USA > Massachusetts > History of Massachusetts in the Civil War > Part 6
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" To be for disunion, in Boston, is to be an abolitionist : to be against disunion is to be an abolitionist to-day, in the streets of Charleston. Now, that very state of things shows, that the civilization of the two cities is utterly antagonistic. What is the use of trying to join them ?
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
Is Abraham Lincoln capable of making fire and powder lie down together in peace? If he can, let him send his army to Fort Sumter, and occupy it.
" But understand me: I believe in the Union, exactly as you do, in the future. This is my proposition : ' Go out, gentlemen ; you are wel- come to your empire ; take it.' Let them try the experiment of cheat- ing with one hand, and idleness with the other. I know that God has written bankruptcy over such an experiment. If you cannonade South Carolina, you cannonade her into the sympathy of the world. I do not know now but what a majority there is on my side; but I know this, that, if the telegraph speaks true to-night, that the guns are ccho- ing around Fort Sumter, that a majority is against us ; for it will con- vert every man into a secessionist. Besides, there is another fearful element in the problem; there is another terrible consideration : we can then no longer extend to the black race, at the South, our best sympathy and our best aid.
" We stand to-night at the beginning of an epoch, which may have the peace or the ruin of a generation in its bosom. Inaugurate war, we know not where it will end ; we are in no condition to fight. The South is poor, and we are rich. The poor man can do twice the injury to the rich man, that the rich man can do the poor. Your wealth rides safely on the bosom of the ocean, and New England has its millions afloat. The North whitens every sea with its wealth. The South has no commerce, but she can buy the privateers of every race to prey on yours. It is a dangerous strife when wealth quarrels with poverty.
" Driven to despair, the Southern States may be poor and bankrupt, but the poorest man can be a pirate ; and, as long as New England's tonnage is a third of that of the civilized world, the South can punish New England more than New England can punish her. We provoke a strife in which we are defenceless. If, on the contrary, we hold our- selves to the strife of ideas, if we manifest that strength which despises insult and bides its hour, we are sure to conquer in the end.
"I distrust these guns at Fort Sumter. I do not believe that Abraham Lincoln means war. I do not believe in the madness of the Cabinet. Nothing but madness can provoke war with the Gulf States. My suspicion is this; that the Administration dares not com- promise. It trembles before the five hundred thousand readers of the New-York 'Tribune.'
" But there is a safe way to compromise. It is this : seem to pro- voke war. Cannonade the forts. What will be the first result ? New- York commerce is pale with bankruptcy. The atfrighted seaboard sees grass growing in its streets. It will start up every man whose
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CONDITION OF THE MILITIA.
livelihood hangs upon trade, intensifying him into a compromiser. Those guns fired at Fort Sumter are only to frighten the North into a compromise.
" If the Administration provokes bloodshed, it is a trick, - nothing else. It is the masterly cunning of the devil of compromise, the Secretary of State. He is not mad enough to let these States run into battle. He knows that the age of bullets is over. If a gun is fired in Southern waters, it is fired at the wharves of New York, at the bunk-vaults of Boston, at the money of the North. It is meant to alarm. It is policy, not sincerity. It means concession; and, in twelve months, you will see this Union reconstructed, with a constitu- tion like that of Montgomery.
" New England may, indeed, never be coerced into a slave confed- eracy. But when the battles of Abraham Lincoln are ended, and compromises worse than Crittenden's are adopted, New England may claim the right to secede. And, as sure as a gun is fired to-night at Fort Sumter, within three years from to-day you will see thirty States gathered under a Constitution twice as damnable as that of 1787. The only hope of liberty is fidelity to principle, fidelity to peace, fidelity to the slave. Out of that God gives us nothing but hope and brightness. In blood there is sure to be ruin."
The lecture " was interrupted by frequent hisses."
