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When the First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia arrived in Washington in April of 1861 they went into camp about two miles north of the city. The camp, named Camp Sprague after the Governor of Rhode Island, was located in a beautiful grove of trees near the Eckington Hospital, on the Gales farm and was originally laid out by private Henry A. DeWitt of Company C. The buildings were constructed of rough hewn wood, with each company in line facing a street. At the head of the street was a separate hut with an attached porch. This building was quarters for the company officers. At the north end of the grove was a large level expanse that was used for drilling and parades. South of this parade ground and joining the infantry barracks to the east were the artillery barracks. These barracks extended from the grove to the east in one long line all attached. At the head of the line was a separate building for the sergeants and quartermaster. In front of these were the officers' quarters.

Since the first occupants of the artillery quarters at Camp Sprague were three month enlistees, that part of the camp had lain empty for some time. So, when the men of Battery B first arrived in camp, on August 17, they were ordered to clean up the grounds. Soon supplies began to arrive and the men were issued woolen blankets, tin plates and a pint tin cup. For their first meal the men were marched to the infantry camp and received a loaf of soft bread, some boiled salt beef, and a pint of coffee, which they took back to their own section of the camp. Until their own cooking utensils arrived Battery B's meals were cooked by the cooks of Company K, 2 nd Rhode Island Infantry.

At four O'clock the first day, bugler Eben S. Crowninshield sounded assembly. This was the first time the men had heard a camp bugle call, and First Sergeant Lewis had to yell, “Fall In! Fall In! Lively Now!” When the line was formed, Lt. Perry told the men that whenever they heard that bugle call they were to immediately fall in as they now were. Then he had the bugler play it again so the men would recognize it. Six gun detachments were assigned consisting of eighteen men each. Each detachment was assigned one sergeant and two corporals. The first corporal was called the ‘gunner', and had charge of the piece and cannoneers. The other corporal was called ‘No. 8', and was in charge of the caisson and was to take the place of the gunner when necessary. The sergeant had charge of the whole gun detachment. Two detachments or more were commanded by a lieutenant. The blacksmiths, harness makers, wheelwrights, farriers, and drivers of the army wagons, battery wagon, forge and other stable men formed the seventh, or artificer's detachment, with the Stable Sergeant in charge. Another lieutenant was in charge of the caissons. When these assignments were completed, the men were dismissed, and their first day in an army camp came to a close at 9PM when they heard the bugler blow taps for the first time.

In the barracks the bunks were arranged in tiers of three around three sides of the room. As the top men in the bunks moved, dust would pour down on the men below them. However, the men soon remedied this problem by fastening paper under each of the upper bunks.

The second day in camp began with reveille at 4:45AM, assembly at 6AM, breakfast call at 7AM, and at 8AM, assignment of details. The first detail assigned was for guard duty. Eighteen men were detailed to guard various points around the camp, such as the guard house, artillery park, officer's quarters, and the quartermaster's supplies. Each guard stood watch for two hours before being relieved by another man from the guard detail. Each guard detail was on duty for twenty-four hours. Those not on guard duty were taught marching drills by their respective officers.

That afternoon the battery's cooking utensils arrived. A set was issued to each detachment which consisted of a sheet-iron round stove, several mess pans, a kettle of sheet-iron, and a large, round sheet-iron frying pan. In some detachments a man would volunteer to cook, while in others with no volunteers, a man would be assigned that duty for a day at a time. In time, probably as their cooking skills were evaluated by the men, permanent cooks were assigned for each detachment.

The standard army ration for each man is three-quarters of a pound of salt pork, bacon, or salt beef, one a one-quarter pounds of fresh beef and eighteen ounces of soft bread, twelve ounces of hard bread (hard tack), or one and one-quarter pounds of flour. In one hundred ration increments is also issued: eight quarts of beans or peas, ten pounds of rice, six pounds of coffee, twelve pounds of sugar, two quarts of ground salt, four pounds of soap, one and one-quarter pounds of adamantine candles, and at various times potatoes, onions, and pressed vegetables. However, due to many reasons, these rations were not the norm for Civil War soldiers.

Another standard work detail was ‘police call'. Usually performed by men as a punishment, the whole camp had to be cleaned and trash removed. Police call was followed by drill, either in marching or working the artillery pieces. Upon the battery's arrival in Camp Sprague they had taken possession of six, twelve-pound, James conversion, rifled guns and six limbers.

From time to time men were given passes to leave camp to see the sights of Washington City. Some of the favorite places that the soldiers visited were the unfinished Capitol building, the White House, Patent Office, Office of the Interior, State, War, and Navy Departments. Also, they visited the Washington Monument, the Mall and Smithsonian Institute, the Arsenal, and the Navy Yard. One other site that was visited quite often by the men was Arlington, the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. At that time, of course, the Lee's had left for Virginia, and the first floor of the house was open to visitors. In 1861, Arlington was not yet a cemetery for the thousands of Union dead that eventually were interred there.

On August 23, a detail of men under Lieutenant Adams and the quartermaster sergeant went into the city and returned with the battery horses. The next day volunteers were sought to care for the horses, and those with prior experience readily volunteered. There not being enough of these men, others were assigned that duty. These men became the drivers of the battery.

Two days later, August 25, the new commander of Battery B, Capt. Thomas F. Vaughn was introduced to the men. Also,new recruits arrived in camp, and on August 26 harnesses for the teams arrived. All the harness parts were packed in separate boxes and had to be assembled by the harness makers and drivers. To most of the drivers the assembly of a harness was a complete puzzle.

The next day the horses were hitched to the harnesses for the first time. It took quite a while to arrange the horses in the positions they were best suited for: lead, swing, or pole. But, once arranged, most of the horses began to work fairly well as a team. From that day on, the battery drilled on the operation of the piece in the morning and mounted drill with the teams in the afternoon. Eventually, after hard work on the part of both the men and the horses, the drills became well executed. The horses became so used to the bugle commands that upon hearing a particular call, such as wheel, forward, etc., they would immediately begin to execute the movement without any command or touch from their drivers. This caused the riders to have to spring into the saddle and the cannoneers to get out of the way as the horses made their lightning-fast movements.

Camp life continued in an orderly fashion until the beginning of September, when the battery was inspected by General George McClellen and his staff. The next day, September 7, the battery was ordered to hitch up and traveled to the Arsenal to receive ammunition and other armorer's supplies. On September 10, Governor Sprague and General Burnside visited the men in camp and received three hearty cheers from the men and officers of the battery.

While in Camp Sprague, an old lady used to bring milk, pies, cakes and other sundries to camp for sale at reasonable prices. Taking a liking to the men of Battery B, she would bring medicine to any of the men who became sick, nursing them in a motherly way. If the men had no money she would sell them her wares on account without any recourse to eventual payment. But when the men were paid, they made sure she received all the money that she was due.

By the middle of September, the leisurely life in Camp Sprague came to an end. On September 13, reveille was sounded at 4AM, and at 7:30AM the bugler sounded ‘boots and saddles'. Soon the battery was harnessed and limbered and Captain Vaughn gave the order, “Attention drivers! Mount! First piece into line! Forward, march!” Battery B left Camp Sprague, not knowing that they would only return once again for a short time. They passed through the parade ground, the Eckington Hospital, and out onto the main road, turning left toward Washington City and glory.