USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 5 > Part 52
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The Acts of 1888 had authorized the formation of a four- company brigade of naval militia (the first to be organized by any State), and this too was organized in 1890; and was later increased to eight companies.
TRAINING OF THE MILITIA (1889-1898)
Under the law each command performed five days' camp duty, usually at the State Camp Ground at Framingham, the encampment of the First Brigade coming ordinarily in June and that of the Second Brigade in July. The First Corps of Cadets, of Boston, however, owned its own camp ground at Hingham, where the corps performed its camp duty. The Second Corps of Cadets held its camp at Centennial Grove, Essex, until 1897, when this corps, too, bought its own camp ground at Boxford, and thereafter held its camp there. The First Regiment of Infantry devoted more and more of its time to heavy artillery work and, beginning in 1892, held its camps at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor. In the same year the legislature provided funds to install dummy seacoast guns in the South Armory, Boston, for drill purposes. In 1897 the regiment was definitely changed from infantry to heavy artillery. The newly organized Naval Brigade performed its camp duty at first on the U. S. Receiving Ship Wabash at the Charlestown Navy Yard, and later on vessels of the Navy in and about Boston Harbor. The limitations of the brigade camps at Framingham greatly restricted their value; the companies were fed by caterers in mess sheds; the limit of five days meant only three full days of military instruction, and the size and character of the field restricted the scope of the drills which could be held. Inspecting officers and even the adjutant-general recommended that each regiment hold a
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GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT
separate camp; that rations be issued as in the field; that the State own horses for the mounted troops; that the tour of camp duty be lengthened to seven days; that the arsenal be moved from Framingham to Boston, the Framingham field sold, and the proceeds used to buy a large tract of un- improved land suitable for field training. None of these sug- gestions bore fruit until after the War of 1898 with Spain.
DRILLS AND PARADES (1889-1898)
In addition to the five days' camp duty, each command was obliged by law to hold an "annual drill" or "parade for instruction," as it was called-a survival of the old-time "training day" or "muster." These were usually held in the autumn and consisted of a street parade, a sham battle or riot drill, and evening parade. Sometimes these were held in con- nection with a local celebration, as in 1892, when the Fifth Infantry held its annual drill in connection with the celebra- tion of the 250th anniversary of Woburn.
The limited value of a one-day assembly of scattered com- panies for military instruction was beginning to be appreci- ated, and accordingly in this period the custom began of com- bining the annual drill with the camp duty, so as to make a six-day instead of a five-day camp. Occasionally, too, com- mands went outside the State to participate in military cele- brations, as at the Centennial Celebration of Washington's inauguration, at New York City in 1889. By a time-honored custom dating from the formation of the troop in 1836, the National Lancers (Troop A, First Battalion of Cavalry) an- nually escorted the governor to Harvard Commencement, their red coats and lances being as much a feature of the occasion as the academic caps and gowns.
GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT (1890-1898)
In spite of the inertia of this military system, some definite steps in advance were taken during these years. The instal- lation of dummy guns at the South Armory has already been mentioned. An obsolete vessel was obtained from the Navy Department as an armory for the Naval Brigade, and from time to time was replaced by one of newer type. Schools of
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THE MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA
instruction for officers were begun; although of the most ele- mentary character, they did something to stimulate profes- sional knowledge. In 1896 the Field Artillery took two of their guns to Fort Warren and held target practice at a range of 1,012 yards. Commanding officers made their drills more and more in the nature of battle practice and less for the entertainment of the spectators. A medal for long service in the militia was instituted and the first awards were made February 29, 1892.
Occasionally there was a taste of real service, as when the local companies were called out by a precept of the civil authority for the Lynn Fire in 1889 and for a cyclone in Lawrence in 1890, on which occasions they as a whole ac- quitted themselves with credit to themselves and the Common- wealth. Although they had much to learn in order to be in condition to take the field in campaign, they were doing con- scientious and creditable work with limited facilities, and in so far as they had opportunity were fitting themselves for the time when their country would need their services. As a Regular Army inspector said of them in 1889, they were "a worthy exponent of that military spirit which has been con- spicuous in the Bay State from the earliest days of the Revolution."
