On or about April
25th, we were ordered to the Baptist College, a large brick building at the
west end of the city, where we were put through a regular course of
instruction. Having had many accessions to our number, now some three hundred,
we formed a Battalion of Artillery, and unanimously elected our Captain, Geo.
W. Randolph, as its Major. Three companies comprised this Battalion, known as
the First, Second, and Third Companies of Richmond Howitzers.
Of the First
Company, we elected our former First Lieutenant, John C. Shields, one of the
proprietors of "The Richmond Whig," Captain, and Edward S. McCarthy,
a bold and fearless gentleman, Lieutenant.
Of the Second
Company, we elected our former Second Lieutenant, John Thompson Brown, a lawyer
of high standing and great personal worth, Captain. As he was then at
Gloucester Point, near Yorktown, with two of our guns and about forty men, we
elected no other officers for that company, leaving them to supply the
deficiency themselves. Here it will not be amiss to state that this detachment
of men fired the first shot in Virginia, driving back the Federal Tug
“Yankee," at Gloucester Point.
Of the Third
Company, we elected Robert C. Stanard Captain, Edgar F. Moseley, First
Lieutenant, and John M. West, Second Lieutenant.
Being a member of
the Third Company, this "Diary" will, of course, refer more
especially to that company and its members. We remained at the Baptist College
for a few weeks under the command of Colonel J. Bankhead Magruder, then moved
our camp to Howard's Grove, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, and finally moved
to Chimborazo Hill, east end of the city, where we remained until we left
Richmond for the field. About the middle of May our First Company, Captain J.
C. Shields, was ordered to Manassas, much to our regret, whilst we were left in
camp to become more perfect in the Battery Drill. We were under the instruction
of a late U. S. Army officer, Lieutenant Smeed, and he evidently understood
what he was about. Our officers and men, as yet, know but little about the
"Battery Drill,” but are rapidly improving.
SOURCE: William S.
White, A Diary of the War; or
What I Saw of It, p. 93-4
No comments:
Post a Comment