Civil War Union Chief Of Artillery William F. Barry Letter To Author Henry Coppee. "This information must be strictly entre nous. Its Publication would be considered contraband." Full letter reads:"Headquarters Inspector of Artillery, U.S.A. Washington, Feb. 4, 1864, My Dear Coppee, ...I am glad you liked the paper, and beg to assure you that I shall always be happy to contribute my mite toward the advancement of so creditable a [illegible] as the one which you have just launched upon the sea of military literature. Mr. Richardson called upon me, and in course of conversation made some allusion to a remittance, but I have heard nothing from him since. Just at present I am much engaged, and have not the leisure to comply with your request, but I shall not forget you or your undertaking- and as soon as I have time you shall hear from me again. The War Dept. have such odd notions about what is or is not 'contraband,' that it is extremely difficult to write a paper on military topics 'calamo currente,' which alone can create such an article as will carry the readers gaily along with it. I have already had several papers so excised in this way that I was compelled to withhold them... We have Horse Artillery, and plenty of it. One of my earliest acts as Ch. of Art. of the Army of the Potomac was to organize the four, of what I considered at the time the best batteries, as Horse Art. These were the old batteries of Duncan, Roland, Ringgold, and Taylor (I designate them by the names of your day) Since then as the Cavalry Arm expanded I kept pace with it and finally (more than a year ago) made a general recommendation to the War Dept., which was app'd, to allow Horse Battery to each Army Corps, and as many additional in the Art. Reserve of each Army in the Field as were necessary- We have now 12 Batteries of H.A. in Army of Potomac:... 3 Dept. of Gulf, 6 in Army of the Cumberland, etc etc. This information must be strictly entre nous. Its Publication would be considered contraband. The service of the Field Art (Horse & Mounted Batteries) in this war has been brilliant, but jealousy has been excited. Generals in Command have yielded to it, and worse than old our organization is so faulty, that there has been no recognized central head to watch the interests of the Artillery. Necessity compelled the War Dept. more than two years ago to call me here, and constitute me a sort of Chief of Art. of the Army- But my position is not authorized by Law- is only partially recognized by Genl. Orders and is attended by so many difficulties (of which I am sorry to say personal jealousies... and all uncheritablenessare among the greatest) that my usefulness is much impaired- I believe, however, I have done much, and I hope to do more. This is a rambling epistle, but I believe it answers all your queries, and I hope you have time to read. Faithfully yours, William F. Barry." Letter (Unfolded) Approximately 10.0W x 8.0H in.