USA > Massachusetts > Record of the service of the Forty-fourth Massachusetts volunteer militia in North Carolina, August 1862 to May 1863 > Part 3
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The Boston " Herald " of the 27th says: " The strange appear- ance of one of our own corps (' Corporal ' Zenas T. Haines, of Company D) in Zouave dress, with a change of clothes strapped upon his back, at an unusually carly hour in the editorial room, indicated the promptness with which the corps responded to the Governor's call."
The roster of the battalion at that time was: Major, Francis L. Lce; Adjutant, Charles C. Soule; Quartermaster, Charles H. Dalton. Company A: Captain, E. C. Cabot; First Lieutenant, E. M. Dennie; Second Lieutenant, J. H. Lombard. Company B: Captain, J. R. Gregerson ; First Lieutenant, J. R. Kendall; Second Lieutenant, F. W. Reynolds.
When it was expected that the battalion was going to the front, a very large number of young men joined. On the 27th,.
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NEW ENGLAND GUARDS.
Special Order No. 104 authorized the formation of a third com- pany, and directed the election of officers. No record can be found, however, that officers were chosen. The students of Harvard College offered a company to be attached to the bat- talion, and the President and Faculty approved, provided it should be found that their services were needed.
One of the newspapers, in referring to the matter editorially, says: " But their action yesterday, in such marked contrast with that of other corps in this city, will be remembered to their credit, and give this gallant battalion an addition to their pre- vious honorable prestige."
On the 28th Governor Andrew presented the Guards with a flag, and in his speech said: "Your conduct is what might be expected, and an earnest of what may be relied upon for the Fourth Battalion; and I pledge you that during the brief space that I may occupy my present position with regard to the militia, there shall be no position of honor within my gift higher than that assigned to the Fourth Battalion."
Aug. 4, 1862, the call came for 300,000 nine months' men. August 5, the battalion voted unanimously to serve for that length of time, but having had some experience of the difficulty of getting a battalion accepted, on the 7th they voted to raise a regiment, and before the meeting adjourned between two and three hundred members had signed the rolls. The battalion was swallowed up in the regiment.
About the time the Forty-fourth went into camp, the older members voted to organize a "Home Guard," or " Veteran Association." This society existed for some time. The de- parture of the Forty-fourth had taken away nearly all the active members. After its return a large number of those who had formerly belonged to the Guards went into service again as com- missioned officers; the others felt they were too few in numbers to keep up the active company; many thought that it was no time to try to build up a military company for home duty when every available man was needed in the field. For these and other reasons no attempt was made to form an active company until 1872 or 1873, when at a meeting of the " Veteran Associa- tion " the subject was referred to, and for two or tlirce years a
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
strong effort was made to revive the charter, but without a favorable result.
The New England Guards was organized in September, 1812. It closed its existence, September, 1862, when the Forty-fourth Regiment went into camp and the battalion was merged in the regiment. For fifty years it had had an honorable record, and on its roll of members are inscribed the names of some of the most prominent, best-known, and most widely influential of the citizens of Boston.
At the annual meeting in 1862 Captain Charles G. Loring said : -
" Why have the New England Guards excelled so much in military dis- cipline, in moral character, and always enjoyed so much of the public confidence? It was because in 1812, when this venerable man (Colonel Swett), who was then its commander, and who commanded it so nobly and so gloriously, - it was because he and those associated with him in getting up the New England Guards took care that it should be com- posed exclusively of gentlemen and men of good moral character. From that time to this, the New England Guards has been, as I believe, a most exemplary and moral company."
- The statement has been made, and so far as can be ascertained it is believed to be correct, that the New England Guards is the only military organization in this country that ever lost its charter in consequence of sending so many of its members into active service that there was not a sufficient number left at home to keep it alive.
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1
1 L.t. Howe.
5 Lt. Newell. 6 Capt. Smith.
9 Capt. Sullivan. 10 Adit. Hinckley. 11 Capt. Lombard. 8 Capt, Griswold. 12 Lt. Lombard.
13 Chaplain Hall. 14 Capt. Kendall. 15 Lt. Col, Cabot.
17 It. Brown. 18 Frank Lee. 19 Col. Lec.
21 Maj. Dabney. 25 Lt. Kendall.
29 Lt. Cothin.
Lt. Stebbins.
