USA > Massachusetts > The old First Massachusetts coast artillery in war and peace > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
THE OLD FIRST
FREDERICK MORSE CUTLER
0784
MASS
M. L.
Gc 974.4 C970 1373671
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
THE
NEW YORK RUR WITHDRAWN KARY
PRESENTED BY
Rev. Frederick Morse Cutler June 1, 1920.
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 4238
Compliments of The Author
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/oldfirstmassachu00cutl
E
OUR FIRST STATE CAMP, NEPONSET, 1849
THE OLD FIRST
Massachusetts Coast Artillery
IN · War and Peace
By FREDERICK MORSE CUTLER, B.D. First Lieutenant, Chaplain
(
CELIC LIBRARY 1
THE PILGRIM PRESS BOSTON CHICAGO
-
COPYRIGHT 1917 BY FREDERICK MORSE CUTLER
First Edition, March 21, 1917 Second Edition, April 30, 1917
THE PILGRIM PRESS BOSTON
1373671
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. The Coast Artillery - -
-
-
-
1
II. 1784-1840 - - -
- 12
III. 1840-1861 - - - 31
IV. Responding to the President's Call 46
V. The Fighting First
-
-
-
-
58
VI. 1866-1878 - - -
- - - 80 -
VII. The Old "Tiger " First - - - 89
VIII.
"The Cape "
-
-
-
-
-
- 112
IX. Since 1878 -
-
-
-
127
X. Finally - - -
-
152
APPENDIX I. Genealogy of the Coast Artillery - The
Present Companies-Their Captains -
-
-
157
-
-
-
-
174
APPENDIX II. Bibliography
-
-
INDEX -
- - 179
- -
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Our First State Camp, Neponset, 1849 - -
The South Armory, Boston - - -
- 9 1 - The Fusilier Charter -The Council Minutes - -
Capt. Spooner's Commission - -
-
- 13
The Author - - - -
26
The Train-Band, 1832.
35
Artillery in 1784 - -
-
-
- 35
Col. Robert Cowdin - - -
-
-
- 39 39 - 71
Col. Nathaniel Wales - -
Our Gettysburg Monument - -
-
-
-
- 71
Fort Monroe in 1861 -
-
-
- 71
The Fusiliers About 1845 -
- - - 89 -
The Gray Uniform - The City Guards at Baltimore, 1844 - - - - - - - -
- 95
Col. Austin C. Wellington -
-
-
-
-
-
- 129
Col. Thomas R. Mathews
-
- -
-
-
-
- 129
Col. Charles Pfaff - -
- 129
Col. James A. Frye -
-
-
-
- - 129
Col. Charles P. Nutter - -
-
-
- - - 145
Col. Walter E. Lombard
-
-
-
- 145
Col. E. Dwight Fullerton
-
-
-
-
- 145
Col. George F. Quinby - -
-
-
-
- - 145
Mortar Battery Night Practice -
- 154
The Chaplain in Action, 1916 -
-
I
154
- - -
-
- - -
-
-
- 26
Artillery in 1917
Maj. John J. Spooner - Why It Was Abolished ? - 26
Maj. Poore Pays His Bet -
-
-
-
-
-
PAGE Frontispiece
9
THE OLD FIRST
THE OLD FIRST
CHAPTER I
THE COAST ARTILLERY
When Chaplain Minot J. Savage first listened to the "March of the First," inspiration fired his soul; the music was repeating a message to him. Was there something in the brazen voice of the horns, a magical harmony of sound with sense; or was it merely the loyal Chaplain's imagina- tion? At any rate this is what he heard:
" We're brothers of all noble men, Who wear our country's blue, We brothers find in any race, Where men are brave and true. But we've a pride in our own band, And we are all agreed, Whatever grand deeds others do, The ' Old First ' still shall lead. So while our feet keep music time, Our hearts are proudly beating An echo to Man's forward hope That never knows retreating."
And now, whenever "Adjutant's call" sounds and the com- panies move into line with the precision and rhythmic swing characteristic of well-trained troops, they also hear the mes- sage which was written down for them by the Chaplain many years ago, "The Old First still shall lead." They hear and believe.
/
4
The Old First
Today it becomes the privilege of another Chaplain to set forth in this little book the reasons why the Old First be- lieves in itself. We shall see how the present grows out of a long and noble past. Back in Civil War times observers noted that the regiment was one to be proud of ; there was a large proportion of sensible, solid men who enlisted be- cause it seemed duty, whose patriotism was not silly or vul- gar, but strong and serious. Today likewise the Inspector General reports that the personnel is unexcelled; only men of good character are enlisted; standards are very high. And for the largest part the men are not in the service for any personal profit to themselves-there is too little pay to make money the attraction. They are soldiers at the sacri- fice of their own leisure, and often of their comfort. A modern National Guardsman is averse to boasting or heroics-he is the most matter-of-fact citizen of all. But surely the Chaplain will be pardoned for saying, what the Guardsman would be most reluctant to claim, that in the old regiment patriotism is not a matter of words, it is made up of deeds.