MASSACHUSETTS IN CALL FOR THE WAR WITH SPAIN (1898-1899)
Just as in January, 1861, Governor Andrew had taken steps to have the militia in readiness for the call of the federal government, which far-sighted men could see was coming, so in January, 1898, Governor Wolcott took measures to put the force in readiness for field service in case the Cuban situation should lead to war. The President's first call for troops (dated April 23, 1898) was transmitted by telegraph on April 25, and asked Massachusetts for four regiments of infantry and four companies of heavy artillery. It stated that it "is the wish of the President that the regiments of the National Guard of State militia shall be used as far as their numbers will permit, for the reason that they are armed, equipped and drilled." Whatever apathy the militia had been obliged to labor against in the past, when it was preparing itself for just
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WAR WITH SPAIN
such an emergency, there was no apathy now. In each town and city the companies were given an ovation on their depar- ture for the mobilization camp, and the regiments from the eastern part of the State were reviewed by the governor as they passed through Boston.
The four infantry regiments designated to fill the quota were the Second, Col. Embury P. Clark; the Sixth, Col. Charles F. Woodward; the Eighth, Col. William A. Pew, Jr .; and the Ninth, Col. Fred B. Bogan. These assembled on the Framingham camp ground, which was named "Camp Dewey," on May 3 to 6, respectively ; and after the required physical examinations, which resulted in the exclusion of some officers as well as of enlisted men, were duly mustered into the service of the United States under their State designations with the words "United States Volunteers" added.
SECOND INFANTRY SERVICE (1898)
The Second was the first regiment to leave the State, going by rail to Lakeland, Fla., and thence to Tampa, where it joined the expeditionary force to Cuba, being attached to the Second Cavalry Brigade. It took part in the engagements at Siboney and San Juan Hill, and was the only Massachusetts command to suffer casualties in action, losing 1 officer and 4 men killed and 4 other men who died of wounds. Like all the other Mas- sachusetts commands, it was armed with the old Springfield rifle, shooting black powder; which, though superior in stop- ping power, was inferior in range to the Spanish Mauser. Hence the American troops were obliged to advance under a fire which they could not return effectively; and when they did open fire, the smoke of their guns revealed their location to the enemy. The regiment suffered heavily from disease, due to improper food and living conditions in Cuba. It was mustered out November 3, 1898. In 1921 a tablet commemo- rating the service of the regiment in the War with Spain was erected in the Springfield Armory.
NINTH INFANTRY SERVICE (1898)
The Sixth and Ninth Regiments were ordered to Camp Alger, near Dunn Loring, Va., from which the Ninth was
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THE MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA
ordered to Cuba, where it spent eighteen days in the trenches. Its losses from disease were the heaviest of any Massachusetts command, inasmuch as 4 officers, including the colonel and two majors, and 123 men died during its term of service. It was mustered out November 26, 1898.
SIXTH INFANTRY SERVICE (1898)
As the Sixth was the regiment which nearly forty years earlier was attacked in Baltimore by a mob on its way to Washington, the mayor of Baltimore obtained permission from the War Department for the regiment to detrain and march through the city over a route which followed as nearly as possible the memorable march of April 19, 1861. The route was lined with enthusiastic spectators and decorated with flags and bunting. As the regiment left Mount Royal Station escorted by the mayor, flowers were strewn in its path; and on entraining, a luncheon and souvenirs were given it. lt embarked at Charleston, S. C., on the Yale for Cuba, General Miles and staff being on the same vessel; but instead of landing in Cuba, the regiment on July 21 sailed from Siboney to Porto Rico, where it was in action and formed part of the army of occupation. While there its colonel and lieutenant colonel resigned, and Lieut. Col. Edmund Rice (a Regular Army officer who had commanded the 19th Mass. Infantry in the Civil War, and had won the medal of honor), was appointed colonel, the adjutant, Butler Ames, being pro- moted to lieutenant colonel. The regiment was mustered out January 21, 1899.
