Parker's Battery -the "boy soldiers" was named for C.S.A. Major William Watts Parker. Doctor William Parker survived the war and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA. He recruited many of the battery's soldiers from the families of his Richmond, VA patients. They distinguished themselves at Gettysburg and elsewhere, but it was the youth of the battery's gunners, loaders and spongers (some as young as fifteen) that made their fame. "Parkers Battery" was named for the artillery company that defended this spot. The "Howlett Line", a series of infantry trenches, ran from the James River south to the Appomattox River. The trenches were supported by the placement of artillery positions like Parker's Battery at intervals along the line. The site was manned by Parkers "Boy Company" comprised of men from the City of Richmond.
In the first two weeks along the Howlett Line, Parker's Battery was involved in frequent duels with nearby Federal batteries. The guns were also active in support of skirmishes that took place as picket lines were advanced in the summer of 1864.
With the collapse of the Confederate lines around Petersburg in early April 1865, the position here was vacated and the artillerists joined in the long march to Appomattox Court House. Having spent nearly 10 months in these entrenchments, almost one-fourth of their wartime service, the surviving members of Parker’s Battery came to view their experience here with some feelings of affection.