Year: 1862

An extract from private letter of
member Of Battery A, n. Y Artillery,
in Casey's Division, better known as the
NapoIeon-gun Battery" in the front
line of the first days battle before Rich
mond, says -


"Our spherical case shot
are awful missiles, each of them consis,-
ing Of a clotted mass of seventy-six
musket balls, with charge of powder
in the centre, that is fired by fuse the
same as a she'll. The missile first acts
as solid shoi, ploughing It's way through
masses ofmen, and, then exploding, hurts
forward a shower Of musket balls, that
NOW down the foe in heaps. Our bat
terry threw twenty four Of these minute
and AS we had the exact range of every
part OF the field, every sho; told with
frightfnl effect. But the enemy were
not at all daunted. They marched stead
lily on, and hailed a perfect tempest of
balls upon US. Why we, as well as our
horses, were not every one shot down,
will forever remain a mystery to me-
We did not mind the leaden bail, how
ever, but kept pouring our case-shot into
the dense masses of the foe, who came
on in prodigious and overwhelming force.
And they fought splendidly too. Our
shot tore their ranks wide open, and
shattered them asunder in manner that
was frightiul to witness; but they closed
up again at once, and came on US steadi-


y as English veterans. When we 90,
within four hundred yards, we closed
our case-shot and opened on them with
canister, and such destruction I never
elsewhere witnessed. AT each discharge
great gaps were made in their ranks
indeed, whole companies went down
before that murderous fire but they
closed up with an order and discipline
that was awe-inspiring. They seemed
10 be animated with the courage Of des-
pair blended with the hope of speedy
victory it thoy could by an overwhelming
rush drive US from our position. 1t was
awful to see their ranks torn and shat
tered by every discharge of canister that
we poured right into their faces, and
while their dead and dying lay in piles,
closed up and still kept advancing right
IN the face of that FIRE. At one time,
three lines one behind another, were
steadily advancing, and three of their
flags we're brought in range Of one of
our guns shoited with canister. Fire!'
shouted the gunner, and down went those
three fags,and a gap was opened through
those lines as if thunderbolt had torn
through them, and the dead lay in
swaths. But they at once closed up,
and came steadily on, never halting or
wavering, right through the woods,
over the fence, through the field, right up
to our guns, and sweeping everything
before them, capturing every piece
When we delivered our last f.e, they
were within fifteen or twenty PAGES of US,
and as all our horses had been killed or
wounded, we could not carry off gun.
Our whole division was cut to pieces,
with what loss | do not know. We fell
back to second line of intrenchments
and there held the enemy in check till re-
Inducements arrived, and then we kept
our position till night put an end to the
battle. This morning the fight was re-
newed and we have driven the enemy
back, regained possession of our camp,
and it is reported, with what degree of
truth cannot say) that our battery has
been recaptured. The rebels stripped
our camp thoroughly.