EIGHTH INFANTRY SERVICE (1898)
The Eighth Regiment left Framingham on May 16 for Camp Thomas, Chickamauga Park, Ga., whence it went suc- cessively to Lexington, Ky., and Americus, Ga. The great scourge of the mobilization camps of 1898 was typhoid fever, caused by lack of knowledge of and failure to observe the rules of sanitation. In this respect the Eighth had an enviable record, the sanitary rules being so strictly enforced that the Inspector General of the Army called its camp at Americus "a model," and said, "These same soldiers had a perfect camp
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FIFTH INFANTRY
also at Lexington, Ky." Though the regiment had no battle experience, it went to Matanzas, Cuba, in January, 1899, and held that city for nearly three months, its camp being located near Fort San Severino. It was mustered out on April 28, 1899.
FIRST REGIMENT OF HEAVY ARTILLERY (1898)
The call for heavy artillery was later changed so as to in- clude the entire First Regiment, which on the night of April 25 assembled in its armories under the command of Col. Charles Pfaff, and on the following day went to Fort Warren. The fear that the Spanish fleet would attack our coast ran high in eastern Massachusetts; and the regiment was called out by the governor even before it was known that the United States would accept it in its entirety. It is said to have been the first militia regiment to respond to the call, and the first volunteer regiment to be mustered. It remained at Fort Warren until early in June, using the voting booths of the city of Boston for barracks. Then it was broken up-one battalion remaining at Fort Warren; Batteries G and I going to Fort Rodman, New Bedford; Battery A, to Nahant; Bat- tery B, to Plum Island, off Newburyport, and later to Fort Constitution, N. H .; Batteries C and D with the regimental headquarters, to Fort Pickering, Salem; Battery H, to Fort Sewall, Marblehead; and Battery K, to Stage Fort, Gloucester.
The posts north of Boston were antiquated, with no arma- ment of value, and most of them were in an advanced stage of decay. The entire serviceable armament of the five posts consisted of 16 Driggs-Schroeder rapid-fire guns, from one to six-pounders, and eight three-inch muzzle-loading field guns of the type of 1862, brought there by the militia batteries of field artillery that had been ordered to guard duty on the coast in the early days of the war. The regiment remained on duty until September, when it was returned to Boston and, on November 14, 1898, was mustered out.
FIFTH INFANTRY (1898-1899)
By a second call issued May 25, the President asked for 75,000 additional volunteers, and the Fifth Infantry, Col. Jophanus H. Whitney, was accordingly mustered into service
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THE MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA
as a part of the Commonwealth's quota. It unfortunately saw no foreign service, performing its duty at Camp Meade, Mid- dletown, Pa., and at Greenville, S. C. It was mustered out March 31, 1899.
SERVICE OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS (1898)
The Naval Brigade furnished men for the regular Navy, for signal service along the coast, and furnished officers and crews for the U. S. S. Prairie, Lehigh, Catskill, Inca, and Governor Russell, old-type and converted vessels used for coast defense.
In addition to the militia organizations, the Tenth Volun- teer Signal Company was composed of Massachusetts officers and men. It was sent to Cuba, but was not permitted to land there, though there was ample work for it to do. A detach- ment of it saw service in Porto Rico.
The commanding general of the Second Brigade, Brig. Gen. William A. Bancroft, was appointed to the same rank in the U. S. Volunteers, commanding the Second Brigade, Second Division, Seventh Army Corps.
The quota of Massachusetts was 4,554 under the first call and 2,834 under the second; a total of 7,388. How many men actually served can not be told exactly, for the work of arranging and indexing the records is still in progress, but the records now available show nearly 12,000 in the Army and Volunteers, about 2,000 in the Navy, and 473 in the Marine Corps. Many of the returned volunteers and some who had not been in the service during the period of hostili- ties with Spain enlisted in the volunteer regiments formed for service in the Philippine Insurrection. The records now available show 2,184 Massachusetts men as having served in the Army, 2,911 in the Navy, and 1,779 in the Marine Corps.
The militia organizations not mustered into federal service were called out by the governor to guard the coast during the weeks when a visit from the Spanish fleet was regarded as a possibility. To take the place of the organizations in federal service, 34 companies of provisional militia were mustered in, although only a few of them were armed and equipped. After the return of the volunteer organizations which they replaced, these companies were disbanded.
