Summary Statement, 2nd Quarter, 1863 – Missing batteries

Earlier this week, I finished the transcription of the second quarter, 1863 summary statements with a pair of entries for California under the “Miscellaneous” heading.  In the past, I’ve given my own “miscellaneous” listing to cover batteries which were not mentioned in the summary. But since the clerks of 1863 have secured that heading, I’ll have to consider other options.

For this quarter, with evolution to the presentation, I’ve given space to many of those missing batteries in the normal entries.  Furthermore, it seemed that by June 1863 the Ordnance Department had improved accounting.  When comparing to “missing batteries” from the previous quarter, we can note entries for the 1st Arkansas, 1st Colorado, Mississippi Marine Brigade artillery, and Tennessee’s Federal batteries.  However some were inevitably left out.  A short summary by state, just as a reminder:

• Connecticut: Batteries B and M, 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery served in the 2nd Volunteer Brigade, Artillery Reserve, Army of the Potomac.  Respectively under Captains Albert F. Brooker and Franklin A. Pratt, each battery had four 4.5-inch siege rifles.  These “heavies” just missed Gettysburg, an remained with the army’s trains.
• Illinois:  Elgin Battery and Colvin’s Independent Battery were omitted from the summary.
• Kansas: I think the entries for Kansas are fairly complete for June 1863.  However, I do think Armstrong’s Battery, associated with the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, was omitted.
• Kentucky:  The 2nd and 3rd Kentucky batteries were, by my estimate, overlooked by the clerks.
• Massachusetts: The 13th and 15th Massachusetts, which were in service at the end of June, were once again left off the summary.  I detailed those in the state’s summary.
• Michigan:  I mentioned 11th Battery (Battery L) and 12th Battery (Battery M), Michigan artillery in line with that state’s entries.
• New York: Goodwin’s Battery, serving with the 11th New York Heavy, was among those rushed into the June-July emergency situation.
• Pennsylvania: The clerks had a poor accounting of the independent batteries.  I tried to fill in the blanks.  Furthermore, we looked at the emergency militia batteries brought into service in June-July 1863.

In addition, let us also consider the heavy artillery regiments then in service.  As of June 1863, the summaries we have to consider only tallied field artillery.  Heavy, siege, and seacoast weapons were detailed on other forms.  Though I would point out that in 1864 the summaries were consolidated somewhat.  There is a fine “bureaucratic” point to keep in mind here.  The guns of a fort, armory, or other facility were considered property of that installation.  So while the members of a regiment might have manned massive Parrotts and Columbiads, the guns were reported by the installation.

Mentioned in the bullet points above and sprinkled throughout the summaries for the second quarter, many “heavies” were issued field artillery and put to service on active campaigns IN the field.  So we have considered their service where crossing into the field artillery lane.  Still, I think for the sake of a complete record, we should at least identify what heavy artillery units were on the rolls at the time and where they served.

So my next post, to conclude the second quarter of 1863, will be a summary listing of heavy artillery units that were on the rolls as of June 1863.

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