A HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE CIVIL WAR. BY WILLIAM SCHOULEE, LATE ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH. BOSTON: E. P. BUTTON & CO., PUBLISHERS, 135 WASHINGTON STREET. 1868. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1868, by WILLIAM S C H O U L E R, In the Clerk s office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. CAMBRIDGE: STEKEOTYl ED AND PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON. TO THE HONORABLE LEV I LINCOLN, OF WORCESTER, THE MOST VENERABLE AND DISTINGUISHED LIVING CITIZEN OF MASSACHUSETTS, 2Tfjis Uohtme IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. .51 431 PREFACE. THE original plan of this work would have included a brief narrative of each Massachusetts regiment which had served in the war, and a sketch of the meetings held in the several cities and towns in the Commonwealth to encourage recruiting, and to raise money and provide for the families of the soldiers. I soon found it was impossible to carry out this plan so as to do any thing like justice to the subjects. The mass of papers, letters, and reports bearing upon them placed in my hands, convinced me that one volume should be devoted exclu sively to the three years regiments, and one to the cities and towns. There are several thousand letters in the files of the Gov ernor, Adjutant-General, and Surgeon-General, written from the front by officers and enlisted men, which contain information both interesting and valuable ; and many more are doubtless in the possession of the families of those who served in the war. From these and other sources, material can be furnished to make an interesting volume ; and it is due to the veteran regi ments that it should be written. I have received new and valuable material from nearly every city and town in the Commonwealth, showing what was done by them in carrying on the war ; and from this could be com piled a work which would reflect the highest honor upon the municipalities of this Commonwealth. Should the present volume be received with favorable regard VI PREFACE. by the people of Massachusetts, it is my purpose to write a volume of the same size and style, devoted exclusively to the three years regiments and batteries, to be followed by another, devoted to the cities and towns. WILLIAM SCHOULER. LYNN, March 17, 1868. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Massachusetts Civil Government Election, 1860 Legislature President of the Senate Speaker of the House State of the Country Farewell Address of Governor Banks Governor An drew s Inaugural Their Views of the Crisis Sketch of Governor Andrew Lieutenant-Governor Executive Council Adjutant- General Military Staff Congressmen The Volunteer Militia Military Equipment Early Preparations Salutes, 8th of January General Order No. 2 Report of Adjutant- General General Or der No. 4 Proceedings of the Legislature Regular Session Emergency Fund Loan Credit of State Delegates to Peace Con vention South Carolina to Massachusetts Two thousand Over coats Order of Inquiry Letter of Adjutant-General Letter of Colonel Henry Lee, Jr. Meeting of Officers in Governor s Room Colonel Ritchie sent to Washington His Letters to the Governor Secretary Seward s Letter Letter of Colonel Lee Charter of Transports John M. Forbes, Esq. Meeting in Faneuil Hall Meeting in Cambridge Speech of Wendell Phillips, Esq., at New Bedford Remarks The President calls for Troops The Eve of Battle 1-48 CHAPTER II. The Call for Troops The Marblehead Companies first in Boston The Excitement 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. Ly- man, Dr. William J. Dale, Medical Service Action of the Boston Bar The Clergy, Rev. Mr. Cudworth The Women of the State The Men of the State Liberal Offers of Service and Money Robert B. Forbes, Coast Guard Colonel John H. Reed appointed Quartermaster The Personal Staff Executive Council Mr. Crowninshield appointed to purchase Arms in Europe An Emer- 11 CONTENTS. gency Fund of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars Letter of the Governor to Secretary Cameron General Butler consulted The Route by Annapolis Narrative of Samuel M. Felton Mr. Lin coln 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 Washing ton Reception in New York and Philadelphia The Eighth Regi ment Departure Speeciies 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 Massachusetts 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 Nine teenth of April First Blood shed The Eighth Regiment Lands at Annapolis Saves the Frigate Constitution Arrives in Wash ington The Rifle Battalion at Fort McHenry Cook s Battery at Baltimore End of the Three Months Service Conclusion . 49-108 CHAPTER III. The People of the Towns The Press The Pulpit Edward Everett Fletcher Webster offers to raise a Regiment The Sunday Meet ing in State Street Mr. Webster s Speech Meeting in the Music Hall Speech of Wendell Phillips Meeting in Chester Park Speeches of Edward Everett and Benjamin F. Hallett Meeting under the Washington Elm in Cambridge Ex-Governor Banks, George S. Hillard, and others Letters received by the Governor Extracts Reception of the Dead Bodies of the Killed in Baltimore -Mr. Crowninshield goes abroad to buy Arms Ex-Governor Bout- well sent to Washington Letter of John M.Forbes to Mr. Felton Letter to General Wool To Rev. Dr. Stearns To Robert M. Mason Offer of a Ship Load of Ice Purchase of the " Cambridge " Provisions sent to Fortress Monroe and Washington Governor to President Lincoln Attorney-General Foster The Ladies of Cambridge Call for Three Years Volunteers Letter of John M. Forbes Letters received by the Adjutant-General Extracts Let ters from Dr. Luther V. Bell and Richard II. Dana, Jr. Ex-Govern or Bout well arrives at Washington Letters to the Governor State of Afluirs at Washington Letter from Mr. Foster Cipher Telegram Judge Hoar at Washington Letters to the Governor The War Department will accept no more Troops Charles R. Lowell, Jr., Massachusetts Agent at Washington His Instructions -Letter of Governor to Dr. Howe Appointed to examine the Con- Htionof the Regiments His Report Colonel Prescott Letters of the Governor and General Butler Slavery 109-161 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER IV. Companies sent to the Forts Officers appointed to Command Militia Battalions First Call for Three Years Troops Delays at Wash ington Letter to Montgomery Blair Letter of Secretary of War General Order No. 12 Six Regiments allowed Governor anx ious to send more Letter of General Walbridge Governor to Senator Wilson More Delay Extra Session of the Legislature Address of the Governor Proceedings of the Legislature War Measures adopted Debate on Colored Troops Bills passed by the Legislature Sinking Fund Government Securities Pay of Troops Established Camps Seven Millions of Dollars State Aid to Families of Soldiers The Six Regiments of Three Years Men Ten more Regiments called for Their Organization Ad ditional Staff Officers appointed Surgeon-General s Department organized Letter of Governor to Dr. Lyman Board of Medical Examiners Promotion of the Surgeon-General Letter of the Governor to Colonel Frank E. Howe New-England Rooms, New York Letter of Colonel Lee to Charles R. Lowell. Letters of the Governor to Different Parties Circular of the Secretary of War Colonel Browne to Colonel Howe Abstract of Correspondence Colonel Sargent to General Scott Cobb s Battery Letter to Colo nel Webster Letter to the President Irish Regiments Flag- raising at Bunker-Hill Monument Speech of Governor Andrew Speech of Colonel Webster Interesting Ceremonies Conclusion 162-215 CHAPTER Y. Death of Governor Andrew The Great Loss Mission of Mr. Crown- inshield to Europe The Purchase of Arms Colonel Lucius B. Marsh Vote of Thanks by the Council The Policy of the Gov ernor in making Military Appointments Letter to General Butler in Regard to our Soldiers Neglect of Officers Letter to Colonel Couch, of the Seventh Sends Two Thousand Muskets to Wheeling, Va. General Lander Governor Stevens, of Oregon General Sherman comes to Boston to confer with the Governor The War Department and Appointments Governor makes an Address to the People Mission to Washington Writes to Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania Blockade-runners at Halifax Governor saves the Life of a Private Soldier His Letter to Patrick Donahoe Reli gious Toleration To the Editor of the Boston Post Massachusetts Companies in New- York Regiments General Sherman s Command Liberality of the People Battle of Ball s Bluff The Massachu setts Dead A Noble Letter Exchange of Prisoners Governor s Letter to President Lincoln Scheme to invade Texas Suggests that Congress offer Bounties Controversy about making Massachu setts Soldiers catch Fugitive Slaves Letter to General McClellan Another Letter to the President,, about Exchange of Prisoners Our Men in Richmond Jail -^1W Francisco sends Two Thousand Dollars for Soldiers Families The Maryland Legislature Liberal Action CONTENTS. The Republican State Convention Interesting Debate Demo cratic Convention Thanksgiving Proclamation Thanksgiving in the Massachusetts Camps Major Wilder Dwight The Second Regiment at Harper s Ferry Full Account of the Controversy be- . tween Governor Andrew and Major-General Butler about recruiting and raising Regiments in Massachusetts 216-282 CHAPTER VI. The Campaign of 1862 Meeting of the Legislature Ex-Governor Clifford elected President of the Senate His Speech Alexander H. Bullock elected Speaker of the House Speech of Mr. Bullock Of Caleb Gushing Proceedings of the Legislature Abstracts of Military Laws passed Massachusetts Prisoners in Richmond Clothing sent Letter from Adjutant Pierson Expedition of Gen eral Burnside Capture of Roanoke Island Massachusetts Troops first to land Care of the Sick and Wounded Dr. Hitchcock sent on The Wounded in New York Colonel Frank E. Howe Establishment of the New-England Rooms Care of the Sick and Wounded The Army of the Potomac The Wounded at Williams- burg Letters of Colonel Howe Every Assistance given The Agencies of the State for the Care of the Men The Office in Wash ingtonColonel Gardiner Tufts, Mrs. Jennie L. Thomas, Robert C. Corson, William Robinson, appointed Agents Visits of the Adju tant-General, Colonel Ritchie, and Colonel John Q. Adams, to the Front Report to the Governor The Appearance of Washington Reports of Edward S. Rand and Dr. Bowditch First Massachu setts Cavalry at Hilton Head Our Troops in North Carolina Ap pointment of Allotment Commissioners Their Valuable Services Letters of the Governor Rule for making Appointments Illegal Recruiting Colonel Dudley Thirtieth Regiment Captured Rebel Flags Death and Burial of General Lander Letters of Gov ernor to Secretary of War Secretary of the Navy To the Presi dent on Various Subjects Letter to General Burnside Secretary Chase The Retreat of General Banks Great Excitement Troops sent forward Militia called out The Position of our Regiments The War in Earnest . . 283-337 CHAPTER VII. Recruiting for the New Regiments The Position of the Armies in the Field Letters from the Adjutant-General to Different Persons Establishment of Camps Departure of New Regiments Recruits for Old Regiments Letter to Secretary Seward Suggestions adopted Foreign Recruits Letter to General Couch Deserters Want of Mustering Officers Letter from General Hooker Our Sick and Wounded Letter to General McClellan General Fitz- John Porter Call for Nineteen Thousand Soldiers for Nine Months Appointment of Major Rogers Preparing for a Draft Militia CONTENTS. xi Volunteers Letter to the President Great Activity in Recruiting Liberality of John M. Forbes Colonel Maggi Town Authorities ask Civilians to be commissioned First Attempt to raise Colored Troops Letter to Hon. J. G. Abbott Recommends Merchants and Others to devote Half of each Day to Recruiting Hardship to Sea board Towns Attempt to have Credits allowed for Men in the Navy Difficulties Earnest Letter Surgeons sent forward Several Recommendations Battle of Antietam Dr. Hitchcock sent forward His Report Affairs at the Front Recruiting Brisk Republican Convention Sharp Debate Nominations People s Convention General Devens nominated for Governor Speeches Letter to General Dix Contrabands Complaints Quotas filled Depar ture of Regiments Invasion of Texas Major Burt State Ap pointments, &c 338-390 CHAPTER VIII. The Proclamation of Freedom Colored Regiments Letter to Samuel Hooper ^ The California Battalion Meeting of the Legislature, January, 1863 Organization Address of the Governor Delay of the Government in paying the Soldiers The Commission of Mr. Crowninshield His Claim not allowed Reports of the Adjutant, Surgeon, and Quartermaster Generals Abstract of Military Laws Letter to Hon. Thomas D. Eliot Western Sanitary Commission Confidential Letter to General Hooker Efforts to reinstate Major Copeland The Pirate " Alabama " Curious Coincidence Au thority to recruit a Colored Regiment The Governor s Policy in the Selection of Officers Colonel Shaw The Passage of the Fifty-fourth (colored) Regiment through Boston Departure for South Carolina Death of Colonel Shaw at Fort Wagner Letter of the Governor to Captain Sherman Letter to General Hamilton, of Texas Major Burt Plan to invade Texas Mortality of Massa chusetts Regiments in Louisiana War Steamers Rights of Col ored Soldiers Temperance General Ullman s Expedition Coast Defences General Wilde John M. Forbes writes from London Colonel Ritchie A Rebel Letter Robert C. Winthrop Letter to Mr. Gooch, M.C. Army Officers in Boston Cases of Suffering Useless Detail of Volunteer Officers Letter to General Wool Sug gestions about Recruiting About Deserters Staff Appointments Complaints Nine Months Men Letter to J. H. Mitchell, Mas sachusetts Senate Claims for Money in the Legislature Case of Mr. Maxwell, of Charlemont Sergeant Plunkett, of the Twenty- first Regiment Soldiers to be shot Troubles in the Department of the Gulf, &c . 391-440 CHAPTER IX. The Military Condition Reverses and Successes of the Union Arms Service and Return Home of the Nine Months Regiments List xii CONTENTS. of Casualties Deserters The July Riot in Boston Prompt Ac tion An Abstract of the Orders Alarm in other Cities The Attack in Cooper Street The Eleventh Battery The Word to fire The Riot suppressed The Draft Appointment of Provost-Mar- X shals The Fifty-fifth Colored Regiment Letters from Secretary Stanton Injustice to the Colored Troops Letters of the Govern or on the Subject Difficulties with the Draft Major Blake sent to Washington Request to allow Bounties to Drafted Men refused John M. Forbes in Washington Letters to the Governor Heavy Ordnance Colonel Lowell The Attack on Wagner Death of Colonel Shaw Instances of Bravery on the Part of Colored Troops Letters to General Dix Troops for Coast Defence Gov ernor writes to Governor of Ohio Formation of Veteran Regiment Massachusetts Militia Letters to Colonel Lee Colored Cavalry Letter of Secretary Stanton Confidential Letter on the Exposed Condition of the Coast Telegraph Communication with the Forts Letters to Senator Sumner Exact Condition of the Defences Letter of the Adjutant-General Reports of General William Ray mond Lee Colonel Ritchie sent to England Democratic State Convention Republican State Convention Re-election of Govern or Andrew The President calls for Three Hundred Thousand more Volunteers Extra Session of the Legislature called Governor s Address Bounties increased Abstract of Laws 441-506 CHAPTER X. The Military Camps in Massachusetts Number of Troops Jan. 1, 1864 Where Serving Letter of Governor to Lewis Hay den From Miss Upham Soldier s Scrap-book Letter to Samuel Hooper Sale of Heavy Ordnance The Condition of our Defences Colo nel Ritchie in England Meeting of the Legislature Organization Addresses of Mr. Field and Colonel Bullock Address of the Gov ernor Eloquent Extract Abstract of Military Laws Members of Congress Letter to John B. Alley The Springfield Companies Secretary Stanton refuses to pay them Bounties Correspondence in Regard to it Letters from General Butler Governor to Miss Up ham Complaints about Soldiers at Long Island Re-enlisted Veterans Order of War Department Returns of Veteran Regi ments Their Reception Letter to General Hancock General Burnside reviews the Troops at Readville Letter to the Christian Watchman General Andrews Surgeon-General Dale Confed erate Money Letter from General Gordon Battle of Olustee Letter to Selectmen of Plymouth A Second Volume of Scrap- book Letter from Mr. Lovejoy Lieutenant-Colonel Whittemore Correspondence The Heavy Artillery Condition of Fort War ren Misunderstanding Secretary Stanton and the Governor Colonel William F. Bartlett His Promotion Earnest Letter to Mr. Sumner Troubles about Recruiting Complaints made A Convention held Letter of the Adjutant- General The Recruiting of New Regiments Forwarded to the Front The Advance of General Grant . , 507-55U CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER XI. General Position of Affairs at the Beginning of 1864 Credits in the Navy Law of Congress Appointment of Commissioners Cir cular Letter Agents to Recruit in Rebel States Letter to Mr. Everett Governor Andrew in Washington Pay of Colored Troops Letter to the President Letter to Mr. Stanton Expectation of Rebel Attack on our Coast Present of a Turtle Brigadier-General Bartlett Letter to Governor Seymour, of New York Letter to the Secretary of War Letter to the Attorney-General Letter to An drew Ellison Colonel N. A. M. Dudley Letter of Governor Yates, of Illinois Case of Otis Newhall, of Lynn Case of Mrs. Bixby, of Boston Letter to the President Plan to burn the Northern Cities Speech of Mr. Everett Destruction of the " Alabama " Honors paid to Commodore Winslow Donations for our Soldiers Letter of Mr. Stebbins Letter to the Union League Club, New York Colored Officers Letter to James A. Hamilton Battle before Nash ville Case of Jack Flowers National Conventions Nominations Republican State Convention Proceedings Renomination of Governor Andrew Democratic State Convention Nominations Report of the Adjutant-General s Journey to the Front Staff Ap pointments during the Year Conclusion 560-608 CHAPTER XII. Public Confidence Meeting of the Legislature Organization Ad dress of Governor Andrew Acts passed by the Legislature General Sargent Death of Edward Everett Frontier Cavalry Governor and Secretary Stanton Abolition of Slavery Boston Harbor Fast Day Currency Question Proclamation of President Lincoln Case of a Deserter Letter from Secretary Seward Foreign Enlistments The End of the Rebellion Capitulation of General Lee Rejoicings throughout the State Governor sends a Message to the Legislature Meeting in Faneuil Hall Proposi tion for a National Thanksgiving Death of President Lincoln Ac tion of the Legislature Governor s Letter to Mrs. Lincoln Original Copy of General Lee s Farewell Address, sent to the Governor by General Russell Death of General Russell Monument to the First Martyrs in Lowell Address of the Governor Letter to F. P. Blair, Sen. Meeting at Faneuil Hall Letter of the Governor Recon struction Colonel William S. Lincoln Memorial Celebration at Harvard Letter to Mr. Motley, Minister to Austria Miss Van Lew Alexander H. Stephens Governor to President Lincoln Relics of Colonel Shaw Letter to Colonel Theodore Lyman State Prisoners in Maryland Letter to James Freeman Clarke Freedman s Bureau Emigration South Letter to General Sher man Governor s Staff Governor declines Re-election Republi can Convention Democratic Convention Reception of the Flags Forefathers Day Speech of General Couch Speech of Gov ernor Andrew Compliment to the Adjutant-General General XIV CONTENTS. Grant visits Massachusetts Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis Her Services New-England Women s Auxiliary Association What it did New-England Rooms, New York Massachusetts Soldiers Fund Boston Soldiers Fund Surgeon-General s Fund Number of Men sent from Massachusetts to the War Governor Andrew s Valedic tory Address Governor Bullock inaugurated Last Military Order Close of the Chapter 609-G70 CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTOEY MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLIOK CHAPTER I. Massachusetts Civil Government Election, 1860 Legislature President of the Senate Speaker of the House State of the Country Farewell Address of Governor Banks Governor Andrew s Inaugural Their Views of the Crisis Sketch of Governor Andrew Lieutenant-Governor Execu tive Council Adjutant-General Military Staff Congressmen The Vol unteer Militia Military Equipment Early Preparations Salutes, 8th of January General Order No. 2 Report of Adjutant-General General Order No. 4 Proceedings of the Legislature Regular Session Emer gency Fund Loan Credit of State Delegates to Peace Convention South Carolina to Massachusetts Two thousand Overcoats Order of Inquiry Letter of Adjutant-General Letter of Colonel Henry Lee, Jr. Meeting of Officers in Governor s Room Colonel Ritchie sent to Washington His Let ters to the Governor Secretary Seward s Letter Letter of Colonel Lee Charter of Transports John M. Forbes, Esq. Meeting in Faneuil Hall Meeting in Cambridge Speech of Wendell Phillips, Esq., at New Bedford Remarks The President calls for Troops The Eve of Battle. To write the part taken by Massachusetts in the civil war which began in April, 1861, and continued until the capture, by Gen eral Grant, of Lee and his army in Virginia, and the surrender of Johnston and his forces to General Sherman in North Caro lina, in 1865, requires patient research, a mind not distracted by other duties, and a purpose to speak truthfully of men and of events. Massachusetts bore a prominent part in this war, from the beginning to the end ; not only in furnishing soldiers for the army, sailors for the navy, and financial aid to the Government, but in advancing ideas, which, though scouted 1 IN THE REBELLION. at in the early months of the war, were afterwards accepted by the nation, before the war could be brought to a successful end. Massachusetts is a small State, in territory and in population. With the exception of Maine, it lies the farthest eastward of all the States in the Union. Its capital is four hundred and fifty miles east of Washington, and is separated from it by the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. It contains seven thousand eight hundred square miles of land, river, lakes, and sea. In 1860, it had a population of 1,231,066, engaged in farming, manufacturing, fishing, and mercantile pursuits. Less than one-half the land is improved. It is about ^^ part of the whole Union, ranking the thirty-sixth in size among the forty States and Territories. It is divided into fourteen counties, and three hundred and thirty-five cities and towns. Its gov ernor, lieutenant-governor, eight councillors, forty senators, and two hundred and forty representatives, are elected every year, in the month of November, by the free suffrage of the qualified voters. The executive department of the Government is vested in the governor and Executive Council, the governor, however, be ing the supreme executive magistrate, whose title is, His Excellency; the legislative, in a Senate and House of Rep resentatives, each having a negative upon the other, and known and designated as the General Court. The judicial depart ment is composed of different courts, the judges of which are appointed by the governor, and hold their offices during good behavior, and can only be removed upon the address of both houses of the Legislature, or by the abolishment of the court ; this to " the end, that it may be a government of laws, and not of men." In the election for governor, in 1860, there were four candi dates and four political parties. John A. Andrew, of Boston, was the candidate of the Republicans ; Erasmus D. Beach, of Springfield, of the Douglas wing of the Democrats ; Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, of the conservative party ; and Benjamin F. Butler, of Lowell, of the Breckenridge wing of the Demo- ELECTION, 1860. LEGISLATURE. 3 cratic party. John A. Andrew received 104,527 votes ; Erasmus D. Beach, 35,191; Amos A. Lawrence, 23,816; Benjamin F. Butler, 6,000; all others, 75. Mr. Andrew s majority over all the opposing candidates was 39,445. The eight councillors elected were all Republicans, as were all the members of Congress. The presidential electors in favor of the election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin, for President and Yice-President of the United States, received about the same majority Mr. Andrew did for Governor. Nearly all of the members of the Senate and House of Repre sentatives were of the Republican party. The newly elected Legislature met on the first Wednesday in January, 1861. Hon. William Claflin, of Newton, was chosen President of the Senate, and Stephen N. Gifford, Esq., of Dux- bury, clerk. Hon. John A. Goodwin, of Lowell, was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives, and William Stowe, Esq., of Springfield, clerk. On assuming the duties of President of the Senate, Mr. Claf lin made a brief address, in the course of which he said, " While we meet under circumstances auspicious in our own State, a deep agitation pervades other parts of our country, causing every true patriot to feel the greatest anxiety. Disunion is attempted in some States, because, as is alleged, laws have been passed in others con trary to the Constitution of the United States. Massachusetts is accused of unfaithfulness in this matter in some of her enactments, although she has always been ready to submit to judicial decisions, and is so still. She has ever guarded jealously the liberties of her citizens, and, I trust, ever will. We cannot falter now without disgrace and dis honor. Whatever action we may take, let us be careful of the rights of others, but faithful to our trust, that we may return them to our constituents unimpaired." Mr. Goodwin, on taking the Speaker s chair, referred to national affairs in the following words : " The session before us may become second in importance to none that has been held in these halls, since, threescore years ago, our fathers consecrated them to popular legislation. For the second time in our history, we see a State of our Union setting at naught the common compact, and raising the hand of remorseless violence against a whole section of her sister States, and against the Union itself. But for 4 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the first time in our history are unrebuked traitors seen in the high places of the nation, where, with undaunted front, they awe into trea sonable inaction the hand the people have solemnly deputed to hold the scales of justice, and wield her imperial sword. To what points this ignominious crisis may compel our legislative attention, cannot now be stated ; nor is it for the Chair to allude to particular measures of legislation. But it is to be remembered, that Massachusetts sacrificed much to establish the Union, and to defend and perpetuate it. She is ready to sacrifice more, provided it touch not her honor or the princi ples of free government, principles interwoven with her whole his tory, and never dearer to the hearts of her people of all classes and parties than they are to-day. Let us approach this portion of our du ties with coolness and deliberation, and with a generous patriotism." Not since the days of the Eevolution had a legislature assem bled at a time of more imminent peril, when wise counsels, firm resolution, and patriotic devotion to the Constitution and the Union, were imperatively demanded. James Buchanan was still President of the United States ; Floyd was Secretary of War; Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury; Thompson, Secretary of the Interior ; and Toucey, who, although a New-England man, was believed to sympathize with the South, Secretary of the Navy. John C. Breckenridge was Vice-President of the United States, and presided over the deliberations of the Senate, of which Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, John Slidell, James M. Mason, and Robert Toombs were members ; all of whom proved traitors to the Government, were plotting daily and nightly to effect its overthrow, and to prevent the inaugura tion of Abraham Lincoln on the fourth of March. South Caro lina had already voted itself