3 Lt. Briggs.
7 Lt. Blake.
23 L.t. Hartwell.
30 Lt. Cum; n. 31 L.t. Forbes.
4 I.t. White.
16 Capt. S. W. Richardson. 20 Capt. Reynolds, 24 Dr. Fisher.
22 Lt. Weld. 20 Qr. Mr. Bush. 27 L.t. Field. 28 Lt. Odiorne.
32 Lt. Taylor.
GROUP OF OFFICERS, IN FRONT OF BARRACKS, READVILLE, SEPT, 1862.
HÉLIOTYPE PRINTING CO. ROSTON, MAS5.
CHAPTER II.
ORGANIZATION, AND CAMP AT READVILLE.
UGUST 4, 1862, President Lin- coln issued a call for 300,000 men to serve nine months. The proportion to be fur- nished by Massachusetts, " by some process of arithmetic known only to the authorities in Washington," was fixed at 19,090. The quota was to be raised by " draft, in accord- ance with orders from the War Department and the laws of the several States." These or- ders were issued August 9, and additional ones sent August 14. Governor Andrew was desirous of avoiding the necessity of a draft, and on August 8 he wrote the President: -
. . I am confident of getting more volunteers and militia this month by enlistments, and by wheeling militia into line, than conscription could bring in the same time. Meanwhile, will be preparing machinery for draft.
"Our people want nothing to spur them but assurance from Washing- ton that the enemy shall be conquered, and right vindicated at all hazards by our arms."
In filling this requisition for troops he acted on the plan here advised.
August 5, at a regular meeting of the Fourth Battalion, it was unanimously voted that the Governor be petitioned to authorize
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
the corps to recruit to a full regiment for the nine months' service. The request received prompt attention and resulted in the following order : -
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, HEADQUARTERS, BOSTON, Aug. 7, 1862.
Special Order No. 597.
The Fourth Battalion of Infantry, First Brigade, First Division, M. V. M., is authorized to recruit to the size of a regiment of ten companies of ninety-eight enlisted men each, conforming in all respects both as to the quality of the enlisted men and otherwise to the militia laws of the United States, each man in the regiment being required to sign an agreement to serve upon any requisition of the Government of the United States issued during the present year as a militia man for the term of nine months con- secutively, if orders therefor shall be issued to his regiment or any portion thereof by the Commander-in-Chief of the militia of Massachusetts.
Major-General Andrews, commanding First Division, will transmit this order.
By command of his Excellency,
JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
WILLIAM BROWN, A. A. G.
On the same day Special Order No. 596, worded like the above, gave permission to the Second Battalion, "Tigers," to recruit to a regiment, which afterwards became the Forty-third; and on August II the following order authorized the formation of the Forty-fifth Regiment:
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, HEADQUARTERS, BOSTON, Aug. 11, IS62.
Special Order No. 607.
Captain Charles R. Codman, of Boston, Adjutant of the Company of Cadets, First Division, M. V. M., is hereby authorized to recruit for a regiment of infantry in the M. V. M., under the auspices of said company of Cadets.
By command of his Excellency,
JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor and Commander-in-Chief. WILLIAM SCHOULER. Adjutant-General.
A meeting of the Fourth Battalion was held at the armory, Boylston Hall, on the evening of August 7. It was called to order by Captain Cabot. The reading of Special Order No. 597 was received with cheers, and a grand rush was made for the
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ORGANIZATION, AND CAMP AT READVILLE.
enrolment lists, each wishing to get his name as near the head as possible. Nearly every one present signed the roll for the new regiment, and before the meeting adjourned almost three hundred men had joined. Major Lee had been passing the sum- mer at his place at Westport, N. Y. As soon as he learned from the newspapers that the call for nine months' troops had been made, anticipating the action that the battalion would take, lie started for Boston, and reached the armory just as the men had begun to sign the roll. Before adjournment he suggested that each member make himself a "recruiting committee of one," and added, that as all could not go as officers and as undoubtedly we had a choice of associates, this plan would be much more likely to secure those who would be agreeable than the usual one of a regular recruiting headquarters and acceptance of all who might choose to volunteer.
