The two regiments of regulars which the governor was authorized by the convention to raise, having been rapidly recruited, were in the month of April distributed at Tybee island, at Forts Pulaski and Jackson, and in Savannah, thereby to a great degree relieving the volunteer companies of Savannah, which up to this time had constituted the sole garrison of Fort Pulaski. On the 23d of March the governor had been empowered and instructed to tender these regiments to the Confederate States as a component part of the provisional army.

On the 1st of May, the Chatham Artillery celebrated, with interesting ceremonies, its seventy-fifth anniversary. An oration, commemorative of its history from its earliest organization, was pronounced by Charles C. Jones, Jr., then first lieutenant of the company. A Confederate flag was presented, on behalf of the wives and daughters of the non-commissioned officers of the company, by Lieut. Hartridge, and received on behalf of the company by Capt. Claghorn. A salute of eight guns was fired in honor of the day. The parade was the largest ever made in the history of the company. Fully impressed with the momentous issues of the present, and firmly resolved to respond cheerfully and manfully to the new and important duties which would soon devolve upon them as citizen soldiers, the active members of this Battery determined, at the earliest call, to volunteer in the service of the new born Confederacy. As the proceedings of this day have been perpetuated in substantial form, it is unnecessary now to dwell upon them. Suffice it to say that the fires kindled upon. the patriotic altar then erected, burned brightly through after years of gloom, of privation, and of danger; and the beautiful flag then received-at once

the symbol of woman's devotion, and the ensign of a nation's honor-full high advanced through the darkest trials, proved ever a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, pointing the way to noble action and heroic endurance.

CHAPTER II.

THE CHATHAM ARTILLERY mustered into the service of the Confederate States Removal of the Company from Fort Pulaski to Camp Claghorn on the Isle of Hope-Its equipment as a Light Battery.

From the 1st of May until the 31st of July, 1861, comparatively little active service was rendered by the company. On the day last mentioned the Chatham Artillery was, in its own Armory yard, duly mustered into the service of the Confederate states by William S. Rockwell, Lieut. Colonel of the 1st Volunteer Regiment of Georgia, mustering officer. The company was received as a unit under its state organization, the commissioned officers presenting themselves under the commissions which they held from the governor. The following were the commissioned officers:

It is with sincere regret that I am unable to present a roll of the individual members of the company, who, on this occasion, enlisted in the service of the Confederate states. This much, however, can be stated, that one captain, four lieutenants, six sergeants, four corporals, two musicians, and thirty-one privates aggregate, forty-eight-were then mustered into Con

federate service. The very next day the company was put under orders and went to Fort Pulaski. This term of service, thus commenced, was coextensive with the Confederate struggle for independence. The Chatham Artillery was mustered into Confederate service for twelve months, with the distinct understanding, however, had with Brig. Gen. Lawton, then commanding the military district, and who, in the absence of specific instructions from the scarcely organized war department of the Confederate states, was endeavoring to organize forces for the defense of the coast for the longest terms and upon the most advantageous basis possible in the novel and unsettled condition of affairs, that if he received any company for a period less than the term specified, the Chatham Artillery should, if so disposed, be entitled to the benefit of the change, and have its term of service reduced pro tanto. No one at this time realized the gigantic proportions which the impending war was destined to assume, or appreciated even approximatively its probable duration. It was generally believed that it would be a partial and a short war. The triumph of the Confederacy was regarded as certain, and the object of this stipulation was to provide for the contingency-which, it was thought, would very likely occur- of a cessation of hostilities within a twelve-month. In that event, these citizen soldiers who had laid aside many and weighty obligations at home, not in a thoughtless spirit of wild adventure, but in obedience to a clear conception of most sacred duty, did not desire to find themselves in time of peace constituting a portion of the standing army of the Confederacy.

Upon its return to Fort Pulaski the company entered earnestly upon the performance of garrison

duty. Blockading vessels were daily in sight. Most important events had transpired in Virginia and elsewhere. The plot was thickening on every hand. Rumors were rife of an expedition on foot to recapture the fort, whose armament was still very defective. The greatest difficulty was encountered in the effort to procure guns of suitable calibre. It was therefore all important that the battery in position, and the garrison should be kept in the best possible condition. By the middle of September the armament of the fort had been increased by the addition of one twentyfour-pounder and three eight-inch Columbiad guns in casemates, and two eight-inch, and five ten-inch Columbiads en barbette. Ordnance stores had been accumulated. The garrison had been well instructed in the heavy artillery drill. The light field guns of the company no longer subserved the important purposes which they answered upon the first occupation of the fort - when they were almost the only pieces available for its immediate defense. The Chatham Artillery was essentially a light artillery company, having in its possession a light battery consisting of two twelve-pounder howitzers and four sixpounder guns, limbers and caissons complete, and also the requisite sets of harness in fair order. For the time being its members had acted as heavy artillerists, but as such they could now be conveniently spared from the garrison of the fort, and it was highly important that there should be well organized mounted artillery for the defense of the coast. Under these circumstances the question of a change from heavy to light artillery duty was earnestly considered in the company, and zealously advocated by its officers. The great desideratum was a sufficient number of good battery horses. So limited was the supply of