Anonymous

“ It was memorable as being the first field guns fired on the Union side in the Civil War. It was hailed through the North with loud acclaim. The newspapers teemed with praise of the gallant men who won it, and the mails were burdened with letters of congratulation and compliment from friends at home. It showed that the raw volunteers from the North had that endurance and pluck of which soldiers are made; it did much to prick the bubble of idle boasting that one Southern man could whip five “Yankees.” ”

“ From all the information that I have received I am pained to have to express my conviction that Colonel Porterfield is entirely unequal to the position which he occupies. The affair at Philippi was a disgraceful surprise, occurring about daylight, there being no picket or guard of any kind on duty. The only wonder is that our men were not cut to pieces. They were all asleep and were only aroused by the firing of the enemy. The safety of the Northwest and of our inexperienced soldiers depends upon an immediate change of commanders, and giving the command to a bold and experienced leader. ”

“ To the Light Artillery and Colonel Barnett, their gallant and noble commander.
I am commissioned by the citizens of this city to bid you a cordial welcome upon your return, and to tell you that Cleveland fully appreciates the value of your services and feels herself honored by your achievements. She feels that some portion of the glory which has fallen upon the noble men of the Cleveland Artillery rests also upon herself.
Whenever you have appeared the rebels have fled and have not dared to show their faces. ”

“ The returned artillerymen are the heroes of the day. If you find a knot of men collected on a corner, the bronzed countenance of a member of the artillery is in the center and he is relating to the gaping crowd his exploits and adventures among the rebels in Western Virginia. It will be some time before their stock of incidents is exhausted; and years hence the story may be rehearsed to wondering grandchildren. They have come home after nobly discharging their duty and meet with the warm admiration and approval which they have so richly merited. All honor to the brave artillerymen. ”

“ The Cleveland Grays—from which the first gun squad of the Cleveland Artillery was detailed more than twenty years before—left amidst prodigious excitement for Columbus, became Company E of the First Ohio Infantry, and started immediately for Washington. But so far there was no call for the artillery. How all the men, from Colonel to powder-monkey, chafed in the impatience of their raging patriotism. ”

“ There is now being enacted a drama which is attracting the eyes of the whole civilized world, and I am proud to say that the members of this company have well played their part therein; and when the last scene is ended no name will more adorn the history of these events than that of the Cleveland Artillery; no achievements will rank higher than those in which its members, our own gallant soldiers, bore so conspicuous a part. ”

“ The rebels fled in wild dismay, utterly heedless of the efforts of their officers to stem the tide of disaster. They had barely time to get away, and left behind them a large quantity of supplies and material of war which had been collected. The rear end of the disorganized rebel procession had not disappeared when Colonel Kelley’s column came in sight. His advance dashed after the enemy, himself at the head, and there was a brisk skirmish. It did not last long, however, as the rebels fled out of range at the earliest possible moment. ”

“ Marietta was reached early next morning but no enemy was there to fight. The air was full of wild rumors that legions of rebels were approaching, with evil designs upon the city, and the people were badly scared. The arrival of the Cleveland artillery, with real cannon, had a reassuring effect upon the citizens. The men were most cordially welcomed and received with unbounded hospitality. The regiment went into camp on the fair grounds, placing the guns in position to command the city and spread havoc and destruction among any misguided people who should attempt to capture it. ”

“ From his headquarters there Porterfield wrote on June 9th to Colonel R. S. Garnett, Adjutant General of the Virginia forces at Richmond:
“My force is not only deficient in drill but ignorant, both officers and men, of the most ordinary duties of the soldier. With efficient drill officers they might be made effective; but I have to complain that the field officers sent to command these men are of no assistance to me, and are, for the most part, as ignorant of their duties as the company officers, and they as ignorant as the men. ”

