uly did an officer remark: "My men can fight without officers."

It is no easy task to give a true and satisfactory record of our three
years service;--only the entreaties of my comrades induced me to undertake
it. It is a natural wish to possess a copy of the records, to refer in
future days to those of the past; it will not only be of interest to the
members of the battery, but also to their friends and relatives.

Hardly had the first call for three months men been responded to, by
sending the First Regiment, Col. Burnside, along with the First Battery,
Capt. Charles H. Tompkins, before the military authorities of Rhode Island
contemplated to organize another regiment of infantry and a second
battery. Enrollments progressed rapidly, and but a few days after, not
less than four hundred men were desirous of linking their fortunes with
the battery; the armory on Benefit street was the rendezvous of men from
sunrise till late in the night, eager to acquire the most indispensable
knowledge of military tactics, foot drill, and manual of the piece, as
speedily as possible. Some men were so anxious as to come before daylight,
and would not leave in the evening until the armorer persuaded them to. We
expected to get mustered into the three months service; but the federal
government, by issuing a call for 75,000 men for not less than three
years, left no other alternative but to serve the said term. Messrs.
Parkhurst and Albert Munroe were untiring in their exertions to complete
the efficiency of the battery. At last the day that was to transform us
from citizens into soldiers, arrived, the requisite number to man the
battery being selected out of four hundred, by Surgeon Wheaton. On the
fifth day of June, 1861, at five o'clock, P. M., we were mustered into the
service of the United States for three years, unless sooner discharged. A
few days afterwards, the battery, together with the Second Regiment,
infantry, marched to Dexter Training Ground. Tents were pitched, and the
people of Providence enjoyed the unusual spectacle of a field-camp, of
reveilles, dress-parades, firing of artillery by sunrise and sunset, of
tattoo and taps. The unusual sight attracted multitudes of men, women and
children, day after day. While in camp, mounted battery drills wore away
the hours of impatience; men in those days were eager for the fray. During
our stay on Dexter Ground, all of our battery carriages were exchanged for
new ones, (the pieces w