lelliott19
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Freeman's Huggins' Battery (aka Baxter's Company, Tennessee Light Artillery)
Captain Amariah Louis (A. L.) Huggins recalls target practice and excellent shooting ....
"Small affairs in the rear and on the flank of the army occupied our time until we crossed the mountains to Chattanooga, where we camped for a short while, and then in July recrossed the Tennessee River to operate in East Tennessee. Gen. Forrest was reinforced by Pegram's division of cavalry and Huwald's battery.
An incident may be related to illustrate artillery practice. Huwald's men were doing some target-shooting, and Gen. Forrest ordered one of Capt. Huggins's guns to be brought up. Huggins sent Lieut. Baxter, with Sergt. Porter and his gun. Gen. Forrest sent a courier for Capt. Huggins to come and superintend firing the piece. Sergt. Porter placed and gave proper elevation to the gun. Lieut. Baxter and Capt. Huggins were satisfied with Porter's aim; and when Maj. Bawls, Chief of Artillery, put his hands on the regulating screw Capt. Huggins caught them and lifted them off, simply saying, "Don't touch it." When the piece was fired the shell exploded at the target a few feet from the ground. Gen. Forrest was highly pleased.
It is not improper to say the discipline of the battery was against will and reckless shooting, the Captain contending that the third shot ought always to be near the point aimed at. The first and second shots might go over or fall short, but the failure of the third could find little ground of excuse. Capt. Huggins thought, on this account, that possibly he had the best shots in the army. The officers were required to excel the men, and to give their personal assistance in places of extreme danger. Batteries of the enemy were frequently run from their positions by the sixth or eighth shot.
In illustration of excellent shooting, may be mentioned the following incident: At Tullahoma, A. B. Martin,
acting Sergeant, made a remarkable shot with a three-inch rifled gun. The gun was in position in a road which stretched away for eight hundred yards in front without a turn. At the other end of this straight road a Federal gun was in position for service, and it shot twice at Martin's gun, when we took very deliberate aim and struck the enemy's piece squarely in the muzzle with a solid shot. A short while after, the Confederate line moved up and took the ground at the position of the Federal gun, and there the gun lay, split nearly into two parts."
Excerpt from: Military Annals of Tennesee, Regimental Histories and Memorial Rolls, (History of the) FREEMAN-HUGGINS BATTERY. A. L. Huggins, Nashville, Tenn. J. M. Lindsley & co. Publisher, Nashville, TN, 1886. pp 795-800. https://archive.org/stream/militaryannalso00lind/militaryannalso00lind_djvu.txt
Captain Amariah Louis (A. L.) Huggins recalls target practice and excellent shooting ....
"Small affairs in the rear and on the flank of the army occupied our time until we crossed the mountains to Chattanooga, where we camped for a short while, and then in July recrossed the Tennessee River to operate in East Tennessee. Gen. Forrest was reinforced by Pegram's division of cavalry and Huwald's battery.
An incident may be related to illustrate artillery practice. Huwald's men were doing some target-shooting, and Gen. Forrest ordered one of Capt. Huggins's guns to be brought up. Huggins sent Lieut. Baxter, with Sergt. Porter and his gun. Gen. Forrest sent a courier for Capt. Huggins to come and superintend firing the piece. Sergt. Porter placed and gave proper elevation to the gun. Lieut. Baxter and Capt. Huggins were satisfied with Porter's aim; and when Maj. Bawls, Chief of Artillery, put his hands on the regulating screw Capt. Huggins caught them and lifted them off, simply saying, "Don't touch it." When the piece was fired the shell exploded at the target a few feet from the ground. Gen. Forrest was highly pleased.
It is not improper to say the discipline of the battery was against will and reckless shooting, the Captain contending that the third shot ought always to be near the point aimed at. The first and second shots might go over or fall short, but the failure of the third could find little ground of excuse. Capt. Huggins thought, on this account, that possibly he had the best shots in the army. The officers were required to excel the men, and to give their personal assistance in places of extreme danger. Batteries of the enemy were frequently run from their positions by the sixth or eighth shot.
In illustration of excellent shooting, may be mentioned the following incident: At Tullahoma, A. B. Martin,
acting Sergeant, made a remarkable shot with a three-inch rifled gun. The gun was in position in a road which stretched away for eight hundred yards in front without a turn. At the other end of this straight road a Federal gun was in position for service, and it shot twice at Martin's gun, when we took very deliberate aim and struck the enemy's piece squarely in the muzzle with a solid shot. A short while after, the Confederate line moved up and took the ground at the position of the Federal gun, and there the gun lay, split nearly into two parts."
Excerpt from: Military Annals of Tennesee, Regimental Histories and Memorial Rolls, (History of the) FREEMAN-HUGGINS BATTERY. A. L. Huggins, Nashville, Tenn. J. M. Lindsley & co. Publisher, Nashville, TN, 1886. pp 795-800. https://archive.org/stream/militaryannalso00lind/militaryannalso00lind_djvu.txt
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