 At the time, military service was compulsory, and being a member of the artillery was an honor—or at least it was more prestigious than being a member of the infantry.Little else is known about the artillery's early years except that, in response to the British Navy's blockade of New England during the War of 1812, several of its members served in the defense of Portsmouth in 1814.In the 1820s, the artillery faced a decade of instability and change.