out of the Union, and had assumed a hostile front to the Union garrison in Fort Sumter, in Charles ton harbor. Other Southern States had called conventions to consider what steps they should take in the emergency which had been precipitated upon them by the South-Carolina secession ordinance. Our navy was scattered over far-off seas, the United- States arsenals were stripped of arms by orders from the Secretary of War, and the treasury of the General Government was well-nigh depleted by the Secretary of the Treasury. The debates in Congress were warm and exciting. The speeches of the disunionists were rank with treason. The power STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 5 of the North to prevent, by armed force, the South from seced ing was sneered at and derided. Some of the Republicans in Congress replied with equal warmth and animation to the threats of the Southern men ; others counselled moderation, and expressed a hope that the difficulties which threatened our peace might yet be adjusted. Prominent among those who expressed these views were Mr. Adams, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Seward, of New York. To gain time was a great point, time to get Mr. Buchanan and his Cabinet out of power and out of Washington, and to get Mr. Lincoln and his new Cabinet into power and into Washington. I have good reason to believe, that neither of the distinguished statesmen whom I have named had a full belief that an appeal to arms could, for a great length of time, be avoided ; but they felt, that, when it did come, it was all important that the Government should be in the hands of its friends, and not of its enemies. They argued, that, if the clash of arms could be put off until the inauguration of the new President on the fourth of March, the advantage to the Union side would be incalculable. It was wise strategy, as well as able statesmanship, so to guide the debates as to accomplish this great purpose ; and to these two gentlemen acting in concert, one in the Senate and the other in the House, are we, in a great de gree, indebted for the wise delay. Mr. Lincoln was inaugu rated, and the Union ship of state was fairly launched, not indeed with fair winds and a clear sky, but with stout hands and wise heads to guide her course ; and after long years of terrible disaster, and amid obstacles which at times appeared insurmountable, finally weathered them all, and was brought safely to a peaceful haven. Hon. Nathaniel P. Banks was Governor of Massachusetts the three years immediately preceding the election and inaugura tion of John A. Andrew. His administration had been highly successful and popular. He had met public expectation on every point. Many important measures had been passed during his term ; and, upon retiring from office, he deemed it proper " to present to the Legislature a statement of the condition of public aifairs, with such considerations as his experience might suggest ; " and enforced this departure from the course pursued 6 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. by his predecessors in the gubernatorial office, with many cogent reasons. He delivered his valedictory address on the 3d of January, 1861, in which he gave a review of the legis lation, and a statement of the finances of the State for the three years during which he had been the chief executive officer. It is my purpose to speak upon but two of the topics dis cussed in the address, which have a direct bearing on the war which was so soon to open, and in which Governor Banks was to take a prominent part, as a major-general in the Union army. The Legislature of 1858 had passed what was known as an act for the protection of personal liberty. It was intended to mitigate the harsh and unjust provisions of the act of Congress passed in 1850, known as the Fugitive-slave Law. Several persons, held in the South as slaves, had made their way to Massachusetts ; and, being afterwards arrested, had been re turned to their masters. The entire provisions of that act were abhorrent to our people, notwithstanding its friends and support ers claimed for it an exact conformity to the provisions of the Constitution of the United States. The opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, pronounced by Judge Story, himself a Massachusetts man, declared that the Constitution contemplated the existence of " a positive, unqualified right, on the part of the owner of the slave, which no State law or regulation can in any way qualify, regulate, control, or restrain." This opinion of the Supreme Court, Governor Banks said, "has been approved by the Legis lature of this State, and confirmed by its Supreme Judicial Court." He then invited the attention of the Legislature to the sections of the State act relating to the writ of habeas corpus and the State act for the protection of personal liberty, which he thought conflicted with the act of Congress regarding fugitive slaves ; and said. " It is not my purpose to defend the constitu tionality of the Fugitive-slave Act. The omission of a provision for jury trial, however harsh and cruel, cannot in any event be supplied by State legislation. While I am constrained to doubt the right of this State to enact such laws, I do not admit that, in any just sense, it is a violation of the national compact. It is only when unconstitutional legislation is enforced by executive authority, that it assumes that character, and no such result has occurred in this State." He then remarked, that Massachusetts had given unimpeach able evidence of her devotion to law ; and it was because she had been faithful that he wished to see her legislation in harmony with her acts. " It is because I do not like to see her representa tives in Congress, and her sons everywhere, put upon the defen sive when they have just cause to be proud of her loyalty ; . . . it is because, in the face of her just claims to high honor, I do not love to hear unjust reproaches cast upon her fame, that I say, as I do, in the presence of God, and with a heart filled with the responsibilities that must rest upon every American cit izen in these distempered times, I cannot but regard the mainte nance of a statute, although it may be within the extremest limits of constitutional power, which is so unnecessary to the public service and so detrimental to the public peace, as an inexcusable public wrong. I hope, by common consent, it may be removed from the statute-book, and such guaranties as indi vidual freedom demands be sought in new legislation." I have referred to these matters because they were prominent pretexts, made by the disunion party to justify a dissolution of the Union. The State acts named were condemned by many of our wisest men, who never had a thought unfriendly to the Union, nor would, by their acts or votes, sanction the existence of human slavery, or extend the area of its domain. The views of Governor Banks at this time are also important and inter esting as in contrast to those expressed, a few days after, in the inaugural address of Governor Andrew. Governor Banks, in concluding his address, referred in direct terms to the secession ordinance of South Carolina, and said, " While I would not withhold from the South what belongs to that section, I cannot consent that we should yield what belongs to us. The right to the Territories, so far as the people are concerned, must be a common right ; and their status should be determined upon the rights of men, and not upon privileges of property." He was opposed to founding government upon the right to hold slaves. "There is no species of property 8 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. entitled to such protection as will exclude men from Territories, aside from all considerations of property. Neither do I believe that a geographical line will give peace to the country. The lapse of time alone will heal all dissensions. There can be no peaceable secession of the States. The Government has pledged its faith to every land, and that pledge of faith cannot be broken." He drew encouragement from the thrill of joy which touched every true heart, when Major Anderson moved his little garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. " Cer tainly, never an act, so slight in itself, touched the hearts of so many millions of people like fire from heaven, as the recent simple, soldier-like, and patriotic movement of Major Anderson at Fort Moultrie." He closed this part of his address with these grand words : " But no such result can follow as the de struction of the American Government. The contest will be too terrible, the sacrifice too momentous, the difficulties in our path are too slight, the capacity of our people is too manifest, and the future too brilliant, to justify forebodings, or to excite permanent fears. The life of every man is lengthened by trial ; and the strength of every government must be tested by revolt and revolution. I doubt not that the providence of God, that has protected us hitherto, will preserve us now and hereafter." Throughout the entire address a hopeful feeling prevailed. The Governor evidently did not believe that we were so nigh the verge of civil war. He made no recommendation for the increase of the military force of the State, or to prepare that already organized for active service. It may properly be said, however, in this connection, that Governor Banks, upon retiring from office, did not deem it in good taste or proper to recom mend legislative action to a body with which he was so soon to sever all official connection. Shortly after retiring from the gubernatorial chair, Governor Banks made arrangements to remove to Illinois, having accepted a responsible executive position in the Illinois Central Railroad ; but, in a few months, the country required his services as a mili tary commander, which post he accepted, and continued in high command until the end of the war, when he returned to Massa- GOVERNOR ANDREW INAUGURATED. 9 chusetts, and was elected to Congress by the people of his old district. John A. Andrew, Esq., of Boston, was inaugurated Gov ernor of the Commonwealth, Jan. 5, 1861, and immediately delivered his address to the Legislature, in which he gave a statement of the financial condition of the Commonwealth, its liabilities, and its resources to meet them. The State was practically free of debt. The aggregate valuation of taxable property was within a fraction of nine hundred millions, a com putation of which had been made by a special committee appointed for the purpose, whose labors had closed on the 1st of January, 1861, only five days before the address was deliv ered. After asking the attention of the Legislature to matters of a purely local character, Governor Andrew devoted the remainder of his address to matters of more general interest. He discussed the right of the Legislature to pass the statutes concerning personal liberty and the habeas corpus, and con tended that Massachusetts had a clear right to pass them ; and that, if properly understood and rightfully carried out, there could not be any conflict of jurisdiction between the State and Federal officers. The argument upon these questions extends through nine pages, and concludes as follows : " Supposing, however, that our legislation in this behalf is founded in mistake, the Legislature will only have endeavored to perform their duty towards the citizens whom they were bound to shield from un lawful harm. The power to obtain the judgment of the court affords ample redress to all claimants. Should a critical examination disclose embarrassments in raising and reserving questions of law for the ap propriate tribunals, the Legislature will readily repair the error. " In dismissing this topic, I have only to add, that in regard, not only to one, but to every subject bearing on her Federal relations, Massachusetts has always conformed to her honest understanding of all constitutional obligations ; that she has always conformed to the judicial decisions ; has never threatened either to nullify or to dis obey ; and that the decision of one suit, fully contested, constitutes a precedent for the future." The concluding ten pages of the address give a graphic, con densed, truthful, and eloquent review of the condition of the 10 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. country, of the danger and wickedness of a civil war, and of the position which Massachusetts and her great statesmen have always held in regard to them. He said, " Inspired by the same ideas and emotions which commanded the fraternization of Jackson and Webster on another great occasion of public danger, the people of Massachusetts, confiding in the patri otism of their brethren in other States, accept this issue, and respond, in the words of Jackson, The Federal Union : it must be preserved ! " Until we complete the work of rolling back this wave of rebel lion, which threatens to engulf the Government, overthrow demo cratic institutions, subject the people to the rule of a minority, if not of mere military despotism, and, in some communities, to endanger the very existence of civilized society, we cannot turn aside, and we will not turn back. It is to those of our brethren in the disaffected States, whose mouths are closed by a temporary reign of terror, not less than to ourselves, that we owe this labor, which, with the help of Providence, it is our duty to perform. " I need not add, that whatever rights pertain to any person under the Constitution of the Union are secure in Massachusetts while the Union shall endure ; and whatever authority or function pertains to the Federal Government for the maintenance of any such right is an authority or function which neither the Government nor the people of this Commonwealth can or would usurp, evade, or overthrow ; and Massachusetts demands, and has a right to demand, that her sister States shall likewise respect the constitutional rights of her citizens within their limits." I have given these extracts from the addresses of Governors Banks and Andrew, that their official opinions in regard to important national questions, expressed on the eve of a great war, might be made fresh in the memories of men. Both gen tlemen expressed the true sentiment of Massachusetts. I have taken their words as a base or starting-point to begin the long, grand story of Massachusetts in the Rebellion. As Governor Andrew was at the head of the State Gov ernment during the entire period of the war, he of course was and ever will be the prominent, central figure in the galaxy of gentlemen, civil and military, who, by their services and sacri fices, gave renown to the Commonwealth, and carried her with imperishable honor through the conflict. SKETCH OF GOVERNOR ANDREW. 11 John A. Andrew was the twenty-first Governor of Massa chusetts since the adoption of the Constitution of the State in 1780. He was born at Windham, in the District of Maine, about fifteen miles from Portland, on the 31st of May, 1818. The family was of English origin, descending from Robert Andrew, of Rowley village, now Boxford, Essex County, Mass., who died there in 1668. He was connected with most of the ancient families of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. The grandmother of Governor Andrew was the grand-daughter of the brave Captain William Pickering, who commanded the Province Galley, in 1707, for the protection of the fisheries against the French and Indians ; and the mother of her hus band was Mary Higginson, a direct descendant of the Reverend Francis Higginson, the famous pastor of the first church in the colony. The grandfather of Governor Andrew was a silver smith in Salem, who removed to Windham, where he died. His son Jonathan was born in Salem, and lived there until manhood, when he also removed to Windham. There he married Miss Nancy G. Pierce, formerly preceptress of Frye- burg Academy, where Daniel Webster was once a teacher. These were the parents of Governor Andrew. At an early age, he entered Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in the class of 1837. He then removed to Bos ton, and entered, as a law student, the office of Henry H. Fuller, Esq. Being admitted to the Suffolk Bar in 1840, he commenced the practice of his profession, and adhered to it without interruption until his election as Governor in 1860, establishing in later years a reputation as an advocate second to no lawyer at that distinguished bar since the death of Rufus Choate. Attractive in personal appearance and bearing, with an excellent flow of language and variety of expression, and possessed of that sympathetic disposition which identifies an advocate in feeling and in action with the cause of his client, his merits were eminent as an advocate before juries ; but the causes in connection with which his reputation as a lawyer had become chiefly known beyond legal circles, were those of arguments before Massachusetts courts, and the United-States courts for the district and circuit, on questions of political sig- 12 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. nificance. He defended the parties indicted in 1854, for an attempt to rescue the fugitive slave Burns, and succeeded in quashing the indictments on which they were arraigned. The following year, he successfully defended the British consul at Boston against a charge of violating the neutrality laws of the United States during the Crimean War. In 1856, co operating with counsel from Ohio, he made a noted appli cation to Judge Curtis, of the United-States Supreme Court, for a writ of habeas corpus, to test the authority by which the Free-State prisoners were held confined in Kansas by Federal officers. More lately, in 1859, he initiated and directed the measures to procure suitable counsel for the defence of John Brown in Virginia ; and, in 1860, was counsel for Hyatt and Sanborn, witnesses summoned before Senator Mason s commit tee of investigation into the John-Brown affair. Upon his argu ment, the latter was discharged by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts from the custody of the United-States marshal, by whose deputy he had been arrested under a warrant issued at the instigation of that committee. Being himself, about the same time, summoned before the committee, he appeared at Washington, and rendered his testimony. Nor had he hesi tated, under his theory of his duties as a lawyer, to defend causes appealing less directly to his sympathies, or even posi tively repugnant to them. Among others, besides the instance of the British consul before mentioned, may be named his advocacy, in 1860, of the right of Mr. Burnham, against the inquisition of a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature ; and also his defence, the same year, in the United-States Dis trict and Circuit Courts, of the notorious slaver-yacht "Wan derer" against forfeiture. This brilliant legal career was a result of uninterrupted devo tion to a profession which always demands constancy as a con dition of success. Although warmly interested from an early age in the course of public affairs, and often taking part in political assemblies, until 1848 as a Whig, in that year pass ing into the Free-Soil party, and in 1854 uniting naturally with the Republicans, it was not until 1858 that he consented to accept political office. In the autumn campaign of the pre- STATE OFFICERS. CONGRESSMEN. 13 vious year, resulting in the overthrow of the Know-Nothing party, by which Massachusetts had been ruled since 1854, he had sustained an active part. The former political issues be ing revived by the dissolution of that organization after its defeat, he consented to be chosen to the Legislature of 1858. Mr. Andrew was at once recognized as the leader of his party in the House. The leader of the opposition was Hon. Caleb Gushing, of Newburyport, formerly member of Congress, and the Attorney-General of the United States under President Pierce. At the close of the session, Mr. Andrew returned to his profession, refusing to permit his name to be used as a candidate for Governor, and declined also an election to the Legislature, and an appointment, tendered him by Governor Banks, of a seat on the bench of the Superior Court. In the spring of 1860, he was unanimously selected to head the delegation from Massachusetts to the Republican National Con vention at Chicago. As chairman of the delegation, he cast the vote of the State for Mr. Seward until the final ballot, when it was thrown for Mr. Lincoln. That fall he was nomi nated by the Republican State Convention for Governor, and was elected by the majority we have already stated, in the largest popular vote ever cast in the State. This, in brief, was the life of Governor Andrew, up to the time he entered upon the duties of Governor of this Common wealth. Associated with him on the ticket as Lieutenant-Governor was Hon. John Z. Goodrich, of West Stockbridge, who, being afterwards appointed Collector of the Port of Boston, resigned on the 29th of March, 1861. Oliver Warner, of Northampton, was elected Secretary of State ; Henry K. Oliver, of Salem, Treasurer and Receiver- General ; Dwight Foster, of Worcester, Attorney-General ; and Levi Reed, of Abington, Auditor of Ac counts. Jacob Sleeper, of Boston ; John I. Baker, of Beverly ; James M. Shute, of Somerville ; Hugh M. Greene, of North- field ; Joel Hayden, of Williamsburg ; James Ritchie, of Rox- bury ; Oakes Ames, of Easton ; and Eleazer C. Sherman, of Plymouth, were elected Councillors. William Schouler, of Lynn, was Adjutant-General, to which office he had been ap- 14 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. pointed by Governor Banks ; he was also acting Quartermaster and Inspector -General of the Commonwealth, the entire duties of which offices he performed with the assistance of William Brown, of Boston, clerk, and one man, who had charge of the State arsenal at Cambridge, in which were de posited the arms and munitions of war belonging to the Com monwealth, except those which were loaned to the companies of active militia, and cared for in their several armories. The personal military staff of the Governor was limited b}^ law to four aides-de-camp, each with the rank and title of lieu tenant-colonel. Governor Andrew appointed, as his military aids, Horace Binney Sargent, of West Roxbury (senior aid) ; Harrison Ritchie, of Boston ; John W. Wetherell, of Worcester ; and Henry Lee, Jr., of Brookline. Colonel Sargent had served on the staff of Governor Banks. He remained on the staff of Governor Andrew until he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the First Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry, in August, 1861, when Colonel Ritchie became senior aid, and John Quincy Adams, of Quincy, was appointed to fill the vacancy. Massachusetts was represented in the Thirty-sixth Congress, which ended March 4, 1861, by Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson, in the Senate, and by Thomas D. Elliot, James Buf- finton, Charles Francis Adams, Alexander H. Rice, Anson Burlingame, John B. Alley, Daniel W. Gooch, Charles R. Train, Eli Thayer, Charles Delano, and Henry L. Dawes, in the House of Representatives. Before the war, and during the war, Mr. Sumner was chair man of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Wilson of the Militia and Military Affairs, two of the most important committees of that body, which positions they now hold. In the Thirty-seventh Congress, which terminated March 4, 1863, Benjamin F. Thomas succeeded Mr. Adams, who re signed his seat upon receiving the appointment of Minister to England, Samuel Hooper succeeded Mr. Burlingame, who was appointed Minister to China, and Goldsmith F. Bailey suc ceeded Mr. Thayer. In the Thirty-eighth Congress, which terminated March 4th, 1865, Oakes Ames succeeded Mr. Buffinton, George S. VOLUNTEER MILITIA. 15 Boutvvell Mr. Train, James D. Baldwin Mr. Bailey, (deceased) and William B. Washburn Mr. Delano. In the Thirty-ninth Congress, Mr. Gooch having accepted a government appointment, Ex- Governor Banks was elected to fill the vacancy. These Congresses extend over the period immediately pre ceding the war, and that of its duration and close. The Massa chusetts Senators and Representatives served with distinction on several of the most important committees, and thus were promi nent in perfecting bills and shaping the legislation of Con gress. It does not, however, come within the scope of this volume to speak of their varied and valuable services in behalf of the Union, although, if properly recorded, they would add materially to the renown of the Commonwealth. The story of their services will hereafter be told by the historian of the nation , for it was the nation, and not merely a part, that they served. The whole number of enrolled militia of the Commonwealth, in 1860, was 155,389 ; and the number of the active or volun teer militia, 5,593. The active force was organized into three divisions and six brigades ; nine regiments and three battalions of infantry ; three battalions and eight unattached companies of riflemen ; one battalion and five unattached companies of cav alry. Officers and men found their own uniforms. The State furnished arms and equipments, except to officers. Each com pany had an armory for the deposit of its arms, and for drill pur poses, the rents of which were paid by the Commonwealth. The State, on the 1st of January, 1861, had at the arsenal at Cambridge, and distributed to the active militia, seventy-one field-pieces, of various calibre, and about ten thousand serviceable muskets, twenty-five hundred of which were of the most ap proved pattern of the Springfield rifled musket, which, as a muzzle-loading arm, is the best in the world. It was plain, from the tenor of his inaugural address, that Gov ernor Andrew believed war between the North and South was imminent. He advised, among other things, an inquiry, whether, in addition to the active volunteer militia, the dor mant militia, or some considerable portion of it, should not be placed on a footing of activity. "For how otherwise," he asks, 16 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. " in the possible contingencies of the future, can we be sure that Massachusetts has taken care to preserve the manly self-reliance of the citizens, by which alone, in the long-run, can the crea tion of standing armies be averted, and the State also be ready, without inconvenient delay, to contribute her share of force in any exigency of public danger ? " But it was not alone in his address that he foreshadowed his belief of the approach of war. It would not have been wise to make known publicly his inmost thoughts. Let actions speak. On the evening of the very day on which his inaugural address was delivered (Jan. 5), he despatched confidential mes sages, by trustworthy messengers, to each of the Governors of the New-England States, urging preparation for the approach ing crisis. Early in December, soon after the meeting of Con gress, he had visited Washington, and personally acquainted himself with the aspect of national affairs, and with the views of the principal representatives both of North and South. After his return, he had opened a confidential correspondence on matters transpiring there, with Hon. Charles Francis Adams, who kept him minutely acquainted, from day to day, with the progress of events. One of the suggestions of Mr. Adams was, that there should be public demonstrations of loyalty throughout New England, and it was proposed by him to have salutes fired in each of the States on the 8th of January, the anniversary of General Jackson s victory at New Orleans. Colo nel Wardrop, of New Bedford, Third Eegiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, was sent to Governor Fairbanks, of Vermont ; and other messengers were sent to Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine, for this purpose. One of these mes sengers was the gentleman who afterwards became Governor An drew s private military secretary, Colonel Albert G. Browne, of Salem, and who served him during the entire war ; and who, for ability as a ready writer, truthfulness, sturdy independence, reticence, and undoubted patriotism, deserved, as he received, the respect and confidence of the Governor, the entire staff, and of gentlemen holding confidential and important relations with His Excellency. Colonel Browne s mission was to confer with Governor Goodwin, of New Hampshire, and Governor Wash- PREPARATION. GENERAL ORDER NO. 2. 