In the preceding pages, we have sketched the position held and the measures adopted by Massachusetts during the four months immediately preceding the advent of war. Sumter had been fired upon ; hostilities had commenced ; nothing remained but the arbitrament of battle. By the wisdom and foresight of her Governor and Legislature, Massachusetts was better pre- pared for it than other loyal States. Her militia had spent the winter and spring nights in drilling, recruiting, and organizing. The requirements of Order No. 4 had been enforced. The young men who filled the ranks of the volunteer force had kept alive the military spirit and martial character of the Common- wealth. They had remained faithful to duty, despite the taunts und jeers of open enemies, and the neglect and parsimony of professed friends. They were now to give the world an exhibition of rendy devotion and personal sacrifice to duty and country sel- dom equalled and never surpassed in any age or nation. They had been bred in the delightful ways of peace, unused to war's
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
alarms and the strifes of battle. The common schools of Massa- chusetts were their Alma Mater. In their homes by the shores of the sea, and in the pleasant fields and valleys of the interior, they had been nurtured in Christian morals and the ways of God. They had beheld with anxiety, but without fear, the dark clouds of war settling upon the face of the nation, which they knew must be met and dispelled, or it would remain no longer a nation to them. Through the long and anxious years of the war, they never hesitated, doubted, or wavered in their faith that the Union would stand the shock which menaced it ; and that, through the sacrifice of noble lives and the baptism of precious blood, it would emerge from the smoke and fire of civil war with unsubdued strength, and with garments glittering all over with the rays of Liberty. It was to be a contest between right and wrong, law and anarchy, freedom and despotism. He who could doubt the issue of such a war could have no abiding faith in the immortality of American progress, or the eternal justice of Christian civilization.
On the 15th day of April, 1861, Governor Andrew received a telegram from Washington to send forward at once fifteen hundred men. The drum-beat of the long roll had been struck.
CHAPTER II.
The Call for Troops - The Marblehead Companies first in Boston - The Excite- ment of the People - Headquarters of Regiments - Four Regiments called for - General Butler to command - New companies organized - Liberal Offers of Substantial Aid - Dr. George H. Lyman, Dr. William J. Dale, Medical Service - Action of the Boston Bar- The Clergy, Rev. Mr. Cud- worth - The Women of the State - The Men of the State - Liberal Offers of Service and Money - Robert B. Forbes, Coast Guard -Colonel Jolin HI. Reed appointed Quartermaster - The Personal Staff- Executive Council - Mr. Crowninshield appointed to purchase Arms in Europe - An Emergency Fund of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars - Letter of the Governor to Secre- tary Cameron - General Butler consulted - The Route by Annapolis - Nar- rative of Samuel M. Felton - Mr. Lincoln's Journey to Washington - His Escape from Assassination - The Third Regiment - Speech of Ex- Governor Clifford - The Fourth Regiment - Address of Governor Andrew - Departure for Fortress Monroe - The Sixth Regiment - Departure for Washington - Reception in New York and Philadelphia - The Eighth Regi- ment - Departure - Speeches of Governor Andrew and General Butler - Reception on the Route - Arrival in Philadelphia - The Fifth Regiment sails from New York for Annapolis - Major Cook's Light Battery ordered to Washington -The Third Battalion of Rifles sent forward - The Massachu- setts Militia - Arrival of the Third Regiment at Fortress Monroe - Attempt to save Norfolk Navy Yard - The Fourth Regiment the first to land in Virginia - Fortress Monroe - Big Bethel - The Fifth Regiment - Battle of Bull Run -The Sixth Regiment - Its March through Baltimore - The Nineteenth of April - First Blood shed - The Eighth Regiment - Lands at Annapolis - Saves the Frigate Constitution - Arrives in Washington - The Rifle Battalion at Fort MeHenry - Cook's Battery at Baltimore - End of the Three Months' Service - Conclusion.
THE call for troops, mentioned in the last paragraph of the pre- ceding chapter, came from Washington by telegraph, through Henry Wilson, of the United-States Senate; which was dated April 15, 1861, and asked for twenty companies, to be sent on separately. In the course of the day, formal requisitions were received from the Secretary of War and the Adjutant-General of the Army for two full regiments. By command of Governor Andrew, Special Order No. 14 was immediately issued by the
4
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
Adjutant-General, and was forwarded, by mail and by special messengers, 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. The order was to muster the regiments under their command in uniform on Boston Common forthwith, " in compliance with a requisition made by the President of the United States : the troops are to go to Washington." An order was also issued to fill all existing vacancies in regimental and line officers, waiving the usual notice.
