USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 4 > Part 46
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FIRST VOLUNTEER REGIMENTS
of material, especially among young Harvard men. The result was his creation, the Second Regiment, whose fame fully justi- fied his method. Later the Twenty-fourth Regiment was raised on similar terms with equal success.
FIRST VOLUNTEER REGIMENTS (JUNE AND JULY, 1861)
Meanwhile the war fever was mounting from day to day, and Andrew, by dint of much importuning, was able to per- suade the War Department to increase the Massachusetts quota of volunteer regiments from six to seventeen. Recruit- ing, drilling, and equipping of men was the order of the day. Every able-bodied citizen in Massachusetts had a choice to make-a choice that affected his business, his family, even his life. Every community, and the State itself, stood ready to help him if his choice was for service. The recruits came from all ranks of society and all political groups; they were young-it is always so-and were filled with the spirit of patriotism. When, their training completed, they left for the front, the men and women who watched them go both gave and received a new inspiration.
The first of these volunteer regiments left on June 15; within the next seven weeks nine others followed. Fletcher Webster's regiment, as it marched down State Street, sang "John Brown's Body"-a message of freedom which it was to spread through the Army of the Potomac. On all these oc- casions Andrew, if possible, was on hand to present the flags; the vitality and humanity of his presence and his words were a pledge of support and an incitement to honorable conduct.
Thus Massachusetts to the front! In a crisis of danger to the Union she subordinated her antislavery predilections ; true to the Webster tradition, she rallied to the Union with heart and hand. It was not merely a popular response: leaders, high-minded and able, gave it direction and carried it to a signal accomplishment. Once more Massachusetts had justi- fied herself in the Nation's history.
514 MASSACHUSETTS TO THE FRONT
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS, JR .- Charles Francis Adams (Boston, Hough- ton Mifflin, 1900)-Consult for Adams's work in Washington in Jan- uary and February, 1861.
ANDREW, JOHN ALBION .- Address on the Occasion of Dedicating the Monument to Ladd and Whitney, Members of the Sixth Regiment, Killed at Baltimore, Maryland, April 19, 1861, Delivered at Lowell, June 17, 1861 (Boston, 1865)-Luther C. Ladd was the first soldier killed in the Baltimore riot.
Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events (N. Y., Appleton, 1861 and later)-Consult especially Vols. I-II. Vols. I-XIV bear the title The American Annual Cyclopedia.
BOWEN, JAMES LORENZO .- Massachusetts in the War, 1861-1865 (Spring- field, Bryan, 1890).
BROWN, GEORGE WILLIAM .- Baltimore and the Nineteenth of April, 1861 (Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies in Historical and Political Science, Ex- tra Vol. III, Balto., Murray, 1887).
BUTTERFIELD, DANIEL .- Major-General Joseph Hooker and the Troops from the Army of the Potomac at Wauhatchie, Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga, together with General Hooker's Military Record from the Files of the War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, U. S. A. (N. Y., Exchange, 1896)-Address at the dedication of Chattanooga battlefield.
CRAWFORD, SAMUEL WYLIE .- The History of the Fall of Fort Sumter (N. Y., Harper, 1896).
DRAPER, JOHN WILLIAM .- History of the American Civil War (3 vols., N. Y., Harper, 1867-1870).
GAMMONS, JOHN G .- The Third Massachusetts Regiment Volunteer Mili- tia in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1863 (Providence, 1906).
GARRISON, WENDELL PHILLIPS, and GARRISON, FRANCIS JACKSON .- William Lloyd Garrison (4 vols., N. Y., Century, 1885-1889)-A standard work, presenting the abolitionist point of view.
HANSON, JOHN WESLEY .- Historical Sketch of the old 6th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers during its Three Campaigns in 1861, 1862, 1863, and 1864 (Boston, Lee and Shepard, 1866).
HIGGINSON, THOMAS WENTWORTH, editor .- Harvard Memorial Biographies (2 vols., Cambridge, Mass., Sever and Francis, 1867)-Memoirs of those who fell in battle or died of services rendered in the contest 1861-1865, by various writers.
HIGGINSON, THOMAS WENTWORTH .- Massachusetts in the Army and Navy during the War of 1861-1865 (2 vols., Boston, 1895-1896)-Vol. II contains lists of officers, a bibliography, and an index to periodical literature on this subject, pp. 609-734, by Mrs. Florence W. Jaques.