17 burn, of Maine. Besides the mere duty of organizing public demonstrations, he was intrusted, as to the Governor of Maine with a mission of a far more important character. Maine and Massachusetts, being subject to a common State government until 1820, sustained peculiar relations to each other, by similarity of legislation, institutions, and, in later years, of political senti ment. Colonel Browne was intrusted with the whole of the private correspondence with Mr. Adams before mentioned, and was directed to lay it confidentially before Governor Washburn ; to advise him, that, in Governor Andrew s judgment, civil war was the inevitable result of the events going on at Washing ton and in the South ; that the safety of Washington was al ready threatened ; that the policy of the Executive government of Massachusetts, under the new administration, would be to piat its active militia into readiness at once for the impending crisis, and persuade the Legislature, if possible, to call part of the dormant militia into activity ; and to urge Governor Wash- burn to adopt the same policy for Maine. Leaving Boston on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 5, Colonel Browne, after an interview with Governor Goodwin, at Portsmouth on Sunday, reached Augusta on Jan. 7, and held his interview with Gover nor Washburn. By him, Adjutant-General John L. Hodsdon, and United States Senator Lot M. Morrill were called into con sultation, and the answer was returned, that, "wherever Massa chusetts leads, Maine will follow close, if she can t keep abreast." Thus Governor Andrew, on the very day of his inauguration, placed himself in confidential relations with each of the Gover nors of New England, which continued through the entire rebel lion, and were of mutual benefit. On the 6th of January, the day after the inauguration, Gov ernor Andrew directed the Adjutant-General to issue General Order No. 2, which was promulgated the next day, and prop erly executed on the eighth. HEAD-QUARTERS, BOSTON, Jan. 7, 1861. GENERAL ORDER No. 2. In commemoration of the brave defenders of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815, by the deceased patriot, General Jackson, and in honor of the 18 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. gallant conduct and wise foresight of Major Anderson, now in command of Fort Surater, in the State of South Carolina, His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and Commander-in-chief, orders, that a salute of one hundred mms be fired on Boston Common, at twelve, meridian, O on Tuesday, Jan. 8th inst., and a national salute be fired, at the same time, for the same purposes, in Charlestown, Lexington, Concord, Wal- tham, Roxbury, Marblehead, Newburyport, Salem, Groton, Lynn, Worcester, Greenfield, Northampton, Fall River, and Lowell. By command of His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and Commander-in-chief. WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General. The purpose of firing these salutes was to revive old patri otic memories. The 8th of January had been held a holiday by the Democratic party since the presidency of General Jackson ; though of late years it had been, in a great measure, passed over without special regard. The association of the first battle-fields of the Revolution with the last and most brilliant action of the war of 1812 and the patriotic movement of Major Anderson in Charleston Harbor, would, it was believed, revive pleasant recollections of the past, and serve to unite the North in sup port of the Constitution and the Union. As required by law, the Adjutant-General had made his annual report in December. It was addressed to Governor Banks, and is dated Dec. 31, 1860. On pages 37 and 38 he says, "Events have transpired in some of the Southern States and at Washington, which have awakened the attention of the people of Massachusetts, in a remarkable degree, to the perpetuity of the Federal Union, which may require the active militia of the Commonwealth to be greatly augmented. Should our worst fears be realized, and this nation plunged into the horrors of civil war, upon Massachusetts may rest, in no inconsiderable degree, the duty of staying the effusion of blood, and of rolling back the black tide of anarchy and ruin. She did more than her share to achieve the independence of our country, and establish the Government under which we have risen to such un paralleled prosperity, and become the Great Power of the American Continent ; and she will be true to her history, her traditions, and her fair fame. Should it become necessary to increase the number of her ADJUTANT-GENERAL S REPORT. 19 active militia to a war footing, the present organization offers an easy and a good means. The present companies could be filled to their full complement of men, and the regiments to their full complement of companies ; new regiments of infantry, new battalions of riflemen, new companies of artillery and cavalry, could be formed, with which to fill the several brigades, and make our present divisions five thou sand men each, with proper apportionment of the several military arms. This, of course, would require a large outlay of money, which would doubtless be cheerfully met by our people, if their honor and the wel fare of the country demand it of them." The Adjutant-General then suggested, "that a board of offi cers be called, as provided in section one hundred and sixty- three, chapter thirteen, of the General Statutes, to consider and recommend such changes as their judgment shall approve, and their experience suggest." "In the mean time," he said, "I would suggest, that a general order be issued, calling upon commanders of the active force to forward to head-quarters the names of the persons composing their commands, also their places of residence, so that a complete roll of each company may be on file in this department. The companies that have not their full quota of men should be filled by new enlistments to the number fixed by law ; and, whenever new enlistments are made or discharges given, the names of the persons enlisted and discharged should be forwarded immediately to head-quarters, and placed on file." Governor Banks, to whom the report was addressed, retired from office four days after it was printed, and before any action could be taken upon the recommendations made. They looked to a greatly increased active militia force, and are the first suggestions that were made in an official form for strength ening the military force of the Commonwealth, and placing it upon a war footing. Governor Andrew adopted these suggestions ; and on the 16th of January, eleven days after his inauguration, directed the Adjutant-General to issue General Order No. 4, which cre ated a great interest throughout the State, and especially among the active militia. 20 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. HEAD-QUARTERS, BOSTON, Jan. 16, 1861. GENERAL ORDER No. 4. Events which have recently occurred, and are now in progress, re quire that Massachusetts should be at all times ready to furnish her quota upon any requisition of the President of the United States, to aid in the maintenance of the laws and the peace of the Union. His Excellency the Commander-in-chief therefore orders, That the commanding officer of each company of volunteer militia examine with care the roll of his company, and cause the name of each member, together with his rank and place of residence, to be properly recorded, arid a copy of the same to be forwarded to the office of the Adjutant-General. Previous to which, commanders of companies shall make strict inquiry, whether there are men in their commands, who from age, physical defect, business, or family causes, may be unable or indisposed to respond at once to the orders of the Commander-in-chief, made in response to the call of the President of the United States, that they be forthwith discharged ; so that their places may be filled by men ready for any public exigency which may arise, whenever called upon. After the above orders shall have been fulfilled, no discharge, either of officer or private, shall be granted, unless for cause satisfactory to the Commander-in-chief. If any companies have not the number of men allowed by law, the commanders of the same shall make proper exertions to have the va cancies filled, and the men properly drilled and uniformed, and their names and places of residence forwarded to head-quarters. To promote the objects embraced in this order, the general, field, and staff officers, and the Adjutant and acting Quartermaster General will give all the aid and assistance in their power. Major-Generals Sutton, Morse, and Andrews will cause this order to be promulgated throughout their respective divisions. By command of His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and Commander-in-chief. WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General. The order was generally well received, and immediately acted upon. Some of the newspapers attacked it, as unneces sary and sensational ; but it was sustained as proper. The active militia responded with alacrity. Meetings were held in their armories, the rolls called ; and the men who could LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 21 not respond, should a call be made to march, were honorably discharged, and their places filled by active men who could. The corrected rolls were forwarded to head-quarters. Only one company sent in a political argumentative answer, which was drawn up with ability, and was evidently written by a Southern sympathizer. The document made several pages of manuscript. The Adjutant-General returned it to the officer, with the remark, that the paper was disrespectful in its tone and language to the Commander-in-chief, and in violation of the first principles of military law. He would give him an opportunity either to modify it or to withdraw it entirely. If a satisfactory response was not received within a reasonable time, the matter would be laid before His Excellency the Governor ; and the probability was, the officers of the company would be dis charged, and the company disbanded. In a few days, a proper answer was made ; and the officer with his company, before the end of the year, were mustered into the service for three years, and were sent to the Department of the Gulf, where they did good service. From the day that General Order No. 4 was issued, a new spirit and zeal imbued our volunteer force. Applications also came from different parts of the Commonwealth for permission to raise new companies. A general impression prevailed, that we were on the perilous edge of battle, and it was the duty of Massachusetts to be ready to meet the crisis. In the mean time, the Governor, who believed from the first that war would ensue, was obtaining information, from every available source, that would be of use, and which could guide him wisely in his course. The first movement made in the Legislature in relation to national or military matters was a resolution which was offered in the House on the llth of January, six days after Governor Andrew s inauguration, and a day or two after the Speaker had announced the standing committees ; which was in effect, " that it is the universal sentiment of the people of Massachusetts, that the President should enforce the execution of the laws of the United States, defend the Union, protect national property ; " and, to this end, the State " cheerfully tenders her entire means, 22 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. civil and military, to enable him to do so." This was referred to the Committee on Federal Relations. Jan. 12. Mr. Slocum, of Grafton, offered a resolution, di recting the Committee on the Militia to inquire whether the militia laws of this State were in accordance with the Constitu tion and laws of the United States. In the Senate, Jan. 14, the Committee on the Militia re ported a bill of three sections to increase the volunteer force, which was discussed on the 15th and 16th, and finally recom mitted to the committee, together with all the amendments that had been proposed. On the same day (14th), Mr. George T. Davis, of Greenfield, introduced a bill " to prevent hostile invasions of other States ; " the purpose of which was to prevent, by fine and imprisonment, persons who should set on foot any unlawful scheme, military or naval, to invade any State or Territory of the Union. This was referred to the Committee on Federal Relations, but never was passed. Jan. 18. In the Senate. Mr. Cole, of Berkshire, from the Committee on Federal Relations, reported a series of resolu tions, the purport of which was, to stand by the Union, and tendering to the President of the United States such aid, in men and money, as he may require. On motion of Mr. Northend, of Essex, the rules were suspended, and the resolves passed the Senate by a unanimous vote. On the same day, Mr. Parker, of Worcester, introduced in the House a new militia bill, which was referred to the commit tee on that subject. Jan. 19. In Senate. Mr. Northend introduced a series of resolutions, to the effect that the Constitution of the United States was the supreme law of the land ; that the recent acts of South Carolina are revolutionary and treasonable ; and that this Government must be maintained at all hazards. Referred to the Committee on Federal Relations. The same day, a long debate took place in the House, on a bill to increase the militia, but without coming to a vote. Jan. 21. In Senate. Mr. Walker, of Worcester, intro duced a resolution to inquire whether there were parties in this LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 23 Commonwealth making arms or ammunition, to be sold to the agents of States now or likely to be in rebellion, with power to send for persons and papers. Adopted. Same day, a debate occurred in the House on the Militia Bill ; but, without taking a vote, the bill was recommitted. Jan. 23. In Senate. Mr. Schouler, of Middlesex, of fered an order, which was adopted, directing the Adjutant- General to furnish estimates, for the use of the Legislature, of the cost of furnishing 2,000 overcoats, 2,000 blankets, 2,000 knapsacks, and camp equipage for a force of 2,000 men, when in active service. In the House, same day, Mr. Coffin, of Newburyport, re ported the Militia Bill in a new draft. Same day, the Governor sent a communication to the House, informing it of the tender of the Sixth Regiment, by Colonel Jones, for immediate service, if required. Jan. 24. In Senate. A message was received from the Governor, transmitting the proposition from the Legislature of Virginia , % for the appointment of commissioners to meet at Washington on the 4th of February, to agree upon a compro mise of the national difficulties. Referred to the Committee on Federal Relations, and ordered to be printed. Jan. 26. In Senate. Mr. Davis, of Bristol, offered this order : " That the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to forthwith report a bill authorizing the authorities of this Commonwealth to in dorse and guarantee the treasury notes of the United States to the full amount of the surplus revenue received by Massachusetts in the year 1837." Some opposition was made to the order, but it was adopted. Jan. 28. In the House. Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, in troduced resolutions to sustain the Union ; and that all at tempts to overthrow it, with the expectation of reconstructing it anew, were vain and illusory. Referred to the Committee on Federal Relations. Jan. 29. In Senate. A message was received from the Governor, transmitting certain resolutions passed by the States of Pennsylvania and Tennessee ; also the Ordinance of Seces- 24 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. sion of the State of Georgia, adopted by a convention of the people of that State, and forwarded to Governor Andrew by George W. Crawford, president of that convention. After some debate, it was voted to print the message of Governor Andrew and the resolutions from the two States, but not to further notice the Secession Ordinance. A debate then arose upon passing the bill for Massachu setts to indorse the notes of the United States to the amount of our indebtedness on account of the surplus revenue, which, after debate, was rejected, yeas 14, nays 19. The reason for rejecting the bill was stated by Mr. Hardy, of Norfolk. " He did not like to have it put on record that old Massachu setts came to the Federal Government in the hour of distress, and said that she would loan her all she owed, and no more. He was in favor of giving all that the Government needed, as far as it was possible, two, three, or four millions." Same day, in the House, the bill to increase the militia was further debated, and a substitute for the whole bill, offered by Mr. Banfield, of West Roxbury, was adopted, and passed to a third reading by a vote of 116 to 40. This bill, however, did not become a law. Jan. 30. In Senate. On motion of Mr. Hardy, of Nor folk, the bill in relation to loaning the State credit to the United States, which was rejected yesterday, was re-consid ered ; and he offered a new proposition, as follows : "That the Treasurer and Receiver- General of the Commonwealth be and hereby is authorized to guarantee, upon the request of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, the treasury bonds of the United States to the amount of $2,000,000, on such conditions as shall be agreed upon by the Secretary of the Treasury of the Uni ted States, and the Governor and Council of this Commonwealth." Mr. Boynton, of Worcester, thought the passage of the bill would indicate that the credit of the United States is not good, and we must indorse it to make it good. He did not think it necessary to take such a step before it is called for. He thought it was " a Union-saving " movement, and would do more to our discredit than to the good of the country. Mr. Hardy said it was not only a movement in behalf of the LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 25 Union, but a matter of business. It is true, the General Gov ernment is bankrupt. Massachusetts can help by her notes or her indorsement ; and, instead of bending the knee or rolling in the dust before the South, it is putting backbone into the Government. It shows that Massachusetts has faith in the General Government. Mr. Boynton was opposed to giving any aid to the present Administration (Buchanan s) . When we have a new Adminis tration that we can trust, he thought it would be time enough to talk about lending money. Mr. Davis, of Bristol, moved to amend the bill so that it would take effect immediately upon its passage. The amend ment was carried, and the bill was passed to a third reading. On motion of Mr. Schouler, of Middlesex, the bill was ordered to be printed. Jan. 30. In the House. The Senate Militia Bill came up in order. Mr. Durfee, of New Bedford, moved to strike out all after the enacting clause, and to substitute a bill of his own. The subject was then laid on the table, and the bill and amendment ordered to be printed. Jan. 31. In Senate. A communication was received from the Adjutant-General, in accordance with a joint resolu tion of the Legislature, adopted on the 23d inst., giving the following estimates of equipping 2,000 men for active service : 2,000 overcoats, at $9 each, $18,000; 2,000 knapsacks, at $2.25 each, $4,500 ; 2,000 blankets, at $3 each, $6,000 ; camp equipage (exclusive of tents), $3,000, total, $31,500. On motion of Mr. Schouler, of Middlesex, the communica tion was laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. Feb. 1. In Senate. Mr. Whitney, of Plymouth, from the Committee on Federal Kelations, reported a bill to create an emergency fund for the Governor of $100,000, to take effect upon its passage. The bill was immediately passed through the several stages, under a suspension of the rules. The communication of the Adjutant-General was taken from the table, and referred to the Joint Standing Committee on the Militia. In the House, the Militia Bill was discussed. Several amend- 26 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ments were offered by Mr. Quincy, of Boston, which were lost. The substitute offered by Mr. Durfee, of New Bedford, was also voted down ; and the bill in the draft offered by Mr. Banfield, of West Roxbury, was ordered to be engrossed. Mr. Parker, of Worcester, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed. Placed on the orders of the day. Saturday, Feb. 2. In the House. The motion to re consider the vote by which the Militia bill was ordered to be engrossed was carried; and, on motion of Mr. Hills, of Bos ton, it was recommitted to the Committee on the Militia. On leave, Mr. Smith, of Boston, introduced a new bill in relation to the militia ; and that also was referred to the Com mittee on the Militia. Mr. Tyler, of Boston, from the Finance Committee, reported to the House the Senate bill creating an emergency fund of $100,000. He moved that the rules be suspended, that it might take its several readings at once. Mr. Parsons, of Lawrence, opposed the suspension of the rules, on the ground that a bill of so much importance should be carefully considered. Mr. Slack, of Boston, thought extraordinary circumstances demanded extraordinary measures, and alluded briefly to the present state of national affairs. On motion of Mr. Davis, of Greenfield, the House went into secret session. During the secret session, the motion to suspend the rules prevailed ; and the bill took its several readings, and was ordered to be engrossed. Feb. 2. The Senate debated the resolves for the appoint ment of seven commissioners to proceed to Washington to con fer with the General Government, or with commissioners from other States, upon the state of the country. These resolves were reported in accordance with the invitation of the General Assembly of Virginia. The debate in the Senate was very able : the proposition being sustained by Messrs. Northend and Stone, of Essex; Davis, of Bristol; and Hardy, of Norfolk; and opposed by Mr. Whiting, of Plymouth. The resolves passed, yeas 24, nays 6. The bill provided, that the com missioners should be appointed by the Governor, and should make their report to the Legislature. LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 27 In the House, resolutions of a similar character were intro duced by Mr. Parker, of Worcester. They were supported by Mr. Davis, of Greenfield, and Mr. Parker ; and opposed by Mr. Branning, of Lee. Before coming to any conclusion, the re solves which had passed the Senate reached the House. Mr. Parker s were laid on the table, and the Senate resolves were discussed. After a long debate on a motion to suspend the rules, which was lost, yeas 104, nays 65, not two-thirds, the House adjourned. Tuesday, Feb. 5. In the House. The Senate resolves for the appointment of commissioners were, on motion of Mr. Davis, of Greenfield, taken from the orders of the day, and considered. He said the resolves met with his entire appro bation. Mr. Slocum, of Grafton, said, with all respect for Virginia, he could not abide by her opinions, since they might desecrate the soil of Massachusetts to slavery ; rather than that, said he, let blood come. He moved an amendment. Mr. Wallis, of Bolton, favored the amendment. Mr. Gilford, of Provincetown, opposed it, and favored the resolutions. "He had no fears that Massachusetts would act at the bidding of Virginia or any other State." Mr. French, of Waltham, favored the amendment, which was, in substance, that Massachusetts did not agree with Vir ginia that the Constitution required amendment to guarantee to each State its rights. Mr. Hyde, of Newton, opposed the amendment. He did not see any good reason why it should be adopted. He did not think Virginia needed to be told where Massachusetts stands to-day. Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, did not want the matter forced through by outside influence. He was opposed to the resolves, and hoped they would be rejected. Mr. Fisk, of Shelburne, advocated the proposition, and would forward it with his hand and vote. Mr. Prentiss, of Marblehead, opposed the measure in a speech of considerable length, and asked if we would send commission ers to a convention of traitors ? Let us rather send the sword. 28 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. Mr. Slack, of Boston, spoke in opposition. He foresaw that the convention would act contrary to the desires of the people of Massachusetts, and that this Commonwealth would be partly responsible for its acts. Mr. Durfee, of New Bedford, moved to amend by instruct ing the commissioners not to recognize the resolutions presented in Congress by Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, as a proper basis for adjustment or compromise of difficulties. Mr. Sears, of Boston, and Mr. Gibbs, of New Bedford, spoke in favor of the original resolves, and against the amendments. The amendments were voted down, and the resolves were passed to be engrossed by a vote of yeas 184, nays 31. Feb. 6. The House voted to substitute the Senate bill for the increase of the militia for the bill of Mr. Banfield, of West Roxbury, yeas 96, nays 60. The bill was as follows : CHAPTER 49. An Act in Relation to the Volunteer Militia. SECTION 1. The volunteer militia companies, as now organized, with their officers, shall be retained in the service ; and hereafter, as the public exigency may require, the organization of companies of artillery may be authorized, on petition, by the Commander-in-chief, with advice of the Council, and the organization of other companies may be au thorized, on petition, by the Commander-in-chief, or by the mayor and aldermen or selectmen, by his permission ; and said companies, so re tained and so organized, shall be liable, on a requisition of the Presi dent of the United States upon the Commander-in-chief, to be marched without the limits of the Commonwealth ; but all additional companies, battalions, and regiments which may be organized under the provisions of this act, shall be disbanded whenever the Governor or the Legisla ture shall deem that their services are no longer needed. Companies of cavalry shall be limited to one hundred privates, and a saddler and a farrier ; companies of artillery to forty-eight cannoneers, twenty-four drivers, and a saddler and farrier ; the cadet companies of the first and second divisions to one hundred, and companies of infantry and rifle men to sixty-four, privates. SECT. 2. The fourteenth section of the thirteenth chapter of the General Statutes, and all laws or parts of laws now in force, limiting the number of the volunteer militia, are hereby repealed. SKCT. 3. Tliis act shall take effect upon its passage. LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 29 The resolves to appoint commissioners to attend a convention to be held in Washington, Feb. 5, were approved by the Gov ernor, and were as follows : " Whereas, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is desirous of a full and free conference with the General Government, and with any or all of the other States of the Union, at any time and on every occasion, when such conference may promote the welfare of the country ; and " Whereas questions of grave moment have arisen touching the powers of the Government, and the relations between the different States of the Union ; and " Whereas the State of Virginia has expressed a desire to meet her sister States in convention at Washington ; therefore " Resolved, That the Governor of this Commonwealth, by and with the advice and consent of the Council, be, and he hereby is, authorized to appoint seven persons as commissioners, to proceed to Washington to confer with the General Government, or with the separate States, or with any association of delegates from such States, and to report their doings to the Legislature at its present session ; it being expressly declared, that their acts shall be at all times under the control, and subject to the approval or rejection, of the Legislature." On the same day, Feb. 5, the Governor, with the consent of the Council, appointed the following named gentlemen as com missioners : Hon. JOHN Z. GOODRICH, of Stockbridge. Hon. CHARLES ALLEN, of Worcester. Hon. