Draft:Battery A, Field Artillery, Nebraska National Guard (Wymore Battery)

Battery A, Field Artillery, Nebraska National Guard was an artillery battery in the Nebraska National Guard stationed at Wymore, Nebraska.

History
Battery A, Field Artillery was formed on November 11th 1878 as the Blue Springs Light Artillery Company under Captain Charles M. Murdock. The initial equipment of the company consisted of two 12 pound brass cannons of an older make, one captured from the pawnee reservation, and the other issued in May 1883. both guns were nearly useless and a danger to the men operating them. By 1883 the company took the new designation of Company A, 1st Nebraska Light Artillery and by 1884 they became Battery A, First Light Artillery, Nebraska National Guard. The company found itself stationed at Wymore, Nebraska and under the command of the 1st Regiment, Nebraska National Guard. In June 1883 the citizens of Weeping Water, Nebraska invited the battery to attend the reunion exercises of the Grand Army of the Republic to be held between the 3rd and 5th of July. Permission was granted to the battery to attend on the 25th of June and they were present all three days.

In 1887 with the creation of the 2nd Infantry Regiment and Troop A, Cavalry within the guard the 1st Brigade was organized to command all units within the guard. As a result the Battery was reassigned from the 1st Regiment to the Brigade. Later in 1887 two new 3-inch wrought iron rifles were purchased for the Battery along with the required equipment to properly field them. When the war with Spain broke out the Battery was one of the first units to offer to go to fight but was denied and remained in Nebraska for the duration of the war, being the only Nebraska National Guard unit to do so.

By December 1901 Captain Murdock's long lasting service would come to an end when his commission expired on December 14, 1901. The battery would go without a captain for this period being commanded by First Lieutenant Alfred McKinney from December 1901 to September 1902 as the election for captain would be postponed multiple times. In the place of Captain Murdock Captain Samuel E. Yoder, the Battery assistant surgeon, was selected as the battery's new commander, much to the dismay of Captain Murdock, on September 9, 1902 taking command a month later on the 15th. Also in 1902 the Battery, along with a majority of the 1st Brigade, traveled to Fort Riley, Kansas to participate in training exercises held there.

By 1906 the Battery began to degrade. Upon its yearly inspection it was written “Battery A, Field Artillery, is reported to be not sufficiently armed, uniformed, and equipped for active duty in the field, the inspecting officer stating that the armament of the battery is obsolete and the harness in bad order. Steps should be taken to remedy these conditions as soon as practicable.” Missing equipment for the unit included: no revolvers, holsters, sabers, tents, harness sacks, overcoats, and many other things. Sometime in early 1906 Captain Yoder resigned his post leaving the battery without a commander. Captain Clinton W. T. Garrison would be elected to fill the position, taking his commission on June 23, 1906. The battery, in its poor condition, was still sent to Fort Riley in August of 1906 to participate in the maneuvers held there. Once there the battery was attached to the 20th Field Artillery for the duration of the maneuvers. The battery was discontinued on December 1, 1907, becoming an infantry company with the majority of men who had served in the artillery leaving the service.