Morning journal and courier., 1886-08-27

l ing the engagement was the wounding of
 Private Taylor of Company G, Fourth regi-
 ment, who was struck by an empty shell.
 The artillery branch of the brigade has de-
 veloped wonderfully during the past few years
 said Gen. Graham to a COURIER report
 CT this morning. Probably there is no branch
 of the service ''said he "that has made so little
 progress since the war as the artillery and it l is only in the past few years that much in-
 terest has been taken in it by the civil brig
 ades. It has been in what may be termed a
 state of arrested development for twenty
 years. With the close of the rebellion the I government was relieved of the
 pressing necessity of keeping pace with the
 progress of the times in the improvement of l ordnance, and excepting in the case of pro- l jectiles, the service has since been equipped l with the supply then on hand. We read of l experiments in France, England, Germany, I Italy, Austria and Russia, made with view | to the improvement of their field ordnance,
 but no such improvement seems to have | been thought of in the United States. In l our regular army service are now ten four gun batteries, and nine of them armed with | three inch rifles. Although the course of de- | velopment in both the civil and regular ser | vice the artillery officers hope soon to see | their batteries so we'll equipped that they
 may be capable of covering themselves with
 in an hour, and efficient in range as to be able to hit a
 house four thousand yards away l at the first or at the farthest, the second | shot. The entry of the Gatling gun compa- | nies into the service has been good thing I for the service. The artillery of the Connec- | ticut brigade are acquitting themselves very | creditably."
 The most important adjunct of an army, | as all military men will concede, is the quar- term aster's department. This department is | presided over in the brigade encamped by ! Quartermaster General Goodrich, assisted by Assistant Quartermaster Blakeslee of Hart ford. While every department of the service is dependent to more or less degree on every other department, and all combine to l make an army complete, all are immediately connected with and dependent on the quartermasters. The wide range of the duties of the quartermaster's department establishes it's vast importance at once, even in the minds of persons whose knowledge of military matters is limited. The vast amount of work necessary to make
 ready for brigade similar to Connecticut's cannot be estimated by the ordinary peace ful citizen. The department transports troops, munitions of war, equipments, mill tary property and all articles of supplies from the place of purchase to their destina- ton, provides for the safe keeping of such articles, the distribution, adequate and time ly supply of the game to the regimental quartermasters, or to such other officers in charge; it provides wagons, ambulances, carts, saddles and horse equipments, except for the cavalry, and harnesses for all provides clothing, tents and equipments, fuel, forage, stationery and all materials for the sheltering of troops and stores, and fur
 niture for barracks and quarters, and pro-
 vides and hires grounds for the encamp-
 ments. General Goodrich has managed the
 Quartermasters department very successfully together with his aides.
 The event of this afternoon was the nor tar firing by detail from each regiment Four mortars were used. The parade ground cleared at 3:30 and the hissing shells l presented a pretty sight as they whistled | messed the firing. The shells landed nearly | opposite the right of the ground. As the |
 first shell exploded man of the Fourth reg imsnt was standing within five feet of it. | He narrowly escaped being hit. The | shells were surcharged and the re- were buried five feet in the ground, throwing | up great clouds of earth and dust. The 1 morta1s are mounted about twenty-five feet | from the water at the foot of the parade l ground. Lieutenant Jones was in command. | The seacoast guns are all mounted. They were used in the sham battle this morning and did good work. The two siege guns will not be mounted for active use until the camp is ended, and the work on the battery is to be pushed on at once. The mortars are quite 8 novelty in camp. They are mounted on platforms about twelve feet below the top of the bank and are wholly concealed from the sight of people on the parade ground. The l arrangements for mounting these four nor | tars are merely temporary, and for the pur- pose of giving the men some instruction l in them this week. Major Burdette l superintended the work. It is desired that | the men be given at least two days instruc l tion in mortar practice. The instruction the | men will receive in handling the mortars, it | is safe to say, they will never forget and l there is every reason to believe that the new | feature of drilling by artillery will become | part of camp life hereafter.
 Gen. Graham was interviewed by the | COURIER reporter o.night as to his opinion | of the fourth day in camp. He sad that the | brigade had improved materially in each | days work. He saw nothing to criticise l adversely in tLe weeks work so far. The l Second regiment at the brigade dress par ade with their fancy white pants presented | splendid appearance. Their I marching was suberb. The Fourth | regiment did well this afternoon. The | Fifth battalion was compliuented by Gener- al Graham to-day. He said the Fifth battal ion was the best company in the brigade. ! company here. At the taps last night not
 light or a person could be seen in their | quarters, which speaks we'll for them. The
 brigade dress parade was excellent this after | noon. The promptness of formation and ! flank movement was remarkably we'll exe- cuted. Governor Harrison was on the | grounds this afternoon and rode about re- viewing the parade. This evening his excel | lency was escorted to the depot by his staff. ! He took the express to New Haven. To-mor- | camp on early morning express | and will remain throughout the day. To- l morrow will be the big day of camp week. l The Governors review at camp each year at | tracts an immense crowd of people from ev- cry quarter of the State. If the weather is | will undoubtedly outshine all preced- l ing camp years. The Light Guard, | Second regiment, will have grand illumin- | ation, together with other companies. The | officer of the day was Captain Embler of the I Blues. Lieutenant Jones of the regular l army, who is here to instruct the National ! Guard in the management of the heavy ar tillery, says that he was highly pleased and surprised at the conduct of the Blues and Company F, First regiment, who were de- | tailed for inspection and served under him ! yesterday. Sixty-eight thousand pounds of ammunition has been issued to the brigade to-day to be used during the remainder of the week.
 The examining board was in session all of to-day and night session was held this even ing, forty eight men having been examined so far; seventeen officers remain to be ex- amined. The Third regiment officers were examined to-day. Lieutenant Totten of the regular army attended the session of the board to-day. He was pleased with the eff ciency of the officers as shown in their ex- animation. Many people are arriving in town tonight and putting up at the hotels, which are full to overhowing. L. R. Catlin is de- 1 tailed to do guard duty at brigade head9uar ! ters tomorrow Private Catlin is the most ! popular man in the Grays. Gen. Rhodes, l Captains Smith, Howe and Manchester of | the Rhode Island National Guard are among I the thousands here to day. Quartermaster | General Goodrich's daughter was here this | afternoon. Lieutenant Loomis of the Sec ond regiment, who was injured by falling | from his horse, was able to do camp duty | to-day. The closing exercise tonight of lowering the flag and the firing of the sunset gun was beautiful sight and one long to be remembered. The large ball of fire as it de- scended behind the western hills was greeted by the music of the bugles and the booming of the cannon. The parade ground was de- serted fifteen minutes later and the mess buildings filled by aa hungry and jovial