| From the Savannah Morning News |
| |
| November 7, 1863 |
| |
| Armament of Galveston |
| The New Orleans Era says: "The
armament of Galveston consists of forty guns. The guns are mounted on
cars {Galveston, Houston & Henderson RR}
leading to the fortifications, and so arranged as to be moved from one
point to another, as contingences may require, and taken from the island
if necessary. The novelty of this manner of concentration of fire by the
car arrangement is clever indeed, to say the least of it. The rebels
firmly believe that their guns have sufficient calibre to repel any
movement by our army or navy." |
| The ideal of constructing a
railroad battery we believe originated with Major John Screen
{President, Atlantic & Gulf RR}, of the
Savannah Volunteer Guards Battalion, of this city, who, shortly after
the commencement of the war, and while the first line of fortifications
for the defense of the city were in process of construction, planned and
elaborated the details of system of locomotive batteries, by which heavy
guns could be moved at pleasure along the line of entrenchments and
readily concentrated at any given point. We remember conversing with
Major Screven and other officers of the Battalion on the subject, and
that the impression we received of the plan was in favor of its entire
practicability. We believe it was proposed at one time to construct such
a moveable battery on Green Island, then occupied by the Guards. |
|