The following is the military record of Battery B of the 2nd U.S. Light Artillery from Dyer's Compendium, a standard reference written after the Civil War. It agrees with GB Dixon's description of his recent action around Yorktown VA. It was a regular Army unit and was in existence by at least January 1861, several months before the Battle of Ft. Sumter. I haven't found anything on Capt. Robertson, the surname is too common. BATTERY "B" 2nd ARTILLERY. At Fortress Monroe, Va., January, 1861. Attached to Dept. of Virginia April, 1861, to September, 1861. Artillery Reserve, Army of the Potomac, to May, 1862. Consolidated with Battery "L" 2nd Artillery, May, 1862, and attached to 1st Brigade, Horse Artillery, Artillery Reserve, 5th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to September, 1862. Pleasanton's Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, to November, 1862. Averill's Cavalry Brigade, Right Grand Division, Army of the Potomac, to February, 1863. 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1863. 1st Brigade, Horse Artillery, Army of the Potomac and Shenandoah, to December, 1864. Reserve Artillery, Middle Military Division, to April, 1865. Horse Artillery Brigade, 22nd Corps, to August, 1865. SERVICE.--Action at Big Bethel, Va., June 10, 1861. Capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark, Hatteras Inlet, N. C., August 28-29. Moved to Washington, D.C., September, and duty there till March, 1862. Moved to the Virginia Peninsula. Siege of Yorktown April 5-May 4. Near Williamsburg May 4. Sistersville, New Kent Court House, May 9. Seven days before Richmond June 25-July 1. Turkey Bridge June 30. Malvern Hill July 1. At Harrison's Landing till August 16. Moved to Fortress Monroe, thence to Alexandria August 16-24. Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Sugar Loaf Mountain September 10-11. Frederick, Md., September 12. Catoctin Mountain September 13. Battle of Antietam September 16-17. Shepherdstown Ford September 19. Markham Station November 4. Warrenton November 6. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12-15. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 8. Stoneman's Raid April 29-May 8. Brandy Station or Fleetwood and Beverly Ford June 9. Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3. Brandy Station August 1-4. Advance from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan September 13-17. Bristoe Campaign October 9-22. Raccoon Ford October 10. Morton's Ford, Stevensburg, and Kelly's Ford October 11. Brandy Station or Fleetwood October 11-12. Oak Hill October 15. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7-9. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. New Hope Church November 27. Rapidan Campaign May 4-June 12. Wilderness May 5-7. Brock Road and the Furnaces May 6. Todd's Tavern May 7-8. Sheridan's Raid to the James River May 9-24. Ground Squirrel Church and Yellow Tavern May 11. Brook Church or Richmond fortifications May 12. On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Hanovertown May 27. Crump's Creek and Haw's Shop May 28. Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-7. Siege of Petersburg June 16-August 5. Deep Bottom July 27-29. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign August 7-November 28. Tell Gate, near White Post, and near Newtown August 11. Cedarville, Guard Hill or Front Royal August 16. Battle of Opequan, Winchester, September 19. Near Cedarville September 20. Front Royal September 21. Milford September 22. Waynesboro September 29. <dy_1698> Tom's Brook October 8-9. Battle of Cedar Creek October 19. Expedition to Lacey Springs December 19-22. Duty in the Shenandoah Valley till April, 1865, and at Washington, D.C., till August, 1865. -----Original Message----- From: Gary Welch [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 1:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [NYFL] Civil War letter -- What happened to GB Dixon? The roster of the 2nd US Light Artillery doesn't appear to be in the online databases. I did find Clark Taylor. He enlisted at age 21 on 5/10/1861, less than a month after Ft. Sumter, in Battle Creek MI. He was discharged 2/2/1863 in Newport News VA. He received a pension in 1863 so he was probably wounded or otherwise incapacitated. His widow, Generva Taylor, received a pension after he died in 189?. She was living in MA at the time. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 8:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NYFL] Civil War letter -- What happened to GB Dixon? Do you know what happened to this man? Does anyone know? What a snapshot in time -- April 20, 1862 -- Seems that he referenced "Friend Caward" -- the addressee "Birt" -- a fellow soldier in Co B, 2nd US Light Artillery, who also knows Caward, because he says that as of the date of this letter he "is well & expects to have a fight soon." "Cousin Clark Taylor of the Mich. 2nd" "Marv" -- another fellow soldier who also knows Caward "Capt. Robertson" -- again, Co. B. "Gill" -- friend or relation of "Caward" -- Picture those soldiers, marching those days into the burned remnants of Southern towns; hearing stories of battles before them and gaining awareness of what they, too would face. These were just boys, most of them; farm kids from the Finger Lakes to whom the occasional slaughter of a pig or chicken for family meals was routine, and to whom blood was no stranger. They were used to working hard from dawn until dark, doing what needed to be done, getting their hands dirty, taking orders from someone older and being outdoors in all weather. They were even used to the ravages of diseases that, if caught, could take their lives in ways more agonizing than any bullet. What they weren't used to was war. There hadn't been a real war since their grandfathers were boys. Most of them had probably known death of one kind or another, as disease, old age, childbirth and accidents claimed family members, friends and neighbors. Many of them knew what it was to take down livestock and prepare it for the table. What must have dawned on them, though, sure as the sun rose each morning that spring in Virginia, was that war was different. They got up, and they marched down ruined roads and through blackened fields and they met survivors and buried victims, and they had to begin to understand that sooner or later they would be the ones that the Rebels would stand and fight. So when they weren't marching they bivouacked, and they cooked, and they groused and played cards. And they wrote letters home, which was something else they weren't used to, most of them. And they told people they loved, in the plainest words they knew, about their days and their nights, but not about their fears, or their loneliness. They were just boys, but they were soldiers. Elena Anderson ______________________________ ______________________________