Massachusetts looks in large degree to the command for the coast defence of Boston. America's center of wealth and manufacturing, the Commonwealth holds the key to the whole country. Within a radius of two hundred miles from Boston is manufactured practically every kind of supply and equipment; while New York, the world's center of wealth and finance, is only slightly more than two hundred miles away. To possess Massachusetts would afford hostile invaders the best possible base; the Coast Artillery is an essential factor in the defence of Massachusetts.
Coast artillery affords the most magnificent team-sport in the world. Three officers and sixty-seven men work to- gether in firing the twelve-inch rifle, and each contributes
5
The Coast Artillery
something essential to the success of the shot. Twelve inches is the bore of the rifled gun; forty-two or more feet · the length; $45,000 is the cost, and the carriage represents an investment of $40,000 more. It is loaded with three hun- dred twenty-five pounds of powder, and a projectile weigh- ing more than half a ton, costing upwards of $150, and suf- ficient in itself to destroy a hostile warship. The target, the moving target, at which the shot is fired, floats on the water at a distance of eight to sixteen miles; and without the use of powerful glasses is all but invisible. Range and direc- tion (azimuth) are determined by a combination of most delicate scientific observing instruments. Now the great gun swings majestically into place. "Fire !" A concussion follows as if many railroad trains were coupling-mighty, stunning. Then ensue seconds of eager watching from the battery, but not many such; for the projectile travels twice as fast as sound itself. Up spouts a column of sea water beside the target. A hit. And this will be repeated once per minute until the enemy is put out of action.
Camping, shooting, gymnastics, hiking, fencing, horse- back-riding, and even boating and aviation all enter into the training of the Coast Artilleryman. Opportunity is given to learn much of mechanical, electrical and engineering science.
On its lighter side military life includes balls, parades, dinners, theater-parties, smokers, and the annual January athletic games. Once in four years there is a trip to the inauguration at Washington; lesser excursions occupy some of the intervening time. Most valuable of all are the life-long friendships formed by men who stand side by side in the service of the country. These endure and keep warm after all else is forgotten.
The better soldier a man learns to be, the better citizen he makes himself. Such training in team-work is of priceless
6
The Old First
value; this service has become a passport to business suc- cess, and today there is no better recommendation for em- ployment. Civil Service commissioners recognize the en- hanced usefulness of the trained soldier by according him preference in government appointments.
Six of the companies come from stations outside of Bos- ton,-Brockton, Cambridge, Chelsea, Fall River, New Bed- ford and Taunton being represented. Even more truly than the Boston companies these organizations offer advantages of the greatest value ; each is the pride of its own home city ; each ranks amongst the leading social bodies in its com- munity ; and the armories, all fine structures, are popular club houses.
Altho it may be hard to "live up" to the responsibilities of a noble ancestry and one is ever open to the unkind suggestion that his best is like the potatoes, "under ground," still it is not the fault of a man, nor of an organization, if the record of the past contains worthy, and even heroic, passages. Not only is the Coast Artillery the surviving heir to most of Boston's finest militia traditions and honors, but by the consolidation of 1878 it also inherits the proud record of the Third Regiment, the militia force of Pilgrim- land and the Cape. Even a more modest organization than this would be excused for feeling thrills when it remembers "auld lang syne"; and the gentle reader will peruse these pages in vain if he fails to see why.
Some day the command will establish a military museum of its own, in which to display its trophies and relics. Its battle-flags have mostly passed out of its reach and are irrev- ocably in the possession of the Commonwealth. When one visits the Hall of Flags and gazes reverently upon the tat- tered silk banners of the Ist Infantry, five in number, the 3d Infantry, two of them, the 24th Infantry, two, the 42d In-
7
The Coast Artillery
fantry and the 43d and the 44th, two each, and in the Span- ish War case the two colors of the Ist Heavy Artillery, seventeen flags in all, one may possibly remember that a Massachusetts Coast Artilleryman would be whispering to himself, "Those are our battle-flags." And there are many other colors in the cases, under which members of the com- mand fought during the Civil War-those of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 13th, 29th Infantry Regiments, and the 4th Heavy Artillery.
