d of which none could
foresee; but nevertheless the war must be prosecuted with vigor;
another draft was impending and the State's quota must be filled. With
difficulty Governor Smith obtained permission to organize a company,
and, as this rapidly filled, then a battalion, and finally a full
regiment of twelve companies of colored men for heavy artillery duty.
In common with many others I did not at the outset look with
particular favor upon the scheme. But with some hesitation I accepted
an appointment from the State as a second lieutenant and reported for
duty at Camp Smith, on the Dexter Training Ground, in this city. After
serving here for some weeks in the fall of 1863, in the organizing of
companies and forwarding them to Dutch Island, where the regiment was
in camp, I successfully passed an examination before what was known as
"Casey's Board," and after some preliminary service with a company of
the third battalion, was assigned to the command of Company H of the
second battalion, with whose fortunes my lot was cast till the close
of our term of service. On the turtle-backed crown of Dutch Island we
remained amid fierce storms and the howling winds that swept with keen
edge over the waters of the Narragansett, until the 20th of January,
1864, when, as I was about to make a visit home, the transport, Daniel
Webster, appeared in the harbor and orders were issued to prepare for
embarking on the following day. At the time appointed, we were on
board, but the sutler's arrangements were not completed until early
the next morning, when we got up steam and were soon out of sight of
our familiar camp.

The incidents of the voyage it is not necessary to recite to any
comrade whose chance it was to make a trip in an army transport, which
had long since seen its better days, and which had been practically
condemned before Uncle Sam found for it such profitable use. The men
packed like sheep in the hold, the officers, though far better off as
to quarters, yet crowded too much for convenience and comfort, the
inevitable sea-sickness, the scanty rations, and what was worse, the
extreme scarcity of water, were annoyances but the counterpart of
those endured by many brave men who preceded and followed us to the
scene of duty. But in the main the weather favored us, and on the
hurricane deck we spent the hours off duty, gazing far across the
illimitable waste of waters, as day after day we approached a warmer
clime with its glowi