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, of Groton. Hon. FRANCIS B. CROWNINSHIELD, of Boston. THEOPHILUS P. CHANDLER, Esq., of Brookline. JOHN M. FORBES, Esq., of Milton. RICHARD P. WATERS, Esq., of Beverly. These gentleman immediately proceeded to Washington, and took part in the deliberations of the "Peace Congress." It was a very able delegation. There was great interest felt in regard to the action of the Peace Congress, and how far its acts would bind the States which the delegates represented. Feb. 8. In the House. Mr. Albee, of Marlborough, offered the following resolution : 30 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. " That our commissioners at Washington are hereby instructed to use every effort to prevent the adoption of the Critteuden Compro mise, or any similar proposition, by the Convention now in session in Washington." Passed, yeas 112, nays 27; and the Governor was re quested to forward a copy to each of the commissioners. After the adjournment of the House, the members retained their seats, and the Clerk read the following communica tion : Extract from the Proceedings of the House of Representatives of South Carolina, Jan. 23, 1861. " Mr. Plolland offered the following, which were unanimously adopted : "Whereas a certain Mr. Tyler, of Boston, has introduced a resolution in the Massachusetts Legislature, * that, in view of the great suffering in South Carolina, the immediate consequence of the citizens of that State acting under a mistaken idea of their rights and obligations, and in view of the abundance of this Commonwealth, a sum be appropriated from the State treasury, to be invested in provisions and stores for the relief of our suffer ing fellow-countrymen of that State ; therefore be it "Resolved, That the report now current in Massachusetts or elsewhere, that any part of South Carolina is suffering, or likely to suffer, for the want of provisions, is a lie as black as hell, and originated nowhere but amongst negro-worshippers at the North. "Resolved, That the Legislature of Massachusetts be respectfully re quested to appropriate the money to the relief of her own suffering, starving, poor thousands. "Resolved, That we can attend to our own affairs without the aid of Massachusetts." Mr. Speaker, The foregoing is a true copy of the proceedings of the South Carolina Legislature. You are respectfully requested to have them read in open session. W. F. COY KENDALL, Assistant Clerk. March 19. In the House. Mr. Tyler, of Boston, from the Committee on Finance, reported a resolve relating to the equipment of troops for active service in a new draft, reducing the sum from $35,000 to 125,000; which, on motion of Mr. Jewell, of Boston, was referred to the Committee on the Militia, with instructions " to inquire and report whether any contracts have been made or liabilities incurred in regard to any of the LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 31 matters mentioned in the resolve ; and, if so, what and when, and by what officer, and under what authority." March 23. In the House. Mr. Coffin, of Newbury- port from the Committee on the Militia, reported that the resolve for the equipment of troops for active service ought to pass ; also the following communication from the Adjutant- General : BOSTON, March 21, 1861. Colonel FREDERICK J. COFFIN, House of Representatives. SIR, In answer to the inquiry made by the Honorable House of Representatives, " whether any contracts have been made or liabilities incurred in regard to any of the matters mentioned in the resolve re ported to the House, relating to the equipment of troops for active service, and, if so, when, and by what authority," I have the honor to say : Under the direction of His Excellency the Governor and the Hon orable Council, the following contracts have been made by me as Adju tant and Acting Quartermaster General : 1st. With the Middlesex Company, Lowell, for 6,000 yards of cloth, six-fourths wide, to make 2,000 military overcoats, at $1.37 a yard. 2d. With William Deacon, to make 2,000 military overcoats at $2.15 each, he finding the trimmings, except the buttons. 3d. With James Boyd & Sons, to make 1,000 knapsacks, army pattern, and with Edward A. G. Roulstone, to make 1,000 knapsacks, army pattern, severally at $1.88 each. 4th. With Converse, Harding, & Co., for 1,000 pairs of blankets, army size, at $3.75 a pair. 5th. With the Rubber Clothing Company, Beverly, for 2,000 haver sacks, at 75 cents each. 6th. The buttons for the coats have been contracted for with the manufacturer at Attleborough, and will cost about $740. 7th. I was also authorized to contract for 200,000 ball-cartridges to suit the new rifled musket. The lowest market price for these cartridges is $14 a thousand. At the State Arsenal, at Cambridge, there have been for many years upwards of 200,000 musket-balls suitable for the old smooth-bore musket. I have caused these to be recast, and the cartridges made at the Arsenal ; so that the entire cost to the Commonwealth for the 200,000 new musket cartridges will not exceed $1,500. The aggregate cost to the Commonwealth to fulfil these contracts 32 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. will be $23,770 ; to which should be added $150 to pay a proper per son or persons to inspect the work when finished, to ascertain whether the parties contracted with have faithfully fulfilled their several agree ments. The resolve appropriating $25,000 will cover the entire expense, and will leave a surplus sufficient to purchase 300,000 per cussion caps, which it will be necessary to buy, if the troops of the Commonwealth are called into active service. With great respect, I have the honor to be your obedient servant, WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant and Acting Quartermaster General. Monday, March 25. In Senate. A message was received from the Governor, transmitting a report of the commissioners appointed to represent the Commonwealth in the Peace Con gress at Washington, which was read. Without taking action, the Senate adjourned. The report gave a careful record of the proceedings of the Convention, which commenced its sessions in Washing ton on the 4th of February, and adjourned on the 27th of the same month. It sat with closed doors, and no full or consecutive report of its proceedings was ever made. It ap pears, however, from the report of our Commissioners, that most of the time was consumed in considering seven distinct propositions for amending the Federal Constitution, each of which was intended to strengthen the institution of slavery, by giving it additional guarantees and enlarged privileges. These propositions were reported by a committee composed of one from each State represented. Mr. Guthrie, of Ken tucky, was made chairman. Massachusetts was represented on the committee by Mr. Crowninshield, who appears to have called for a specific statement of the grievances complained of by the discontented States. This request led to discussion, but failed to obtain the desired information. Mr. Guthrie s report was adopted by the committee by a majority of five, but the report, as a whole, never received the sanction of a majority of the Convention. Massachusetts voted against all of the propo sitions except the last, and on that, the delegation declined to vote, either for or against. As this Congress failed to accom plish any practical purpose, or to make an impression upon the FORTIFICATIONS IN THE STATE. 33 country, either for good or for evil, it is not necessary at this late day to exhume from its secret records the crude conceits and extravagant demands which were pressed by Southern members, by which they hoped to prevent civil war, but which, if adopted, would have added strength and permanency to slavery, which was the weakness and the crime of the republic, and the fruit ful cause of all our national woes. It does not appear that the Massachusetts members submitted any plan of adjustment, but contented themselves with debating such as were offered by others, and voting as their judgments dictated. Same day. In the House. Colonel Coffin, of Newbury- port, introduced a bill to limit the number of privates in infan try and rifle companies to fifty, except when, in the opinion of the Governor, the number should be extended to sixty-four, which was subsequently passed. The bill also to provide for the equipment of troops in active service was passed to be engrossed. AprilS. In the House. The Committee on the Militia reported it was inexpedient to legislate upon the appointment of a commissary and surgeon-general, and of amending chap ter 13, section 144, of the General Statutes, in relation to the mileage of the militia. April 5. In Senate. A resolve in favor of calling a na tional convention was discussed. It was opposed by Mr. Whiting, of Plymouth, and Mr. Walker, of Worcester, and advocated by Mr. Northend, of Essex, and Mr. Hardy, of Norfolk. It was finally, on motion of Mr. Davis, of Bristol, referred to the next Legislature. The session closed Thursday, April 11, 1861. The most important acts of the session, having for their object the preparation of the State for war, were " the act in relation to the volunteer militia," the appropriating of 1100,000 as an emergency fund, and of $25,000 to provide overcoats and equipage for 2,000 men. The militia law of the General Statutes limited the active militia to 5,000 men : the act already quoted gave the Governor authority to organize as many companies and regiments as the public exigency might require. 3 34 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. While the Legislature was considering and passing prepara tory measures, the Governor was not idle. A constant corre spondence was kept up with our members of Congress and the Governors of other States. Leading merchants, and other gen tlemen of experience and wisdom, were daily consulted. The militia was strengthened. A cipher key was arranged, to be used in transmitting messages which required secrecy. The defenceless condition of the forts in Boston harbor was considered. In Fort Warren there was but one gun ; in Fort Winthrop none at all; and, in Fort Independence, hardly twenty guns, and most of them were trained on the city itself. The casemates were unfit for human occupation. The grounds inside the forts were covered with workshops and wooden shan ties ; and, instead of being a defence to the city and harbor, the fortifications of Boston were a standing menace to them, and invited seizure by the enemy. The entire coast of Massa chusetts was open to attack from sea ; not a fort or an earth work or a gun was in proper condition. There were neither officers nor troops in garrison. Our entire reliance, should war come, was in the patriotism of the militia and the people of the Commonwealth. If troops were to be sent to Washington, the best and safest way of forwarding them was a question for discussion. Two Southern States lay between Boston and Washington ; which, in case of civil war, were as likely to array themselves against the Government as for it. The danger of sending troops through Baltimore was very fully considered. The ease with which the passage of the Susquehanna could be impeded, and the long railroad bridges over the creeks between that river and Baltimore destroyed, was foreseen, and on the other hand the facility with which the approach by transports up the Potomac could be stopped by batteries, seemed to render that route impracticable. A meeting was held in the Governor s room on the 2d of February, and was adjourned to the 6th, at which Major-Generals Sutton, Morse, and Andrews, of the State militia ; Colonel Thayer, U.S.A. ; the Adjutant-General of the State ; the aides-de-camp of His Excellency ; and others, were present. CONSULTATIONS IN GOVERNOR S ROOM. 35 Colonel Henry Lee, of Governor Andrew s staff, in a letter dated July 9, 1867, to me, says, u With regard to the preparations for war made by Governor An drew, I recollect, for my part, collecting information respecting steam ers, and reporting the names and capacities and whereabouts of all which plied between Boston and other ports, on Feb. 2, 1861. On Feb. 4, the Governor called a meeting at his chamber in the State House, at which were present some of the chief officers of the militia : also, General Thayer, of the United-States Engineers, and Messrs. Gor don and Andrews, ex-United-States-army officers, both major-generals of volunteers in the late war. I recorded the replies, and drew up a memorandum of the items of clothing, equipment, arms, and ammuni tion needed, to prepare the militia for service in the field. " On Feb. 6, a second meeting was called by the Governor. I cannot remember distinctly how much of the discussion took place at the first, and what at the second ; but the result of the two was, the Governor s order for two thousand overcoats, equipments, &c., which was for two months the subject of so much ridicule. Feb. 9, a report was made by the Committee on Militia, of the Council, and a communication re ceived by His Excellency from the Adjutant- General, giving estimates for clothing and equipments for two thousand troops in service." The same order passed by the Council referred to by Colonel Lee, respecting the overcoats, speaks also of forwarding troops to Washington, "the mode of transit to be governed by circum stances that may arise hereafter ; rail being preferred, if practi cable." Immediately after the meeting on the 2d of February, Gov ernor Andrew detailed Colonel Ritchie, of his staff, to visit Washington, to confer confidentially with the Massachusetts senators and representatives, and General Scott, in regard to the prospect of a requisition being made for troops, and espe cially to learn from the general by what route in case of such a call he would wish the troops to be sent, and whether they would have to carry field equipage with them. He arrived at Washington on the 6th ; and, on that evening, wrote to the Governor as follows : WASHINGTON, D.C., Wednesday, Feb. G, 1861. I received your instructions on Monday, at 1, P.M. I found, that, if I left Boston that afternoon, I could get here on Tuesday evening, but too 36 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. late to attend to any business. I therefore determined to start on Tuesday morning, which gave me an opportunity of discussing the ob jects of my mission with Colonel Sargent, who took the same train as far as Springfield, Mass., and enabled me to reach this city this morn ing by daybreak. Immediately after breakfast, I called on the Hon. Charles Sunnier. He at once understood the object of my mission, and favored me with a statement on the present state of affairs. I also met him again later in the day in. the Senate Chamber, when he went over again, with me, the same ground. He gives as serious an account of the conspiracy to take possession of this city by the secessionists as any you have received ; but he thinks the danger has been steadily diminishing since the 2d of January, the day on which the President gave General Scott power to concen trate troops for the defence of the capital. The President has had several relapses since that date ; and at times has seemed about to recall all the confidence he had placed in General Scott, and oblige him to undo all that had been done. The most extraordinary scenes have taken place in the Cabinet : only last week it was on the point of breaking up entirely, and the danger seemed to be as great again as at any previous time ; but the general has triumphed in all particu lars, excepting in his desire to have the militia of the Northern States called out : to that the President will not even now consent. Mr. Sumner thinks there was a crisis in the Cabinet last week, and that, even after the general had overcome the hesitation of the Presi dent, there was a most serious danger to be apprehended from the revolutionary threats of the Democratic leaders in Maryland, in which the leaders of both wings of the Democratic party united. He thinks, however, that, the first schemes of the conspirators having been discon certed, there was nothing to be apprehended in the way of an attack upon this city, unless the conspirators should have been enabled to lean upon State authority for their action. Therefore he thinks that the result of the election of delegates to the convention in Virginia has postponed the danger from this source. He is convinced that the conspirators counted upon a different result in Virginia ; that, by the 18th, the Virginia Convention would have pronounced for secession ; and that they were therefore safe in calling the Maryland Convention for that day, being sure that in that event Maryland would follow suit. If the result of the Virginia election had been in favor of the secessionists, the attack on the Capitol might have been carried out without waiting for the formal action of the Virginia Convention. Mr. Sumner now thinks there is no immediate danger to be feared of such an attack. COLONEL RITCHIE AT WASHINGTON. 37 He is by no means confident of the determination to which that con vention will ultimately come, but thinks that a delay has been gained which will carry us over the 4th of March in safety. Mr. Adams and Mr. Seward, with both of whom I have had long conversations, agree with Mr. Sumner fully as to any danger of an immediate attack. Mr. Seward thinks all danger is past. Mr. Sumner thinks Mr. Seward has never been aware of the real peril ; and is evidently of the opinion that the crisis is only postponed. Mr. Adams thinks there will be no need of troops before the 6th of March, but thinks we shall have to fight after that date. Mr. Sumner thinks Congress would be now sitting in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, but for General Scott s action. Mr. Seward seems to think this concentration of troops has been unnecessary. General Wilson appears to be of the opinion that Massachusetts and New York will have to furnish money, but doubts if they will be called upon for any troops. Mr. Seward urged me to write to you, and beg you to secure the passage of the resolutions by which Massachusetts would endorse the bonds of the United States to the extent of the deposit of surplus revenue in her hands, made in 1837. He says this is all they now ask of Massachusetts ; that she will never have to pay a cent on account of such indorsement, but that the indorsement must be given, as the new Administration will be without funds. I have also con versed with Mr. Burlingame, Mr. Thayer, and Mr. Alley, of Massa chusetts, and particularly with Mr. Stanton, of Ohio, the chairman of the committee who have been inquiring into this conspiracy. Mr. Adams, Mr. Burlingame, Mr. Thayer, and Mr. Stanton, all talked the matter over together in my presence ; and all were of opin ion that no call would be made on Massachusetts before March 4. Mr. Seward is the only one I have seen who stated that he thought all danger was now at an end, owing to the action of Virginia. And even Mr. Seward, at dinner this P.M., at Mr. Adams , stated that the South must succumb, or we should have to exterminate them, or they would have to exterminate us. He thinks the South are anxious to creep out of the movement of their own creation. I have had to give you as rapid a resume of the opinions of these civilians as possible, as I have hardly time to reach the mail. The only point of immediate importance is, that all agree that there is no probability of an immediate call upon us for militia. Mr. Stanton thought, that, if a call were made, it would be for vol unteers ; and that there would be time to enlist special regiments for the war, as in the Mexican war. After leaving Mr. Sumner, I called on General Scott. He is avowedly very anxious even now, and would 38 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. at once call for ten thousand men, if empowered to do so. He says the President, however, will never issue such a requisition. The President doubts his power ; and, while I was with the general, Mr. Stanton came to consult with him about a bill, which I inclose, intro duced for the purpose of meeting this objection of the President s. But even if this bill passes, and it will pass, unless the Republi cans are satisfied that the President already possesses the power hereby intended to be given him, still the President thinks that a call for Northern militia would at once set Virginia and Maryland in a blaze. They have declared in Maryland, only last week, that the Susque- hanna should flow with blood, if the attempt were made to bring North ern troops across it. General Scott therefore agrees that there is no probability of any call being made on you by President Buchanan. He, however, would himself issue such a call at once if he had the power, and would have issued it a month ago. With Colonel Keyes, of General Scott s staff, I discussed all the points at length, which were considered at the meeting of officers con vened by you on Monday last. Colonel Keyes is General Scott s right-hand man, and is the officer who has been charged with ferreting out this whole matter. He also says there will be no call at present, but that we must be prepared. I telegraphed at once, after my interview with Mr. Sumner, General Scott, and Colonel Keyes, to Mr. Albert G. Browne, Jr., " There is not the slightest probability of any immediate call; particulars by mail ; take no further steps." Colonel Keyes approved of this de spatch ; and so did Messrs. Sumner, Wilson, Adams, Burlingame, and Thayer. Colonel Keyes thinks it would not be safe to come, either by land or by the Potomac, but that the United States must hold the forts at Baltimore ; and that the troops must come by sea to Baltimore, and land there under cover of the forts. As to this, however, as also the other details, I will give you oral information ; and Colonel Keyes will furnish me with much at a later day to which he could not give answers at once. There are also many things which will depend upon circumstances at the date of the call. I shall see to-morrow if affairs assume any different aspect ; and, if they do not, I shall leave here to-morrow afternoon. I shall not think it expedient, under the circumstances, to approach the Mayor of Baltimore. Please excuse this hurried note, as I have been writing to save the COLONEL RITCHIE AT NEW YORK. 39 mail, and been obliged to disregard form. I believe I have given you the substance of all that I have learned here. Your Excellency s most obedient, HARRISON RITCHIE, Lieutenant- Colonel and Aide-de-Camp. P.S. It is thought that the delay gained by the result of the Vir ginia election will give time for at least one thousand of the troops from Texas to get here before they are wanted. General Scott thinks he can count upon two thousand of the volunteers of this district. Colonel Keyes says, be prepared ; organize your regiments, and drill them ; furnish them with the new rifle-musket, knapsacks, canteens, blankets, and proper clothing, one hundred rounds of ammunition per man, and a supply of camp-kettles. As to other camp equipage, it may be necessary : that he cannot tell at present. Colonel Ritchie left Washington the next day, and, on arriv ing at New York, wrote another letter from that city, dated February 8th, in which he discusses again the position of affairs at Washington, and makes certain suggestions in regard to getting troops to Washington, which in time became of great practical service : " You will have perceived by my first letter that I had already made the acquaintance of Colonel Keyes. In fact we became great friends. When General Scott referred me to his two aides, Colonels Leigh and Keyes, I made up my mind after a very short conversa tion, that Colonel Leigh was a man of Southern proclivities, who did not look with any favor upon my mission, though I had a letter of introduction to him from a mutual friend. He was disposed I thought to prevent my interview with General Scott, and interrupt it after I had obtained it by introducing other people and other matters, and he showed evident marks of dissatisfaction at my quiet persistence until I had accomplished my object. Of course I did not appear to notice this.* Keyes, on the other hand, went into the matter with his whole heart. He said he was bored to death with inquiries on these points but where they were direct and to the point, he would answer them by the hour with pleasure. I had also heard of Mr. Goddard s errand, and conversed with him before receiving your * Leigh afterwards deserted to the enemy, taking with him many of General Scott s plans and confidential papers. 40 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Excellency s note. I, however, had another conversation with him yesterday morning, when he informed me that the answer given to his request for a detailed plan, was, in effect, that none such could be furnished at present. Some regulars, one company of artillery from. Augusta, and one company of dragoons from Carlisle barracks, arrived yesterday ; and, as I believe I mentioned in my first, a draft of infantry arrived at Washington in the train in which I reached the city. " General Scott and Colonel Keyes are evidently anxious, and would like more men ; but the President will never issue the requisition . . . Floyd has so plundered the United -States magazines, arsenals, and depots of munitions of war and warlike stores, that they do not know yet what is left, and so cannot tell what we must bring with us. It is clear, that, if we move, it must be by sea, landing at Baltimore or Annapolis ; that pilots must be secured in advance, as they will be seized by the secessionists ; and that the ships must go to sea with sealed orders, while a false destination is publicly reported. " I shall take the liberty to recommend one other caution, to be adjusted when I can speak with you in private, and which actual expe rience has shown me is necessary, if you desire that certain Boston papers should not divulge all your plans, as they have done hitherto. On Thursday morning (yesterday), I saw Mr. Sumner, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Burlingame, Mr. Adams, and others. They had nothing new to communicate, but adhere to their conviction, that there is no prospect, or possibility indeed, of an immediate call upon you. I mentioned in my first, that Mr. Seward was the only person I saw who pretended to think the danger more than postponed. I happened to be present at a conversation between him and some of his most intimate and con fidential friends, when he evidently spoke out his sincere conviction. I was much impressed with what he said, which satisfied me that his optimist views are assumed, as necessary in his relation to the new Administration, and that in reality he is no more hopeful than Mr. Sumner. I will repeat his remark to you on my return. Mr. Adams also heard this remark ; and when I asked him, yesterday, if he no ticed it, he seemed surprised at my having marked it also, and con fessed that it impressed him very forcibly. " Mr. Adams was on his way to find me yesterday, as I was going to his house. He came to ask me to inform your Excellency that the Secretary of the Treasury had sent for him that morning, to beg him to urge upon you the extreme importance of our Legislature passing the resolves authorizing the indorsement by Massachusetts of the bonds of the United States to the amount of the shares of the surplus LETTER OF SECRETARY SEWARD. 