"Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery" by George Neese
"August 25 (1862) The sharpshooters were firing at each other across the river all night, The Yanks made three attempts last night to burn the bridge but our sharpshooters drove them back every time.
This morning the Yanks on the hill near the bridge were firing swivels at us. A swivel is a species of young cannon light, and mounted on a tripod that looks something like a surveyors compass. The barrel is fixed on a swivel or turning point
The ones the Yanks fired at us this morning threw a shot about the size of a walnut . However I did not see any of them. I judge the size only by the keen whiz they made as they sped past us. I wonder what these Pope Yanks will try on us next- shoot a blacksmith shop or a buzz saw at us I except. This forenoon we moved back to our wagons , about three miles from Waterloo bridge. When we left , the sharpshooters were still firing at one another across the river. In comming back to camp we passed some of General Hill's infantry going toward the bridge . This evening we cooked three days rations."
From the OR's
Greenville, S.C., August 16, 1863.
Maj. C. D. MELTON:
MAJOR: Lieutenant Elliott and Sergeant Pool report that they were twice fired on last week in the mountains of Greenville while quietly riding in the road engaged in a reconnoitering expedition to ascertain the whereabouts of certain bands of deserters. They further report that a heavy log building northeast of Greenville Court-House, located in the vicinity of Gowensville, has been loop-holed and prepared for defense. Serious depredations upon the property of loyal citizens have been perpetrated within the last few days by prowling bands of deserters who are constantly on the increase. A number have arrived this last week from the Twenty-second South Carolina Regiment, who have walked across the country from Augusta.
I have ordered Captain Hawthorne to make a requisition on you for powder, shot, and buckshot and to report at these headquarters to take command of a detachment of conscripts which I am now engaged in detailing and getting ready to suppress this lawlessness and secure the deserters. You will please furnish him some forty or fifty rounds of the same for double-barreled shotguns to the number of forty. Nothing but prompt and determined action can save us from ruin in the mountains of Pickens, Greenville, and Spartanburg. I have ordered Captain Hawthorne to bring a swivel or 6-pounder to demolish a block-house. There is nothing left for us now but a determined front and to fight it out. By demolishing this building we may save the effusion of blood and so alarm these lawless men as to drive them out of the country and back to their duty. I deeply deprecate the necessity, but there is no alternative.
I am, with great respect, &c.,
JNO. D. ASHMORE,
Maj. and Chief Enrolling Officer, Fifth Cong. Dist. of S.C.
Thanks, George. P.S. the Woodruff had a 2 1/4" inch smooth bore gun barrel, not howitzer type with a chamber. It would have been effective only against assailants unarmed with any artillery, it seems.