Authority was immediately granted to Messrs. J. H. Lombard, H. D. Sullivan, Spencer W. Richardson, Charles Storrow, Charles Hunt, J. R. Kendall, and F. W. Reynolds, all of whom had been officers in the battalion, to raise companies. These gentlemen - selected their assistants, who were afterwards commissioned lieu- tenants. James M. Richardson, who had been a captain in the Twenty-first, and William V. Smith, who had been a lieutenant in the Eighteenth, also received authority. A company recruited exclusively in Newton by John M. Griswold was afterwards added ..
Each member of the battalion seemed inclined to follow the advice of Major Lee, and worked as if the success of the regiment depended on his individual exertions. Most of the companies made the Boylston Hall armory their headquarters; but Com- pany E, Captain Spencer W. Richardson, located at the rooms of the Mercantile Library Association. Captain Richardson was an ex-president of that society, which took a strong interest in the company he commanded. August 11, it passed a resolution making all who should enlist in Company E members of the Library Association.
At this time the interest in filling the quota of the city was most intense. Besides our regiment, there were being recruited in Boston and immediate vicinity the Forty-third, Forty-fifth,
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Forty-seventh, and several companies for the Forty-second. The Fifth had three companies from Charlestown, one each from Somerville, Medford, and Watertown; and the Sixth, one from Cambridge. By general agreement many of the merchants closed their places of business at 2 or 3 P. M., and the afternoon was devoted to the work of encouraging enlistments.
On the 8th the battalion paraded, some wearing the " Chas- seur" uniform and some clad in citizen's dress. Other parades were made while the regiment was being formed. On the 20th we had about five hundred in the ranks. August 19, eight com- panies having reported the minimum number of enlisted men, the following order was issued: -
Special Order No. 650.
The Fourth Battalion, First Brigade, First Division, M. V. M., will be forthwith organized into a regiment of ten companies and designated as the Forty-fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.
Rolls of companies enlisted by J. H. Lombard, J. R. Kendall, Charles Hunt, H. D. Sullivan, Spencer W. Richardson, Charles Storrow, F. W. Reynolds, and W. V. Smith having been legally returned to the Adjutant- General, the companies will be immediately organized by the election of officers and attached to said regiment. The usual ten days' notice for the election of company and field officers will be waived.
Major-General Andrews is charged with the execution of this order.
By command of his Excellency,
JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant-General.
August 29, the regiment went into camp at Readville, quite near the station, on the ground between the Boston and Providence and the New York and New England Railroads, south of the junc- tion, the field being just east of the embankment of the latter road. The barracks - a separate building for each company - were built very nearly at right angles with the embankment, and the field in which we drilled and held our dress-parades was east and north of the barracks.
During the ten days intervening between the issuing of Special Order No. 650 and going into camp, quite a large number of men had joined, so that when the regiment reported at Readville it contained about the maximum number allowed by law. Still,
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ORGANIZATION, AND CAMP AT READVILLE.
recruits appeared who wished to belong to the Forty-fourth, and as it was very probable that the critical surgical examination our surgeons proposed making would cause the rejection of many who accompanied the regiment to camp, the late comers were accepted with the understanding that they should be selected to fill the anticipated vacancies. At one time there were nearly twelve hundred names on the rolls of the regiment. At the date that we were authorized to elect officers none of the towns in the State had offered bounties to the nine months' troops; and when we reached Readville with full ranks, comparatively few had taken action on the matter.1 The State paid no bounty to the nine months' troops. Although some of our men collected the town bounties, to which they were entitled under the provisions of the several votes granting them, they had enlisted before the votes were passed, and we think we can justly claim the credit of having been the last regiment recruited before the bounty system went into general operation.
Among our members was Zenas T. Haines, Corporal in Com- pany D, a journalist by profession, who was the regular corre- spondent of the Boston " Herald" while the regiment was in service. His pictures of camp life are so vivid and complete that they will be quoted frequently, as even after the lapse of twenty years it would be difficult to improve his descriptions. In his first letter, dated " Barracks at Readville, Aug. 30, 1862," he says: -
" . . . The Forty-fourth came one day too soon to barrack at Read- ville, but it was their own fault. The fine new barracks just erected there were not completed, and will not be until to-night, although now habitable, and comfortable as heart can desire. But all have had to work to pro- duce this comfortable state of affairs so early, and the 'school of the sollier' has been neglected to-day.