41 revenue deposited with her in 1837. Mr. Adams said that the Secre tary wished to issue his proposals on Monday, if possible, and hoped these resolves would be passed before that time. " I told Mr. Adams that Mr. Seward and Mr. Wilson had impressed me with the importance of this on the previous day, and that I had conveyed their request already to your Excellency. Mr. Adams then said I could do no more, and that he would write to you at once. I, however, saw Mr. Wilson about it yesterday morning, and he said he would consult the Massachusetts delegation yesterday, if possible, and get them all to sign a letter to you on the subject, for you to show to the Legislature. " I should mention that I called the attention of our delegation to the unsatisfactory state of the United-States militia laws, and the ques tions that have arisen with us already. I left a copy of Lothrop s opinion with Mr. Wilson. He will read it, and read again the debates in our Constitutional Convention, and see what can be done. They all saw the delicacy of the points, and their importance, and will do what they can. " Finding I could do nothing more, I decided to leave Washington last night, though, for my own pleasure, I should have liked to have remained some time longer at the centre of action in this great crisis. I accordingly came here last night. We were detained by ice and the extreme, savage cold ; and I found this morning that my baggage, though properly checked and shipped at Washington, had not come through ; indeed, none of the baggage did. This will detain me here ; but I can only repeat in more detail what I have already written to your Excellency, when I have the pleasure of reporting my return to you in person. I hope your Excellency will not think my journey has proved entirely unprofitable. I think, at any rate, that an under standing and communication has been opened that may prove very useful in the future." In connection with the letters of Colonel Ritchie, the follow ing extract from a letter addressed to me by Secretary Seward, dated Washington, June 13, 1867, is of interest and impor tance : "In regard to February, 1861, I need only say, that, at the time the secession leaders were all in the Senate and House, with power enough, and only wanting an excuse, to get up a resistance in the capital to the declaration of Mr. Lincoln s election and to his inaugu ration ; in other words, to have excuse and opportunity to open the 42 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. civil war here before the new Administration and new Congress could be in authority to subdue it. I desired to avoid giving them that advan tage. I conferred throughout with General Scott and Mr. Stanton, then in Mr. Buchanan s Cabinet. I presume I conversed with others in a way that seemed to me best calculated to leave the inauguration of a war to the secessionists, and to delay it, in any case, until the new Admin istration should be in possession of the Government. It was less military demonstration that was wanted at that particular moment than political discretion. " Discretion taught two duties ; namely, to awaken patriotism in the North, and to get the secessionists, with Buchanan s Administration, out of Washington. Mr. Adams well and thoroughly understood me. On the 22d of February, in concert with Mr. Stanton, I caused the United-States flag to be displayed throughout all the Northern and Western portions of the United States." Colonel Ritchie did not leave Washington until he had come to a definite understanding in regard to the route by which to forward troops to Washington, should a call for them be made. He had been cordially received by General Scott, to whom the purpose of his mission was made known, and he was referred to Colonel Keyes of General Scott s staff for information upon matters of detail. It was then arranged, that, in case of a call, the troops should be forwarded by sea to Annapolis or Balti more. Colonel Keyes stated, that all other routes to Washing ton would be unsafe; that, for this reason, General Scott had placed an officer in command of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, upon whom he could rely to hold it to the utmost. Immediate measures were taken by the Governor to have the necessary transports in readiness, and Colonel Lee, of his staff, was detailed to attend to this duty. The following extract from a letter dated Boston, Feb. 2, 1861, addressed to the Governor, by Colonel Lee, relates a conversation he had held that day with John M. Forbes, Esq., in regard to chartering steamers to be used as transports, which shows that the atten tion of the Governor had been given to this subject before Colonel Ritchie had returned from Washington : " Mr. Forbes assures me that he and others will have the trans ports ready as soon as the men can be, waiting until orders come before the vessel is chartered, so as to keep as quiet as possible. And MEETING IN CAMBRIDGE. 43 he thinks, with me, that we had better wait for New York, as we can get ready and move quicker ; and any forwardness on the part of Massachusetts would be more offensive than that of New York. He urges also to write or telegraph to General Scott, that we can at once send three hundred men to relieve the garrison at For tress Monroe, if he desires to have the present garrison march to Washington. The cost of steamer per month, with crew, would be three to four thousand dollars, probably. I send a list in order of merit." A very large and respectable meeting of the citizens of Bos ton was held in Faneuil Hall, on the 5th of February, to indorse the resolutions of Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, in favor of a compromise with the South. J. Thomas Stevenson, Esq., presided, and made a strong and able speech in favor of compromise, in the course of which he said " he would almost pray for a foreign war, that it might bind us again as one, and prevent the shedding of fraternal blood. He would give up every thing but honor." B. R. Curtis, Esq., ex-judge of the United-States Supreme Court, made the leading speech, which was received with great favor. The resolutions were read by Colonel Jonas French . Speeches were made by Mr. Wight- man, mayor of the city, Mr. Saltonstall, Mr. G. S. Hillard, and others, some of whom afterwards distinguished themselves as officers in the war. This meeting spoke the sentiments of the conservative citi zens, who regarded war and disunion as evils greater than the existence of slavery, or even of its further extension ; and yet they were anti-slavery men, and regarded slavery as a great moral and political wrong, and would gladly have seen it abol ished. A few days later, on the llth of February, a great meeting was held in Cambridge. The City Hall was crowded. The meet ing was called without distinction of party. Hon. John G. Palfrey spoke briefly. He said, " South Carolina has marshalled herself into revolution ; and six States have followed her, and abandoned our Government." Richard H. Dana, Jr., Esq. , made the speech of the occasion. He said the South was in a state of mutiny ; he was against John-Brown raids, and uncompro misingly for the Union. He was opposed to the Crittenden 44 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. compromise, and held to the faith of Massachusetts. This meeting uttered the sentiments of the majority of the State, and was designed as a counterblast to the meeting held the week before at Faneuil Hall. The speeches made and resolutions passed at these meetings expressed the sentiments of the people of the State. Those who were at Faneuil Hall would rather compromise the issues than have bloodshed and civil war. The men who were at Cam bridge would risk the chance of civil war rather than compro mise. There was another party, which, though small in number, was powerful in eloquence, moral character, and cultivated in tellect. Its zeal never flagged, its leaders never faltered. Its hatred of slavery was chronic. Its martyr spirit was felt and acknowledged. Its policy was aggressive. It made no com promises ; it sought no office ; it asked no favor ; and it gave no quarter. This was the abolition party. The leaders of it were Mr. Garrison and Mr. Phillips. The Federal Constitution, as interpreted by them, was a pro-slavery instrument : they would not, therefore, support it. The Union was "a covenant with hell : " therefore they would break it. For a quarter of *a century they had thus spoken, and consistently acted, and held their ground up to the very day that the rebels fired on Su inter. The following extract from a speech delivered in New Bed ford by Mr. Phillips, on the evening of the 9th of April, 1861, is curious and remarkable, when we consider the positions held by that gentleman before the war, during the war, and since the war. It shows that learned men and orators are sometimes false prophets ; and what is visible to plain men is hid from them : " The telegraph," said Mr. Phillips, " is said to report to-night, that the guns are firing, either out of Fort Sumter or into it ; that to-mor row s breeze, when it sweeps from the North, will bring to us the echo of the first Lexington battle of the new Revolution. Well, what shall we say of such an hour ? My own feeling is a double one. It is like the triumph of sadness, rejoicing and sorrow. I cannot, indeed, con gratulate you enough on the sublime spectacle of twenty millions of SPEECH OF WENDELL PHILLIPS. 45 people educated in a twelvemonth up to being willing that their idol ized Union should risk a battle, should risk dissolution, in order, at any risk, to put down this rebellion of slave States. " But I am sorry that a gun should be fired at Fort Sumter, or that a gun should be fired from it, for this reason : The Administration at Washington does not know its time. Here are a series of States gird ing the Gulf, who think that their peculiar institutions require that they should have a separate government. They have a right to decide that question, without appealing to you or me. A large body of people, sufficient to make a nation, have come to the conclusion, that they will have a government of a certain form. Who denies them the right ? Standing with the principles of 76 behind us, who can deny them the right ? What is a matter of a few millions of dollars, or a few forts ? It is a mere drop in the bucket of the great national question. It is theirs, just as much as ours. I maintain, on the principles of 76, that Abraham Lincoln has no right to a soldier in F*ort Sumter. " But the question comes, secondly, Suppose we had a right to in terfere, what is the good of it ? You may pimi.-h South Carolina for going out of the Union : that does not bring her in. You may subdue her by hundreds of thousands of armies, but that does not make her a State. There is no longer a Union : it is nothing but boy s play. Mr. Jefferson Davis is angry, and Mr. Abraham Lincoln is mad, and they agree to fight. One, two, or three years hence, if the news of the after noon is correct, we shall have gone through a war, spent millions, re-* quired the death of a hundred thousand men, and be exactly then where we are now, two nations, a little more angry, a little poorer, and a great deal wiser ; and that will be the only difference : we may just as well settle it now as then. " You cannot go through Massachusetts, and recruit men to bombard Charleston or New Orleans. The Northern mind will not bear it; you can never make such a war popular. The first onset may be borne ; the telegraph may bring us news, that Anderson has bombarded Charleston, and you may rejoice ; but the sober second thought of Massachusetts will be, * wasteful, unchristian, guilty. The North never will indorse such a war. Instead of conquering Charleston, you create a Charleston in New England ; you stir up sympathy for the South. Therefore it seems to me that the inauguration of war is not a viola tion of principle, but it is a violation of expediency. " 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 ? \ 46 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 echo 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 affrighted seaboard sees grass growing in its streets. It will start up every man whose CONDITION OF THE MILITIA. 47 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 bank-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 and jeers of open enemies, and the neglect and parsimony of professed friends. They were now to give the world an exhibition of ready 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 48 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. 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 John H. 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 McHenry 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 50 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 Qumcy ; 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 THE MARBLEHEAD COMPANIES. 51 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 rr 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 1 6th 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 52 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. 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 ENTHUSIASM AND LIBERALITY OF THE PEOPLE. 53 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- 54 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 geon-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. Cud worth, 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 OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE. 55 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. Eogers, 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. Eobert 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 56 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. Hovey, 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 GOVERNOR ANDREW S LETTER. 57 appointed Hon. Francis B. Crowninshield the agent to proceed to Europe and purchase arms, and gave him a letter of credit to the amount of fifty thousand pounds sterling. Mr. Crowninshield sailed in the next steamer from New York for England. On the day that orders were received to send forward troops, the Governor wrote the following letter : BOSTON, April 15, 1861. To Hon. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. SIR, I have received telegrams from yourself and Brigadier- General Thomas, admonishing me of a coming requisition for twenty companies of sixty -four privates each ; and I have caused orders to be distributed to bring the men into Boston before to-morrow night, and to await orders. Allow me to urge the issue of an order to the Springfield (Mass.) Armory, to double the production of arms at once, and to push the work to the utmost. If any aid by way of money or credit is needed from Massachusetts, I hope to be at once apprised. An extra session of our General Court can be called immediately, if need be ; and, if called, it will respond to any demand of patriotism. And I beg you would permit, in addition to suggesting the utmost activity at Springfield Armory, to urge that the armory at Harper s Ferry be discontinued, and its tools, machinery, and works be trans ferred elsewhere, or else that it be rigidly guarded against seizure, of the danger of which I have some premonitions. If any more troops will certainly be needed from Massachusetts, please signify it at once, since I should prefer receiving special volunteers for active militia to detail any more of our present active militia, especially as many most efficient gentlemen would like to raise companies or regiments, as the case may be, and can receive enlistments of men who are very ready to serve. Allow me also to suggest that our forts in Boston Harbor are entirely unmanned. If authorized, I would put a regiment into the forts at any time. Two of my staff spent last Saturday in making experiments of the most satisfactory character, with Shenkle s new in vention in projectiles ; and so extraordinary was the firing, that I have directed eighteen guns to be rifled, and projectiles to be made. May I commend this invention to the examination of the United-States Government? I am happy to add that I find the amplest proof of a warm devotion to the country s cause, on every hand to-day. Our people are alive. Yours, JOHN A. ANDREW. 58 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. General Butler was appointed on the 17th to command the Massachusetts Brigade. He established temporary headquar ters in the State House. He was consulted by the Governor in regard to the movement of the troops ; the letters which Colonel Ritchie had written from Washington, in February, were read to him ; and the arrangements which had been agreed upon by General Scott and the Governor, that troops, when called for, should be sent by sea to Annapolis or by the Potomac River to Washington, were made known. He was put in possession of all the information which had been obtained respecting the movement of troops to Washington by way of Annapolis. On the day the requisition for troops came to Governor Andrew, he telegraphed, in reply, that the troops would be at once for warded to Annapolis by sea ; to which an answer was received from the Secretary of War, to " send the troops by railroad : they will arrive quicker, the route through Baltimore is now open." In consequence of this despatch, the route was changed, and the Sixth Regiment was forwarded by rail, although, through the activity and foresight of John M. Forbes, steamers were in readiness to take the regiment by sea. Had the route not been changed, the bloodshed in Baltimore on the ever-memora ble 19th of April would have been avoided. How the Secre tary of War could have believed the route through Baltimore was safe, it is difficult to understand, if, as may have been supposed, he was aware of the schemes which were planned in Baltimore to assassinate Mr. Lincoln, when on his way to Washington to be inaugurated, and which were thwarted by the prudence, vigilance, and accurate knowledge of one man. The true history of Mr. Lincoln s perilous journey to Wash ington in 1861, and the way he escaped death, have never been made public until now. The narrative was written by Samuel M. Felton, of Philadelphia, President of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad Company, in 1862, at the request of Mr. Sibley, Librarian of Harvard University ; but it was not com pleted until lately, when it was sent to me, with other valuable material, by Mr. Felton. It has a direct bearing upon events which transpired in forwarding the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment to Washington, and which are now to be narrated. Mr. Felton NAKRATIVE OF SAMUEL M. FELTON. 59 is a native of Massachusetts, and a brother of the late President of Harvard University. He was born in West Newbury, Essex County, Mass., July 17, 1809, and graduated at Harvard in the class of 1834. His services in the cause of the Union and good government, therefore, are a part of the renown of this Commonwealth, and should properly find a place in these pages. His narrative is as follows : "It came to my knowledge in the early part of 1861, first by rumors and then from evidence which I could not doubt, that there was a deep-laid conspiracy to capture Washington, destroy all the avenues leading to it from the North, East, and West, and thus prevent the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln in the capital of the country ; and, if this plot did not succeed, then to murder him while on his way to the capital, and thus inaugurate a revolution, which should end in estab lishing a Southern Confederacy, uniting all the Slave States, while it was imagined that the North would be divided into separate cliques, each striving for the destruction of the other. Early in the year 1861, Miss Dix, the philanthropist, came into my office on a Saturday after noon. I had known her for some years as one engaged in alleviating the sufferings of the afflicted. Her occupation had brought her in contact with the prominent men South. In visiting hospitals, she had become familiar with the structure of Southern society, and also with the working of its political machinery. She stated that she had an important communication to make to me personally ; and, after closing my door, I listened attentively to what she had to say for more than an hour. She put in a tangible and reliable shape, by the facts she related, what before I had heard in numerous and detached parcels. The sum of it all was, that there was then an extensive and organized conspiracy throughout the South to seize upon Washington, with its archives and records, and then declare the Southern conspirators de facto the Government of the United States. The whole was to be a coup d etat. At the same time, they were to cut off all modes of communication between Washington and the North, East, or West, and thus prevent the transportation of troops to wrest the capital from the hands of the insurgents. Mr. Lincoln s inauguration was thus to be prevented, or his life was to fall a sacrifice to the attempt at inauguration. In fact, troops were then drilling on the line of our own road, and the Washington and Annapolis line, and other lines ; and they were sworn to obey the commands of their leaders, and the leaders were banded together to capture Washington. As soon as the inter- 60 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. view was ended, I called Mr. N. P. Trist into my office, and told him I wanted him to go to Washington that night, and communicate these facts to General Scott. I also furnished him with some data as to the other routes to Washington, that might be adopted in case the direct route was cut off. One was the Delaware Railroad to Seaford, and then up the Chesapeake and Potomac to Washington, or to Annapolis and thence to Washington ; another, to Perryville, and thence to Annapolis and Washington. Mr. Trist left that night, and arrived in Washington at six the next morning, which was on Sunday. He im mediately had an interview with General Scott, who told him he had foreseen the trouble that was coming, and in October previous had made a communication to the President, predicting trouble at the South, and urging strongly the garrisoning of all the Southern forts and arsenals with forces sufficient to hold them, but that his advice had been unheeded ; nothing had been done, and he feared nothing would be done ; that he was powerless ; and that he feared Mr. Lincoln would be obliged to be inaugurated into office at Phila delphia. He should, however, do all he could to bring troops to Washington sufficient to make it secure; but he had no influence with the Administration, and feared the worst consequences. Thus matters stood on Mr. Trist s visit to Washington, and thus they stood for some time afterwards. About this time, a few days sub sequent, however, a gentleman from Baltimore came out to Back- river Bridge, about five miles this side of the city, and told the bridge-keeper that he had come to give information which had come to his knowledge of vital importance to the road, which he wished communicated to me. The nature of this communication was, that a party was then organized in Baltimore to burn our bridges, in case Mr. Lincoln came over the road, or in case we attempted to carry troops for the defence of Washington. The party, at that time, had combustible materials prepared to pour over the bridges ; and were to disguise themselves as negroes, and be at the bridge just before the train in which Mr. Lincoln travelled had arrived. The bridge was then to be burned, the train attacked, and Mr. Lincoln to be put out of the way. This man appeared to be a gentleman and in earnest, and honest in what he said ; but he would not give his name, nor allow any inquiries to be made as to his name or exact abode, as he said his life would be in peril were it known that he had given this information ; but, if we would not attempt to find him out, he would continue to come and give information. He came subsequently several times, and gave items of information as to the movements of the conspirators ; but I have never been able to ascertain who he was. Immediately ME. LINCOLN S ESCAPE FROM ASSASSINATION. 61 after the development of these facts, I went to Washington, and there met a prominent and reliable gentleman from Baltimore, who was well acquainted with Marshal Kane, then the chief of police. I was anxious to ascertain whether he was loyal and reliable, and made par ticular inquiries upon both these points. I was assured that Kane was perfectly reliable ; whereupon I made known some of the facts that had come to my knowledge in reference to the designs for the burning of the bridges, and requested that they should be laid before Marshal Kane, with a request that he should detail a police force to make the necessary investigation. Marshal Kane was seen, and it was sug gested to him that there were reports of a conspiracy to burn the bridges and cut off Washington ; and his advice was asked as to the best way of ferreting out the conspirators. He scouted the idea that there was any such thing on foot; said he had thoroughly investi gated the whole matter, and there was not the slightest foundation for such rumors. I then determined to have nothing more to do with Marshal Kane, but to investigate the matter in my own way, and at once sent for a celebrated detective, who resided in the West, and whom I had before employed on an important matter. He was a man of great skill and resources. I furnished him with a few hints, and at once set him on the track with eight assistants. There were then drilling, upon the line of the railroad, some three military organiza tions, professedly for home defence, pretending to be Union men, and, in one or two instances, tendering their services to the railroad in case of trouble. Their propositions were duly considered ; but the defence of the road was never intrusted to their tender mercies. The first thing done was to enlist a volunteer in each of these military compa nies. They pretended to come from New Orleans and Mobile, and did not appear to be wanting in sympathy for the South. They were furnished with uniforms at the expense of the road, and drilled as often as their associates in arms ; became initiated into all the secrets of the organization, and reported every day or two to their chief, who immediately reported to me the designs and plans of these military companies. One of these organizations was loyal; but the other two were disloyal, and fully in the plot to destroy the bridges, and march to Washington, to wrest it from the hands of the legally constituted authorities. Every nook and corner of the road and its vicinity was explored by the chief and his detectives, and the secret working of secession and treason laid bare, and brought to light. Societies were joined in Baltimore, and various modes known to, and practised only by, detectives, were resorted to, to win the confidence of the conspira tors, and get into their secrets. The plan worked well; and the 62 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. midnight plottings and daily consultations of the conspirators were treasured up as a guide to our future plans for thwarting them. It turned out, that all that had been communicated by Miss Dix and the gentleman from Baltimore rested upon a foundation of fact, and that the half had not been told. It was made as certain as strong circum stantial and positive evidence could make it, that there was a plot to burn the bridges and destroy the road, and murder Mr. Lincoln on his way to Washington, if it turned out that he went there before troops were called. If troops were first called, then the bridges were to be destroyed, and Washington cut off, and taken possession of by the South. I at once organized and armed a force of about two hundred men, whom I distributed along the line between the Susquehanna and Baltimore, principally at the bridges. These men were drilled secretly and regu larly by drill-masters, and were apparently employed in whitewashing the bridges, putting on some six or seven coats of whitewash, saturated with salt and alum, to make the outside of the bridges as nearly fire proof as possible. This whitewashing, so extensive in its application, became the nine days wonder of the neighborhood. Thus the bridges were strongly guarded, and a train was arranged so as to concentrate all the forces at one point in case of trouble. The programme of Mr. Lincoln was changed ; and as it was decided by him that he would go to Harrisburg from Philadelphia, and thence over the Northern Cen tral road by day to Baltimore, and thence to Washington. We were then informed by our detective, that the attention of the conspirators was turned from our road to the Northern Central, and that they would there await the coming of Mr. Lincoln. This statement was confirmed by our Baltimore gentleman, who came out again, and said their designs upon our road were postponed for the present, and, unless we carried troops, would not be renewed again. Mr. Lincoln was to be waylaid on the line of the Northern Central road, and prevented from reaching Washington ; and his life was to fall a sacrifice to the attempt. Thus matters stood on his arrival in Philadelphia. I felt it my duty to communicate to him the facts that had come to my knowledge, and urge his going to Washington privately that night in our sleeping-car, instead of publicly two days after, as was proposed. I went to a hotel in Philadelphia, where I met the detective, who was registered under an assumed name, and arranged with him to bring Mr. Judd, Mr. Lincoln s intimate friend, to my room in season to arrange the journey to Washington that night. One of our sub-detectives made three efforts to communicate with Mr. Judd while passing through the streets in the procession, and was three times arrested and carried out of the crowd by the police. The fourth time he sue- NARRATIVE CONTINUED. 