USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 1 > Part 4
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Being unable to make any arrangement with the general gov- ernment for the protection of Boston Harbor, Governer Andrew, even before receiving the sanction of General Wool, took the responsibility of prompt action in garrisoning the two larger forts with detachments of the state militia. The Fourth Battalion of Infantry under Major T. G. Stevenson was placed in Fort Inde- pendence April 24, where it remained till the 21st of May when it was relieved by the Fourth Battalion of Rifles, Major Samuel H. Leonard commanding-the latter battalion being soon recruited
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MASSACHUSETTS IN TIIE WAR.
and organized as the Thirteenth Regiment of three-years' volun- teers. In like manner, on the 29th of April, Fort Warren was occupied by the Second Battalion of Infantry, Major Ralph W. Newton, which remained till the 1st of June, when it gave place to the Eleventh Regiment, then in process of formation. The two forts were in command of Major General Samuel Andrews of the Massachusetts Militia during the month of May, when he was re- lieved. Brigadier General Ebenezer W. Pierce was assigned to the command of Fort Warren on the 13th of May, but on the 27th, having been appointed to succeed to the brigade command of Gen- eral Butler, promoted to major general, he left for Fortress Monroe, turning over the command of the Fort to Brigadier General Joseph. Andrews. A camp was also formed on Long Island, Boston Har- bor, and placed in charge of Brigadier General William W. Bullock, where various companies of Irish volunteers were gathered, the in- tention being to form two distinctively Irish regiments. The camp was broken up, however, when the Ninth Regiment was ordered to the front, June 12, and was not again occupied for some time.
The departure of the militia regiments for three months' service had been but the signal for a general and spontaneous springing to arms. In every considerable town recruiting offices were opened and enlistments began, the adjutant general having on the 20th of April been directed by the governor to authorize the formation of · companies by all applicants for the privilege who were deemed qualified, while in some cases full regiments had been recruited almost at once. Such was the case with the so-called " Webster Regiment," afterward the Twelfth, of which Fletcher Webster, son of Daniel Webster, was the leading spirit, being made its colonel. Mr. Webster addressed a mass-meeting in State Street, Boston, on Sunday, the 21st of April, when he declared himself ready to de- fend the Union and the Constitution in the field as his father had done in the forum, and called for volunteers. Within two days the proposed regiment was more than filled. Before it could be organ- ized, however, the national government had declared that no more troops would be taken for three months, when the members of the command almost unanimously changed the term of their enlistment to three years.
Six days after the meeting at which Mr. Webster so nobly put himself on record, a notable speech was made on Chester Square
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THE FIRST TIIREE-YEARS' 'CALL.
by Hon. Edward Everett, candidate. of the Bell-Everett faction of the democratic party for vice-president the previous autumn. The spirit of his intensely patriotic address was contained in the words: " All former differences of opinion are swept away. We forget that we ever have been partisans. We remember only that we are Americans, and that our country is in peril." He was followed by Benjamin F. Hallett, for nearly a generation a leader in the demo- cratie party, who echoed the spirit of Mr. Everett's words. On the same afternoon these speakers, with others, also made addresses at Cambridge. These were but individual instances which in spirit and purpose were duplicated in all sections of the state.
During the two weeks which followed the departure of the regi- ments first called for, the governor had not ceased, directly and in- directly, to press upon the President, the secretary of war and other officials the wish of Massachusetts to send forward other troops, men who, in the governor's words, in addition to fighting could "do any other things for which there may be occasion, from dig- ging clams to making piano-fortes." At last President Lincoln, on the 3d of May, issued his first call for volunteers to serve for three years. The call was for 39 regiments, but it was not until the 22d of the month, 19 days afterward, that the proportion to be furnished by Massachusetts was designated by the secretary of war. Six regiments would be allowed the state, and in his communication under date of the 15th Secretary of War Cameron said :-
I have the honor to forward you inclosed herewith the plan of organization of the volunteers for three years, or during the war. Six regiments are assigned to your state ; making, in addition to the two regiments of three-months' militia already called for, eight regi- ments. It is important to reduce rather than to enlarge this number, and in no event to exceed it. Let me earnestly recommend to you, therefore to call for no more than eight regiments, of which six only are to serve for three years, or during the war, and, if more are already called for, to reduce the number by discharge. In making up the quota of three-years' men, you will please act in concert with the mustering officers sent to your state, who will represent this depart- ment.
