Litchfield enquirer., 1868-11-12
THE SECOND CONN. ARTILLERY.

We make the following extracts from Vaill's History of the 2d Conn. Artillery
 CAMP DUTTos.
 And so the Nineteenth was encamped
 In order to raise 1t, Litchtield County hai
 given up the flower of her youth, the pride
 and hope of hundreds Of her families; anI
 they had by no means enlisted to fight 10 8 superior class at home. In moral quail
 ties in social worth, in every civil relation
 they were the best that Connecticut had tt give More than .ffly of the rank and ti!t subsequently found their way to commis
 sions, and at least hundred more proved themselves not one whit less competent ol worthy to wear sash and sabre, if 1t hat been their fortune. It was the intelligent obedience, the soldierly bearing, the self respect, the faithfulness. the wounds anc blood of the Nineteenth Infantry, after
 ward the Second Artillery, that averted de
 feat or secured victoElX 6tfia tna desperate field .lAef Chat purchased stars for more than one l pair of shoulders
 Clamp Dutton was beautiful spot, but no place for regiment to learn its hard and ugly trade. Fond mothers and aunfs raked the position with gall1ng and in cessant fire of doughnuts, apples, butter, pies, cheese, honey, and other dainties not conducive to the suppression of the rebeIi- Ion. and citizens thronged the streets and envlrons of the camp from morning till night Lieutenant Colonel Kellogg was impatient of this state of things, and we'll he might be. The actual command had devolved on him from the first, (Col. Wes- sells being occupied with matters apper- talnlng to the organization and outfit of the regiment and he feared lest he should be called into fight with the men all inno- cent and raw as they were,-for Lee was in Maryland, and the rumbling of the storm that shortly afterward burst at Antietam and Sharpsburg could plainly be heard. Col. Kellogg, though equal to any emer- gency in the field, was not cruel enough to set brave and noble volunteers on a sharp backed wooden horse, twenty hands nigh. ln the presence of their sweethearts; and when he invited Briggs, of B. company, to carry a rail for several hours, for some offence that seemed light in civil eyes, the tender hearted maiuens were distressed, and said 1t was "too bad" Briggs sur vlved 1t, however, and survived every fight Of the regiment, showing himself always good soldier, and at length receiving pro- motlon.) Indeed, no discipline was possi- ble at Camp Dutton; and preparations for departure were made with all despatch. On the 9th of September every man was examined by the Surgeon to ascertain his physical qualifications for soldiers life Several were rejected, among whom was Albert A. Jones, of Company A, upon whom Dr. Plumb found some insignificant breach, which was disallowed by the regu- lations. Jones was terribly disapBsnaissss!ed. and so were his comradess, who conferred ed his case to Qool- -aainld great was the re- with thfl Company A when it was found tfiat Jones could go; for he was a general favorite. He went, and never gave out, on drill or march, until a bullet pierced his
 ALEXANDRIA,
 sAlexandria, under martial law ever since the breaking out of the war, had suffered things from the troops on du- ty in her streets, or quartered in her enyi- rons, and the Alexandrians had come to regard 8 soldier as a scoundrel, always and everywhere. But the Nineteenth Connect icut had not been week in Virginia before the self-respecting behaviour of it's men became the general theme, and the author ities were petitioned by the citizens nearly all of whom were rebels-not to re- move that regiment from Alexandria.
 ''The arms were Enfield muskets. In pro- cess of time the men became acquainted with the nomenclature and functions of every part of the weapon, from bayonet to butt-plate, although at first 1t seemed won derful how so awkward and inconvenient a tool could ever have been constructed. Emery paper and crocus cloth were soon brought to bear upon the hronzed barrels, and by the middle of October there were a good many men-the foremost of whom was Pendleton, Of Company C.,-who could use their lock-plate or upper band' for looking-glass. The A. tents were of linen, woven about as compactly as sieve, and were intended for just five men, and no more; and woe to the squad that con- tained fat man, or one over six feet long for somebody, or at least some part of somebody, must sleep out of doors. :' Snoon- fashion" was the only possible 1asn1ou; no could make a personal revolution on his own axis without com pelllng a similar movement on the part of each ot his tent-mates, and a world of complaint besides. Most of the days of that autumn were warm, and even hot; but the chill of night would penetrate the bones of the soldiers, and cause them to turn over and over from night until dawn, when each Company, without waiting for Reveilee, would rally in huddle on the long sheet-iron cook stove at the foot of the street, and.endeavor to burn the pain out of their marrows while toasting their bread"
 HEAVY ARTILLERY, THE RECRUITS.
 ''This vast body of recruits was made up of all sorts of men,. A goodly portion of them were no less intelligent, patriotic and honorable than the cold" Nineteenth and that is praise enough. Another por- tlon of them were not exactly the auoyst kind of men, but those adventurous and uneasy varlets who always want to get out of jail when they are in. and in when they are out; furloughed sailors, for example. who had enlisted just for fun, while ashore. with no definite purpose of remaining in the land service for any definite length of time. And lastly, there were about three hundred of the most thorough-paced will lains that the stews and slums of New York and Baltimore could furnish, bounty jumpers, thieves, and cut-throats, who had deserted from regiment after regiment in which they had enlisted under fictitious names, and who now proposed to repeat the operation. And they did repeat it Many disappeared on the way from Con