63 ceeded, and brought Mr. Judd to my room, where he met the detective- in-chief and myself. We lost no time in making known to him all the facts which had come to our knowledge in reference to the conspiracy ; and I most earnestly advised that Mr. Lincoln should go to Washing ton privately that night in the sleeping-car. Mr. Judd fully entered into the plan, and said he would urge Mr. Lincoln to adopt it. On his communicating with Mr. Lincoln, after the services of the evening were over, he answered that he had engaged to go to Harrisburg and speak the next day, and he would not break his engagement even in the face of such peril, but that, after he had fulfilled the engagement, he would follow such advice as we might give him in reference to his journey to Washington. It was then arranged that he should go to Harrisburg the next day, and make his address ; after which he was to apparently return to Governor Curtin s house for the night, but in reality go to a point about two miles out of Harrisburg, where an extra car and engine awaited to take him to Philadelphia. At the time of his retiring, the telegraph lines, east, west, north, and south from Harrisburg were cut, so that no message as to his movements could be sent off in any direction. Mr. Lincoln could not probably arrive in season for our regular train that left at eleven, P.M., and I did not dare to send him by an extra for fear of its being found out or suspected that he was on the road ; so it became necessary for me to devise some excuse for the detention of the train. But three or four on the road besides myself knew the plan. One of these I sent by an earlier train, to say to the people of the Washington Branch road that I had an important package I was getting ready for the eleven, P.M., train ; that it was necessary I should have this package delivered in Washington early the next morning without fail ; that I was straining every nerve to get it ready by eleven o clock, but, in case I did not succeed, I should delay the train until it was ready, probably not more than half an hour ; and I wished, as a personal favor, that the Washington train should await the coming of ours from Philadelphia before leaving. This request was willingly complied with by the managers of the Washington Branch ; and the man whom I had sent to Baltimore so informed me by telegraph in cipher. The second person in the secret I sent to West Philadelphia, with a car riage, to await the coming of Mr. Lincoln. I gave him a package of old railroad reports, done up with great care, with a great seal attached to it, and directed in a fair, round hand, to a person at Willard s. I marked it * Very important ; to be delivered without fail by eleven o clock train, indorsing my own name upon the package. Mr. Lincoln arrived in West Philadelphia, and was immediately taken into the 64 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. carriage, and driven to within a square of our station, where my man with the package jumped off, and waited till he saw the carriage drive up to the door, and Mr. Lincoln and the detective get out and go into the station. He then came up, and gave the package to the conductor, who was waiting at the door to receive it, in company with a police officer. Tickets had been bought beforehand for Mr. Lincoln and party to Washington, including a tier of berths in the sleeping-car. He passed between the conductor and the police-officer at the door, and neither suspected who he was. The conductor remarked as he passed, Well, old fellow, it is lucky for you that our president detained the train to send a package by it, or you would have been left. Mr. Lincoln and the detective being safely ensconced in the sleeping-car, and my package safely in the hands of the conductor, the train started for Baltimore about fifteen minutes behind time. Our man No. 3, George , started with the train to go to Baltimore, and hand it over, with its contents, to man No. 1, who awaited its arrival in Balti more. Before the train reached Gray s Ferry Bridge, and before Mr. Lincoln had resigned himself to slumber, the conductor came to our man George, and accosting him, said, George, I thought you and I were old friends ; and why did you not tell me we had Old Abe on board ? George, thinking the conductor had in some way become possessed of the secret, answered, John, we are friends, and, as you have found it out, Old Abe is on board ; and we will still be friends, and see him safely through. John answered, Yes, if it costs me my life, he shall have a safe passage. And so George stuck to one end of the car, and the conductor to the other every moment that his duties to the other passengers would admit of it. It turned out, however, that the conductor was mistaken in his man. A man strongly resembling Mr. Lincoln had come down to the train, about half an hour before it left, and bought a ticket to Washington for the sleeping-car. The conductor had seen him, and concluded he was the veritable Old Abe. George delivered the sleeping-car and train over to William in Balti more, as had been previously arranged ; who took his place at the brake, and rode to Washington, where he arrived at six, A.M., on time, and saw Mr. Lincoln, in the hands of a friend, safely delivered at Wil- lard s, where he secretly ejaculated, God be praised ! He also saw the package of railroad reports, marked important, safely delivered into the hands for which it was intended. This being done, he performed his morning ablutions in peace and quiet, and enjoyed with unusual zest his breakfast. At eight o clock, the time agreed upon, the telegraph- wires were joined; and the first message flashed across the line was, Your package has arrived safely, and been delivered, signed William. ROSTER OF THE THIRD REGIMENT. 65 Then there went up from the writer of this a shout of joy and a devout thanksgiving to Him from whom all blessings flow ; and the few who were in the secret joined in a heartfelt Amen. Thus began and ended a chapter in the history of the Rebellion, that has been never before written, but about which there have been many hints, entitled A Scotch Cap and Riding-cloak, &c., neither of which had any founda tion in truth, as Mr. Lincoln travelled in his ordinary dress. Mr. Lincoln was safely inaugurated ; after which I discharged our detective force, and also the semi-military whitewashes, and all was quiet and serene again on the railroad. But the distant booming from Fort Sumte r was soon heard, and aroused in earnest the whole population of the loyal States. The seventy-five thousand three-months men were called out ; and again the plans for burning bridges and destroying the railroad were revived in all their force and intensity. Again I sent Mr. Trist to Washington to see General Scott, to beg for troops to garrison the road, as our forces were then scattered, and could not be got at. Mr. Trist telegraphed me that the forces would be supplied ; but the crisis came on immediately, and all, and more than all. were re quired at Washington. At the last moment, I obtained, and sent down the road, about two hundred men, armed with shot-guns and revolvers, all the arms I could get hold of at the time. They were raw and undisciplined men, and not fit to cope with those brought against them, about one hundred and fifty men, fully armed, and commanded by the redoubtable rebel, J. R. Trimble." Such was the condition of affairs along the line of that road when the Sixth Regiment reached Philadelphia, on the ISth of April. I now proceed with the narrative. The Third and Fourth Regiments were composed of com panies belonging to towns in Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol Counties. The Sixth and Eighth were almost exclusively from Middlesex and Essex Counties. The field-officers of the Third were David W. Wardrop, of New Bedford, colonel ; Charles Raymond, of Plymouth, lieutenant-colonel ; John H. Jennings, of New Bedford, major ; Austin S. Cushman, of New Bedford, adjutant; Edward D. Allen, Fairhaven, quartermaster; Alex ander R. Holmes, of New Bedford, surgeon ; Johnson Clark, of New Bedford, assistant-surgeon ; Alberti C. Maggi, of New Bedford, sergeant-major ; and Frederick S. Gifford, of New Bed ford, quartermaster-sergeant. Company A, "Halifax Light Infantry." Joseph S. Harlow, 5 66 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. of Middleborough, captain. The lieutenants were Cephas Wash- burn, of Kingston, and Charles P. Lyon, of Halifax. Company B, " Standish Guards," of Plymouth. Charles C. Doten, of Plymouth, captain ; Otis Rogers, of Plymouth, and William B. Alexander, of Boston, lieutenants. Company B, " Cambridge City Guards," of Cambridge. This company was the first company raised for the war in Massachu setts, and was organized in January, 1861, and attached tempo rarily to the Fifth Regiment. It was recruited out of the Cambridge " Wide Awake Club." Its officers were James P. Richardson, captain ; Samuel E. Chamberlain and Edwin F. Richardson, lieutenants, all of whom belonged to that part of the city of Cambridge known as Cambridgeport. Company G, the " Assonet Light Infantry," Freetown. John W. Marble, captain ; Humphrey A. Francis and John M. Dean, lieutenants, all of Freetown. Company II, " Samoset Guards," Plympton. Lucian L. Perkins, of Plympton, captain ; Oscar E. Washburn, of Plymp ton, and South worth Loring, of Middleborough, lieutenants. Company K, " Bay State Light Infantry," Carver. William S. McFarlin, of South Carver, captain ; John Dunham, of North Carver, and Francis L. Porter, of New Bedford, lieutenants. Company L, "New Bedford City Guards." Timothy Ingra- ham, captain; and James Barton and Austin S. Cushman, lieutenants, all of New Bedford. This company left New-Bedford early on the morning of the 16th. Its departure was witnessed by thousands of citizens. Addresses were made by ex-Governor John II. Clifford and the Mayor of the city. The following is an extract from Gov ernor Clifford s speech : "You, New-Bedford Guards, guards of honor and safety to your fellow-citizens ! We know, that, when brought to the test, you will be justified and approved. It was a severe trial to be summoned away in time of peace and prosperity ; but it may be the discipline of a beneficent Providence, to remind us of our blessings, and that as a people we might show to the world whether we are worthy of liberty. We remain : you go forth. The ties of affection, the tenderness of mother, wife, sister, and friends, cluster around this hour. All these EX-GOVERNOR CLIFFORD S SPEECH. 67 ties you cheerfully yield to the call to patriot conflict and our coun try s welfare. . . . All bid you God-speed, even the families who are to be left alone ; as the wife of one of you said this morning to the question if her husband was going, * My husband going ? Yes ; and I would not keep him back for all that he could gain at home. I will welcome him on his return, if he should return ; and, if that should not be, I will for ever bless and honor his memory. Go in peace, my friends. Disturb not your minds about the care of your families. Your fellow-citizens will see to it that those you leave behind shall want nothing while you are gone. We shall hear from you on the field of duty, and that not one has failed, wherever he may be. God keep you safe under his care, and bring you back with untarnished glory, to be received by your fellow-citizens with heartfelt joy and honor !" At the conclusion of this speech, an impressive prayer was made by Rev. Mr. Girdwood. An escort of citizens, headed by ex-Governor Clifford, conducted the company to the cars, which started for Boston amid the cheers of the assembled thousands. The Third Regiment was destined for Fortress Monroe ; and, the steam transport being ready, the regiment left its quarters about six o clock on the afternoon of Wednesday the 17th, marched to the State House to receive its equipments, and from thence to Central Wharf, where it embarked. The regiment was cheered the whole length of its march, and a national salute was fired on the wharf. The steamer cast off about seven o clock, and anchored in the stream, where it remained until noon the next day, when it sailed, bearing to Virginia its patriot freight. It arrived at Fortress Monroe on the 20th. The field and staff officers of the Fourth Regiment were Abner B. Packard, of Quincy, colonel ; Hawkes Fearing, Jr., of Hingham, lieutenant-colonel ; Horace O. Whittemore, of Bos ton, major ; Henry Walker, of Quincy, adjutant ; William H. Carruth, of Boston, quartermaster ; Henry M. Saville, of Quincy, surgeon; William L. Faxon, of Quincy, "surgeon s mate;" Alvin E. Hall, of Foxborough, sergeant-major; and George W. Barnes, of Plymouth, quartermaster-sergeant. Company A, "Union Light Guards," Canton. Officers: Ira Drake, of Stoughton, captain ; Henry U. Morse and Wal ter Cameron, of Canton, lieutenants. At this time, Lieutenant 68 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. Cameron was in New Orleans ; and John McKay, Jr., of Can ton, was chosen to fill the vacancy. Lieutenant Cameron, how ever, soon after returned home, and joined his company at Fortress Monroe. Company B, "Light Infantry," Easton. Officers: Milo M. Williams, captain ; Linton Waldron and William E. Bump, Jr., lieutenants, all of Easton. Company C, "Light Infantry," Braintree. Officers : Cephas C. Bumpus, captain; James T. Stevens and Isaac P. Fuller, lieutenants, all of Braintree. Company D, "Light Infantry," Randolph. Officers : Horace Niles, captain ; Otis S. Wilbur and II. Frank Wales, lieu tenants, all of Randolph . Company E, "Light Infantry," South Abington. Officers: Charles F. Allen, captain ; Lewis Soule and John W. Mitchell, lieutenants, all of South Abington. Company F, " Warren Light Guards," Foxborough. Offi cers : David L. Shepard, captain ; Moses A. Richardson and Carlos A. Hart, lieutenants, all of Foxborough. Company G, " Light Infantry," Taunton. Officers : Timothy Gordon, captain ; Zaccheus Sherman and Frederick A. Har rington, lieutenants, all of Taunton. Company II, "Hancock Light Guards," Quincy. Officers: Franklin Curtis, captain ; Edward A. Spear and Benjamin F. Meservey, lieutenants, all of Quincy. Company I, "Lincoln Light Guards," Hingham. Officers : Luther Stephenson, Jr., captain ; Charles Sprague and Nathaniel French, Jr., lieutenants, all of Hingham. This company was named in honor of Major-General Benjamin Lincoln, of revolutionary renown. This regiment was ready to march on the 16th ; but transpor tation could not be arranged until the next day. Its destination was Fortress Monroe. It left Faneuil Hall at three o clock on the afternoon of the 17th, and marched to the State House, where it was addressed by Governor Andrew, who said, " It gives me unspeakable pleasure to witness this array from the good Old Colony. You have come from the shores of the sounding sea, where lie the ashes of Pilgrims ; and you are bound on a high THE FOUBTH REGIMENT. SPEECH OF GOV. ANDREW. 69 and noble pilgrimage for liberty, for the Union and Constitution of your country. Soldiers of the Old Bay State, sons of sires who never disgraced their flag in civil life or on the tented field, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this noble response to the call of your State and your country. You cannot wait for words. I bid you God speed and an affectionate farewell." Colonel Packard made a brief and fitting response ; and the regiment filed down Park Street, and marched to the depot of the Old Colony Railroad, where a train was ready to receive it. In a few minutes, the regiment was on the way to Fall River, where it was put on board the steamer " State of Maine," and arrived at New York the next afternoon. Its departure was delayed until four o clock on the morning of the 19th, in adjusting ballast and taking in coal, when it started for For tress Monroe, and arrived there at break of day on the morning of the 20th. In its march through Boston and along the route to Fall River, the regiment was received with cheers of approval from the men, and by the waving of handkerchiefs by the women, who turned out to greet it. The Sixth Regiment mustered on the 16th at Lowell, at nine o clock in the morning. Before leaving the city for Boston, it was addressed by the Mayor and others, and cheered by the populace. Four of the companies belonged in Lowell. The inhabitants in mass came from their dwellings, mills, and work shops, to witness the regiment depart. It arrived in Boston at one o clock, where it met with a cordial reception. The crowd followed it to Faneuil Hall, and from thence to Boylston Hall, where its headquarters were established. The field and staff officers of the Sixth were Edward F. Jones, of Pepperell, colonel ; Benjamin F. Watson, of Law rence, lieutenant-colonel; Josiah A. Sawtell, of Lowell, ma jor ; Alpha B. Farr, of Lowell, adjutant ; James Monroe, of Cambridge, quartermaster; Charles Babbidge, of Pepperell, chaplain; Norman Smith, of Groton, surgeon; Jansen T. Paine, of Charlestown, "surgeon s mate;" Rufus L. Plaisted, of Lowell, paymaster ; Samuel D. Shattuck, of Groton, ser geant-major ; Church How r e, of Worcester, quartermaster- sergeant ; John Dupee, of Boston, commissary-sergeant ; Fred- 70 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. crick Stafford, of Lowell, drum-major ; William H. Gray, of Acton, hospital steward. The Sixth had a full staff and regi mental band. Company A, " National Greys," Lowell. Officers: Josiah A. Sawtell, captain ; Andrew J. Johnson and Andrew C. Wright, lieutenants, all of Lowell. Company B, " Groton Artillery," Groton. Officers : Eusebius S. Clark, captain ; George F. Shattuck and Samuel G. Blood, lieutenants, all of Groton. Company C, " Mechanics Phalanx," Lowell. Officers : Al bert S. Follansbee, captain; Samuel D. Shipley and John C. Jepson, lieutenants, all of Lowell. Company D, "City Guards," Lowell. Officers: James W. Hart, captain ; Charles E. Jones and Samuel C. Pinney, Llewellyn L. Craig, lieutenants, all of Lowell. Company E, " Davis Guards," Acton. Officers : Daniel Tuttle, captain ; William H. Chapman and George W. Kand, Silas B. Blodgett, Aaron S. Fletcher, lieutenants, all of Acton. This company was named in honor of their brave towns man, Captain Isaac Davis, who commanded an Acton company to defend the North Bridge, across Concord River, on the 19th of April, 1775, where he fell a martyr to liberty and American independence. Company F, " Warren Light Guard," Lawrence. Officers: Benjamin F. Chadbourne, captain ; Melvin Beal, Thomas J. Cate, and Jesse C. Silver, lieutenants, all of Lawrence. Company G, "Worcester Light Infantry," Worcester. Offi cers : Harrison W. Pratt, captain ; George W. Prouty, Thomas S. Washburn, J. Waldo Denny, and Dexter F. Parker, lieu tenants, all of Worcester. This company was originally organized in 1803, by Hon. Levi Lincoln, and served in the war of 1812, under command of his brother, Captain John W. Lincoln. Company II, "Watson Light Guard," Lowell. Officers: John F. Noyes, captain; George E. Davis, Andrew F. Jewett, and Benjamin Warren, lieutenants, all of Lowell. Company I, "Light Infantry," Lawrence. Officers: John THE SIXTH REGIMENT S DEPARTURE. 71 Pickering, captain ; Daniel S. Yeaton, A. Lawrence Hamilton, Eben H. Ellenwood, and Eugene J. Mason, lieutenants, all of Lawrence. Company K, " Washington Light Guard," Boston. Officers : Walter S. Sampson, captain ; Ansell D. Wass, Moses J. Emery, Thomas Walwork, and John F. Dunning, lieutenants. This company was detached from the First Regiment to com plete the Sixth. The company was drilling in its armory, on Eliot Street, Boston, on the evening of the 16th. About ten o clock, the Adjutant-General brought to Captain Sampson, at the armory, an order from the Governor, attaching the com pany to the Sixth Regiment, to proceed the next morning to Washington. The order was received with nine cheers. Every man was ready and eager to go. Company L, "Light Infantry," Stoneham. Officers: John H. Dike, captain ; Leander F. Lynde, Darius N. Stevens, and John F. Rowe, all of Stoneham, and William B. Blais- dell, of Lynn, lieutenants. This company was detached from the Seventh Regiment. The Adjutant-General, in his Report for 1861, says, " It was nine o clock, in the evening of the 1 6th, before your Excel lency decided to attach the commands of Captains Sampson and Dike to the Sixth Regiment. A messenger was despatched to Stoneham with orders for Captain Dike, who reported to me, at eight o clock the next morning, that lie found Captain Dike at his house in Stoneham, at two o clock in the morning, and placed your Excellency s orders in his hands ; that he read them, and said, Tell the Adjutant-General that I shall be at the State House, with my full command, by eleven o clock to-day. True to his word, he reported at the time ; and that afternoon, attached to the Sixth, the company left for Washington. Two days afterwards, on the 19th of April, during that gallant march through Baltimore which is now a matter of history, Captain Dike was shot down while leading his company through the mob. He received a wound in the leg, which will render him a cripple for life." The orders were promulgated at Stoneham immediately. The bells of the several meeting-houses were rung. The com pany and the inhabitants assembled. Immediate preparations to leave were made. The citizens made up a purse of five hun- 72 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLIOX. dred dollars, and gave it to Captain Dike, for the service of himself and company. At eleven o clock in the forenoon of the 17th, the Sixth Regi ment marched from Boylston Hall to the State House, where it received the new rifled muskets in exchange for smooth-bores. When in line in front of the State House, the Governor made a short and eloquent speech to the regiment, and presented it with a new set of colors. Colonel Jones received the colors, and pledged himself and the regiment that they should never be disgraced. At seven o clock that evening, the Sixth marched to the depot of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, and embarked by the land route for New York. At the depot, and along the entire line of road, they received one continued ovation. At several places, the bells were rung, and salutes of artillery fired. At Worcester, an immense throng cheered them ; at Springfield, the military and the fire department turned out to do them honor. The regiment reached New York at sunrise on the 18th, having been in the cars all night. The march down Broadway to the Astor House, where the officers and men breakfasted by invitation of the proprietor, General Charles Stetson, and from the Astor House down Cortland Street, to the Jersey-City Ferry, is described as one of the most grand and effective scenes ever witnessed. The wildest enthusiasm inspired all classes. Strong men wept like tenderly nurtured women, and silently implored the blessings of Heaven upon the regiment, and the State which had placed it at the extreme right of the Union column. A gentleman who witnessed the scene wrote, "I was always proud of my native State ; but never until now did I fully realize how grand she is." Another writer thus describes the scene : Having breakfasted, they employed their time until eleven in conversation, smoking, and preparing for the march. All appeared determined to stand by the old Hag under all hazards, and to punish those who would dare to insult it. Many of the men are exceedingly intelligent, and not a i ew came from families eminent in the history of the old I Jay State. They spoke of the ability of Massachusetts to send thirty thousand men, and even more volunteers, to the support of the Government, if needed. At eleven o clock, the various companies, THE SIXTH IN NEW YORK. 73 having assembled at the Astor House, formed in Broadway. By this time, thousands of our citizens had gathered to bid the brave fellows God-speed. No language can describe the excitement of the vast concourse. Cheer followed cheer, until the welkin rung as with a sound of thunder. There were cheers for the star-spangled banner ; for the dear old flag ; for the red, white, and blue ; for the Government ; for the North ; for Lincoln ; for Major Anderson ; for every thing the loyal heart could suggest. Old men, young men, and lads waved the American flag over their heads, pinned it to their hats and coats ; cartmen displayed it on their horses ; Barnum flings it from every window of the Museum. The guests of the Astor House shouted till they were hoarse ; so did the visitors at the Museum ; and when at last, at half-past eleven, the police taking the lead, the regiment took up their march for the Jersey-City Ferry, the enthusiasm was perfectly overwhelming. At every step, the roar of the multitude was increased ; at every window, the flags were waved. " Turning from Broadway into Cortland Street, the scene was such as has seldom, if ever, been seen in New York. The stores could hardly be seen for the flags, of which there must have been, on an average, one for every window in the stores. Every building was thronged with persons eager to see the regiment ; while the sidewalks, awning-posts, and stoops were literally covered with a mass of excited humanity. There was one uninterrupted and unprecedented cheer from Broadway to the ferry. Those who have witnessed all the great demonstrations of the city for a half-century back, remember none so spontaneous and enthusiastic. As the regiment filed off to go upon the ferry-boat, which was gayly decorated with flags, as was the ferry- house, there were loud cries of God bless you ! God bless you ! and unbounded cheers for the Old Bay State." On crossing the river, the troops were met by a dense crowd of Jersey men and women. Flags were waved by hundreds of fair hands, and miniature flags were distributed by them to the regiment before the train moved. There was delay in getting off; and the crowd continued to increase, and the enthusiasm to grow more intense. The passage across New Jersey was marked with similar scenes. At Newark, they were received with a salute of artillery, and also at Trenton, which was ordered by the Governor of the State. The reception at Philadelphia was a fitting climax to what had taken place elsewhere. A member of the regiment wrote, " So enthusiastic were our friends, 74 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLIOX. that they rushed into our ranks, threw their arms about the necks of our soldiers, and, emptying their own pockets for our benefit, seemed fairly beside themselves with joy. I doubt if old Massachusetts ever, before or since, received such encomiums, or her sons such a generous welcome, as that night in the City of Brotherly Love." The regiment reached Philadelphia at seven o clock in the evening, partook of a bountiful supper at the Continental Hotel, and were quartered for the night in the Girard House, where I shall leave them for the present. The Eighth Regiment, which had arrived in Boston on the 16th, did not leave the city until the 18th. The field and staff officers were Timothy Monroe, of Lynn, colonel ; Edward W. Hinks, of Lynn, lieutenant-colonel ; Andrew El well, of Gloucester, major. Colonel Monroe resigned on the 12th of May: and, on the 16th of May, Edward W. Hinks was elected colonel; Andrew El well, lieutenant - colonel ; and Ben. Perley Poorc, of Newbury, major ; George Creasey, of Newburyport, was appointed adjutant ; E. Alfred Ingalls, of Lynn, quartermaster; Rowland G. Usher, of Lynn, pay master : Bowman B. Breed, of Lynn, surgeon ; Warren Tapley, of Lynn, assistant-surgeon; Gilbert Haven, Jr., of Maiden, chaplain; John Goodwin, Jr., of Marblehead, sergeant-major; Horace E. Monroe, of Lynn, sergeant-major; and Samuel Roads, of Marblehead, drum-major. Company A, "dishing Guards," Newburyport. Officers: Albert W. Bartlett, of Newburyport, captain ; George Barker, Gamaliel Hodges, Nathan W. Collins, all of Newburyport, and Edward L. Noyes, of Lawrence, lieutenants. Company H, "Lafayette Guard," Marblehead. Officers: Richard Phillips, of Marblehead, captain; Abiel S. Roads, Jr., William S. Roads, and William Cash, all of Marble- head, lieutenants. Company C, Suttou Light Infantry," Marblehead. Officers : Knott V. Martin, of Marblehead, captain: Samuel C. Graves, Lorenzo F. Linnel, John II. Ilaskell, all of Marblehead, lieutenants. Company 1), "Light Infantry," Lynn. Officers : George T. Newhall, of Lynn, captain ; Thomas II. Berry, E. Z. Saunder- Boii, C, M. Merritt, all of Lynn, lieutenants. EIGHTH REGIMENT. GOVERNOR ANDREW S SPEECH. 