“ Early in the war the governor of Ohio decided to place in the field a full regiment of artillery. The chief centers of population in the state readily responded to the call and twelve companies were soon organized, numbering in all more than 1,800 men, commanding seventy-two guns. The command of this large force, a fair-sized army in itself, was sought by several men of military distinction. Quartermaster General Wood of the governor’s staff, who for so many years had been associated with Colonel Barnett in the old Cleveland Artillery, strongly recommended the colonel for the position. ”

“ It was Cleveland’s first record under fire and the citizens felt a justifiable pride in the honorable part borne by their representatives in almost the first engagement of the war.
That the action at Philippi was not more sanguinary was not the fault of the Union soldiers. If the rebels had stayed no doubt there would have been a warm engagement. It takes two parties to get up a fight, and when one of them “runs away” in order that he may “live to fight another day,” there is no alternative but to postpone the battle until that day comes around. ”

“ Whenever occasion offered the artillery served with excellent effect. The years of instruction and drill at home proved a most valuable school. The skill of the gunners in training their pieces and timing shells was such as to win for them the warmest commendations. The members of the infantry regiment formed a strong attachment for the artillerymen. They had an abiding faith in the efficacy of Barnett’s cannon, and when engaged in any movement seemed to be doubly confident if accompanied by a section or two of the artillery. ”

“ Trained horses are only second in value to trained men for artillery service. When it comes to “standing fire” there is as much difference in horses as there is in men. Some animals appear to have a plentiful supply of “sand” and display an intelligent courage that is almost heroic, while others become sadly demoralized under fire and are totally unmanageable.
Meantime the air was full of rumors of projected campaigns into the enemy’s country in which the Cleveland Light Artillery was to participate. Something fresh in this line was circulated through the camp every hour. ”

“ They won the applause of the multitude, the smiles of the fair, and admiring yells from the small boys. For in those ante-bellum days a cannon on wheels was regarded with unspeakable awe; and a man in military dress awakened the liveliest emotions in the popular mind. ”

“ The Cleveland Light Artillery was so successful and popular that in 1851 it was doubled in strength and its armament was increased to four guns. At this time there was no organization of the militia of Ohio, and very little had been done by the state authorities to foster and encourage the military spirit. Few could then have believed that ten years later the tocsin of war would be sounded, and that more than three hundred thousand men from Ohio alone would march to the tented field—and not for holiday or “feather-bed” soldiering, either. ”

“ The record clearly shows that the Ohio Light Artillery regiment was taken into Virginia under authority of and for service with the United States Government. Such was the understanding of the soldiers and of the Federal officers under whom they served, and the character of their service was distinctly national.
The regiment was not called into the service of the State of Ohio alone, but of other States. Every State is an integral part of the Union which the Federal Government is, under the Constitution, bound to protect against invasion. ”

“ All arrangements possible for defense were made. Neither officers nor soldiers had yet learned much about fortifying, in the art of which they became so skilled at a later day, but some rude works had been thrown up which promised to be serviceable and “handy” in case of attack. Part of the guns of the Cleveland Artillery were kept in position where it was thought they might do the most good if there came a rebel visitation. A strong and vigilant picket guard was maintained to prevent anything in the nature of a surprise.
Most of the soldiers were in a sad plight as to clothing. ”

“ In 1859 the Legislature of Ohio passed a militia law. The friends of the Cleveland Light Artillery had for years been hammering at the law-givers, urging the importance of state aid to such organizations. At last the idea found its way into the minds of the state officials and members of the Legislature, that an emergency might arise when a few serviceable cannon, and trained men to use them, would be found “mighty handy.” ”

“ The Fourteenth had been drilling for three weeks at Camp Tayler, in Cleveland. It came with full ranks, completely armed and equipped for service. The Eighteenth had not yet received arms and equipments, but these were promised at an early day. In those days a regiment of infantry meant a thousand men, and not a mere skeleton of two or three hundred, such as were common later in the war, when the ranks had been decimated by disease and the deadly storm of battle. The Fourteenth Ohio reached Marietta on the 24th of May and the Eighteenth on the following day. ”