HOSMER, JAMES KENDALL .- The Appeal to Arms (N. Y., Harper, 1907)- See chaps. i-iv.
HUGHES, JOHN MURRAY .- Letters and Recollections (2 vols., Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1899)-Edited by his daughter Sarah Forbes Hughes. Consult for Forbes's part in preparing Massachusetts.
JOHNSON, ROBERT UNDERWOOD, and BUEL, CLARENCE CLOUGH, editors .- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (4 vols., Century, 1888-1889)- Contributions by officers for the most part.
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM .- Complete Works (12 vols., N. Y., Tandy-Thomas, 1905).
515
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
MASSACHUSETTS-ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE .- Annual reports (Bos- ton, 1845 and later)-Reports of 1861-1866 contain reports of the Quartermaster-General, the Surgeon-General, and the Master of Ordnance.
MASSACHUSETTS-ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE .- Record of the Massachu- setts Volunteers, 1861-1865 (3 vols., Boston, 1868-1870)-The records of desertions are in many cases erroneous, and have been corrected by the Office, with the intention of printing a corrected edition.
MILITARY HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS .- Papers (14 vols., Boston, 1881-1918)-See especially Vol. I for the campaign of 1861- 1862 under McClellan, and Vol. II for the campaign of 1862 under Pope.
MILITARY ORDER OF THE LOYAL LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES-MASSA- CHUSETTS COMMANDERY .- Register (Cambridge, University Press, 1912).
MORSE, JOHN TORREY .- Memoir of Colonel Henry Lee, with Selections from his Writings and Speeches (Boston, Little, Brown, 1905)-Gives Lee's point of view about Andrew.
NASON, GEORGE WARREN .- History and Complete Roster of the Massachu- setts Regiments, Minute Men of '61 who Responded to the First Call of President Abraham Lincoln, April 15, 1861 (Boston, Smith & Mc-
Cance, 1910)-Includes biographical sketches. Includes the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Regiments, M. V. M., the Third Battalion of Rifles, and the Boston Light Artillery.
PEARSON, HENRY GREENLEAF .- The Life of John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts, 1861-1865 (2 vols., Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1904). PIERCE, EDWARD LILLIE .- Memoir and Letters of Charles Sumner (4 vols., Boston, Roberts, 1893)-Consult for Sumner's position in January, 1861.
ROE, ALFRED S .- The Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in its three Tours of Duty, 1861, 1862-'63, 1864 (Boston, 1911).
ROBINSON, FRANK TORREY .- History of the 5th Regiment Infantry, M. V. M. (Boston, Brown, 1879).
ROPES, JOHN CODMAN .- The Story of the Civil War (4 vols., N. Y., Put- nam's, 1894-1913)-Vols. III-IV by W. R. Livermore. See Vol. I for the events of 1861.
SCHOULER, WILLIAM .- A History of Massachusetts in the Civil War (Bos- ton, Dutton, 1868)-Adjutant-General of Massachusetts. Contains an abundance of material, with many inaccuracies of detail.
STEVENS, HAZARD .- The Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens (2 vols., Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1900).
UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT .- Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (30 vols., Washington, 1894-1922).
The newspapers of the period reflect the opinions of people in Massachu- setts, and contain many accounts of personal experiences in the field. Files are to be found in most public libraries, and in those of colleges.
CHAPTER XVIII MASSACHUSETTS IN THE CIVIL WAR (1861-1865)
BY THOMAS G. FROTHINGHAM Captain, U. S. R.
THE OUTBREAK OF WAR (APRIL, 1861)
The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the electric shock that brought into action the forces which had been gather- ing in the period of suspense. The United States flag had been fired on by the Confederates, an act of war that ended all other issues in Massachusetts. All distinctions of party were wiped away in the Commonwealth, and its people rose as one man to preserve the Union. It was significant of this fusion of parties that the most ardent and eloquent appeal for the flag of the Union appeared in the Boston Post, which was the leading Democratic paper of New England and had sup- ported the nomination of Breckenridge for President. At this crisis, it put the United States flag at the head of its editorial, with the stirring caption, "Stand by the Flag." To read the text of this call to defend the Union cause is to know the spirit of the people of Massachusetts. It is reproduced here in full.
