On July 5, 1863, the day after Vicksburg's surrender, a detachment from Battery E was ordered with elements of the 72nd Ohio Infantry, the 114th Illinois, the 8th Iowa and the 9th Iowa to proceed under the command of General Frederick Steele to Brandon, Mississippi. Here they were directed to locate and burn Confederate military stores and destroy the local railroad. The battery lost one of its three guns while crossing a pontoon bridge over the Pearl River, but the piece was recovered the next day. Encountering Southern cavalry about six miles past the bridge, the battery's "war dogs" (to quote Private Rice) quickly drove them back.