“ The men were exceedingly anxious to acquit themselves with credit, and spared no pains to make the battery as effective as possible. The ammunition was carefully inspected and put in order, and the guns were polished until they shone like mirrors. The men were “hard up” for clothing, the supply having been exceedingly limited—scanty in quantity and poor in quality. Every effort had been made to procure better supplies but without success. The state authorities and the United States government appeared to be about equally neglectful of the needs of the soldiers. ”

“ We have not been ignorant of the trials through which you have passed, and we have admired the firmness with which you overcame all obstacles that presented themselves to you and incumbered your path, whether rugged mountains or rushing rivers, or hunger or fatigue. ”

“ Wherever the train halted the guns and caissons, which were on platform cars, were regarded with the utmost curiosity and interest by crowds of men, women and children. The engines of war were a novelty to them.
On reaching the state capital—where it had been supposed that the regiment would debark and go into camp for a few days at least—an order was received to proceed at once to Marietta, Ohio, by way of Loveland. It was thought that Marietta was in jeopardy, being threatened by rebel forces in Virginia. ”

“ During the war there was no inconsiderable number of artillery officers who entered the army from other states, whose first instruction was received years before, while members of the old Cleveland battery. Its complement of men was usually from seventy-five to one hundred, and during the twenty years and more of its existence many of these dropped out of the ranks and were widely scattered, their places being filled by others. ”

“ Less than fifty dollars apiece didn’t look very large for more than three months of such toil, hardship and danger, but for the time, with the gold chinking in his pocket, each man felt as if he owned a bank. ”

“ They tried bravely to keep up their spirits as they trudged along through mud and water and stumbled over the roots and stumps and stones that lay in their pathway. It was so dark that a man could scarcely see his file leader. ”

“ The city was wholly defenseless and there were no troops to send there except the Cleveland artillery regiment. After something had been learned of the art of war it came to be considered the proper thing to always provide an infantry support for artillery, but nobody thought of such things at the moment of emergency. So the hundred and sixty fledglings from Cleveland, with their guns and caissons, but without a single horse to move them, were hurried away to prevent the rebels from capturing Marietta. ”

“ In good quarters, with full battery equipment and fine uniforms, and in an admirable state of discipline, it was everywhere recognized as a model organization. On February 22nd, 1856, the Light Artillery and the Cleveland Grays, upon invitation of the Rover Guards of Cincinnati, attended a great military gathering in that city, to celebrate the anniversary of Washington’s birthday. There were present a large number of the best drilled and equipped independent companies of Ohio and other states. None of them surpassed the Cleveland contingent in excellence of drill and martial bearing. ”

“ The whitened locks of these men point to a day in the near future when the members of the association will hold their last banquet, when there will be no member left to decorate the graves of the departed, but around their memory long will cluster recollections of patriotic work and good citizenship, and those now upon life’s stage, and those yet to come, with pride will study their history and place upon their graves flowers, emblematic of love and veneration. ”

“ Thus these citizen soldiers, who at home often were scoffed at for playing soldier in time of peace, by their timely military training, were ready to, and did almost at a day’s notice respond to the call of their country and served it well. The artillery piece captured at Carrick’s Ford was brought to Columbus and turned over to the state, but Colonel Barnett wished to take it to Cleveland. Said Quartermaster General Wood, who then had charge of the arms of the state, to Colonel Barnett: “I think no objection will be raised if you take the gun to Cleveland ”

“ The list which follows embraces all who joined and served in its ranks from that time until the reorganization of the battery under the militia law of Ohio. The older residents of Cleveland and vicinity, who were familiar with its people of thirty and forty years ago, will recognize in this roster the names of many who are now, or were in the past, distinguished as honorable and public-spirited citizens, who attained high positions in business, professional or political life. A large [Pg 12] part of the old members of the Light Artillery are now dead. ”