Indeed the sole battle-flag remaining from the Mexican War, that of the Ist Mass. Volunteer Infantry, may be claimed as a Coast Artillery trophy, since it was given by those who had borne it into the custody of the veterans who made up the National Guards, the 9th Co. of Coast Artillery. The National Guards eventually surrendered this color to the Commonwealth. No less a personage than Gen. Win- field Scott had been the original donor of the flag.
In some unexplained manner, three colors carried by the Ist Infantry during the Civil War escaped the State col- lector, and are preserved with religious care at the South Armory. They are the American flag presented by former Boston men who had "gone west" and there organized the National Guard of San Francisco, a blue infantry color pre- sented in 1863 by the City of Boston, and a white State flag retained to replace a lost Commonwealth color presented by the people of Chelsea. As often as May 25 rolls around, veterans of the regiment bear these flags, together with the present National colors of the command, to the hall where the anniversary dinner is held; and under the sacred silken folds the white-haired warriors renew the memories of Fred- ericksburg and Chancellorsville, of Gettysburg and Spotsyl- vania, while they smack their lips over something more savory than the hard-tack and muddy coffee of bygone days.
8
The Old First
Last winter these same veterans reviewed the Corps in the South Armory. As they came marching on the floor under their tattered battle-flags amid deafening cheers from hun- dreds of onlookers, strong men could hardly choke back their tears.
Post 23, G. A. R., of Boston, and Post 35 of Chelsea pos- sess some Ist Regiment relics.
Headquarters will contribute to the regimental museum the sleeve of Drum Major James F. Clark's coat, with its wonderful collection of service-stripes indicative of forty- one years' service. Sergeant Clark died in office in 1910. There is also an old commission in a frame on the Headquarters' wall, that of George S. Newell as Colonel of the Ist Reg., Ist Bri., Ist Div., dated May 11, 1839, signed by John P. Bigelow, Secretary of the Commonwealth; and the warrant of Daniel Horatio Belknap as Quarter- master Sergeant of the Ist Reg., 3d Bri., Ist Div., issued July 20, 1824, by Col. Louis Lerow. Between 1831 and 1834 the Roxbury Artillery had been temporarily attached to the Ist Reg., Ist Bri., but in Colonel Newell's day we had no connection at all with that organization ; the Fusiliers were a part of the Ist Reg., 3d Bri., in 1824, when Sergt. Belknap was in office.
Partly because it is the oldest company, and partly because it has always been made up of men who "do things," the Ist Company possesses by far the finest collection of historical valuables of all the regiment. Indeed fully one-half of the regimental museum is already collected, and belongs to Capt. Joseph H. Hurney's organization. In their room one sees Capt. J. J. Spooner's original commission signed in 1784 by Gov. John Hancock, the first flag carried by the company-a flag with fourteen stars, the complete parch- ment roll of members from the very beginning, a drum
-
THE SOUTH ARMORY, BOSTON Page 133
Friday, May 11. 987 Present in Council
His Henol Chomas Cushing iso. Click Surmer
Fon AFrentea Edward Pails By ?!
Petition os Thomas Ullam. H ją three other of the town of anas kunne Boston framing to be established a military company with Never do shooter thier acm fiers . Advised that His Cacelloney orders for the establishing said company provided itwillnot Seni the number of the contaris of the Boston Regiment as man in an cha Milia law
THE FUSILIER CHARTER-THE COUNCIL MINUTES
Page 9
9
The Coast Artillery
which helped to keep up the company's courage at Black- burn's Ford and Bull Run, specimen uniforms and arms showing the development of military skill and taste during each period of the company's history, and a small cannon captured by Washington from the British at Yorktown in 1781, and at Williamsburg in 1862 taken from the Con- federates by a company of ours.
Shooting, military and athletic trophies almost without number adorn the walls of Headquarters and of each com- pany room ; but these can hardly be included in a regimental museum. The 6th and 7th Companies hold Knox trophies as proof of their preeminent excellence in artillery work, and will doubtless resent any suggestion of contributing them to anyone else; certainly other companies have been trying hard enough to get this, and have not succeeded even for a single year. But the museum will have the 2d Com- pany's original drum, dated 1798, and with it the first flag. Their most valuable possession is a Stuart oil portrait of their "patron saint," George Washington. The same company also display a set of ancient by-laws inherited from their predecessor, the Independent Light Infantry, and perhaps also a set of their ancient breast-plates. If more is demanded, members of the company will fill their lungs and emit the old "tiger" yell or growl; and this is certain to prove sufficient so far as the 2d Company is con- cerned. The 3d Company room does not contain much of historical interest. Their proudest possession is an entry on the records of the Governor's Council dated May II, 1787, wherein it appears that a petition presented by Thomas Adams and fifty-three others was granted, and that a mili- tary company, the Independent Boston Fusiliers, was for- mally established in the eyes of the law. On the following Fourth of July the Fusiliers received their charter from
IO
The Old First
Gov. James Bowdoin, while formed on the slope of Bunker Hill, and forthwith regaled themselves as guests at the hospitable table of Gov. (to be) John Hancock. Maj. James W. H. Myrick, Commander of the Fusilier Veteran Association, is custodian of the original 3d Company records.
