Slate fragment approx. 2 1/4 x 1 1/2 in., with period ink inscribed tag reading: "Slate from roof of barracks at Fort Sumter, Charleston harbor S.C." with verso reading "Summer 1864".

Joseph A. Arnold of Coventry, Rhode Island, enlisted and was mustered into Company E of the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery on 21 August 1861. After originally organizing as an infantry regiment in Providence, they moved to the deep south, and were redesignated a heavy artillery regiment on 19 December 1861 while stationed at Hilton Head, South Carolina. The largest Rhode Island unit in the War, the 3rd Heavy Artillery served a variety of roles including light artillery, engineering, infantry, cavalry, and manning US Navy gunboats. Arnold served with Company E, which spent most of its enlistment in the Hilton Head and Morris Island Districts, allowing him to collect this relic.

Company E served with distinction at the Battle of Secessionville (First Battle of James Island), the Union's only attempt to capture Charleston by land. Arnold mustered out on 31 August 1864, shortly before the regiment which mustered out on 4 October at Providence.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Relics, Ephemera, Militaria]