Inadequately as this tardy official action met the earnest desires of Massachusetts patriotism, it seemed all that could be hoped for at that time from the Washington authorities, and an order was at once issued by Governor Andrew designating the regiments which would be furnished in response to the call. They were :
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
The First, Colonel Robert Cowdin, to rendezvous at Camp Cameron, North Cambridge; Second, Colonel George H. Gordon, Camp An- drew, West Roxbury ; Seventh, Colonel Darius N. Couch, Camp Old Colony, Taunton; Ninth, Colonel Thomas Cass, on Long Island; Tenth, Colonel Henry S. Briggs, on Hampden Park, Springfield ; Eleventh, Colonel George Clark, Jr., at Fort Warren. The organi- zation of these regiments differed materially from the standard of the Massachusetts militia, being made to conform with that of the United States Army. The regiment was to consist of ten com- panies, each of which was to have a captain, two lieutenants, and a maximum of 98 enlisted men. The regimental field officers con- sisted of a colonel, lieutenant colonel and major, the staff com- prising adjutant, quartermaster, chaplain, surgeon, assistant sur- geon, sergeant major, quartermaster sergeant, commissary sergeant, hospital steward, and two principal musicians. A band of 24 pieces was also allowed cach regiment. This organization was practically unchanged during the war, except that about a year later the regi- mental bands were discarded, those in service being mustered out, and an additional assistant surgeon was added.
Naturally there were cases of friction and dissatisfaction with the methods of the state government, though they were neither numerous nor serious. Perhaps the most important of these was in connection with the organization of the Ninth Regiment. At the time the three-months' troops were called for, two offers were made to raise Irish regiments, one of which was by Colonel Thomas Cass, a capable militia officer. Both regiments were authorized and would have been quickly filled for the short term of service ; but when it was announced that no more would be accepted for three months the matter of enlistment became a more serious one, and the two skeleton organizations, then known as the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Regiments, went into camp on Long Island to fill their ranks. This had not been completed when the call for six regi- ments for three years came, and Governor Andrew decided that one of these should be composed of Irishmen. Colonel Cass's com- mand was selected, as it was within 200 of being filled; it was designated as the Ninth Regiment, and instructions were issued to draw from the 600 men enlisted for the Fourteenth sufficient to fill the Ninth, that it might be mustered into the United States service. This order was strongly resented by those aspiring to be officers of
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SIX REGIMENTS TO TIIE FRONT.
the Fourteenth, and though sufficient men were finally obtained by the adjutant general to fill Colonel Cass's regiment, so much ill- feeling resulted that it became necessary to disband the remaining organization, many of the men having left the island and returned to their homes, or going to other states to enlist, not being legally held to the service either of the state or nation.
The six regiments accepted were mustered in by the United States officers as follows : The Second on the 25th of May ; Ninth, June 11; Eleventh, June 13; First and Seventh, June 15; Tenth, June 21. The First left for Washington on the day of its muster, and was the first three-years' regiment to report at the national capital; the Eleventh followed on the 24th and the Ninth on the 26th of the same month. The other three regiments went forward during July, the Second on the 8th, the Seventh on the 13th, and the Tenth on the 25th.
The rules which governed the numbering of the volunteer regi- ments were that the numbers should be independent of those of the state militia, except such of the latter as had been called into the national defense, and that there should be no duplicates in the same arm of service ; consequently the First, Second and Seventh Regiments of three-years' troops took the vacant numbers among the three-months' militia regiments, while the latter, nominally the same organizations though really much changed, once or twice afterward went into service with their former designations.
Brief as had actually been the time since the outbreak of hostili- ties, though seeming long from the multitude of important events crowded into it, many other regiments were in an advanced state of organization, while all parts of the state were filled with unas- signed companies and parts of companies ready and anxious to be fitted for the field and sent forward. Governor Andrew, therefore, did not cease, chilling as was the tone of the secretary of war, to urge that more soldiers might be called from the state. In the prosecution of this purpose he enlisted the sympathies of General Hiram Walbridge of New York, who earnestly desired a vigorous prosecution of the war, and through his intercession with President Lincoln ten more regiments were called for from Massachusetts, the decision being reached at Washington on the 17th of June. This important news was received a few days after the departure of the First Regiment, and the necessary steps for filling and forward- ing the new levy were vigorously taken.
