Battery H, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, was organized in the city of Providence, R. I., about the first of May, 1862. It was quartered temporarily in Railroad Hall, where the men were drilled in marching movements until the formation of an artillery camp near Mashapaug Pond, Cranston, R. I., whither the battery was subsequently ordered. This camp was designated Camp Mauran, in honor of Gen. Edward C. Mauran, the adjutant-general of the State.
The first commander of the battery was Capt. Charles H. J. Hamlin, who was promoted from the position of quartermaster of the regiment. Captain Hamlin assumed command of the battery about the sixteenth of May, 1862, while it was in Camp Mauran. It recruited here more than four times its complement of men, but in consequence of the many requisitions from batteries in the field, whose ranks had been reduced by the casualties of war, it was deemed necessary to furnish them with recruits from this battery, and it was only after they were supplied that Battery H was completed and permitted to leave the State.
Sergt. Kirby Steinhauer, of Battery G, was promoted to second lieutenant of Battery H in September, 1862, and immediately reported for duty. Captain Hamlin resigned his commission the latter part of September, and Lieutenant Steinhauer assumed command of the battery. While in Camp Mauran the men were drilled by Lieutenant Steinhauer, and Sergeants Messinger, Lewis, Sayles, Colwell and Carpenter. Sergt. Franklin P. Burlingame was on duty in the city of Providence, engaged in recruiting for the battery.
On the 3d of October, 1862, Lieut. Jeffrey Hazard, of Battery A, who had been acting adjutant of the regiment, was commissioned captain of Battery H, arrived in camp and took command. Shortly after his arrival Captain Hazard was ordered by Governor Sprague to proceed to the Dexter Training Ground, where the Twelfth Rhode Island Infantry was encamped. Trouble was anticipated in regard to the bounties promised them by the State. Governor Sprague had decided that these bounties should not be paid until the arrival of the regiment within the lines of the army in Virginia. As a number of recruits from other regiments had received the bounty and deserted before arriving at the front, the governor took this precautionary measure to prevent desertions in the Twelfth. This order caused intense dissatisfaction among the men of this regiment, so much so that it threatened to culminate in open mutiny. On reaching the Training Ground Captain Hazard was ordered by the governor to place one gun of his battery at each of the four corners of the grounds, presumably with the view of intimidating into submission the soldiers of this regiment. This movement only enraged the infantry and made our situation extremely unpleasant, having less than fifty men against their one thousand. Had a gun been fired it is probable that a bloody encounter would have ensued, and it was with great difficulty that the guns were retired at the instance of the governor without a collision, and the battery returned to Camp Mauran.
The roll of the original officers and men attached to the battery while in Camp Mauran, comprised the following:
Captain.
Jeffrey Hazard.
First Lieutenant.
Clement Webster.
Second Lieutenant.