The last dozen in dependent batteries from New York, the 25th through 36th Batteries, feature several story lines which had not played out by the end of 1863. Thus the listing is incomplete and lacking in some respects. And, we see just nine lines:
But we’ll discuss all twelve here in order to fill in the gaps:
- 25th Battery: No return. Recall, while in transit to New Orleans in January, this battery’s transport wrecked. This “hard luck” battery remained at New Orleans, assigned to the Fourth Division, Nineteenth Corps through October as part of the city defenses. Captain John A. Grow remained in command. Earlier in the year, the battery reported four 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. A detachment from the battery saw action at Vermilionville, Louisiana as part of an expedition to the Teche Campaign in November.
- 26th Battery: Reprting at Thibodaux, Louisiana, with four 12-pdr Napoleons. Also suffering loss in the January shipwreck, the 26th was, at the reporting time, part of the District of LaFourche. Captain George W. Fox remained in command of the battery.
- 27th Battery: At Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with four 12-pdr Napoleons. As part of the Department of the Susquehanna the battery was the artillery complement to the garrison of Philadelphia. Captain John B. Eaton commanded this battery.
- 28th Battery: At Fort Schuyler, New York with no artillery listed. The battery served at Fort Schuyler and Sandy Hook. Captain Josiah C. Hannum retained command. Though in his absence, Lieutenant Ira W. Steward led the battery at the end of the year.
- 29th Battery: No return. After July 1863, remaining enlistments with this battery transferred to the 32nd Battery (below). Lieutenant Bernard Wever was the ranking officer left with the battery.
- 30th Battery: At Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, with six 12-pdr Napoleons. Captain Alfred Von Kleiser remained in command. The battery was assigned to Second Brigade, First Division, Department of West Virginia.
- 31st Battery: No return. Captain Gustav Von Blucher was in command. The battery appears in the Department of West Virginia. But as it was reduced, with many of the men attached to the 30th Battery, the battery was in effect only a paper designation. Von Blucher himself was serving as a staff officer with the Artillery Reserve, Army of the Potomac.
- 32nd Battery: At Sandy Hook, Maryland with six 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Captain Charles Kusserow remained in command. The battery served alongside the 30th in Second Brigade, First Division, Department of West Virginia.
- 33rd Battery: At Camp Barry, District of Columbia with six 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. This freshly recruited battery served at the Artillery Camp of Instruction, in the Department of Washington (Twenty-second Corps). Captain Algar M. Wheeler commanded.
- 34th Battery: Not listed. This number was reserved for Battery L, 2nd New York Artillery. Captain Jacob Roemer’s battery, then serving in 1st Division, Ninth Corps, officially took it’s “Independent” number in November. The battery operated near Knoxville in December 1863. For unknown reasons, the clerks failed to account for this battery under either the new or old designation. The battery maintained four 3-inch rifles.
- 35th Battery: Not listed. Authorized on July 9. Captain James B. Caryle was given the commission to recruit the battery. But it never completed organization. The authority was recalled. The recruited men were assigned to Battery A, 16th New York Heavy Artillery.
- 36th Battery: Not listed. On August 11, 1863, Captain Charles Graham Bacon was authorized to recruit this battery. On October 14, authority was revoked and the men recruited by that time were transferred to the 13th New York Heavy Artillery. We will see this battery accounted for with in the miscellaneous listings to follow.
For those batteries filing returns, we look to the ammunition on hand. Starting with smoothbore:
- 26th Battery: 148 shot, 12 shell, and 48 case for 12-pdr Napoleons.
- 27th Battery: 192 shot, 64 shell, and 192 case for 12-pdr Napoleons.
- 30th Battery: 308 shot, 128 shell, and 320 case for 12-pdr Napoleons.
Continuing on to the next page:
- 26th Battery: 12 canister for 12-pdr Napoleon.
- 27th Battery: 64 canister for 12-pdr Napoleon.
- 30th Battery: 112 canister for 12-pdr Napoleon.
Only one of the rifled gun batteries reported Hotchkiss rounds on hand:
- 32nd Battery: 114 Hotchkiss case shot and 120 Hotchkiss canister for 3-inch rifles.
So the 33rd, being a new battery, presumably training hard at the artillery school, was not entrusted with ammunition… yet. The 32nd’s accounting continues on the next page with Schenkl projectiles:
- 32nd Battery: 583 Schenkl shell for 3-inch rifles.
And another entry on the next page:
- 32nd Battery: 383 Schenkl case shot.
All six reporting batteries indicated small arms on hand:
- 26th Battery: 17 Colt army revolvers, 12 cavalry sabers, and 11 horse artillery sabers.
- 27th Battery: 17 Colt army revolvers, 30 cavalry sabers, and 10 horse artillery sabers.
- 28th Battery: 145 Springfield muskets, .58-caliber.
- 30th Battery: 13 Colt army revolvers and 64 cavalry sabers.
- 32nd Battery: 9 Colt navy revolvers, 36 cavalry sabers, and 11 foot artillery swords.
- 33rd Battery: 20 Colt navy revolvers and 30 horse artillery sabers.
Yes, some of those foot artillery swords were issued… allegedly.
Turning to the cartridge bags reported:
- 26th Battery: 100 cartridge bags for 12-pdr Napoleons.
- 27th Battery: 10 cartridge bags for 12-pdr Napoleons.
- 32nd Battery: 1,237 cartridge bags for 3-inch rifles.
- 33rd Battery: 50 cartridge bags for 3-inch rifles.
So we see that while in training the 33rd Battery was allowed to “make noise” but not “send things downrange!”
Finally to the last page for pistol cartridges, fuses, and miscellaneous articles:
- 26th Battery: 700 army pistol cartridges and 800 friction primers.
- 27th Battery: 25 army pistol cartridges; 700 friction primers; and 500 regulation percussion caps.
- 30th Battery: 48 army pistol cartridges; 500 friction primers; 38 yards of slow match; 60 pistol percussion caps; and 116 portfires.
- 32nd Battery: 200 navy pistol cartridges; 1,086 paper fuses; and 2,009 friction primers.
- 33rd Battery: 100 friction primers and 50 yards of slow match.
This concludes the independent batteries from New York, including some gaps. But we are not finished with the state. Below the independent batteries were three lines covering miscellaneous entries outside the normal unit organization. We’ll review those next.