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Colonel Webster's Twelfth Regiment, which for two months had been impatiently waiting for the summons to duty, was mustered on the 20th of June and on the 23d of July left for the front. The other regiments under the call were those in numerical order up to and including the Twenty-first, their commanding officers and places of rendezvous being as follows: Thirteenth, Colonel Samuel H. Leon- and, Fort Independence; Fourteenth (afterward changed to First Heavy Artillery ), Colonel William B. Green, Fort Warren ; Fif- teenth, Colonel Charles Devens, Jr., Camp Scott, Worcester ; Six- teenth, Colonel Powell T. Wyman, Camp Cameron, Cambridge; Seventeenth, Colonel Thomas J. C. Amory, Camp Schouler, Lynn- field ; Eighteenth, Colonel James Barnes, Camp Brigham, Read- ville ; Nineteenth, Colonel Edward W. Hincks, Camp Schouler, Lynnfield ; Twentieth, Colonel William Raymond Lee, Camp Mas- sasoit, Readville ; Twenty-first, Colonel Augustus Morse, Camp Lincoln, Worcester. The Thirteenth left the state July 30, and by the 28th of August all the others had gone except the Twentieth, which did not leave until the 4th of September.
The 'policy of the administration had now changed to one of energy in the direction of gathering and organizing troops, and from that time forward Massachusetts had no occasion to find fault that the United States government was not ready to take her regi- ments as fast as they were ready for the field. In fact, so great was the anxiety at Washington that some of the regiments referred to were sent on before they were fully organized. Congress had on the 22d and 25th of July authorized the President to accept 500,000 volunteers, to be called forth at his discretion, showing both the purpose of the people, as expressed through their representatives, to maintain the national government, and as well their confidence in the man who had been placed at its head.
The necessities of the service required occasional changes in the governor's staff, mostly in the nature of additions, in order to meet the ever-growing demands, and among those worthy of note may be mentioned the appointment of Surgeon General Dale as acting assistant surgeon of the United States Army, that he might represent the general government in the medical department. He served in this capacity until July, 1862, when Surgeon McLaren of the regular army was sent to the state. In October, Colonel Charles Amory of Boston succeeded General Stone as master of ordnance, serving
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NEW ENGLAND ROOMS AT NEW YORK.
until January, 1863, when the office was discontinued. In addition to Charles H. Dalton, whose services at Washington have already been referred to, William P. Lee and Waldo Adams of Boston were appointed assistant quartermasters general,-all the above named serving gratuitously in their respective positions.
. Another important appointment was that of Frank E. Howe, a Massachusetts man doing business in New York, who was commis- sioned assistant quartermaster general with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Mr. Howe had offered the use of rooms in his store on Broadway, with the services of himself and his employes, for the benefit of Massachusetts soldiers passing through the city. The offer was gratefully accepted by Governor Andrew, who made Colonel Howe the agent of the Commonwealth in the metropolis. The services of this eminent patriot were also engaged by other New England governors, and his establishment became famous as the "New England Rooms,"-a hospital and home for soldiers from all the eastern states. The expenses were met by voluntary sub- scriptions of the liberal and patriotic of New York city, and the enterprise developed into one of the notable benefactions of the war.
All commissions up to the rank of colonel for officers of Massa- chusetts organizations entering the United States service were issued by the governor, in accordance with the general regulations. To decide properly in all cases it was necessary to appoint an examin- ing board, and the three major generals of the state militia-Sutton, Morse and Andrews-were constituted such a board, being assisted by some of their staff officers. From the 25th of April to the 24th of May, 1861, this board passed upon the qualifications of 641 per- sons who had been chosen as officers under the system of election then in use, of which number 602 were accepted. A medical com- mission was also appointed by the governor to pass upon the qualifi- cations of those seeking places as surgeons. The following eminent physicians were selected for this purpose: Drs. George Hayward, S. D. Townsend, John Ware, Samuel G. Howe, J. Mason Warren, S. Cabot, Jr., R. M. Hodges, George H. Lyman and Surgeon General Dale. This board served during the war, acting also as an advisory body with the surgeon general when desired. To vacancies which oreurred from time to time Drs. George H. Gaylord, Samuel L. Abbott, John C. Dalton and R. W. Hooper were appointed. Con- scientious effort was made by the governor to obtain the best possi-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
ble officers for all troops leaving the state, and he consequently gave little heed to a circular from the secretary of war received about this time, suggesting that the age limit, except for graduates of West Point or those of established military reputation, should not exceed 22 years for lieutenants, 30 for captains, and 35, 40 and 45 for major, lieutenant colonel and colonel respectively.
