Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1862-02-26
From BURROWS artillery
STEAMBOAT CONTINENTAL,
Feb L. 1862.

Chronicle Friends Amid the noist
and jar of the propelling machinery o
the boat to whose steady stroke every
timber quivers r~esponsively like the beat
ing of a mighty heart, mingled with the
q%uavers of a violin and fife, vainly essay.
ing to keep in concord, and the wearisome
platitudes ofvarious parties foolishly Will
ing away the time in card playing, 1 hur
riedly seize my pen to give you a second
letter From Burrows Battery"
Resuming my narrative of events at the
point where it was broken off, 1 should
first mention that shortly after the Sword
Prosecution to u beloved Cs.otain. a va
cancy occurred am"11g the officers by the
promotion .. Lieut.. Spear to the Captain.
cy "a the 18th Battery, a newly raised or
ganization, recruited chiefly in Ashtabuls
Co. While with us the Lieut.. proved
himself an efficient Drillmaster, and nc
boubt the Fifteenth, under his leader
ship, will speedily attain a high state o.
discipline. Our Capt. ever mindful of the
wishes of the Battery, gave the men the
privilege of electing a Lieutenant to FL
the vacancy opened by the transfer o.
Lieut.. Spear. Some four or five candi
dates contested the honors of this popu.
lar choice, of whom Private W. B. KING,
of your place, proved the successful com.
petitor. So great a degree of promotion
from the ranks after five months service
is as rare as it is felicitous.
The next thing noteworthy was ou1
equipment with the newly invented,
Wizard Steel Cannon, consisting of four
Six Founders and two Twelve Founders.
For these we are indebted, in great part
to the pntiring exertions of Attorney
General Wolcott, in gratitude to whom ii
is named Wolcott's Battery, though from
long previously formed habit we will
probably continue to be called by ourselves
and friends, the l4th Battery o. V. Those
writing to members of our command can
still 'continue to direct to the 18th Battery,
care of Capt. Burrows.
Concerning Dur guns 1 need only say
that the only two trials to which we were
able to subject them while in Camp Den.
nison, we done better shooting than was
done by the whole winters practice of Col
Barnett's Artillery Regiment. The Col.
showed his appreciation of their superiori-
ty by'at once making a requisition for the
same kind of guns to supply his only un-
furnished Battery. 1t might not be out Of
place here to state that the best firing was
done by George Harsh, of Warren, the
gunner of the u FOUNDER, on the right
flank. Though every shot did not strike
the target-nearly a mile distant-yet all
would have done execution even upon a
single of the enemy at that distance.
Our last six weeks in Camp Dennison
were passed under the reign of King Mud,
an ever present potentate, who greeted
Jul wearied eyes from morning till night.
Colds and sorethroats soon became univer-
sal. The measles broke ont in the Camp
and ragged a perfect epidemic. Men were
taken sick by scores, and in our own bar
racks from three to five-were taken to the
hospital daily. At one time fully one
fifth Of the battery were kept in bed, and
one-half were wholly unfit for duty. One
of our number, S. T. Prentiss of Austin
bury, died of the measles; such care as
his fellow soldiers could give was freely
rendered, but what care can supply the
gentle ministry of womanly hands at the
sick mans couch? The Press and the
Pulpet, those two great levers of public
opinion, should bombine in holding up
to derision the abomination of male nnr-
ses, till the nuisance is wholly abated. p
FEBRUARY 5th,-We gladly took leave of
Camp Dennison, turning our faces west
ward to Kansas to join in the chivalrie
crusade of Jim Lane. ArrivingatSt. Louis,
Feb. 9, and partaking of the general i'm
preston that we could do more speedy
and efficient service in Kentucky and
Tennessee, We made application to be
transferred thither, and after five days
detention were ordered on board the
Continental, and here we are speeding
onward to take part, as we hone and be.
iieve' in the capture of Fl. Donelson.
wears nearing Paducah. At that place
: must mail this letter, as tomorrow win
be a BUSY day in the Battery in making
preparations for the conflict in which we
hope to share.
Already the opposing hosts have meth
the shock of battle, and the combatants
are nerving themselves for the fray. The
'~war-cloud's rolling dun" even now en-
velopes the spot that will form a lumin-
Gus page in Freedoms history, and to the
thunderous salvos that are now pealing
the doom of this formidable stronghold of
of an arrogant and blatant rebellion, it
may be our fortune to add to the thun-
ders that shall sound the death-note of
Southern domination. God grant it!
In great haste, yours,
ARTILLERIST.