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FIELD MANEUVRES
RETURN OF BATTLE FLAGS (1899)
On October 14, 1899, in connection with the reception to Admiral Dewey, the entire militia was mobilized in Boston, and the colors of the various Massachusetts organizations which had served in the War with Spain and the flags of the naval vessels manned by the Massachusetts Naval Brigade were formally turned over to the custody of the Common- wealth at an impressive ceremony on Boston Common.
READJUSTMENT (1899-1906)
After the War with Spain, as after each of our wars, the militia went through a period of readjustment. Several com- panies were disbanded for inefficiency, and new ones formed in other towns to replace them. Particularly was this true of the Eighth Regiment, which in the years following the war lost seven companies by disbandment, most of them being replaced by companies in southern Middlesex County, so that within less than ten years the headquarters and six companies were located outside of Essex County, the old home of the regiment.
The pendency or imminence of war always awakens the people to repair their neglect of military preparation in years gone by. Accordingly, in 1898 a law lengthened the tour of camp duty from five days to seven, a reform which had been agitated in vain for several years. By combining the annual drill with the camp duty a full week in camp was possible- the commands, until 1910, making and breaking camp on Saturday. Then the custom of going to camp on Sunday was inaugurated. Regimental instead of brigade camps had also been agitated for many years, and a few commands had held them previously; now the entire militia held them in 1906, for the first time, at Framingham.
FIELD MANEUVRES (1905-1913)
More and more the days in camp were devoted to field exercises, and several times the troops participated in grand maneuvers. In 1904 the infantry and artillery of the Second Brigade took part in the national joint maneuvers at Manassas, Va
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THE MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA
In 1905 the entire State volunteer militia, except the heavy artillery and naval brigade, with a small detachment of the Regular Army, all under command of Lieut. Gen. Nelson A. Miles (then serving as federal inspector-instructor of the militia), encamped near Westfield, Mass. Although the tactical problems were of the simplest sort, the camp was bene- ficial for those who took part in it, because it gave them a taste of something more like real service than the old camps at Framingham. This was the first time in more than a generation that so large a body of troops had been in camp together in the State.
In 1908 the Second, Sixth and Eighth Regiments and the First Corps of Cadets took part in the joint maneuvers at White Plains, N. Y.
The climax of field training was reached in 1908, when the entire volunteer militia (except the naval brigade) was mobil- ized in southeastern Massachusetts as a division under com- mand of Brig. Gen. William A. Pew, Jr. Its mission was to check the advance of a constructive invading army consisting of regular troops and militia of other States, until the main army, supposed to be mobilizing at Albany, N. Y., could com- plete its concentration and come to the support of the division. The maneuvers excited much interest, not only among the members of the militia but among the civilians of the State, and were widely reported in the press. Although the weather conditions were adverse, the militia demonstrated its zeal and readiness for field service.
In 1911 the two brigades engaged in field problems against each other in Essex County, culminating in a problem battle near Newburyport. In 1913, after five days of stationary camps at various places in Bristol, Plymouth and Barnstable Counties, the two brigades maneuvered against each other near Middleboro. One of the most valuable results of this camp was a series of moving pictures illustrating the work of the various arms, which were extensively used in the years following to popularize the work of the militia and stimulate recruiting.
FIRING PRACTICE (1905 -1915)
Even before the Spanish War the heavy artillery had held
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JOINT MANEUVRES
target practice at Fort Warren, and on occasion the field artillery had also gone there for the same purpose. In the years after that war, the heavy artillery command (which in 1905 had been detached from the First Brigade and had its name changed to coast artillery) continued to hold its camps at various seacoast forts, where it could fire with projectiles (except in 1909, when it was used as infantry in the maneu- vers).
Battery A of the field artillery inaugurated the custom, later followed by the other batteries, of holding its camp at Barnstable, where it was possible to get a satisfactory range without danger to the inhabitants, a good field camp site, and ground for maneuvering the batteries. As the State owned no animals, much time was lost in training green horses. In 1915, the novel plan was first tried of sending the personnel of the battalion to Tobyhanna, Pa., where they had the use of the matériel and trained horses of Regular Army batteries. In 1912, the Eighth Infantry for the first time held service firing with ball ammunition against fixed and disappearing targets, the former being a line of balloons so anchored as to represent the heads of men over the edge of intrenchments. The firing was by battalion under simulated battle conditions, and furnished such excellent training in fire discipline that the problems were repeated the following year for the infantry officers of the entire militia at their school of instruction.