The reason for ordering four regiments when only two had been called for was, that, by detaching strong companies from weak regiments, the two called for might be filled to the maximum.
The call aroused the people of the entire State to instant action. The State House became the great centre of interest. The Governor's room and the Adjutant-General's quarters were crowded with citizens, tendering their services in what- ever capacity they could be made useful. Telegrams were re- ceived from military and civil officers, living in remote parts of the Commonwealth, making the same generous and patriotic offers. As if by magic, the entire character of the State was changed : from a peaceful, industrious community, it became a camp of armed men ; and the hum of labor gave place to the notes of fife and drum.
On the morning of the 16th of April, the companies began to arrive in Boston ; and, before nightfall, every company that had received its orders in time reported at headquarters for duty.
There has been some controversy in military circles as to which company can claim the honor of first reaching Boston. I can answer, that the first were the three companies of the Eighth Regiment belonging to Marblehead, commanded by Captains Martin, Phillips, and Boardman. I had been at the State House all night ; and, early in the morning, rode to the Arsenal at Cambridge, to ascertain whether the orders from headquarters, to send in arms, ammunition, overcoats, and equipments, had been properly attended to. Messengers had also been stationed
51
THE MARBLEHEAD COMPANIES.
at the different depots, with orders for the companies, on their arrival, to proceed at once to Faneuil Hall, as a north-easterly storm of sleet and rain had set in during the night, and had not abated in the morning. On my return from Cambridge, I stopped at the Eastern Railroad Depot. A large crowd of men and women, notwithstanding the storm, had gathered there, ex- pecting the arrival of troops. Shortly after eight o'clock, the train arrived with the Marblehead companies. They were re- ceived with deafening shouts from the excited throng. The companies immediately formed in line, and marched by the flank directly to Faneuil Hall ; the fifes and drums playing "Yankee Doodle," the people following and shouting like madmen, and the rain and sleet falling piteously as if to abate the ardor of the popular welcome. And thus it was the Marblehead men en- tered Faneuil Hall on the morning of the 16th of April.
It is impossible to overstate the excitement which pervaded the entire community through this eventful week. The railroad depots were surrounded with crowds of people; and the com- panies, as they arrived, were received with cheers of grateful welcome. Banners were suspended, as if by preconcerted ar- rangement. The American flag spread its folds to the breeze across streets, from the masts of vessels in the harbor, from the cupola of the State House, the City Hall, in front of private dwellings ; and men and boys 'carried miniature flags in their hands or on their hats. The horse-cars and express-wagons were decked with similar devices ; and young misses adorned their persons with rosettes and ribbons, in which were blended the national red, white, and blue. In the streets, on 'Change and sidewalk, in private mansion and in public hotel, no topic was discussed but the approaching war, the arrival and departure of the troops, and measures best adapted for their comfort and welfare. Every one was anxious to do something, and in some way to be useful. Young men, wishing to raise new com- panies and proffer services, pressed to the offices of the Gov- ernor and the Adjutant-General. These offices, the rotunda, and the passages leading to the State House, were filled with zealous and determined people. Faneuil Hall, Boylston Hall, the hall over the Old-Colony Railroad Depot, where companies
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
were quartered, had each its living mass of excited spectators. Every train which arrived at Boston brought in relatives, friends, and townsmen of the soldiers, to say a kind word at parting, to assure them that their families would be well cared for while they were absent, and to add to the general enthusiasm and excitement of the occasion.
During the entire week, wagons were bringing in, from the State Arsenal at Cambridge, clothing, arms, ammunition, and other munitions of war, to be deposited, prior to distribution, in Faneuil Hall and the State House. On Saturday, the 13th of April, two days prior to the call for troops, the Adjutant-Gen- eral, by direction of the Governor, had written to the Secretary of War, asking the privilege of drawing, from the United-States Armory at Springfield, two thousand rifled muskets in advance of the annual quota becoming due ; also urging the President to order two regiments of volunteers to garrison Fort War- ren and Fort Independence in Boston harbor, to be there drilled and exercised, until called by the President for active service in the field. Neither request was granted.