The first call for troops from Washington had been in a telegram, sent through Senator Wilson on April 15, calling for twenty companies to be sent separately. But on the same day a formal requisition was received from the Secretary of War and The Adjutant General of the United States Army, asking for three full regiments from Massachusetts.
Accordingly, by command of Governor Andrew, Special Order No. 14 was promptly issued by Adjutant General Schouler, calling out four regiments of the militia.
These four regiments were ordered assembled, to insure the quota of Massachusetts at once by using the strongest
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BOSTON POST:
TUESDAY MORNING. APRIL-16, 1861.
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Stand by the Flag.
The spectacle our country presents, if inex- pressibly painful, is most imposing. The consti- tuted authorities, uttering the will and speaking the voice of the nation, in the exercise of their legitimate functions, have raised the standard of REPUBLICAN LAW. Let us think up to the mag- nitude of the great fact and solemnly of the dire necessity that occasioned it. The course of South Carolina, from first to last, has been arro- gant, precipitate, unjust to her Southern sister Suites, and false to the first principles of Repub- lican Government; and we do not see how a can- did mind in the civilized world can justify her immediate attack, under the circumstances, on Fort Sumter because it was about to bo supplied with provisions. This act of war made neces- sary the Presidential Proclamation.
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This unsheaths the sword of the law, and there was no other course. But the good citizen will observe that the President is careful to say, that in every event the utmost care will be observed to avoid devastation, not to interfere with or de- stroy any property, or to disturb peaceful citizens in any part of the country. . This is well put and must meet the approbation of every considerate mind. No people and no State have done more to exasperate than South Carolina; but not even for her peaceful citizens and her towns and cities is to be the devastation of war: if for nothing vise, for the sake of old memories, that will come thronging in with every passing event.
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"At this call of the Law, this great country, in the armed men springing to the rescue, now pre- cents a spectacle that the world will contemplate with wonder. President Jefferson said in his first inaugural that it was a theoretic, and vis- ionary fear, that this republican government, the world's best hope, was not strong enough ; or that
it could, even by possibility, want energy to preserve itself ; and he pronounced it to be the strongest government on the face of the earth. His words are : - "I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern.'' This is what the people are doing now ! The uprising is tremendous ; and well would it be for each good citizen, South and North, to feel this invasion of the public order at Fort Sumter as bis own personal concern. In reality it is 80. There is left no choice but between a support of the Government and anarchy ! The rising shows that this is the feeling. The Proclamation calls for seventy-five thousand men; and from one State alone, Pennsylvania, a hundred thousand are at the President's command at forty-eight houre notice : Nor le this all. Capitalists stand ready to tender millions upon millions of money to sustain the grand Government of the Fathers. Thus the civilized world will see the mighty energy of a free people, supplying in full measure the sinews of war, men and money, out of loyalty to the supremacy of law.
Patriotic citizen ! choose you which you will serve, the world's best hope, our noble Republi- con Government, or that bottomless pit, social an- archy. " Adjourn other issues until this self-pre- serving issue is settled. Hitherto a good Provi- dence has smiled upon the American Union. This was the Morning Star that led ou the men of the revolution. It Is precisely the truth to say, that when those sages and heroes labored, they made Union the vital condition of their labor, It was faith in Union that destroyed the Tea and that nerved the resistance to British ag gression. Without it the patriots felt they were , nothing, and with it they felt equal to all things. That Union flag they transmitted to their pos- terity. To-day it waves over those who are rallying under the standard of the LAW. And God grant, that in the end, as it is with Old Mother Country after wars between White Rod Red Roses, and Roundheads and Cavaliers, so it: inny be with the"Daughter; that she may see PEACE in her borders, and all her childten loving each other better than ever.
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Courtesy of the Author
EDITORIAL BY RICHARD FROTHINGHAM IN THE BOSTON POST, THE MORNING
AFTER PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S FIRST CALL FOR TROOPS
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517
RESPONSE OF MASSACHUSETTS
companies to form the required regiments. The order was given to Colonel Wardrop of the Third Regiment, at New Bedford; Colonel Packard of the Fourth, at Quincy ; Colonel Jones of the Sixth, at Pepperell; and Colonel Monroe of the Eighth at Lynn. All were to muster their men at Boston, "in compliance with a requisition made by the President of the United States; the troops are to go to Washington."
