1st Artillery Regiment (Light)
Battery A
Civil War Newspaper Clippings

Battery A. 1st Artillery.
HEADQUARTERS, BATTERY A, 1st NY. ART'Y
PlTTSBURG, PENN., Aug. 21, 1864
To the Editor Utica Morning Herald:
I have recently received a number of letters from interested parties enquiring "if I am authorized to receive recruits in my Battery, and in what way they can enlist in it."
I can receive about fifty recruits as the time off quite a number of my company expires the first of next month. Any who may desire can enlist in my company, and all that is necessary is, to be particular that " Company A, 1st N. Y. Light Artillery" is placed upon the back of the enlistment papers.
Should more than the required number join the battery they will toe placed on duty in this State while the battery is located in this department.— Fort Washington, opposite Harrisburg, is in command of Lieut. John T. Kingsbury (formerly Capt. of the 26th N.Y. Volunteers) and garrisoned by a detachment of men from this battery in conjunction with some other troops. The Artillery of Chambersburg, Pa., is in: command of an officer this battery also. So that almost any number of men enlisting in this company could and would be employed in this department.
By inserting this in your paper you will confer a favor, not only upon your humble servant, but also upon those who desire the information it contains. THOMAS H. BATES,
Captain Commanding Battery

THE EMPIRE BATTERY
Headquarters Empire Battery
Camp Barry, WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 1861
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald:
It is raining today, but, cozily seated as I am by a good fire inside my little white house, it does not make a dreary sound, pattering on the taut canvas overhead. I rather like the music played by the liquid drops upon my housetop. There is something martial about it, for I can fancy it the tread of any armed elfish host, marching, marching, marching- per chance to bring back to their allegiance some" seceded" State or States in the wide dominions of beautiful Queen Mab. It is not unpleasant, I assure you, "the rain on the roof” of a canvas tent, with the fancies it awakens in the brain, especially if you feel a little drowsy, and the tent don't leak, I could easily sit this rainy afternoon and dream away several hours down here in camp, listening to the rain and wondering what policy the Queen of the Fairies would pursue in suppressing the treason of her rebellious elves; picturing the "form and feature" of her warrior "McClellan," and her rebel gnome "Beauregard,"numbering her forces, and reviewing her strength. But the conviction that there are many in the land of the "loyal" North” who watch with eager eye for every scrap of intelligence from the tented field, where almost every one has a brother or son, father, lover or friend; constrains me, to return to things of reality. Queen Mab, farewell, and success be with you! Restrain you too-impetuous Ellsworths; look out for Bull Runs; reinforce your Mulligans; and if you have a gallant elfish chief, his name "Fremont," keep him a little longer I pray Thee, good Queen Mab. Adieu!
For a week the mechanics of the Empire Battery - and they are neither few nor poor - have been busy. The sound of the hammer, the saw and the mallet have been heard from early morn till dewy eve, and behold the result: Our camp is now a village of 150 inhabitants. The street is wide, and on either side are the dwellings, of uniform height, size and style. They are built of wood as high as the cornice; the roof is of canvas, the same that was formerly used for tents. Perhaps you will get a more accurate idea of the improvement we have made when I say that for each tent there has been built an oblong frame 7 1/2 x 10 feet square, five feet high and just the size of the base of the tent itself. This frame is boarded and bottomed tight. The tent is then set on the top of the open frame or box, and then secured so that it forms an excellent roof, and the, whole makes quite a house. It will be seen that by this means the occupants of each tent gain 375 feet. And more important that the extra room is the increase in the warmth and general comfort of the men. There is now room in each tent for three berths to be built on one side, each berth of sufficient magnitude to accommodate two sleepers. At one end or side may be placed a small stove, leaving space for a table, several camp stools, etc., etc., and " room for company" besides. A number of the tents are already furnished with stoves, while others are fitted out with ingeniously contrived fireplaces, with a chimney built outside the tent a little below the surface of the ground, and opening into the apartment. This latter makes one of the most comfortable arrangement imaginable. It is much like an old-fashioned fire-place, and is full, as pleas-ant to sit by. the camp, as it is now arranged, presents quite a unique appearance, and is the admiration of all who visit us. It is entirely a company enterprise, and the expense is assessed on each member. Each tent is occupied by six men. The expense will not exceed $9 per tent, which, considering the gain in comfort and, health, will be a light tax. As all the cooking is done in the company kitchen, no extra room is required for this department in the several tents. It has been argued against our contrivance that if ordered to move we would lose all our new houses, and consequently our labor and money would be thrown away. If, however, as is probably, the case, we should remain here not less than one month, the care and expense bestowed upon the tents will have been well invested, even if we then lose all our lumber. but should we be ordered to march, it is not likely that we would go so far from here that we would not be able to transport the lumber and build again. It is scarcely possible that we shall leave Washington this winter, inasmuch as it will require at least three months drill to render us efficient in the field, and without some-thing beside the common tent, the men would certainly suffer from the cold. I do not know what Government intends to do with all the soldiers now encamped in this vicinity. A large number of stables have been erected, but very few barracks have yet been occupied. As for the Empire Battery, it is made comfortable, and we can now afford to wait and see what would have been done, or what would not have been done, for us, if we had not done it ourselves.
Yesterday, the immense parade grounds, a short distance from here,, were the scene of a military display. All that portion of the regular army on this side of the Potomac, consisting of some eight or ten thousand cavalry, artillery and infantry, was review-ed by Gen. McClellan and part of his staff. It passed off very well, and was viewed, by quite a crowd of spectators in carriages, on horseback, and afoot, all eager and straining to catch a glimpse of Gen. McClellan. It was generally expected that as this review included "regulars" only it would be something a little better than those of the "volunteers," but I did not observe in the marching or maneuvering that which outshone, in a single respect, the drill, discipline or bearing of the volunteer forces, except it might have been in the artillery corps.— Some of the old batteries manoeuvred with remarkable precision, and almost frightful rapidity, but neither infantry nor cavalry did anything which could not at least be, equaled, and perhaps, excelled, by some of the volunteer regiments. Yet, notwithstanding the "regular army" is so much more a name than a reality, it still monopolizes the lion's share of the honors and aggrandizements. Scarcely a day passes during which I do not hear some complaint against the overbearing manner of the regulars, or the partiality shown them by chiefs of departments and officers. The body of the regular army is composed of men, as a general thing, far inferior in every respect to those of the volunteer service. The regulars may have more experience, but they are not superior either in discipline or drill. The volunteers as a body excel them in intelligence, and consequently their courage is of a loftier kind, and more efficient. There is evidently a growing dislike between the regulars and volunteers, which, if not checked in season, will lead to serious difficulties. There is no reason for such a feeling to exist, and if the regulars only, "do the fair thing" there will be no trouble; but most of those who have gone into the war from pure principle, carrying with them well disciplined minds, and leaving lucrative positions behind, esteem themselves fully as competent as those who became soldiers in time of peace simply to make a living out of the business.
Preparations are going on for the approaching Congress, The House and Senate Chambers have both been refitted, new carpets put down, and everything arranged in order. Washington is gradually filling with visitors, and the coming winter promises to be the liveliest it has ever known. Business is springing up, and competition has already commenced. What nothing else could do for Washington, the war is doing viz. making it a businesstown.
Regiments are still coming in. The hills are white all around with tents. In our immediate vicinity there are about thirty batteries of artillery, constituting what is termed in military parlance the reserved park of artillery. Many of these are regulars who have been serving as infantry until the breaking out of the present war. Some of the companies are in very good drill, others are yet without guns or horses. Nearly all are detached 'batteries. Our own regimental organization is, I understand, to be dissolved and the field offices mustered out of their present offices. A regimental organization for artillery is entirely useless, and I thing efforts are making at headquarters to do away with the system altogether. It will throw some individuals out of lucrative situations, but it will be both a saving to Government and a benefit to individual batteries.
A few days since four new companies joined this regiment, one of them commanded by Captain Crounse, of Fort Plain, Lieuts. S. Walter Stocking and Angel Matthewson. Since our arrival in Washington, we have had several calls from members of the Fourteenth and, Twenty-Sixth Regiments. From the former we have seen Lieuts. Crocker and Cone Privates 'Thurston, Byington, Spell, Williams, Ferguson, McIntyre, Eagles, and Brown. From the Twenty-Sixth we have seen Lieut. Kingsbury, formerly Sergeant Major, but by a succession of promotions, now First Lieutenant of. Company A. Stephen A. Richards also paid us a visit.. They report their respective regiments in good condition, and occupying their old positions. The Fourteenth is yet sanguine of being sent to South Carolina. Colonel McQuade's health is improving, and I was informed last night that he expected to spend Thanksgiving (to-morrow) with his regiment. A great time is anticipated, it being the intention of the officers to make a regular Thanksgiving day of it—turkeys, plum puddings, etc. Most of the New York troops will keep to-morrow as a day of thanksgiving. I fear, though, that big dinners will be less numerous than wishes for them.
Last Sunday the Empire Battery was addressed by Rev. Mr. Dubois. He preached an extempore sermon to the men in the open air, and I doubt not that the words of truth which he spake made an impression on every heart before him.
We have seven or eight men sick with the, measles—part of them getting better, others just coming down; none dangerously ill. For their comfort we have been the recipients of various delicacies and articles of clothing from Miss Dix, Miss Bates, Mrs. Stedman and Mrs. Bigelow, all of Washington.
The weather has not been severe as yet. Only a few flakes have fallen
Yours for our country, D. F. R.

