London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

The Veteran Corps of Artillery

I PROMISED MYSELF I’d wake up this 4th of July morning and head down to the Battery for the annual Independence Day artillery salute by the Veteran Corps of Artillery. However, the gods of slumber ordained that I remain in bed asleep and so in recompense I thought I’d bring you, dear readers, an informative post about the Corps itself. While this site has featured a fair amount on the Old Guard we mustn’t let our readers be mistaken that we are somehow ignoring the VCA. After all, the Veteran Corps of Artillery, State of New York, founded in 1790, is more senior to the Old Guard, founded in 1826 (though in fact an amalgamation of the two older militia companies, if I recall correctly). While there is more of the Old Guard available from online research, I am more familiar with the VCA owing to my Uncle Matt’s membership thereof. And of course, like the Old Guard, the VCA operates on a seperate ranking structure, so that one could be a Major General in the Army, National Guard, or New York Guard, and yet be a mere private in the Veteran Corps of Artillery.

The VCA was organised on Evacuation Day (November 25) in 1790 at the City Arms tavern by the corner of Broadway and Thames Street, to provide a corps of artillery to guard New York against any potential attempt by Mother Britain to remonstrate her wayward daughter America. The earliest record currently existing of any public display by the Corps dates from Evacuation Day 1793, when a salute was fired to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the evacuation of British forces from New York. The annual Independence Day salute began on the following 4 July 1794, when, as one Captain Chapman of the VCA wrote in 1838, “National Morning Salutes, which have been faithfully and timely performed for the past forty-five years,” were made, and which I am happy to report have carried on to the present day.

While the Corps remained mostly ceremonial, worsening relations between Great Britain and the United States eventually led to it being reorganised by Governor Tompkins as a formal corps of artillery in 1809, armed with brass 12-pounder guns. It was then known as the Artillery Corps of Exempts, referring to its members exemption from required militia service in recognition for their service in the Continental Army and being over forty-five years of age. The members served completely voluntarily. At the unfortunate outbreak of open hostilities between Great Britain and the United States in 1812, the Corps was the first militia unit in the City to offer its service to the Union. Along with a number of companies from the 9th Regiment of Artillery, they were assigned to the North Fort on Hubert Street in the city, while also manning in part the State Arsenal on the corner of White and Elm Streets. General Dearborn, it was noted, “observed with peculiar pleasure the Corps of Veteran who, at an advanced period in life evince a determination to be first in the defense of their country and its rights”.

The old State Arsenal on the corner of White and Elm, New York.

In 1858, the Veteran Corps of Artillery was assigned to the 4th Regiment of Artillery, New York State Militia, as Battery G. With the outbreak in the South of the second revolution, the other components of the 4th Regiment served in the Union Army. However, opposition to the North’s war was brewing widely in New York which, up to the commencement of hostilities, was known for its strong sympathy for the South. The mounting tension at home finally broke into four days of open violence in July 1863 in what became known as the New York Draft Riots. Battery G, which, being composed primarily of veterans, had remained in New York, yet again manned the State Arsenal and defended it from rioters.

John Ward Dunsmore
Mess Tent, Veteran Corps of Artillery, Tuckahoe, N.Y.
1917, Oil on canvas, 8″ x 11″
New-York Historical Society

With America’s entry into the Great War in 1917, the members of the Veteran Corps of Artillery recruited an anti-aircraft unit of fourteen hundred men to defend New York against the possibility of attack, however remote. The VCA sent three of its officers to Britain and France to study the antiaircraft methods being used there. One of these, Capt. Robert H. Wilder, was the first American officer to die in a gas attack on the Western Front. One of the main contributions of the Veterans, however, was the task of translating reams of French anti-aircraft material into English. Part of their completed work became the standard manual for air defense for the United States Army.

Gentlemen of the V.C.A. with Mayor Rudolph Guliani on the front page of the New York Times.

Today, under the command of Gen. David Ramsay, the Veteran Corps of Artillery continues in its ceremonial duties and forms the Guard of Honor to the Governor of New York. They remain one of only nine historic units which are liable for duty in war under the orders of the President (c.f. U.S. Code Title 32, section 104, “Retention of Ancient Privileges and Organization”). One of the VCA’s traditions, maintained at their annual Mess Dinner commemorating the Battle of New Orleans, is to pass around a huge snifter of brandy which is monikered ‘Artillery Punch’.

Above, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and below, in the Veterans Room of the Seventh Regiment Armory.

Images are from the Veteran Corps of Artillery (http://www.vca1790.org), New York Public Library, and New-York Historical Society.

Published at 4:08 pm on Tuesday 4 July 2006. Categories: History Military New York.
Comments

Don’t suppose you could put me in for a belated Order of St. Barabara, could you?

During Desert Storm I worked with the Joint Surveillance Target Attack System (JOINT STARS) providing targeting data to the VII US Corps Artillery. The guys I worked with in the Deep Attack cell said they’d put me and the crew in for one…but alas, one never materialized.

MajorDad1984

— MajorDad1984 11 Jul 2006 9:56 pm

I googled the VCA and was suprised when Andrew Cusack showed up in the search results… My husband (John) tells me that’s his nephew… I clicked on your blog and was blown away by the content. Blown away not only by the photos but at your knowledge and how well it was written.

… And by the way, We Love Your Uncle! (I know him from the New York Guard HQ 88th BDE) He has even let me fire a howitzer at a combined VCA/NYG event at Battery Park 2001 – Great Great Man

— Crystal P. 2 Dec 2006 3:11 pm
Leave a comment

NAME (required)

EMAIL (required)

WEBSITE (not required)

COMMENT

Home | About | Contact | Paginated Index | Twitter | Facebook | RSS/Atom Feed
andrewcusack.com | © Andrew Cusack 2004-present (Unless otherwise stated)