This adds a new wrinkle.

This is the first time that I have seen reference to four (4) guns being in this battery. While, four were the normal number for a battery I had always though there were only three such guns in the 1st Indaian Cav. battery because of the reference to only three guns in the Battle of Pine Bluff 10/25/63.

This may indicate that they lost one of their guns in the 12 months between Oct. 1862 when Major Baker mustered out until Oct. 63. I am not aware of any enemy action during that period which would have caused them to have lost a gun. So we probably can assume that this 4th gun became unservable for some reason.

The second revelation is that this is the first reference I have seen to these weapons firing a "seven pound" projectile. Definantly an odd size to my thinking. Also considerably larger than a Cooke/Thyre/Ellsworth gun, a Woodruff Gun or a Mountain Rifle shell would have been. But again he does not identify by name what kind of gun they are.

Major W. B. Baker certainly should have known what he was talking about in describing these guns. I wouldn't called a gun which fired a 7 pds shot a "small gun" as they have been refered to in Col Pace's reports, since the standard 6 pds guns which were in use in the Trans Mississippi at the time by both sides would have weighted over 3/4 of a ton and did not lend itself well to the quick fast movements of cavalry tactics of the time.

So the mystery continues. I thought that maybe we could develope a lead if we could locate an uncommon artillery shell at the Helena battlefield. Skip M's responce about the 2.9" Blakely shell he spoke of seem to hold the most promise. But according to his description that shell seems to be out of place to have come from the 1st Indiana battery's position at Helena.