The response was most efficient, thanks to the military prep- arations of the last three months. All of the companies that had received their orders in time were in Boston the next day, and the others quickly followed. It was fortunate that four regiments had been called out, as on April 16 another telegram came from Senator Wilson, stating that Massachusetts was to furnish at once four regiments, to be commanded by a brigadier general. On that day the precaution was taken of also ordering out the Fifth Regiment. On April 17 Governor Andrew detailed Brigadier General Benjamin F. Butler to command the Massachusetts quota.
RESPONSE OF MASSACHUSETTS
In that first week after the firing on Fort Sumter, a peace- ful state changed into a community called to war for a just cause, and eager to render service for that cause. It was a measure of the zeal of the people that in April and May one hundred and fifty-nine applications were granted to responsi- ble parties for leave to raise new companies. In most cases the applications were signed by the requisite number of men to form a company. "The authorities of the several cities and towns acted with patriotic liberality toward these com- panies, furnishing good accommodations for drilling, and providing for the families of the men." The totals of these companies actually amounted to ten thousand men, and they furnished the nucleus for the greater numbers to come.
In cooperation, the citizens of the Commonwealth showed themselves eager to forward the military effort of Massachu- setts in every way. They helped by contributions of every kind, of their goods, of their money, of their services. Early in the field were the physicians of Massachusetts. Dr. George H. Lyman had been preparing himself by studying the problem of a medical department in case of an emergency. At the
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR
first call he offered his services, and on April 16 the Governor appointed him in conjunction with Dr. William J. Dale to take charge of furnishing medical supplies for the troops.
From this prompt beginning grew a military medical de- partment for Massachusetts, which Adjutant General Schouler declared, "was of great value and importance during the whole of the war." Not only did the physicians of Massachusetts freely offer themselves in the field, but many of them volun- teered to give their professional services to the families of soldiers free of charge. Inseparable from the noble work of the doctors in the Civil War, will always be the memory of the services of women rendered to the sick and wounded. The women of Massachusetts have left a wonderful record, and in this first week of the war their offers of services were received from all sides. The banks of Boston offered to loan the State $600,000, without any security. And every form of donation might be found in the list of the offerings of the people of Massachusetts.
FIRST SERVICES OF THE MILITIA (APRIL, 1861)
Three of the Massachusetts regiments were ready to move at six o'clock April 16. This was an extraordinary record. Arrangements had been completed to send the Massachusetts troops by sea, and at the first requisition, Governor Andrew had so informed the Government. But in answer he received a telegram from the Secretary of War, "to send the troops by railroad; they will arrive quicker, the route through Balti- more is now open."
In consequence the route of the Sixth Regiment was changed, and it was sent through Baltimore by rail, as ordered, although through the activity and foresight of John M. Forbes steamers were in readiness to take these regiments by sea. The Sixth left in the evening of April 17 for Washington. The Fourth had left on an earlier train, to take the Fall River Line to New York, and then to go to Fortress Monroe, where it arrived on April 20. The Third Regiment was also sent to Fortress Monroe, but all the way by sea, and arrived on the same day.
The Sixth Regiment came into Baltimore on the morning of April 19. At that time the railroad cars were drawn by
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THE THREE - MONTHS MEN
horses across the city to the Washington Depot. Seven com- panies of the regiment passed through Baltimore in that way without trouble. But the cars containing the other three com- panies and the band were blocked by a mob of Southern sympathizers, and these troops were forced to fight their way to join their companions. Four were killed and thirty-six wounded. They had been obliged to fire on the mob, of whom many were killed or wounded.
The regiment reached Washington at five o'clock that after- noon. There these Massachusetts troops were received with great enthusiasm. They were marched to the Capitol, where they were given quarters. It was the first regiment that had arrived in answer to the call for troops. Lincoln paid them the tribute of saying, "You are the only reality."
The Eighth Regiment had left Boston in the afternoon of April 18. With this regiment went General Butler. They were to go to Washington by the route through Baltimore, but at Philadelphia they learned of the attack upon the Sixth. By the advice and cooperation of Samuel M. Felton, President of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad, the route of General Butler's command was changed, and the Eighth and all other troops were ordered "to go via Annapolis to Wash- ington."
