Turns out that both the infantry units stacked with the battery were somehow eligible for defensive fire.
Oout of curiostiy, I then launched a frontal attack as well, and sure enough, that unit was then hit with 2x musketryy and 1x canister.
The battery position:

IIRC, the second infantry unit moved into the artillery hex after I'd already engaged the defenders.
First time that I've seen this happen in both FtG and PG.
Edit: Since both units are under different commands, they are also both eligible for normal first fire.