St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-21
BATTERY A, ST. PAUL.
Sketch of the Organization Which
VIII Celebrate Tonight.

VIII Celebrate Tonight.
This is battery night at the armory,
and the members of Capt. Appleby's
command have arranged for a patriotic
meeting which shall mark Washing
toms birthday as we'll as an era of in
creased prosperity to the artillery men.
This meeting is to be addressed by Gen.
E.. c. Mason, U. S. A; ex-Attorney Cen
eral Moses E. Clapp, Capt. Philip Reade,
U. S. A, and DR.. S. G. Smith There
will be music furnished by the ST. An
thOny hill orchestra, songs by several
friends of the battery boys, and Capt.
Appleby has cordially invited the mem
bers Of the G. A. r. Sons of Veterans to
be present.
The armory will be appropriately dec
Grated and the members CT the organi-
zation hope to have large number of
guests. In this connection brief his
tory of the First battalion artillery, II.
G.. S. NJ. is interesting. Unlike Miner
va, of NEUROLOGICAL fame, the First bat
talon Of artillery was not born fully
armed and equipped. It's origin is
traced to the patriotic impulse of few
st. Paul boys who, on Feb. q, 1881, as
sembled at ST Patricks hall, organized
under the name of Irish Rifles" and
decided to make application for enroll
ment in the state militia. The appli-
cation was granted, and on March 90
of the same year the gallant little COM
pany entered the service of the state,
being designated as the "Emmet Light
Artillery" in command of Capt. G. M.
Mccarthy.
The young company was, on the 18th
day of November, 1881, presented with
a handsome United States silk banner,
| the colors formerly borne by the EN-
met guards, a st. Paul organiza ton
that served its time of enlistment, and
yxyl1a
ain to preserve its colors and present
them to the first Irish militia company
again organized in the city
Sept. q, 1882, the company partic-
ipated in a prize drill that took place
at Milwaukee and carried off the prize,
receiving very complimentary letter
from Capt. III. W. Vessel, one of the
Judges. Col. Page. now commanding
the Third United States infantry, was
also judge at the contest, and has
distinct recollection of the incident On
Jan. 25 1888, another section of artil-
lery, known as the artillery reserve
was organized as part of the "Emmet
Light Artillery" with Carl c. Bennett
as first lieutenant and Frank P Bruce
as second lieutenant, under the COM
mand of Henry c. Huot, captain of the
Emmet light artillery. Finally, by act
OF the legislature, approved Feb -,
1899, the battalion of mounted troups
was created to consist of one major and
staff, two batteries of artillery and one
troop of cavalry. The st. Paul section
of artillery became known as Battery
/ "A'' and the Minneapolis section as
Battery b.
The first major of the battalion John
B. Hawley, was elected and commits
stoned April 8, 1889, and resigned Sept
25 1880. His successor, Elias D. Lib
! hey, was elected and commissioned on
HzL - i q
| the battalion. The first officers of Bat
! terry "B,' organized under the new act,
were elected and commissioned on
March 26, 1889, as follows: Carl G. Ben
nett, captain: Frank P. Bruce, first
lieutenant, and Andrew c. Haugan, sec
ond lieutenant
October u, 1892, the Minnesota ma
tional guard, including the First bat
talon of artillery, participated in the
opening exercises of the Columbian ex-
position, at Chicago, ILL.,, and in the
grand review that took place on that
day. From the unanimous verdict of
the cheering public, officials and the
press, our boys carried off the honors
of the day. and were congratulated
in general orders by the commander
in-chief, the general of brigade and the
major commanding the battalion.
Battery CA still preserves a valuable
! souvenir of that memorable trip, which
is most jealousy guarded in the sacred
| precincts of the company room.
The battalion has not attained it's
present standard without a struggle.
The time has scarcely passed when
patriotic citizens were expected to pay
for the privilege of serving their gov
eminent But, thanks to the untiring
! efforts of officers and men, prejudices
have been overcome, and the state has
finally adopted a more liberal policy
towards it's faithful defenders. How
ever, much remains to be done. Not
withstanding the splendid discipline
and instruction of the men, the obso-
lete armament of the battalion serious
ly threatens to impair its usefulness.
Modern guns should be provided as
soon as possible. With that end in
view, bill has been recently intro
duced in congress by the Hon. A r.
Kiefer, and urgent requests have been
forwarded to Washington for it's
prompt passage.
The citizens of st. Paul and Mime
apolis especially should take hand in
the matter and unite in a concerted
effort to bring about the desired re-
suit, and thus assure to the state of
Minnesota the service of an efficient
organization, prepared to respond at
first call in any emergency.
Briar and Meerschaum Pipes.
See Adam Fetsch's fine display of Meer-