Frederick Law Olmstead, a New York free state fundraiser and landscape architect, wrote to James B. Abbott to report he had ordered "the instrument" [howitzer cannon], and that it would be ready to ship in three days time along with its ammunition accessories (excepting powder). Olmstead wrote he would send instructions for its use separately, so that the howitzer may be used to "best effect," which he approximated as "equally effective with a simultaneous fire of 100 muskets" and "worth a dozen field pieces."