75 Company E, "Light Infantry," Beverly. Officers: Francis E. Porter, of Beverly, captain; John AY. Eaymond, Eleazer Giles, Albert Wallis, and Moses S. Herrick, all of Beverly, lieutenants. Company F, " City Guards," Lynn. Officers : James Hud son, Jr., of Lynn, captain; Edward A. Chandler, Henry Stone, Mathias N. Snow, all of Lynn, lieutenants. Company G, "American Guard," Gloucester. Officers: Addison Center, of Gloucester, captain ; David W. Lowe, Edward A. Story, Harry Clark, all of Gloucester, lieu tenants. Company H, " Glover Light Guard," Marblehead. Officers : Francis Boardman, of Marblehead, captain; Thomas Russell, Nicholas Bowden, and Joseph S. Caswell, all of Marblehead, lieutenants. Company I, "Light Infantry," Salem. Officers : Arthur F. Devereux, of Salem, captain; George F. Austin, Ethan A. P. Brewster, and George D. Putnam, all of Salem, lieu tenants. This company belonged to the Seventh Regiment, but was ordered, on the evening of the 17th of April, to join the Eighth, and, at ten o clock the next morning, reported at Faneuil Hall with full ranks. Before leaving Salem, it was addressed by the Mayor and other prominent citizens. A great crowd met it at the depot, and cheered it when it left. This company wore a Zouave uniform, and, in skirmish drill, was probably the most efficient in the State. Company K, "Allen Guard," Pittsfield. Officers: Henry S. Briggs, of Pittsfield, captain; Henry H. Richardson and Robert Bache, both of Pittsfield, lieutenants. This company was detached to complete the organization of the Eighth. It was ordered to join the regiment at Springfield, when on the way to Washington. The captain was a son of Ex-Gov ernor Briggs. Before the company left Pittsfield, each soldier was presented by the citizens with ten dollars. On the 18th of April, the regiment marched to the State House, and was presented with a set of regimental colors by Governor Andrew, who also addressed it as follows : 7(3 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. "MR. COMMANDER AND SOLDIERS, Yesterday you were citi zens : to-day you are heroes. Summoned by the sudden call of your country, true to the fortunes of your flag, to the inspirations of your own hearts, and to the mighty example of your fathers, you have hur ried from the thronged towns of Essex, and all along the shore from Boston to Cape Ann, famed through all Massachusetts for noble men, brave soldiers, and heroic women. You have come to be cradled anew, one night in Faneuil Hall, there breathing once more the inspiration of historic American liberty, and standing beneath the folds of the American banner. [Applause.] From the bottom of my heart of hearts, as the official representative of Massachusetts, I pay to you, soldiers, citizens, and heroes, the homage of my most profound grati tude ; and the heart of all Massachusetts beats with full sympathy to every word I utter. There is but one pulsation beating through all this beautiful domain of liberty, from the shores of Cape Cod to the hills of Berkshire ; and the mountain waves and mountain peaks answer to each other. Soldiers, go forth, bearing that flag; and, as our fathers fought, so, if need be, strike you the blow. Where breathes the foe but falls before us, With freedom s soil beneath our feet, And freedom s banner waving o er us ? We stay behind, to guard the hearthstones you have left ; and, what ever may be the future, we will protect the wives and children you may leave, and, as you will be faithful to the country, so we will be faithful to them. I speak to you as citizens and soldiers, not of Mas sachusetts, but of the American Confederate Union. While we live, that Union shall last. [Applause.] And until these countless thou sands, and all their posterity, have tasted death, the Union of the American people, the heritage of Washington, shall be eternal. [Ap- Snldiers! go forth, bearing with you the blessing of your coun try, bearing the confidence of your fellow-citizens; and under the blessing of (iod, with stout hearts and stalwart frames, go forth to vic tory. On your shields be returned, or bring them with you. Yours it is to be among the advanced guard of Massachusetts soldiers. As such, I bid you God-speed, and fare-you-well." At the close of the Governor s speech, Colonel Monroe received the colors, and said, "We shall do our duty." Three cheers were given for the regiments, and three for General But ler, who, being present, advanced, and said, RECEPTION AT WORCESTER. GENERAL BUTLER. 77 " SOLDIEKS, We stand upon that spot to which the good pleasure of the Commander-in-chief, and our own dearest wishes, have assigned us. To lead the advance guard of freedom and constitutional liberty, and of perpetuity of the Union, is the honor we claim, and which, under God, we will maintain. [Applause.] " Sons of Puritans, who believe in the providence of Almighty God ! as he was with our fathers, so may he be with us in this strife for the right, for the good of all, for the great missionary country of liberty ! [Applause.] And, if we prove recreant to our trust, may the God of battles prove our enemy in the hour of our utmost need ! Soldiers ! we march to-night ; and let me say for you all to the good people of the Commonwealth, that we will not turn back, till we show those who have laid their hand upon the fabric of the Union, there is but one thought in the North, the union of these States, now and for ever, one and inseparable." The regiment left Boston at four o clock that afternoon by Worcester and Springfield, and was greeted with the same unbounded enthusiasm the Sixth received. General Butler accompanied it as commander of the Massachusetts brigade. While the train stopped at Worcester, he spoke a few words to the crowd at the depot. "In this contest," he said, "we banish party differences. We are all Americans. We love our country and its flag ; and it is only by the sword we can have peace, and only in the Union, liberty." The regiment reached New York on the morning of the 19th, and marched down Broadway amid the congratulations of the vast multitude. This was the second Massachusetts regiment that had marched through that city in advance of all others, while two other regiments were on the seas for Fortress Monroe. After partaking of the generous hospitalities ten dered them, the regiment crossed to Jersey City, and proceeded by railroad to Philadelphia, which it reached at six o clock that evening, and first received positive information concerning the attack made upon the Sixth in Baltimore that day. The field and staff officers of the Fifth Regiment were, Samuel C. Lawrence, of Medford, colonel ; J. Durell Greene, of Cambridge, lieutenant-colonel ; Hamlin W. Keyes, of Boston, major ; Thomas O. Barri, of Cambridge, adjutant ; Joseph E. Billings, of Boston, quartermaster; G. Foster Hodges, of 78 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. Roxbury, paymaster; Samuel H. Hurd, of Charlestown, surgeon ; Henry H. Mitchell, of East Bridgewater, surgeon s mate ; Benjamin F. De Costa, of Charlestown, chaplain ; Henry A. Quincy, of Charlestown, sergeant-major; Charles Foster, of Charlestown, drum-major. Several changes occurred while the regiment was in service. Colonel Greene, Major Keyes, and Adjutant Barri w r ere ap pointed officers in the regular army. To fill these vacancies, Captain Pierson was elected lieutenant-colonel ; Captain John T. Boyd, major ; and Lieutenant John G. Chambers was appointed adjutant. The following is the roster of the companies : Company A, " Mechanic Light Infantry," Salem. George H. Pierson, of Salem, captain ; Edward H. Staten and Lewis E. Wentworth, of Salem, lieutenants. Company B, " Richardson Light Guard," South Reading. John W. Locke, of South Reading, captain ; Henry D. Degen, Charles H. Shepard, James D. Draper, and George Abbott, all of South Reading, lieutenants. Company C, rf Charlestown Artillery," Charlestown. William R. Swan, of Chelsea, captain: Phineas II. Tibbetts, of Charlestown; John W. Rose, of South Boston; Hannibal D. Norton, of Chelsea; and George II. Marden, Jr., of Charles- town, lieutenants. Company D, " Lighfc Infantry," ILiverhill. Officers : Carlos P. Messer, of Ilaverhill, captain ; George J. Dean, Daniel F. Smith, Charles II. P. Palmer, and Thomas T. Salter, all of Haverhi.ll, lieutenants. Company E, " Lawrence Light Guard," Medford. Officers : John Ilutcliins, of Medford, captain; John G. Chambers and Perry Column, of Medford, and William H. Pattee, of West Cambridge (Arlington), lieutenants. Company F, " Wardwell Tigers," Boston. Officers : David K. Wardwell, Hoston, captain: Jacob II. Sleeper, of Boston; George G. Stoddard, of Brookline ; Horace P. Williams, of Brookline ; and Horatio N. Holbrook, of Boston, lieutenants. I Ins was a new company, recruited, organized, uniformed, and equipped in two days. DEPARTURE OF THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 79 Company G, " Concord Artillery," Concord. Officers : George L. Prescott, of Concord, captain ; Joseph Derby, Jr., Humphrey H. Buttrick, and Charles Bowers, all of Concord, lieutenants. Company H, "City Guards," Salem. Officers: Henry F. Danforth, of Salem, captain ; Kirk Stark, William F. Sumner, George H. Wiley, and John E. Stone, all of South Danvers, lieutenants. Company I, " Light Infantry," Somerville. Officers : George O. Brastow, of Somerville, captain ; William E. Robinson and Frederick R. Kinsley, both of Somerville, lieutenants. Company K, " City Guards," Charlestown. Officers : John T. Boyd, of Charlestown, captain ; John B. Norton, Caleb Drew, and Walter Everett, all of Charlestown, lieutenants. This regiment did not receive orders to report until Friday, April 19. It was in readiness to go forward the next day, but was detained until Sunday, with headquarters at Faneuil Hall. The line was formed on South Market Street, at five o clock on Sunday morning, April 21 ; and the regiment marched to the Worcester Depot. Notwithstanding the early hour and the sabbath day, thousands were on the streets, and at the depot, to witness the departure. Kind greetings met this regiment everywhere on the route. To state what was said and done would be only a repetition of what has already been said in regard to regiments which had preceded. It reached New York safely on Sunday evening, at eight o clock. After partaking of a hearty meal at the hotels, the regiment was put on board of two transports ; four companies, under command of Major Keyes, going on board the "Ariel," and six, under command of Colonel Lawrence, on board the " De Soto." The Third Battalion of Massachusetts Rifles, under command of Major Devens, and Major Cook s Light Battery, were placed on board the same vessels ; the former in the " De Soto," and the latter in the " Ariel." The duties of the week had been incessant day and night at the State House. The attack upon the Sixth Regiment in Baltimore had added to the number of people who crowded in, and intensified the earnest feelings of every one. Late on 80 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. Friday night (the 19th), the Adjutant-General, wearied with the labors of the four preceding days, left the State House with Senator Wilson. They obtained lodging at Young s Coffee House. About four o clock on Saturday morning, a messenger brought an order to him from Governor Andrew, that a tele gram had just been received from General Butler, at Philadelphia, to send forward immediately Major Cook s Light Battery. The Governor s orders were to notify the officers at once, that the battery might be ready, and pushed forward that night. The Adjutant-General told the messenger to get a carriage, and he would be ready by the time he returned. Major Cook lived in Somerville, but in what part of it he did not know. The ad jutant lived in Chester Square, Boston : he ordered the carriage to drive there. The city was asleep ; not a human being was on the streets. The silence of the great city appeared more impressive and profound than that of a primeval forest. At Chester Square, he learned that the adjutant had sailed for Europe the week before. lie then was driven to Cambridge Street, where the former commander of the battery, Major Nims, lived. He was aroused from a sound sleep, and informed of the purpose of the errand. He knew where Major Cook lived, and volunteered to carry the orders to him without delay. The orderly sergeant of the company boarded in McLean Place. The Adjutant-General found him also asleep ; but soon aroused him, and ordered him to notify the company. The sergeant said he "knew where every man lived, and they all wanted to go." Early in the forenoon, the company reported with full ranks. The Quartermaster-General succeeding in purchasing O I O horses, and providing ammunition. The field and staff were Asa M. Cook, of Somerville, major; Frederick A. Heath, of Boston, adjutant; Thomas J. Eoss, of Boston, quartermaster; John P. Ordway, of Boston, surgeon; E. Le Baron Monroe, assistant-surgeon ; Josiah Porter, of North Cambridge ; William . McCartney, of Boston ; C. C. E. Mortimer, of Boston ; and Robert J,. Sawin, of Boston, lieutenants. The company numbered one hundred and twenty men. The battery had six brass six-pounders. They took with them seventy horses, selected mainly from the stables of the Metropolitan Horse THE RIFLE BATTALION AT WORCESTER. 81 railrcad Company, and ten tons of cartridges of shot and grape. They marched to the Worcester Kailroad Depot, be tween one and two o clock that afternoon, ready to start; but waited until the next morning for the Fifth Regiment. They went to New York in the same train with the Fifth, and to Anna polis in the transports with four of the companies of that regiment. Orders were issued from the State House on Saturday, the 20th of April, for the Third Battalion to go forward to Wash ington. It consisted then of three companies, with head quarters in Worcester. They were in line, ready to proceed, at five o clock that afternoon. The battalion was addressed by Hon. Isaac Davis, Mayor of Worcester, and by Major Devens, in command. A prayer by Rev. Dr. Hill closed the ceremony. At half-past ten that evening, they took the cars for New York, where they arrived early on the morning of the 21st. While there, they quartered in the armory of the New- York Seventh. During the day, they were visited by Hon. Charles Sumner, who made a short address. At eight o clock, they embarked on board the transport "Ariel" for Annapolis, with a part of the Fifth Regiment, and arrived at Annapolis on the morning of the 24th, \vhere they remained until the 2d of May, when they were ordered to Fort McHenry, in the harbor of Baltimore, which they reached by transport on the morning of the third. The field and staff of the Third Battalion of Rifles were, Charles Devens, Jr., major; John M. Goodhue, adjutant; James E. Estabrook, quartermaster; Oramel Martin, surgeon; Nathaniel S. Liscomb, sergeant-major ; George T. White, quartermaster-sergeant, all of Worcester. Company A, " City Guards," Worcester. Officers : Augus tus R. B. Sprague, captain ; Josiah Pickett, George C. Joslin, Orson Moulton, Elijah A. Harkness, lieutenants, all of Worcester. Company B, "Holden Rifles," Holden. Officers: Joseph H. Gleason, of Holden, captain : Phineas R. Newell, Holden ; Edward F. Devens, Charlestown ; Samuel F. Woods, Barre ; George Bascom, Holden, lieutenants. Company C, " Emmet Guards," Worcester. Officers : Mi chael P. McConville, captain ; Michael O Driscoll, Matthew J. 82 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. McCafferty. Thomas O Neil, and Maurice Melvin, lieutenants, all of Worcester. Company D, Boston. Officers: Albert Dodd, captain; Charles Dodd, Cornelius G. Atwood, George A. Hicks, and Joseph Nason, lieutenants, all of Boston. Company D was raised in Boston on the morning of the 19th of April, by the gentlemen who were afterwards commissioned its officers. It was attached to the Third Battalion, and left Bos ton in the steamer "Cambridge" on the 2d of May for Fortress Monroe, and from thence by the Potomac Eiver to Washing ton. The vessel sailed from Boston with sealed instructions, which were not opened until outside of Boston Light. In these instructions to Captain Dodd, the Adjutant-General says, " It is the earnest desire of His Excellency the Commander-in- chief, that the ship Cambridge shall reach Washington, and demonstrate that a Massachusetts ship, manned with Massachu setts men, shall be the first ship to arrive by that route, as our Sixth Regiment was the first to arrive at Washington, through the hostile city of Baltimore." The "Cambridge" arrived safely with the company, and was the first that reached Washington by the Potomac River. After remaining in Washington twelve days, the command was sent to Fort McHenry, Baltimore harbor, and joined the Battalion. The Third Battalion completed the number of three-months men called for by the Government, which consisted of five regiments, one battalion, and one battery. By the constitution and laws of Massachusetts, company officers were elected by the men composing the company, regi mental officers by the commissioned officers of companies, brigadier-generals by the regimental field-officers of the brigade, and major-generals by the Legislature. The General Statutes of the Commonwealth allowed four lieutenants to each infantry company. Jn the regular army, only two lieutenants were allowed to a company of infantry. The reader will have observed that some of the companies in the regiments forwarded to the front had two, some three, and some four lieutenants. This was permitted by our laws. The extra lieutenants belong ing to the two regiments sent to Fortress Monroe were not THE CHARACTER OF THE MILITIA. . 83 mustered into the service, the mustering officers refusing to mus ter them. They had, therefore, either to return home, or join the ranks as enlisted men. In the regiments which were sent to Washington, the extra lieutenants were mustered in, and served with their companies to the end of their terms. The reason for this distinction has never been given. The material of these commands was of the best. They were young men who had a taste for military duty. They were from the middle walks of life, and depended upon their health and hands for support. Most of them were mechanics, farmers sons, and clerks in stores. They bought their own uniforms, and paid company assessments out of their own pockets. They were public-spirited, full of life, and knew their duty. Many of the companies had honorable records, running back to the war of 1812, of which they were proud. They had rivalries and jealousies. They demanded their right position in the regi mental line, and would have it. They obeyed their officers because they were their officers, and held positions by their votes. They chose the color and style of their own uniforms. If a rival company wore blue, they would have gray or red. The uniforms in a regiment were variegated, like the colors of a rainbow. They were made more for show than use, as active service proved. Yet they cost much money. But it was no one s business but their own, as they paid the bills. They had their pet names, as well as the regimental letter, and they preferred being known by the name they had themselves chosen. Thus there were the N. E. G. s and B. L. I. s, the "Tigers," the " Savages," and the "Guards." Each had its friends and followers, and each its enemies and detractors. Yet beneath all these there was a substratum of genuine good feeling, and a soldierly pride. The very opposition they received from those who laughed or sneered at the militia cemented them in closer union, and made them more determined to be militia. Their armories were their own. There they could meet and drill, and talk back at the outside world, free from interruption, as in their own homes. These they adorned with pictures of old generals, photographs of former captains, and fac-similes of the Declaration of Independence. There they talked of bygone 84 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. musters and sham fights, and of excursions to neighboring cit ies and States, and of receptions given in return. The dates of prominent events were fixed by the year of such a spring train ing or fall review. The politics of the members were not of the intense type. Their votes were generally given to men who were friendly to the military, and politicians sometimes made nominations with a view to catch their votes. On public affairs, they were simply friends of their country, with a strong leaning toward liberal legislation and popular rights. They were, of all the community, the least fanatical in religion, and the least dog matic in politics. They took a broad view of their country and its institutions. They were stronger Union men than they could explain. If the Union was attacked, it was their duty to defend. This they knew, and were ready. There was no hatred in their hearts to any living man. If the mob in Baltimore had known the men they attacked and murdered on the 19th of April, they would have welcomed them with open hands, instead of with death. These were the men who saved Fortress Mon roe and the city of Washington, as we shall now proceed to show. We left the Third Regiment on board the transport, bound for Fortress Monroe. The following is its record : o " At ten o clock, A.M., April 18, weighed anchor, and steamed out of Boston harbor, bound for Fort Monroe. Arrived at Fort Mon roe at eight, A.M., April 20, disembarked at eleven, A.M., and marched into the fort, every man for duty. Found the Fourth Regiment there, which had arrived two hours before, and seven companies of United - States artillery in garrison. Colonel Dimick, commanding post, asked Colonel Wardrop if he was a minute-man. He an swered, Yes. - How long will it take to get your regiment ready ? - - Fifteen minutes. Get it. In ten minutes, he received the following order : HEADQUARTERS, FORT MONROE, VA., April 19, 1861. Order No. 55. The Colonel of the Third Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers will diately report for orders to Commodore Paulding, United-States Navy. By order of Colonel Dimick, (Signed) T. J. HAINES, Adjutant. THE THIRD REGIMENT AT NORFOLK NAVY YARD. 85 " Colonel Wardrop requested to know the object, and was informed that it was to hold possession of Gosport Navy Yard. Colonel Wardrop reported to Captain Paulding, U.S.N., at four o clock, P.M., and was ordered to embark on board of United-States steamer 1 Pawnee, which was done at once, without a -single ration ; Captain Paulding saying he could not wait, and that rations would be obtained at the yard. Left Fort Monroe at five, P.M. At dusk, reached the mouth of the Elizabeth River, and found the enemy had sunk five ves sels in the channel to obstruct the passage. Between seven and eight, P.M., a river steamer, loaded with passengers, passed us, bound to Nor folk. Our men were kept out of sight. At nine, P.M., when within about two hundred yards of United-States frigate * Cumberland, were hailed by an officer from her. They did not appear to hear our answer, when the officer hailed us again. Same effect. Then we dis tinctly heard from the deck of the Cumberland a voice, saying, Shall I fire, sir ? At the same moment, we saw six ports opened from United-States ship Pennsylvania. She was lying broadside to us. It was an anxious moment. It seemed as if our friends were intend ing to do the enemy s work. Another hail from the * Cumberland, an answer from us, and the same voice, Shall I fire, sir ? A hundred voices yelled Pawnee, and then cheer upon cheer broke from the Cumberland and Pennsylvania, and as heartily answered by us, who felt relieved from peril. The regiment immediately disembarked, and marched to a central position in the yard, and ordered to find quarters and rations ; did not succeed in doing either. About eleven, P.M., Captain Paulding informed Colonel Wardrop that he had been ordered to send out the United-States vessels Merrimac, Raritan, * German- town, arid Cumberland, and destroy all public property that he could not carry away ; that he had intended to hold the yard, if possible ; but, from Captain Pendergast s representation, he doubted if he could. Captain Pendergast had felt so sure of this, that he had commenced destroying property during the afternoon, and had scuttled the very ships that he had been ordered to take away. Colonel Wardrop thought the yard might be held, and begged that Captain Paulding would consider the great stake, and try by some means to save the place. Captain Paulding said he would consult again before deciding. Near midnight, Captain Paulding informed Colonel Wardrop, in presence of Captain Pendergast, that he could not hold the yard, but should destroy all the buildings and ships and other property. Colonel Ward rop remonstrated strongly ; advising that the Cumberland retain her position, while the * Pawnee ran up and down the river, preventing the enemy from sinking any more obstruction, or building batteries on the 86 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. banks of the river, while his regiment manned the walls, and put the yard in the best state of defence possible. If we were attacked, to threaten a bombardment of the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth ; that we could not destroy all the large guns in the yard (variously estimated from one thousand to twenty-five hundred) that night ; that together, in his opinion, the place could be held until sufficient re- enforcements arrived ; that the great importance of the place demanded that a great risk should be taken for its preservation. Captain Pen- dergast said the enemy was too strong for us, and that, if we did not get away with the two vessels that night, we never should ; and that every moment lessened our chances ; and that the Cumberland ought to be saved at all hazards, being, in his opinion, more valuable than all else. The two captains then had a private consultation, from which Colonel Wardrop was quietly excluded. Shortly afterwards, Captain Paulding informed the colonel that he should withdraw the two ships, and abandon the yard ; and then ordered him to furnish eighty men to assist in undermining the dry dock, another detail to assist in firing the buildings and vessels, and the balance were employed in rolling solid shot overboard. During this time, a mob broke into the yard, but were promptly driven out by the marines and our regiment. About three o clock, A.M., of the 21st, the regiment embarked on board of the Pawnee, and dropped down the river a short distance. At four, A.M., every thing was fired that would burn. We waited until five o clock, A.M., before all the men returned by small boats, when we found that Captain II. G. Wright, United-States engineer, and Captain John Rodgers, United-States Navy, had been captured by the enemy. The ships were burned to the water s edge, excepting the 4 United States ; and she was so old and rotten she would not burn. The public buildings were mostly destroyed. Some, however, were but slightly damaged. After all our trouble with the dry dock, the mine did not explode. We succeeded in knocking off the trunnions of seven guns : the others were useful to the rebels. When we arrived at the mouth of the Elizabeth River, we found the enemy had almost obstructed the chan nel. The * Pawnee passed through ; the Cumberland did not that afternoon, when they turned one of the sunken vessels, and passed through, and anchored off the fort. We disembarked from the Paw nee a little after eight o clock, A.M., and marched into the fort to our quarters, having eaten nothing since the day before. Thus ended the Norfolk expedition. April 22, the regiment became a part of the garrison of Fort Mon- April 2,S, the regiment was properly mustered into the United- States service for three months. Companies I and M joined May 14. THE THIRD REGIMENT AT NORFOLK NAVY YARD. 87 Company I, Captain Chamberlain, was raised in Lynn, for three years service ; company M, Captain Tyler, was raised in Boston, for three years service. Companies D and E joined the regiment May 22 ; Company D, Captain Chipman, raised at Sandwich ; Company E, Captain Doten, raised at Plymouth, for three years service. On this day, Major-General Butler assumed command of the Department of Virginia, North and South Carolina, headquarters at Fort Monroe. May 27, Company G, of Lowell, Captain P. A. Davis, was assigned to the regiment temporarily. "July 1, the regiment and naval brigade left Fort Monroe early in the morning, crossed Hampton Creek, and occupied the town ; had a slight skirmish with the enemy ; took up quarters in the town, and estab lished advanced posts on the outskirts. The Fourth Regiment was added to the command, and all placed under Brigadier- General Eben- ezer W. Peirce. The duties on the outposts were arduous and harassing, as the enemy was hovering about the lines, firing upon the sentinels occasionally, and attempting to capture some of the most distant posts ; but, by keeping out beyond our lines strong bodies of scouts and skirmishing parties, we soon drove them from our vicinity. July 4, at night, a strong body of the enemy, having artillery and cavalry, crossed New-Market Bridge, threatening Hampton. At two o clock, on the morning of the 5th, Colonel Wardrop, with nine companies of the Third and seven companies of the naval brigade, with four pieces of artillery, marched out. and took up position at the forks of the road, two miles from Hampton. Remained there until an hour after sun rise, when the scouts brought the intelligence that the enemy had retired beyond the New-Market Bridge. Returned to quarters with out firing a shot. Immediately sent out fresh scouts, who followed the enemy to Big Bethel. They saw a regiment march from there that night, and followed it to within five miles of Yorktown ; then passed over to Lee s Mills, on the James River, crossed the Warwick River, and returned by way of Buck River, without losing a man. This party was commanded by Lieutenant Chamberlin, Company C, and consisted of thirty-five of his own men. They were absent a little over five days. Too much credit cannot be given for the skill, courage, and fidelity displayed by this scouting party. A remarkably correct report of the enemy s position and strength on the Peninsula was made by Lieutenant Chamberlin, which, ten months after, was verified. During all this time, the troops in Hampton were busily engaged in finishing the intrenchments, sending detachments on water expeditions, &c. It was a remarkable fact, that grumbling ceased among the men when the regiment marched out of Fort Monroe. 