While the troops ordered out were getting to Boston with all diligence, and making ready for instant departure, another tele- gram was received (April 16) from Senator Wilson, stating that Massachusetts was to furnish immediately four regiments, to be commanded by a brigadier-general ; on receipt of which, orders were issued for the Fifth Regiment to report, and, on the 17th, Brigadier-General Benjamin F. Butler was detailed to command the troops.
By six o'clock on the afternoon of the 16th, the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Regiments were ready to start. The head- quarters of the Third was in the hall over the Old-Colony Railroad Depot ; that of the Fourth at Faneuil Hall ; that of the Sixth in the armory of the Second and Fourth Battalions, at Boylston Hall, over the Boylston Market.
While these regiments were getting ready, offers to raise new companies of militia came from all parts of the State. The Adjutant-General, in his Report for 1861, says, "From the 13th of April to the 20th of May, one hundred and fifty-nine applications were granted to responsible parties for leave to
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ENTHUSIASM AND LIBERALITY OF THE PEOPLE.
raise companies. In nearly every instance, the application was signed by the requisite number of men for a company. These applications came from every part of the Commonwealth, and represented all classes, creeds, and nationalities. The authori- ties of the several cities and towns acted with patriotic liber- ality toward these companies, furnishing good accommodations for drilling, and providing for the families of the men." In the aggregate, they numbered full ten thousand men, eager for orders to march. Drill companies were also formed of men past the military age, and of citizens who desired to learn the manual of arms. To these companies two thousand seven hun- dred old muskets were loaned by the State. Most of these new militia companies were organized between April 13 and the 4th of May. Numerous letters, offering pecuniary aid to soldiers' families, were received by the Governor and the Adjutant-General. William Gray, of Boston, sent his check for ten thousand dollars ; Otis Norcross, of Boston, sent his for five hundred ; Gardner Brewer, also of Boston, offered the State ten thousand dollars; and many other gifts, of less amount, were received.
The Boston Banks offered to loan the State three million six hundred thousand dollars, without any security for repayment, but faith in the honor of the Legislature, when it should meet. They also offered the Secretary of the Treasury to take Treasury notes to the full extent of their power. The banks in other parts of the State made offers of loans equally generous, according to their capital. Gentlemen of the learned professions showed the same liberal and patriotic spirit. Dr. George H. Lyman, who was afterwards medical inspector in the United-States Army, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, had, in anticipation of civil war, prepared himself, by a study of rules and regulations of the medical department of the army, for the expected emergency. Therefore, on the call for troops, he tendered his services to the Governor, to prepare medicine chests, and act as medical purveyor in fitting out the regiments. Dr. William J. Dale writes thus : " On the sixteenth day of April, 1861, I was called from my professional pursuits, by Governor Andrew, to assist Dr. George H. Lyman in furnish-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
ing medical supplies for the Sixth Regiment ; and I continued, under the direction of the Governor, to perform, conjointly with Dr. Lyman, such duties as were incidental to a medical bureau, until the 13th of June, 1861, when I was commissioned Sur- gcon-General of Massachusetts, with the rank of colonel." Thus early in the war, steps were taken to form a military medical department for the State, which was of great value and importance during the whole of the war, reflecting honor upon the Commonwealth and upon the distinguished gentleman who was placed at its head. Many of the first physicians of the Commonwealth volunteered to give their professional services to the families of the soldiers, free of charge. A meeting of the Boston Bar was held, at which it was voted to take charge of all cases of other attorneys while absent in the war, and that liberal provision be made for their families. Many applications were made by clergymen to go out as chaplains, to take care of the sick and wounded, and protect the physical, moral, and religious welfare of the soldiers. Conspicuous among these was Rev. Mr. Cudworth, pastor of the Unitarian Church in East Boston. On Sunday, April 21, he preached a sermon on the crisis, in which he said he had already offered his services to the Governor as chaplain. He hoped his society would furnish at least one company to defend the flag. In case his services as chaplain were not accepted, he should devote his year's salary to the common cause ; and he announced that the sexton and organist would do the same. He advised that the money raised by the parish to build a new church should be appropri- ated to the families of the soldiers, and that they should worship in the old house until the war was over. He recommended the ladies of the parish to form a society to make under-clothing for the soldiers. He showed a handsome necklace, which a lady had given him to be sold for the benefit of the soldiers' families. On this occasion, the pulpit was draped with the American flag. Mr. Cudworth, soon after, was commissioned chaplain of the First Massachusetts three-years Regiment, and left with it for the front on the 15th of June, and continued in the service, and the regiment, until the 28th of May, 1864.
