THE second of the three general divisions into which the regiment had
been separated—Lieutenant-Colonel Woodman's command, "G" (Chick's) and
"L" (Whiting's) Batteries—arrived at its destination at New Bedford on
June 1st, reporting to Lieutenant-Colonel Haskin, Second United States
Artillery, commanding officer at Fort Adams, R.I. The post to be
garrisoned was then borne on the army register as the "Fort at Clark's
Point," the designation by which it had been known since 1857, when
ground first was broken for its construction. The fort is an excellent
type of the clever military engineering for which this country was noted
at the middle of the century. It is an enclosed work of granite, with
two tiers of casemate guns and provisions for a third tier in barbette,
though the guns of the latter battery never have been mounted. In June
last its armament was made up of 8- and 10-inch Rodmans, 100-pounder
(6.4-inch) Parrott rifles, and 24-pounder (5.8-inch) flank-casemate
howitzers. All through the summer and fall months the Engineers were
steadily at work on exterior emplacements for 8-inch breech-loading
rifles, on disappearing mounts, while mortar and rapid-fire batteries
also were projected for the post; but during its occupation by its
volunteer garrison the only available ordnance was that of the types of
the Civil War.
The site of the works is at the extremity of Clark's Point, three miles
and a half from the centre of New Bedford, at a point commanding not
only the channel entering the harbor, but also all water areas for
bombardment to the southward of the city. Prior to the war with Spain, a
solitary ordnance sergeant formed the garrison at the post, but on May
6th a detachment of thirty men from the Second Artillery, under command
of Lieutenant Lyon (later relieved, on May 27th, by Lieutenant Connor),
had been ordered over from Fort Adams for guard duty. The casemates on
the landward face of the fort, originally intended for use as quarters,
never had been placed in condition for occupancy, and the detachment of
regulars therefore was quartered in an old building standing on the
reservation, while the battalion of volunteers pitched camp in an open
field to the northwest of the fort. It would have been difficult to find
a more desirable site for the encampment. Lying on dry and level ground,
between two arms of the sea, it not only afforded a pleasant outlook,
but also was constantly swept by cool breezes from off the water. Under
such circumstances, camp sanitation afforded an easy problem, and during
its tour at this post the health of the command remained excellent.
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