysburg July the 2nd & 3rd. July 2 they faced the 3rd Army Corps at the peach orchard and on the 3rd they were on the extreme left flank of Pickett's charge.
In early 1864 they were involved in heavy skirmishes at Morton's Ford & Raccoon Ford, later battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Totopotomy Creek & Cold Harbor, and finally the siege at Petersburg. Their final battle was at Appomattox Station the evening of April 8, 1865. A total of 288 men served in the battery with forty deaths from disease and only nine deaths from wounds.