During the week, and particularly after the Sixth Regiment
-
55
OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE.
had been attacked in Baltimore, the enthusiasm and resolution of the people were intense. Many ladies of the most refined and tender culture offered their services as hospital nurses ; and many of them subsequently went forward on their mission of humanity, and ministered with tender hands and feeling hearts to the comfort of our sick and wounded men in the hospitals. The letters of these true Christian women are on file at the State House. They speak one language, and express one thought, -opportunity to do good, and to comfort those who are afflicted. Among these letters is one dated April 19, from Mrs. Frances Wright, of Foxborough, and signed by one hundred young ladies of that town, offering their services as nurses, or to make soldiers' garments, to prepare bandage and lint, to do any thing for the cause in their power to do. The Governor, in his answer, writes, "I accept it as one of the most earnest and sincere of the countless offers of devotion to our old Commonwealth, and to the cause of the country ; " and concludes by asking them "to help those who are left behind, and follow those who have gone before with your benedictions, your benefactions, and your prayers."
Benjamin F. Parker, and Whiton, Brown, & Wheelright, " tender the use of their sail-loft, and all such assistance of workmen as may be necessary to do any work on the tents, free of expense to the Commonwealth." John H. Rogers, offers "twenty cases of boots, as a donation for the soldiers now enlisting." Captain Francis B. Davis offers " his barque ' Man- hattan,' to take men and munitions of war to any part of the United States." As arrangements had been already made, this offer was declined for the present. James M. Stone and Newell A. Thompson offered their services to superintend the distribution of quartermaster's stores and ordnance, which were accepted. Robert B. Forbes, on the 17th, made a proposal to raise a Coast Guard, which met with the cordial approval of the Governor; but as there was no provision, in the militia law, by which material aid could be given by the State, the Governor wrote to the Secretary of War on behalf of the project. On the 19th, thirty thousand dollars was subscribed by a few gentlemen in Boston, as a fund to organize
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
a volunteer regiment, which was subsequently raised, and known as the Second Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The subscription paper was headed by David Sears, James Lawrence, Thomas Lee, Samuel Hooper, George O. Ilovey, and Mrs. William Pratt, each of whom subscribed one thousand dollars.
The call for troops, and their organization and equipment, rendered a division of military duties, and the enlargement of the staff of the Governor, a necessity. By law, the Adjutant- General, in time of peace, was Inspector-General and acting Quartermaster-General of the Commonwealth. In time of war, the triple duties of these offices could not be performed by one person ; and therefore Colonel John H. Reed, who had expe- rience in military affairs, and had served as senior aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Banks, was commissioned, on the nineteenth, Quartermaster-General. of Massachusetts, with the rank of brigadier-general. General Reed entered upon his duties immediately, and relieved the Adjutant-General of all quartermaster's duties and responsibilities. Many of the duties had previously been performed, during the week, by the aides- de-camp of the Governor, and by private gentlemen, who had volunteered their services.
From the hour the telegram was received by the Governor, the pressure of business upon the executive and military depart- ments of the State became more and more urgent. Colonels Sargent, Ritchie, Lee, and Wetherell, of the Governor's per- sonal staff, were on duty, answering inquiries, writing letters, and attending to the multiplicity of details which the duties of the executive rendered necessary. The Executive Council was also in session ; and, on the 20th of April, it " was ordered that the Treasurer be authorized to borrow two hundred thousand dollars, to be held as an emergency fund for military purposes ; " also, "that an agent be sent to Europe with authority to purchase, on account of the Commonwealth, twenty-five thou- sand rifles and army pistols, to be imported as soon as may be, for the use of the militia in defence of the State and of the nation, and that the Governor issue a letter of credit to such agent for the purpose of fulfilling this order." The Governor
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