The Ohio street armory was occupied for two or three years when, the location being for various reasons undesirable, it was decided to move once more. Quarters were secured near the business center of the city, in a brick building on Frankfort street, a few rods west of Bank street, occupied after the war by Montpellier’s Variety Theater. Here the battery continued to abide until it went to the “front” in 1861.

At this time the company was in better condition than ever before. In good quarters, with full battery equipment and fine uniforms, and in an admirable state of discipline, it was everywhere recognized as a model organization. On February 22nd, 1856, the Light Artillery and the Cleveland Grays, upon invitation of the Rover Guards of Cincinnati, attended a great military gathering in that city, to celebrate the anniversary of Washington’s birthday. There were present a large number of the best drilled and equipped independent companies of Ohio and other states. None of them surpassed the Cleveland contingent in excellence of drill and martial bearing.

During the next three or four years annual encampments were held for practice in gunnery and field evolutions, and in the various duties of camp life. Frequent excursions continued to be made, in response to invitations received from all parts of the country. The citizens of Cleveland showed their increasing appreciation of the high standing of the company and the honor it had conferred upon the city by tendering its members occasional banquets which were largely attended, and were occasions of much social enjoyment. These unsought recognitions were most gratifying to the artillerymen and incited them to the utmost efforts to “go on unto perfection.”

It should be borne in mind,—as a fact in the highest degree creditable to the company—that during all this time, embracing a period of twenty years, the large expenses pertaining to the organization, such as the purchase of uniforms and equipments of every kind, the building or rental of quarters, the cost of transportation and the employment of horses, were cheerfully paid by the members of the company, with some assistance from time to time by the citizens of Cleveland. The state furnished no part of the equipment except the guns and harness, and these only for a portion of the time.

Below is given a complete roster of those whose names were borne upon the roll of the company at different times during these years. The names of the nine originally detailed from the Grays to form the Gun Squad have already been given. The list which follows embraces all who joined and served in its ranks from that time until the reorganization of the battery under the militia law of Ohio. The older residents of Cleveland and vicinity, who were familiar with its people of thirty and forty years ago, will recognize in this roster the names of many who are now, or were in the past, distinguished as honorable and public-spirited citizens, who attained high positions in business, professional or political life. A large part of the old members of the Light Artillery are now dead. A considerable number of these made the supreme sacrifice of life upon the altar of patriotism, during the War of the Rebellion. Some of those whose names appear removed to other parts of the country and rose to prominence in the various walks of life. Some, including two of three of the detail from the Grays in 1839, yet live in and around Cleveland, commanding the highest respect and esteem of their fellow-citizens.

These gray-haired survivors have long had an organized association to perpetuate the memories of “auld lang syne.” Regularly each year, on Washington’s birthday, they meet around the social board and recall reminiscences of the past. They hold in tender remembrance their comrades who died for their country, and upon the annual recurrence of Decoration Day they never omit to strew flowers upon the graves of those who sleep in the beautiful cemeteries of Cleveland. The association is gradually diminishing in number, as one by one its members yield to the infirmities of age, but as long as any of them remain these yearly gatherings will be continued.

The list of members of the old Cleveland Light Artillery is as follows, including all whose names were on its roll from the beginning till the reorganization under the state law, in 1860:

Andrews, J. S.Bennett, James
Adams, S. E.Bennett, John A.
Abbey, H. G.Brown, J. C.
Ashcraft, S. F.Burwell, H. F.
Adams, M.Berry, William
Barnett, JamesBradford, Charles
Bond, M. P.Beardsley, Clint.
Bond, T. N.Babcock, C. H.
Brown, Ben.Bynnar, C. E.
Beardsley, E. S.Benjame, John
Bliss, StoughtonBills, George W.
Bingham, HenryBocking, R. C.
Bradburn, CharlesBlake, I. W.
Berry, AlfredGardner, O. S.
Baldwin, N. A.Grimshaw, J. W.
Beck, D. D.Hayward, W. H.
Bull, JohnHarmon, J. C.
Born, C. P.Hill, James
Beckel, F.Higby, Charles
Broat, J. H.Harbeck, J. S.
Burkhardt, J. H.Houghton, D. W.
Cowan, WilliamHaskill, J. R.
Cowan, John.Hilliard, William
Calkins, G. W.Haidenburgh, J. H.
Casement, John S.Ingersoll, John
Craw, James A.Jones, Samuel
Crawford, RandallJohnson, J. W.
Coon, JohnKrauss, G.
Cowdry, C. W.Kelley, George
Cowdry, J. M.Kittell, William
Craigen, WilliamKrieger, Frank
Cate, WilliamLawrence, W. E.
Champlain, Wm. A.Lyon, W. A.
Chapman, W. H.Langell, S. F.
Craig, WilliamLucas, M.
Crawford, FrankLeonard, Charles
Chapin, E.Lewis, E. H.
Curtis, A. F.Lewis, S. J.
Clayton, D. B.Marshall, Alex.
Crable, JohnMachette, Thomas H.
Cummings, B.Merwin, A.
Dockstader, RichardMcDole, N. K.
Dockstader, W. J.McOmber, J. H.
Dunham, C. H.Merriam, C. J.
Dexter, B. F.Miller, W. L.
Douglass, R. B.Miller, James
Dunn, J. E.McMurphy, P. F.
Dumont, W.Mastick, H. A.
Ensworth, J. W.McIlrath, James
Ensworth, JereMatthews, H.
Eddy, F. H.Marshall, Geo. F.
Eldridge, George D.Newell, N. M.
Edgarton, W. P.Noble, H. M.
Flint, Edward S.Nelson, S. N.
Freeman, J. H.Nelson, N.
Feickert, C.Pickersgill, William
Geer, HezekiahPalmer, Horace
Green, J. M.Perry, J. S.
Gerlacher, J.Paddock, T. S.
Gruninger, FredPotts, W. H.
Potts, R. C.Sanford, E.
Pynchon, J. B.Sanford, Nelson
Patrick, C. L.Sanford, J. R.
Pratt, D. M.Sturtevant, S. C.
Price, DavidStevenson, M.
Prentiss, W. W.Smith, Pard B.
Pelton, F. S.Sweeny, Thomas T.
Race, SeymourStevens, W.
Rice, Percy W.Sheldon, W. B.
Reese, C. S.Silsbee, S.
Redhead, N. W.Story, J.
Ruple, D. S.Smidt, N.
Robinson, J. T.Schent, D.
Robison, W. S.Shields, J. C.
Ruff, PeterTaylor, D. C.
Rodder, C. B.Thompson, T. J.
Russell, C. L.Towner, W.
Scovill, O. C.Umbstaetter, D.
Scovill, Edward A.Utley, F. H.
Standart, W. E.Wood, David L.
Standart, W. L.Walworth, John
Standart, S. H.Walworth, William
Standart, Geo. W.Whittemore, M. C.
Simmonds, W. R.Whittemore, H. L.
Sholl, W. H.Warmington, William
Seymour, BeldenWhite, N. D.
Strong, J. T.Winslow, John
Sterling, J. M. Jr.Wilbur, J. B.
Sterling, E.Wehl, V.
Simmonds, S. J.Weidenkopf, N.
Selden, C. A.Werlig, A.
Sturges, S. B.Wilson, F.

Before entering upon the reorganization of the Artillery, it will be fitting to pay deserved tribute to the memory of David L. Wood, who served as its commandant for seventeen years, and to whose zeal and ability the company was so largely indebted for its honorable and successful career. He was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, August 14, 1817. While yet a lad his parents removed to Buffalo, where he learned the trade of a printer. Early in 1839 he removed to Cleveland and at once identified himself with the Grays. His connection with Fay’s Artillery Company in Buffalo, his detail from the Grays as sergeant of the Gun Squad, and his subsequent services in the battery have already been mentioned. Under the law passed in 1859 to organize the militia of Ohio he was appointed by Governor Chase to the responsible position of Quartermaster General of the state. So faithfully and efficiently did he discharge the duties of the position that he was reappointed by Governor Dennison and was at the head of that most important department of the state executive when the war broke out in 1861. He displayed great energy and ability in fitting for active duty the troops that so rapidly responded to the call. But the true military spirit was strong in him and nothing could satisfy him but active service in the field. He resigned his position at Columbus and having been by the President commissioned a captain in the Eighteenth United States Infantry—“Regulars”—he went to the front in December. His regiment was afterward assigned to Thomas’s corps, Army of the Cumberland. In the historic cedar thicket at Stone River, where the Eighteenth was so fearfully decimated, he was severely wounded. When partially recovered he asked to be placed on such duty as he could perform and was put in charge of a recruiting station at Marietta, Ohio. When John Morgan made his famous raid into Ohio, Captain Wood took command of a hastily organized company and joined in the pursuit of the rebel troopers, bearing an honorable part in the action at Buffington Island. Soon after this, although still suffering from the effects of his wound, he applied for permission to rejoin his regiment in the field, but it was not granted by reason of his disability and he was placed on the retired list.

He went to Cleveland where he was several times elected a Justice of the Peace. In 1876 he removed to New York, in the hope that the climate might prove more favorable to his failing health. He grew worse, however, and in April 1881, he returned to Cleveland. He was almost immediately prostrated by severe illness, which terminated fatally a few days later. On May 2nd he died, sincerely mourned by a wide circle of friends, and particularly by his old comrades of the Cleveland Light Artillery, with whom he was so long and intimately associated.