Tuesday, November 3,
Bates's Battery, - A Sergent in Bates's battery boasted in the Delevan House, on Saturday, that "he had brought on 59 soldiers— all Republicans—on their way to Utica to vote, and had left every d—d Democrat behind to take charge of the battery and horses."— Atlantic Argus
Guess he made a mistake of seventeen, 76 came to Utica. In the meantime one of Bates's batteries is doing good service under Lee.
BATES's BATTERY AGAIN. —The Rochester Union publishes the following, which evidently refers to Bates's battery. We doubt the truth of the story to which it thus gives currency, and we presume there are men of that battery here who can set the public right, if they will. The Union says:
A company of light artillery in the 1st N. Y. Regiment recruited mostly about Utica and Rome, has been stationed for some time near Reading, Pa. Of this company 82 were selected to take furloughs and come to election. Every well known Democrat was denied a furlough, under pretence that they were selected to guard the camp. When the men who were to go had been drawn up in line, a Lieutenant in command addressed them, saying in substance, " You are now about to go home to vote. Of course each will act as his conscience dictates, but any man who will take a government furlough and transportation to go home, and then vote my other than the ticket which the government desires to see elected, must have an almighty mean conscience.
The officer then proposed three cheers for the "Union ticket, " which the men gave and came away. One of the party informs us that some 30 of the whole are Democrats, and some of them will vote the Democratic ticket. Others were in doubt what to do, as it was understood that spies were sent along to watch them, and they feared hard revenge if they did not vote the Republican ticket.

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