"Our first night in barracks was exceedingly jolly, as was to have been expected. Poor devils who depend on good sleep and a good deal of it for what vitality they can muster, might have probably sworn last night if
1 Bounties to nine months' men were voted as follows : Boston, September 8; Cambridge, August 20; Dorchester, August 21 ; Framingham, September 1; West Roxbury, September 6; Walpole, August 19; Roxbury, August 27; Waltham, Au- gust 20; Malden, August 27; Weston, August 19; Chelsea, September 15. Newton did not formally vote bounty, but on November 4 approved the act of the Selectmen in paying it. (Adjutant-General Schouler's " Massachusetts in the Rebellion.")
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
they had been obliged to barrack at Readville. Not that the boys were riotous, or even obstreperous, but simply jolly. We supped on hard bread, and coffee hotter than the crater of Vesuvius. Then, pipes and cigars lighted, the carly evening was devoted to music - songs of home. After we had retired to our bunks, music of another character 'beguiled ' the hours of the night.
"Your correspondent slept not at all the first night in barrack, for ob- vious reasons. The inside musical performances opened with a barnyard chorus by the entire company, followed by rapid, unintermitting succession of dog, hog, pig, and rooster solos, duets and quartets, single and com- bined, which continued in great volume until the unexpected arrival of the captain and his lieutenants, who are unfortunately without any ear for music. After a short intermission the performance was resumed in a greatly modified condition, commencing with admirable imitations of
chickens astray from the shelter of the maternal wing, and coming to a pause with the low, small, satisfied twitterings of chickens in clover.
" Then followed sounds less artistic, but not less suggestive to the gen- eral appreciation, intermingled with snatches of conversation of a highly festive character. The good wit of the occasion rendered endurable what would otherwise have been an intolerable nuisance to any one wanting sleep as badly as your humble servant ; but at last, as it must be confessed, even this element failed to satisfy a scientific audience. Objurgations, not loud but deep, came from a number of bunks where sleep had failed to come, or tarried a moment to be cruelly banished.
" To-day we have been applying finishing touches to our quarters, and exercising in company movements, by squads, etc. The turn-out at reveille this morning at five o'clock was a new sensation. even to the 'Corporal.' The style of the morning's ablutions was a novelty too.
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ORGANIZATION, AND CAMP AT READVILLE.
Instead of basins and soap at the barracks, we were ordered to 'fall in with towels,' and then were positively marched to a pond to wash our hands and faces. Oh the degradation of military rule ! Such is war."
This exuberance wore off quickly, as none of us felt inclined to keep awake all night after several hours' severe drill during the day, with the certainty that at five o'clock the next morning the unwelcome reveille would rouse us from our luxurious slumbers.
Almost as soon as we reached camp one quality was developed which seemed to be characteristic of the Forty-fourth, that of making themselves as comfortable as circumstances would per- mit, and considering the ornamental as well as the useful. "Cor- poral " writes, September 6: -
" . . . There is some emulation among the companies in the way of neatness, convenience, and decorations about their several barracks. The palm is due to Company D for an early display of flags upon the outside, and also for certain novel decorations of the interior in the shape of one or two delicate articles of apparel probably wafted by the wind from a wash- ing hung out to dry.
"Company F having had the temerity to erect a flagstaff taller than Company D's, the latter company extended its mast a few feet over that of its neighboring barrack. This ambition to excel exhibits itself in a variety of ways. Some of the barracks are prettily lighted with lanterns, and in one or two of them the bunks are lettered and ornamented in a very artistic manner. Afterwards Captain Spencer Richardson's boys se- cured the tallest pole which could be found in the neighboring woods, and at the present writing their flag floats the highest. The barracks occu- pied by the companies of Captain Lombard, Captain Hunt, and Captain Kendall also have creditable displays of bunting, and contribute to give the encampment a beautiful and animated appearance. . . .
" As our stay at Readville protracts, we are gathering about us many little comforts and luxuries which we shall probably have to sacrifice in the event of a sudden retirement before an enemy. But while we stay here our purpose is to make ourselves extremely comfortable ; and in this purpose a numerous constituency of friends are lending their assistance in the way of hampers and baskets and bundles of fruit and other delicacies."