We shall see that the Coast Artilleryman has reason for singing "The Old First still shall lead"; but the his- torian faces a difficulty when he essays to explain who the Coast Artillery are, anyway. Three different regiments are consolidated in the present body-which was the original? But see, what's here! The regimental museum will solve even this vexed problem of genealogy. A resolve by the General Court of Massachusetts, duly engrossed and framed, together with an order of the Council approved by Gov. John L. Bates on April 6, 1903, not only certifies that the First Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia re- sponded to the call of the President of the United States in April, 1861, for troops to suppress the rebellion, but also, and more importantly as concerning our present difficulty, that the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery are the "suc- cessors" of the regiment of 1861. Blessings upon the head of the man whose influence secured this legislative action ! The historian may tread fearlessly in full assurance that the Coast Artillery is the First Infantry of Civil War fame, and that other ancestry is, if not collateral, at least not in the principal line. A complete genealogy of the command will be found elsewhere in this book.
One explanation is in order before proceeding. On April 25, 1842, the companies were designated by letter; on Nov. 1, 1905, they ceased to be designated by letter, and were numbered in order of charter-seniority. Altho all company and regimental history between 1842 and 1905
II
The Coast Artillery
was recorded in terms of company letters, since 1905 the letters have rapidly passed into oblivion; and today have become almost entirely forgotten. For the purpose of inter- preting the past in terms intelligible to the present, it seems best to translate letters into numerals-to speak, in other words, of the Ist Company rather than Company or Battery D. And now, the prelude being finished and the audience all having visited the museum, let the performance go forward.
CHAPTER II
1784-1840
A group of men were assembled in the living room of a prosperous looking Roxbury farmhouse on March 22, 1784. Altho they had met several times previously during the winter, they showed by both word and bearing that they were actually engaged in transacting their most important business on the present occasion. General William Heath, owner of the house, presided. As everyone in Roxbury well knew, the General had lately returned from war, where he had enjoyed the privilege of close companionship and friendship with no less a person than the commander, Gen. George Washington, himself. Another of the company was a wealthy young merchant of Roxbury, an ex-Cadet, John Jones Spooner, who stood in the relationship of son-in-law to Gen. Heath. Amongst others were Jonathan Warner and several more Revolutionary veterans; also two prominent members of Roxbury society, Joseph Pierpont and John Swift. Well might these men look important for they were engaged in presiding over a birth-the birth of a National Guard company-today the oldest National Guard company with continuous history in America.
As soon as the company had been born, and was reported to be "doing well," it was christened. "The Roxbury Train of Artillery" was inscribed with due form and ceremony upon the first page of its record book. Who was then suf- ficiently far-sighted to foresee that on June 30, 1916, the same company would take the Federal oath as the "Ist Com- pany, Coast Artillery Corps, National Guard of Massachu-
BY HIS EXCELLENCY.
COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS.
John Hancock, Efq.
GOVERNOR ang COMMANDER in Chief, in and over the Crown ONWEALTH
MASSACHUSETTS. Jon Jones Spomer Sent Greeting. O being appointe Captains of a Company of a Mattropes in the Brigade
Y
of Mine in the bounty of suffolk where Eigfis Congadier General
Serdary'& Blica March 25 789
sony ently that the Quelleney this mander in chief has accepted the aelignation ofthe Jonis itfornir soft as bastion of the Company of artillery wacked in Roxbury in the first Timefor
John. Sorry with
By Virtue of the Power velled in me, I do by thefe Prefents, (repofing Special Truit and Confidence in your Ltalty, Courage and good Conduct) Commillion you accordingly .- You are therefore carefully and diligently to difcharge the Duty of a Captain in leading, ordering and exercifing faid Company in Arms, both Inferior Officers and Soldiers ; and to keep them in good Order and Difcipline . And they are hereBy commanded to obey you as their baftain and you are yourfelf theobferve and follow fuch Orders and Inftructions as you thall from Time Time receive from me or your Superior Officers.
