After being formed in early 1861 by Benjamin H. Pratt, the battery served with a cavalry formation led by Colonel William Henry Parsons for part of 1862.

One source claims the unit's service ended on May 26, 1865, while a Confederate report dated June 1, 1865, states that it existed but did not have cannons.

When the battery was mustered into Confederate service in Jefferson, Texas, it contained 72 men drawn from Harrison, Marion, and Cass counties.

[3] Late in 1862, Pratt's battery and Parsons's brigade were intended to be sent to Missouri to tie down Union troops in support of the movements leading up to the Battle of Prairie Grove, but this did not occur.

[6] During the early part of 1863, the battery served along the Mississippi River and sometimes harassed Union Navy transports and gunboats; it was claimed to have caused one sinking and to have damaged another ship.

[9] After the raid failed due to the repulse at Cape Girardeau and the arrival of Union reinforcements,[10] Marmaduke's men concentrated on Crowley's Ridge in early May.

[11] Still serving in Carter's brigade,[12] the battery, which was now armed with four cannons, moved to Colt, Arkansas, (then known as Taylor's Creek) as part of a plan to capture a Union cavalry force operating in the area.

[14] During the action, Marmaduke detached two of Pratt's cannons 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south, as he was worried about Union reinforcements and wanted to protect the center of his line.

[17] Later that day, in the Battle of Bayou Fourche, Pratt's battery, which was armed with 12-pounder howitzers at this time, supported Colonel Robert C. Newton's cavalry with artillery fire.

[20] Once the shot was fired, Newton's men, led by Wood's Missouri Cavalry Battalion, charged the town, but were halted by Union defenders.

[24] Beginning on May 23, 1864, the battery accompanied a force of Missouri cavalry led by Colonel Colton Greene to a landing on the Mississippi River in Arkansas, where it fired on several transports through June 4.

[5] On May 24, the battery dueled with the gunboat USS Curlew for about half an hour before withdrawing, and it fought other skirmishes with elements of the Union Navy and the Mississippi Marine Brigade.

[30] On February 19, 1864, Pratt was elevated to the rank of major[2] and placed in command of a four-battery formation known as the Second Horse Artillery Battalion that included in it his former unit.

[42] Concurrently with the fighting at Byram's Ford, Price's army was decisively defeated at the Battle of Westport and began retreating through Kansas.

The victorious Union soldiers pursued Price, and caught up to part of his army, bringing on the Battle of Marais des Cygnes on October 25.

Due to an ammunition shortage, Hynson's battery left the 6-pounder on the field when Clark's men finally abandoned their positions.

[47][48] One Confederate officer present at the battle stated that the battery "did such good execution that the enemy were compelled to fall back".