A very pleasant feeling existed between the officers and the rank and file, which was manifested by the presentation to the former of some little token of regard from the men in their com-
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS . INFANTRY.
mands. Swords, sashes, and belts were given to Captain Sullivan of Company D; Captain Spencer W. Richardson of Company E; Horace S. Stebbins, Orderly Sergeant of Company F; Frank W. Hatch, Orderly Sergeant of Company G; George L. Tripp, Orderly Sergeant of Company D; Clarence Sumner, Orderly Sergeant of Company I; Charles A. Cunningham, Orderly Ser- geant of Company C; Eben R. Buck, Orderly Sergeant of Com- pany B; Albert W. Edmands, Orderly Sergeant of Company A; and Captain F. W. Reynolds of Company K. Lieutenants Blake and Stebbins, of Company D, were presented with shoulder- straps, and Captain James M. Richardson, of Company A, with a very handsome meerschaum pipe. "Uncle " Dan Simpson was not forgotten, the boys of Company C giving him a gayly deco- rated Turkish fez.
Nothing produces more pleasure in camp than music, and the Forty-fourth Regiment was especially fortunate in having a large number of singers in its ranks.1 Scarcely an evening passed during our whole term of service without a gathering of the choir, and the performers were always sure of a sympathetic and appre- ciative audience. Recognizing how pleasant it would be to have the words and music of our accustomed songs in some conven- ient form for reference, Mr. Charles White, of Milton, father of Lieutenant White of Company G and Orderly White of Com- pany E, kindly offered to defray the expenses of such a publica- tion and furnish a copy to each member of the regiment. The compilation was made by Charley Ewer of Company D, and in addition to many familiar and well-known airs the book con- tained some original songs and original music furnished by our members. The "Forty-fourth Regimental Song-Book" was voted to be a complete success.
When we went to Readville, Colonel Lee was placed in com- mand of camp, with military jurisdiction over a territorial radius of one mile.2 Although neither of our field officers believed in the principle of total abstinence, they realized the evil influence
1 Two of the original members of the Boylston Club, William K. Millar and Augustus Jacobs, were privates in Company D.
2 Special order No 739 issued under authority of General Order 99 from the War Department. The appointment dated from Aug. 26, 1862.
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ORGANIZATION, AND CAMP AT READVILLE.
caused by undue indulgence in intoxicating drinks, and for this reason, as well as to set an example to the men under their command, they mutually resolved not to taste any wine or ardent spirits while they were in the service of the United States, except on advice of the surgeon, - a resolution to which they scrupu- lously adhered. Colonel Lee in particular felt very strongly about this matter, and waged a relentless war against " traffickers in the ardent" who attempted to establish booths near our camp. Quite a number of enterprising speculators engaged in the busi- ness; but the confiscation of their stock in trade, and frequently of their building as well, caused their project to end in financial wreck.
"Corporal's" letter of September 13 was quite " gossipy," and touched on several matters of interest to the boys : -
.
" . We have received an order from the Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in Massachusetts 1 prohibiting us from bathing at all Chris- tian hours of the day, out of regard to the sensitive nerves of somebody. As nobody but soldiers live near the ponds, it is to be supposed that the order was promulgated as a measure of consideration of the naiads and nymphs habitant hereabout. We heartily wish that everybody was like Cæsar's wife.
"The 'women of America,' including a few Boston friends, have sent us in a grand lunch of Washington pies, coffee, and cold meats. Where these dainties went to is a profound mystery to the non-commissioned officers and privates, but it is doubtless 'all right.'
" At dress-parade the other day Miss Josie Gregg, of Boston, through Colonel Lee, presented us an elegant flag, and the gift was acknowledged by three cheers .. .
" Flag competition continues, and now every barrack shows its bunting, that of Company D again floating the highest. Thursday morning Com- pany F's flagstaff presented to the eyes of an astonished camp the same small white bifurcated garment which had previously served to decorate the interior of a neighboring barrack. The boys are bound not to "have their selves,' as Uncle Sim Wilbur used to say. We now hope, however. for better things for our company, having sent the sergeants to a tent by
1 By General Order 44, dated September 3, Brigadier-General John H. Reed, Quar- termaster-General, was appointed commandant of all camps of rendezvous in the State. By special order 790, dated September 9, Brigadier-General R. A. Peirce was assigned to command of the Readville camp. The bathing order to which " Corporal " alludes was probably issued in consequence of complaints made by the officials of the Boston and Providence Railroad.
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