GIVEN under a Hand, and the Seat of the faid Commonwealth, Day of 9 in the Year of our L-O. R D.1784 Year of the Independent of the United States of AMERICA.
By His Excellency's Commandy
13
1784-1840
setts"? A company in those days was commanded by a cap- tain with the rank of Major; and this office was promptly conferred upon John Jones Spooner. Jonathan Warner became the "Captain-lieutenant," and Joseph Pierpont and John Swift were elected the other two lieutenants, as at that time authorized. Warrants were issued to four ser- geants; four musicians were appointed, twenty-four men were detailed as cannoneers, eight as pioneers, three as drivers-and when two brass four-pounder cannon had been issued to them, the Roxbury Artillery were ready for any kind of a fight or frolic. It was not to be until Aug. 30, 1849, that Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn would suggest the famous motto now borne by the Company, "In time of peace prepare for war." No one can question however but that the senti- ment of the motto has always controlled Ist Company activities.
Major Spooner subsequently resigned his command, was succeeded by Capt. Warner; and himself became a minister of the gospel.
Those were the days immediately following the Revolu- tionary war; and in America during such seasons the com- manding military official is sure to be "general apathy." Owing partly to the absence of other organized companies, and partly to the skill and enthusiasm of the Roxbury men, the Artillery were in frequent demand. On October 15, 1784, they turned out to fire a salute in honor of a distin- guished visitor, Gen. Lafayette. The Boston Train of Ar- tillery, afterwards the 8th Company, came into existence May 7, 1785; and these two organizations shared the honor of escorting the Governor and members of the General Court on July 4, 1785, and again the year following. The fact is, these were the only two active military companies in or around Boston at the time. On one of these occasions
14
The Old First
Gen. Heath noted concerning his protégés that they "made a good appearance and performed their exercises well." An army travels upon its stomach, and a good soldier attends carefully to the subsistence part of his work. The Ist Com- pany displayed true soldierly instincts by including, from the very beginning, commissary exercises amongst their other activities,-in other words, at the conclusion of the parade "they dined together." Music was furnished for these military displays by the only band then in Boston, one consisting of Hessians who remained behind from Bur- goyne's army, under the leadership of Frederick Granger.
Let the narrative pause a minute while we paint in a background for the picture. Do we understand who the militia are? Citizen-soldiers, citizens who serve as soldiers when necessary, without relinquishing their civil occupa- tions, part-time fighting men-such have always been the chief reliance of free peoples when it becomes necessary to defend their territory or to enforce their sovereign will. In British dominions this military force received the name of "train-band" about 1600, and began to be called "militia" in 1660. Moreover their service was both compulsory and universal-at least it was so in theory. Each citizen was required by law to provide himself with a "good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet, and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack." Thus armed and equipped, he was expected to present himself four times a year for a day's training.
It is customary to heap ridicule upon the militia. Cowper described "John Gilpin" as a "train-band captain," and taught us to laugh at him. Yankee Doodle, with its "men and boys as thick as hasty puddin'," is a parody on the American militia. In truth appearances were against them in the olden times. Their history began away back in the days when military costume consisted of an iron hat and a
15
1784-1840
steel vest. When, about 1700, armor passed out of use, the militiamen, to prove that they were true conservatives, re- fused to substitute any other uniform clothing. Conse- quently they did not look soldierly. But the Yankee Doodle militia under Johnson at Lake George administered a sting- ing defeat to the French regulars. We have been abun- dantly taught of late how American military history fairly bristles with evidence that the militia system is faulty. So be it. Now it is time to point out another lesson from the same history, namely, that when American militia have fought under favorable conditions, with some shelter, and with an auspicious beginning to the action, they have often manifested a valor that makes the world marvel, a valor unequalled except in the annals of legendary warfare.
This militia existed, in 1784, thruout Massachusetts (and Maine) as nine divisions of approximately five thousand men each. The first division was stationed in Boston. And, alas ! all divisions were temporarily inactive.
The oldest volunteer militia company in England, as well as its "ancient" daughter in America, have as part of their title the word "Honorable." Militia rendered such military service as the law demanded. Volunteer militia went be- yond this, and in addition uniformed themselves at their own expense, drilled frequently, and held themselves in readiness for parades and ceremonies, and, in sterner vein, for disturbance of the peace and for war. As the basis of every volunteer army our country raised was found the or- ganized, volunteer militia. No wonder that esteem and dis- tinction have attached to this service. Since 1908 the force has borne the title, "National Guard," a name going back to the citizen soldiery who defended Paris in 1789 and who were commanded by Lafayette, a name brought to this coun- try in 1824 by Lafayette himself and then first adopted by
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.