In the midst of the preparation and excitement attending the departure of the three-years' regiments occurred the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, ever a notable day in the calendar of Boston. On this occasion the celebration was an event of intense interest. The exercises were held at the base of the monument, and Colonel Webster of the Twelfth Regiment was among the speakers, -his address on that occasion being his last public utterance. Governor Andrew also gave an address, and at its close unfurled from the summit of the monument a flag, which from that conspic- uous elevation floated continuously until the close of the war.
The departure of the various organizations already designated by no means closed the enlistment books through the state. Thus far only infantry regiments had gone forward, but those were sup- plemented during the autumn by five batteries of light artillery, one of which-the Second-left the state August 8, none of the others going until October. The First Regiment of Cavalry was authorized about the first of September and recruiting for it began, though it was not filled until winter. On the adjournment of Con- gress, Senator Henry Wilson was authorized by the secretary of war, with Governor Andrew's consent, to raise a special command, and being warmly seconded by the governor organized the Twenty- second Regiment at Camp Schouler, Lynnfield, from whence it set out for Washington on the 8th of October. Attached to it were the Third Battery of Light Artillery and the Second Company of Sharpshooters. The latter remained permanently with the regi- ment. The First Company had gone out with the Fifteenth Regi- ment, but was a more independent organization.
The "Burnside Expedition" next called for five regiments, which were recruited in different parts of the state. The Twenty-third, Colonel John Kurtz, succeeded the Twenty-second at Camp Schouler, and left the state for the rendezvous at Annapolis, Md., November 11. The Twenty-fourth-New England Guards Regiment-Colonel Thomas G. Stevenson, gathered at Camp Massasoit, Readville, and
31
THIE NOBLE RECORD OF A YEAR.
started for Annapolis December 9. The Twenty-fifth, Colonel Edward Upton, was formed at Camp Lincoln, Worcester, and was the first of the five to start for Annapolis, leaving Massachusetts October 31. The Twenty-sixth was organized at Camp Chase, Lowell, Colonel Edward F. Jones being its commander, and the regiment being largely an outgrowth of the Sixth Regiment of Baltimore fame. The Twenty-first Regiment having been attached to General Burnside's command, the Twenty-sixth was assigned to General Butler and on the 21st of November sailed for Ship Island, being the first volunteer regiment to reach the Department of the Gulf. The Twenty-seventh, Colonel Horace C. Lee, organized at Camp Reed, Springfield, left for Annapolis on the 2d of November.
Notwithstanding the unpleasantness at Long Island, a second Irish regiment, the Twenty-eighth, was formed during the year, though it did not leave the state until the 11th of January, 1862. It was organized at Camp Cameron, Cambridge, William Monteith of New York was commissioned colonel, and it sailed for Hilton Head, S. C., being the first Massachusetts regiment sent to the Department of the South. The Twenty-ninth Regiment was made up of seven companies of three-years' volunteers which had been sent to Fort- ress Monroe to fill the Third and Fourth Regiments. After the re- turn of those regiments the seven companies remained as an in- dependent battalion under command of Captain Joseph II. Barnes until permission was given by the secretary of war to raise the com- mand to the dignity of a regiment by the addition of three com- panies, Brigadier General Ebenezer W. Pierce of the Massachusetts Militia being commissioned its colonel December 13.
Besides these completed organizations, and some which had been formed to do duty within the state for short periods, including a guard at the state arsenal at Cambridge during the month of May, largely composed of students of Harvard College, a battalion of four companies had been recruited for duty at Fort Warren, forming the nucleus of what was afterward the Thirty-second Regiment. General Butler was organizing two regiments in the state independ- ently of the state authorities, six companies had gone to New York to join the " Mozart " Regiment and Excelsior Brigade, and 300 had enlisted in the Union Coast Guard, an organization formed at Fort- ress Monroe under the auspices of the state of New York, and commanded by Colonel Wardrop, formerly of the Third Massachu-
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ave out of not 45
the try of se nd r's, ce. ed ic-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
setts. The navy had also claimed many of the sons of the Old Bay State, no less than 7,658 having enlisted at the Charlestown navy- yard. Thus within nine months from the first appeal to her patriot- ism, the Commonwealth had furnished an aggregate of 41,294 defenders of the national government.