JOINT MANEUVRES (1912-1915)
In the summer of 1912, the other infantry regiments took part in the joint maneuvers in Connecticut, the close contact with the New York City brigade of National Guard being of value by enabling them to compare their own standards with those of a command from another progressive State. During the later years of this period, the cavalry held joint camps with that of Rhode Island and Connecticut under command of the federal inspector-instructor, which were productive of much good.
Just as before the Spanish War the five-day camps had been criticised as inadequate for training, so now the inadequacy of a camp of only one week was beginning to be appreciated.
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THE MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA
In later years the coast artillery and naval brigade several times extended their tours to from ten to fourteen days. In 1915, the Eighth Infantry did the same, by having the extra days count as a practice march under federal pay.
MOUNTED TRAINING (1903 -1914)
The mounted troops had always suffered from lack of horses and of an armory where mounted work could be done. The first organization to try to meet these deficiencies was Battery A, Field Artillery, which bought horses with its own money and held regular mounted drills at a civilian riding ring. In 1914 a statute was passed providing for the State's maintaining horses belonging to mounted organizations; and finally, in 1915, a mounted armory at Brighton of sufficient capacity to house all the mounted organizations in and about Boston, having stables and two riding rings, was completed and occupied. In the meantime Battery C, of Lawrence, had had an addition to its armory constructed in Methuen, where it had stables and varied ground for mounted drill. The Eighth Infantry, which was the first regiment to organize the mounted scout detachment then existing in infantry regi- ments of the Regular Army, tried a successful experiment by putting its mounted men each month into week-end camps of instruction at South Weymouth. These camps, made under most rigorous weather conditions and with the minimum of baggage, were valuable in showing how mounted field instruc- tion could be carried on under adverse conditions and without an expensive plant. They were favorably commented upon by the Federal inspector-instructor. As one officer said, "The men did everything they would have to do in war except get hit by bullets."
RATIONING TROOPS (1899 -1914)
In the Spanish War our troops were handicapped by the fact that they had always been fed by caterers and had had no experience in handling the army ration in the field. In 1899 the Commissary-General began to supply the food to the organizations, and shortly afterward a straight ration issue, as in the Regular Army, was established, and the commands
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FIRE AND STRIKE DUTY
were required to prepare it by means of their own cooks. In 1914, a field bakery was provided so that the troops could bake their own bread in the field.
INSTRUCTION SCHOOLS (1910-1914)
Theoretical instruction was also continually improved. The school of instruction for officers, instituted before the War with Spain, was put on a permanent basis, regular correspond- ence courses were conducted, and finally a definite graded course was established, under which successful competitors could be exempted from examination for promotion to the grade for which the course prepared. A field camp of instruc- tion for officers, lasting three days, was first held in 1910. Several times the officers of the auxiliary arms were sent to the Army service schools of their branch for corresponding short periods of instruction.
In order to educate enlisted men for commissions, the training school was established in 1913. It held sessions at an armory from Saturday noon to Sunday night once each month, with assigned correspondence work in between the sessions; and it held a special tour of camp duty in the summer. It was conducted on a cadet basis and trained a considerable number of young men for promotion. A similar school was shortly afterward established for the Naval Brigade. In the establishment of these schools, as in so many other military reforms, Massachusetts was the pioneer among the States. The policy of building State armories was continued, until at the close of the period practically all commands were housed in them.
FIRE AND STRIKE DUTY (1908-1912)
During this period also occurred some of the most impor- tant tours of duty in aid of the civil authorities. At the time of the Chelsea Fire, on April 12, 1908, companies in and near Boston were called out and remained on duty until April 20.
A serious textile strike in the city of Lawrence began on January 15, 1912. At first only the two companies of in- fantry and battery of artillery located in the city were called; but after serious riots had taken place. the number was in-
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