1862 December 22 across from Fredericksburg

[from the diary of the Rev. Francis E. Butler, chaplain of the 25th New Jersey]

Mon. 22 – little warmer – In hos. & writing letters for sick, &c. Powell
died of gun shot in side. Sd. 60 – 13 in G. Mortars have arrived. Pickets
ordered 5 days rations. [-] Eng – Margesin Co. E died of pneumonia –
buried Powell.

Butler may have been referring to the 12-inch Model 1861 seacoast mortar.  So heavy they had to be transported by train, they were generally used in coastal fortifications though a famous one nicknamed "The dictator" was employed in the siege of Petersburg, in 1864

[transcribed by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 12935