In the grand work thus summarized, the efforts of the state authorities had been most ably seconded by those of the towns and cities. Everywhere there had been the most carnest emulation, not only to fill the various quotas of volunteers, but to furnish means and supplies,-to do anything, in short, which should aid in the great work of saving the Union. It is not possible to detail the acts of the several communities ; they are generally recorded in the local annals, to which the student may ever refer.
Before the close of the year a most gratifying and unexpected event was the appropriation by the Legislature of Maryland of the sum of $7,000 for the benefit of the families of those Massachusetts soldiers killed in the streets of Baltimore on the 19th of April. This honorable action was fittingly acknowledged by Governor An- drew, who received the money and caused it to be equitably divided among the families of the slain and to those wounded in the riot. The effect of the act was to dispel to some extent the intense bit- terness which the people of the Commonwealth had felt toward the city of Baltimore, though it could not by any means obliterate the memory of the unprovoked slaughter.
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CHAPTER IV.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOVERNOR ANDREW-CARE FOR SICK, WOUNDED AND CAPTURED SOLDIERS - MASSACHUSETTS AGENCIES AT WASHINGTON AND ELSEWHERE - RELATIONS OF THE STATE AND NATIONAL AUTHORITIES- CROSS PURPOSES OF GENERAL BUTLER AND THE GOVERNOR.
\' the manifold and often perplexing relations of those trying - days, the character of Governor Andrew manifests strongly three ruling characteristics-intense patriotism, a just pride in his state, and an ever-present, sympathetic humanity. As a loyal citizen of the Union he not only yielded implicit obedience to all demands made upon him as the executive of the Commonwealth, but he seized every opportunity to uphold and strengthen the hands of the President and his subordinates. Thus we find him in as- semblages of the loyal governors, met for counsel as to the duties and the opportunities before them, ever hopeful when others were despondent, urging always the strong, earnest measures which should attest the invincible determination of the national authorities for the maintenance of the Union, the most vigorous prosecution possible of the war and the speedy re-establishment of the Federal authority. His pride in the work of his own state and in the de- votion of her sons was in keeping with this patriotic sentiment and was its correlative. In every stage of the contest thus far the sons of Massachusetts had borne an honorable and a prominent part, and he was earnestly zealous that they should continue to lead. In addition to the negotiations which he was constantly conducting with individuals in every part of the state in regard to the enlist- ment of troops to apply on the various quotas, he did not hesitate to appeal by printed address to the people at large, urging not only enlistments on the part of those capable of becoming soldiers, but pleading with others to aid, by contributing of their abundance or in whatever way they might be able, the cause of the common country.
The governor was especially anxious that everything possible
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
should be done to furnish articles for the comfort of the soldiers sent out from the state, whether they might be in the ranks at the front, sick or wounded and in hospital, or prisoners of war. He believed in a thorough and relentless prosecution of the war, so long as it might be necessary, while at the same time he was anxious that so far as possible its horrors should be ameliorated. It was in this direction that, through all the years of the contest, his warm concern for the soldiers was manifested. It was not enough that representatives of the Commonwealth and staff officers were sent wherever it was felt that there might be need of investigation or intercession. With all the load of responsibility and the manifold duties resting on him, we find the governor continually giving his own energies to the investigation of complaints and ministering to the needs of the humblest as well as the demands of the more in- fluential. At one time he intercedes for a poor young man, ren- dered insane by the severity of the service, who had killed a comrade and was under sentence of death, obtaining his acquittal and a dis- charge ; and again we find him making sure that the religious con- victions of the soldiers are fully respected. Now he is investigating a rumor that some of the soldiers are imperfectly supplied with necessary articles, and finding it true, he hastens to supply their wants, sharply rebuking a responsible officer that the needs of the men had not been attended to; while he investigates other charges and finds them unfounded. He learns that a private soldier is under arrest for a grave military offense for which it is possible that there may be palliating circumstances, and writes to make sure that full justice is secured the unfortunate, while at the next moment he pens a letter to the foreign father of a brave officer who has been wounded in battle, conveying words of appreciation which the grateful sire will never forget; and then turns to forward a check which some kind citizen has contributed that the suffering soldiers in the field hospitals may be ministered to. While he seeks to learn the burial place of an enlisted man whose friends desire to recover his remains, and directs that the body of a dead officer be embalined and returned to Massachusetts that it may be buried with the honor befitting his rank, he devotes the whole energy of his nature to a successful attempt to procure the release of certain Massachusetts men who had been enlisted by emissaries from a neighboring state under false pretenses.
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