Railroad battery before Petersburg

[ca. 1861–1865]

From "War Memories" catalog: This is another battery on General Grant's military railroad, operated the same as the mortar "Dictator" shown in view No. 831. The heavy cannon is mounted on a very strong, special-made car, protected with a roof of railroad iron. The car is readily moved along the line and the cannon is fired whenever required; it is thus made very effective and annoying to the enemy, for it is something like the Irishman's flea, "when they put their hand on it, it ain't there;" in other words, when they turn the fire of their batteries on the railroad battery, our boys hitch on to the car and run it along out of the line of fire, and commence pegging away again. By the time the "Johnnies" find out where the Railroad Battery is, and get the range to smash it, "it ain't there" again. The boys run it along to a new stand for business.