VALUE OF THE THREE-MONTHS MEN (APRIL-JUNE, 1861)
The attack upon the Sixth Regiment made a deep impres- sion in Massachusetts. It was the first bloodshed of the war, and it brought home forcibly to our people that it was war in earnest. The departures of the regiments, with the presenta- tions of colors by Governor Andrew, had been touching cere- monies of farewell that had greatly moved the onlookers. To this was added the realization that April 19, the day of Lexington and Concord, had become again a day of the first sacrifice of life.
The Fifth Regiment (Colonel Lawrence), with five com- panies of the Seventh and Major Cook's company of light artillery, and the Third Battalion of Rifles (of Worcester), with Captain Dodd's company from Boston, completed the total of the three-months men sent out in the first emergency. After that no more such enlistments were accepted, and on
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR
May 3, 1861, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for volunteers to serve for three years, or during the war.
The number of three-months men, sent from Massachu- setts at the first call, was 3,736. In regard to their services, the report of the Adjutant General for 1861 should be quoted : "They were the first to respond to the call of the President ; the first to march through Baltimore to the defense of the capital; the first to shed their blood for the maintenance of our Government; the first to open the new route to Washing- ton by way of Annapolis; the first to land on the soil of Vir- ginia; the first to make the voyage of the Potomac and to approach the Federal city by water, as they had been the first to reach it by land. They upheld the good name of the State during their entire term of service, as well by their good conduct and gentlemanly bearing, as by their courage and devo- tion to duty in the hour of peril. They proved the sterling worth of our volunteer militia. Their record is one which will ever redound to the honor of Massachusetts, and will be prized among her richest historic treasures. These men have added new splendor to our Revolutionary annals; and the brave sons who were shot down in the streets of Baltimore on the 19th of April, have rendered doubly sacred the day when the greensward of Lexington Common was drenched with the blood of their fathers."
These brave words of 1861 are not only a just tribute to the soldiers of Massachusetts, but they also reflect the fervid zeal of the times. In addition to the service rendered by these first Massachusetts soldiers, their three-months term of duty was an experience of education that fitted many of them to serve as officers in the companies and regiments which were being raised. They were found with all grades of commis- sions in the ensuing war, and a number of them returned with generals' stars. Among these was General Devens, whose statue stands near the State House.
MOVE FOR SANITARY CONDITIONS (1861)
Massachusetts was also taking an early and leading part in another sphere of most important effort-and here again Gov- ernor Andrew, was proving himself to be farseeing. On May 2 the Governor wrote to Dr. Samuel G. Howe of Boston:
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SANITARY CONDITIONS
"The Massachusetts Volunteer Militia now in the field demand and deserve our anxious care, as well in respect to their sani- tary condition (including their medical and surgical supplies and attendance, their nursing and comfort in sickness) as also in respect to the departments of the commissary and the quartermaster."
With this in mind, the Governor directed Dr. Howe to make a report of the condition of the troops, and especially if what was being sent to them was being duly received and properly used. "Learn and report, if possible, what aid, if any is needed in the commissary and quartermaster's depart- ments and on the medical staff."
In this prompt recognition of the importance of the "sani- tary condition" of the troops, and in taking this official action, Governor Andrew was in advance of his times. And these two words "sanitary condition" described, in themselves, a reform that was to make the Sanitary Commission of the Civil War the first in its field of mercy-the precursor of the Red Cross. In order to realize how revolutionary was this reform, it is only necessary to make a comparison with the most recent European war, the Crimean War.
This was only seven years before the Civil War, and yet it was not until near the end of the Crimean War that a civil commission attempted too late to repair the fearful harm caused by unsanitary conditions. In contrast, at the very beginning of the Civil War, an efficient organization was formed to prevent these evils. The credit for the beginning of this movement and the origin of the Sanitary Commission must be given to the women of America.
The first step in this direction had been the formation of committees of women, in the different cities and towns, to aid the soldiers. Charlestown and Lowell, in Massachusetts, shared with Bridgeport, in Connecticut, the honor of forming the first of these committees on April 15, 1861. The idea spread through the North, and these committees were organ- ized into the Soldiers' Relief Societies. James Schouler says that "The Bunker Hill Soldiers Relief Society (Charlestown, Mass.), organized April 19, 1861, . . . was undoubtedly the first which was organized in the loyal states." It at once be- came evident that these societies would be of the greatest
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR
benefit, if only their efforts were properly directed. And this could only be insured by an organized body that would as- sume control of collecting and distributing, and building up healthful conditions.
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