88 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. The harder the duties, the more contented they seemed to be, like men determined to perform the most disagreeable duties cheerfully, forget ting self in patriotic desire to benefit their country. On the 16th of July, the regiment, leaving Companies D, E, I, and M, who had enlisted for three years, behind, marched into Fort Monroe, where, by order of General Butler, they gave up their rifled muskets for old smooth bore muskets, and five rounds of ammunition and four days rations, embarked on board of steamer Cambridge, at four, P.M., and left for Boston about five, P.M. ; arrived at Long Island, Boston harbor, about daylight. July 19, disembarked at Long Island about ten, A.M. Re ported to the Adjutant- General of the State. Was mustered out of the service of the United States July 23, 1861." The Fourth Regiment arrived at Fortress Monroe on the morning of April 20. The adjutant of the regiment writes, "At daybreak, the long low lines of the fort were visible. Anxiously the regiment watched as the boat lay off and on, until at sunrise they saw the old flag unfolding from the flag staff. The men were quickly landed, and, amid the cheers of the little garrison, marched into the fort." This was the first loyal regiment in the war that landed upon the " sacred soil of Virginia." The adjutant continues, " Hardly was the regiment well in quarters before their labors commenced. The fort was found to be almost unarmed on the land side, and ill supplied with material of war. For several weeks the men were em ployed mounting heavy guns, unloading vessels, storing provi sions, and keeping guard. General Butler arrived about the middle of May, and took command of the Department of Vir ginia." On the 27th of May, the Fourth Regiment, in conjunc tion with a New-York regiment under Colonel Bendix, and a Vermont regiment under Colonel Phelps, took possession of Newport News, and made an entrenched camp. Here the regi ment remained, there doing the usual camp duty, until the 9th of June, when " five companies were detailed, with a portion of the Vermont and New-York regiments, to make up a detach ment to join one from Hampton, to start at one o clock the next morning to attack Big Bethel, a position held by the enemy about twelve miles from Newport News. Of the battle of Big Bethel it is needless to go into details. Its unfortunate result THE FOURTH REGIMENT THE FIRST IN VIRGINIA. 89 [says Adjutant Walker] was owing to a variety of causes ; but if other troops had done their duty as well, and gone as far as those from Massachusetts and Vermont, the name of Big Bethel would not have headed a long list of federal repulses." Major Whittemore was the officer who reported to the commander of the fort. In a letter never published before, he says, " I was the first to step on shore, and the regiment was reported by myself to the Officer of the Day. I inquired of him who had pos session of this fort, the regulars or the rebels? He replied, United- States regulars. He was answered, Then the Fourth Regiment, Mas sachusetts Militia, has come to help you keep it. On the 22d of April, we were mustered into the United-States service, and were, as I believe, the first troops mustered. We remained at the fort some two or three weeks, engaged in mounting guns, and on the work necessary to put the place in suitable condition for defence. Some time in May, Gen eral Butler arrived ; and one of the first things he did was to send three regiments, of which the Fourth was one, about twelve miles up the river to Newport News. We set to work, as soon as we could obtain tools, at building entrenchments, and were engaged in this work all of the time until our departure in the latter part of June. While here, the affairs at Little Bethel and Great Bethel occurred, which might have had, and ought to have had, and would have had, a very different result. " Five companies of the Fourth took part in this expedition, and were under my command, and we were all volunteers. The march was commenced at 12^, A.M., and continued until daylight without interruption. Then, unfortunately, Colonel Townsend s regiment of Troy, N.Y., was mistaken for rebels, and a fire was opened between it and our rearguard, composed of a part of Colonel Bendix s New- York volunteers, which resulted in the killing and wounding of eleven men of Townsend s command. Further damage was prevented, and the affair ended, by the major of the Fourth Massachusetts riding out alone in front of his line, and discovering the New- York troops. This mishap made it evident that the object of our expedition, if it had any, had been frustrated ; and it was the pretty general opinion, that the best thing to be done was to return to camp. It was decided, however, to go on ; and we marched until within gunshot of Big Bethel, when the rebels opened fire with a rifled gun. The troops were immediately put in line for an attack ; and the five Massachusetts companies were ordered to turn the enemy s left, in connection with 90 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. five companies of the First Vermont. This they proceeded to do, and were gallantly and rapidly succeeding, some of my men being on the very brink of the works, when Colonel Townsend, of New York, peremptorily ordered a retreat. The Massachusetts men retired in good order, having had two men killed and one mortally wounded, and were drawn up on the same line they started from, where I soon reported to General Peirce, expecting to receive orders to go in again. I now learned that General Peirce as brave a man as I have ever seen in battle * had not ordered a retreat, nor did he intend to do so ; but circumstances beyond his control compelled him to do so, and the five Massachusetts companies brought up the rear on the march back to camp, whither they returned in good order, and marched into Newport News with closed ranks and shouldered arms, feeling that they at least had done their duty, and with no reason to be ashamed of their part in this the first battle of the war. " Thus the Fourth Massachusetts, under my command, were the first troops from Massachusetts in the first battle of the war. I have been in many actions since ; but never have I seen a hotter fire than that at Great Bethel. After this, until our departure from Newport News, nothing of consequence occurred." The Fourth remained at Newport News until the 3d of July, when it moved to the village of Hampton. Adjutant Walker writes, "On our arrival at Hampton, we found the quaint old town deserted. Hardly a score of its former white inhabitants remained, although many negroes, especially old and very young ones, were still there. The troops had quarters assigned them in the various houses, and remained there undisturbed until Wednesday, July 11, when we marched over to Fortress Mon roe, preparatory to embarking for home." Previous to leaving, their Springfield rifled muskets were exchanged for old smooth bores. On the eve of departure, the regiment was addressed by General Butler and Colonel Diraick. On the 15th of July, it embarked on board the steamer " S. R. Spaulding," and in fifty-six hours arrived in Boston harbor, after an absence of three months. It was mustered out at Long Island, Boston harbor, on the 22d of July. The Fifth Regiment arrived at Annapolis on the morning of * Major Whittemore was afterwards major and lieutenant-colonel of the Thirtieth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and served three years. THE FIFTH REGIMENT AT BULL RUN. 91 the 24th of April, and landed in the afternoon. The next day, the regiment was ordered to Washington. Only four com panies could find car accommodation to the Annapolis Junction. The other six, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Greene, marched to that point. The regiment arrived in Washington on the 26th, and was quartered in the Treasury building; and was mustered into the United-States service on the 1st of May. From that time to the 24th of May, the regiment was exercised in drill. On the 25th, it was ordered to Alexandria, and, marching across the Long Bridge, entered Virginia, and that evening encamped near Alexandria. The regiment had only brought with it the State colors. Several Massachusetts gentle men in Washington presented it with a handsome national flag. On the 28th, they formed camp near Shuter s Hill, not far from Alexandria, and named it " Camp Andrew," in honor of the Governor of Massachusetts. Nothing of special interest oc curred until the 25th of June, when Lieutenant-Colonel Greene, Major Keyes, and Adjutant Barri, having been appointed officers in the regular army, took leave of the regiment. This was a grievous loss ; for the gentlemen named were among the very best officers in the volunteer service at that time. The regiment celebrated the Fourth of July in camp. The chaplain read the Declaration of Independence, Colonel Lawrence made a speech, and the "Star-spangled Banner" was sung. On the 16th of July, the regiment was put in General Franklin s brigade, and soon after advanced towards Bull Run. The Fifth bore an honored part in that disastrous battle, which was fought on the 21st of July, exactly three months from the day the regiment left Faneuil Hall. In this battle, Colonel Lawrence was slightly wounded. The regiment left Washington on the 28th of July, and arrived in Boston on the 30th, having been in service three months and seven days. Its reception in Boston was worthy of its military record. The famous Sixth Regiment arrived at Philadelphia, as we have already stated, on the afternoon of the 18th of April. This regiment has the undisputed honor of having been the first to reach Washington, and the first to sacrifice life in the great war. Its passage through Baltimore, a city of two hundred 92 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. thousand inhabitants, more than half of whom were rebels ; the attack upon it by the mob ; the death of four, and the wound ing of thirty-six, of its members, on the memorable 19th of April, sent a thrill through the heart of the nation, and aroused it like a giant to defend its life. This was the anniver sary of the battle of Lexington, in which, on the soil of Massa chusetts, the first blood was shed in the struggle for Independence in 1775. This regiment came from the county of Middlesex, in which are " Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill ; " and some of the men who were attacked in Baltimore were the direct descendants of the men who breasted the power of England in those memorable conflicts. At midnight on the 18th, reports reached Philadelphia, that preparations were being made to dispute the passage of this regiment through Baltimore, and to attack Washington. The long roll was beat ; and the men formed in column, and marched to the depot of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad, and took their places in the cars. At one o clock in the morning, the train started ; Colonel Jones intending to have his command pass through Baltimore early in the morning, before a force could be gathered to impede its march. Mr. Felton, President of the railroad, says, " Before they left Philadelphia, I called the colonel and principal officers into my office, and told them of the dangers they would probably encounter, and advised that each soldier should load his musket before leaving, and be ready for any emergency. We had arranged a cipher, by which messages were sent and received every few moments along the whole road, and from the officers of the Baltimore and Ohio road ; so that we were posted up constantly as to the exact condition of affairs. Just before the starting of the Sixth, I received a message that a part of a Pennsylvania regiment had arrived over the Northern Central road, and passed through Baltimore without any demonstra tions of hostility, save a few hisses .* This fact I communicated to the Sixth, but, at the same time, advised that they should relax no vigilance on that account. The regiment started ; and I stood at the telegraph instrument in Philadelphia, constantly receiving messages of its progress. Finally, it was announced from Baltimore that they were * This was a regiment without arms. THE SIXTH REGIMENT IN BALTIMORE. 93 in sight; next, that they were received at the station with cheers; then that ten car-loads had started for the Camden-street station, and all was right; then that the other four car-loads had started, and turned the corner on to Pratt Street all right; then, after a few moments, that the track was torn up in front of the last four cars, and they were attacked on Pratt Street. Then the reports subsided into mere rumors, and we could not tell whether the mob was to succeed, or the military was to be triumphant, as guns were being fired by both rioters and military, and the tide of battle was surging, now this way, and now that ; then that the mob had turned upon an unarmed Pennsylvania regiment [Colonel Small s, which had left Philadelphia with the Sixth] ; that the mob had mounted tops of the cars, and were breaking them in, and throwing down paving-stones and other missiles upon the heads of the volunteers, and chasing those who had left the cars through the streets of the city. The excitement, anxiety, and oppression that I felt at that moment may be better imagined than described. At this juncture, I received a message from the Mayor of Baltimore and the Police Commissioners as follows in substance : Withdraw the troops now in Baltimore, and send no more through Baltimore or Maryland. An immediate answer was demanded. I, in order to get time to ascertain more exactly the condition of affairs before deciding what to do, telegraphed to the Mayor and Commis sioners, that I had received such a message as the above, and asked, Is it genuine ? In the mean time, I ascertained that the bulk of the Sixth had got through Baltimore, and were on their way to Washington ; and believing that the mob would murder the unarmed men under Colonel Small if I allowed them to remain where they were exposed to their violence and fury, and believing that our bridges would be at once destroyed, and that some other route must be adopted, I be thought myself of the Seaford and Annapolis scheme before communi cated to General Scott, and at once telegraphed to the Mayor of Baltimore, I will withdraw the troops now in Baltimore, and send no more through the city till I first consult with you. I made no allusion to sending any through Maryland ; but so worded my message that they would rather conclude that no more troops would be sent, and thus be unprepared to throw any impediment in the way of the Annapolis route." Persons who have not passed over the railroad from Phila delphia to Washington may not know that the cars from Philadelphia enter the depot in Baltimore on the north side of the city. Here the locomotive is detached, and the cars for 94 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Washington are drawn by horses about two miles, across the lower part of the city, to the depot of the Baltimore and Wash ington Railroad, on the south side of the city, where the loco motive is again attached, and the train taken by steam-power to Washington. It is one hundred miles from Philadelphia to Bal timore, and about forty from that city to Washington. Colonel Jones s account is dated " Capitol, Washington, April 22, 1861." He says, - " After leaving Philadelphia, I received intimation that the pas sage through the city of Baltimore would be resisted.* I caused ammunition to be distributed and arms loaded, and went personally through the cars, and issued the following order ; viz., " The regiment will march through Baltimore in columns of sections, arms at will. You will undoubtedly be insulted, abused, and perhaps assaulted, to which you must pay no attention whatever, but march with your faces square to the front, and pay no attention to the mob, even if they throw stones, bricks, or other missiles ; but if you are fired upon, and any one of you are hit, your officers will order you to fire. Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select any man whom you may see aiming at you, and be sure you drop him. " Reaching Baltimore, horses were attached the instant that the loco motive was detached, and the cars were driven at a rapid pace across the city. After the cars containing seven companies had reached the Washington Depot, the track behind them was barricaded, and the cars containing band and the following companies ; viz., Company C, of Lowell, Captain Follansbee ; Company D, of Lowell, Captain Hart; Company I, of Lawrence, Captain Pickering ; and Company L, of Stoneham, Captain Dike, were vacated by the band ; and they pro ceeded to march in accordance with orders, and had proceeded but a short distance before they were furiously attacked by a shower of mis siles, which came faster as they advanced. They increased their step to double-quick, which seemed to infuriate the mob, as it evidently impressed the mob with the idea that the soldiers dared not fire or had no ammunition ; and pistol-shots were numerously fired into the ranks, and one soldier fell dead. The order, < Fire, was given, and it was executed ; in consequence, several of the mob fell, and the soldiers again advanced hastily. The Mayor of Baltimore placed himself at the head of the column, beside Captain Follansbee, and proceeded with This is an error. The information was received before the regiment left Philadelphia. ATTACK BY THE MOB. THE FIRST BLOOD SHED. 95 them a short distance, assuring him that he would protect them, and begging hirn not to let the men fire ; but the Mayor s patience was soon exhausted, and he seized a musket from the hands of one of the men, and killed a man therewith ; and a policeman, who was in advance of the column, also shot a man with a revolver. " They at last reached the cars, and they started immediately for Washington. On going through the train, found there were about one hundred and thirty missing, including the band and field-music. Our baggage was seized, and we have not as yet been able to recover any of it. I have found it very difficult to get reliable information in regard to the killed and wounded, but believe there were only three killed." Here follows a list of the killed and wounded, which was incomplete and incorrect. " As the men went into the cars, I caused the blinds to the cars to be closed, and took every precaution to prevent any shadow of offence to the people of Baltimore ; but still the stones flew thick and fast into the train, and it was with the utmost difficulty that I could prevent the troops from leaving the cars, and revenging the death of their com rades. After a volley of stones, some one of the soldiers fired, and killed a Mr. Davis, who, I ascertained by reliable witnesses, threw a stone into the car. Yet that did not justify the firing at him ; but the men were infuriated beyond control. On reaching Washington, we were quartered at the Capitol, in the Senate Chamber, and all are in good health and spirits. I have made every effort to get possession of the bodies of our comrades, but have not yet succeeded. Should I succeed, I shall forward them to Boston, if practicable ; otherwise, shall avail myself of a kind offer of George Woods, Esq., who has offered me a prominent lot in the Congressional Burying-ground for the purpose of interment. We were this day mustered into the United-States service, and will forward the rolls at first opportunity after verification." It appears, that, on arriving at the Susquehanna, they over took a Pennsylvania regiment, called " Small s Brigade," having about a thousand unarmed and ununiformed men, on their way to Washington. These made the train very heavy, and caused a change of the order in which the cars containing the Sixth were arranged when the regiment left Philadelphia. This was not known until afterwards; it interfered with previous orders, t and accounts in a degree for the separation of the regiment in 96 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Baltimore. Seven companies went safely through that city to the Washington Depot. Four others, with the band, were in the rear, and those were the companies which bore the brunt of the attack. They are designated in Colonel Jones s report. It was the expectation that the entire regiment would march through Baltimore to the Washington Depot, in conformity with previous orders. The companies in the forward cars were being drawn across the city while those in the rear cars were in the depot, waiting orders to file out. A writer and eye witness says, " No orders came to file out ; and, in a few minutes, all the cars forward of the one occupied by Captain Sampson s company disap peared. We knew nothing of the movements of the balance of the regiment, as no intimation had been transmitted to us of a change of the orders. Meanwhile the mob increased in numbers about the depot. Soon the car moved on. At the first turn of a street, it was thrown from the track. The men were ordered to remain in the car until it was put again on the track. The mob now begun to throw stones and brickbats, some of which entered the car. On Pratt Street, the mob surrounded it ; the car was made a complete wreck. Shots were fired by the mob, which were returned by the company, and was kept up with more or less spirit until the company reached the Washington Station, and joined the other seven." Major Watson was with this company in its perilous passage, and exhibited much coolness and capacity. The other three com panies, which had been separated from the rest of the command after crossing the Susquehanna, had not yet been heard from. These were the companies commanded by Captains Follansbee, Pickering, and Dike. Before they got from the Baltimore De pot, the rebels had barricaded the streets, and removed the rails from the track crossing the city, so the cars containing these companies could not move. They had, therefore, either to force their way through the city on foot, retreat, or surrender. They determined to go forward. In getting out of the cars, cheers were given by the mob for Jeff Davis and South Carolina. Secession flags were flaunted in the faces of the men ; they were told to dig their graves ; that thirty Southern men could whip the whole of the Yankee State of Massachusetts. Our men bore these affronts with silence. They were two hundred men FIGHTS ITS WAY THROUGH THE CITY. 97 against ten thousand, in a strange and hostile city. Under com mand of Captain Follansbee, they begun their march. The mob increased in numbers. Stones, bricks, oyster-shells, and other missiles were thrown at them. Random shots were fired. Shouts of derision and yells of savage hatred rent the air. Still the gallant band moved on. No one skulked ; no one thought of looking back. Washington was their goal, and the streets of Baltimore the way to it. Several men were already wounded with pistol-shots ; two were killed ; the time had come for retaliation. They had suffered with closed lips insults and indignities hard for brave men to bear ; but, when they saw their dead comrades, they brought their muskets to the shoulder, and fired. Their shots told. Several of the mob fell lifeless on the pavement, and a large number were wounded ; and so for two miles these brave, devoted men fought their way, and joined their comrades at the Washington Depot. The killed were Addison O. Whitney, Luther C. Ladd, and Charles A. Taylor, of Company D, Lowell, and Sumner H. Needham, Company I, of Lawrence. Thirty-six were wounded, three of whom were Captain Dike, and Leander F. Lynde and James F. Rowe, of the Stoneham company. The mob howled like wolves around the Southern Depot, where the regiment now was, and threw stones at the cars after the men were seated. Several of the mob were shot by our men from the cars while waiting to start. The regiment reached O O Washington at five in the afternoon, and was received by the loyal people who surrounded the depot with the wildest en thusiasm. Soon after, it marched to the Capitol building, and was quartered in the Senate Chamber, and rooms connected with it. Thus, under the roof of the Capitol, were sheltered the men who first marched to save it, and in whose ranks the first blood had been shed, and the first lives sacrificed in its defence. The regiment remained in Washington until the 5th of May, when it was ordered to the Relay House, a railroad station about ten miles from Baltimore, where it remained doing guard and picket duty until the 29th of July, when it broke camp and returned to Massachusetts, and arrived in Boston 7 98 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. on the 31st of July, after a service of three months and a half. Distinguished honors have been paid this regiment, as the historic regiment of the war. Distinguished ladies volunteered to nurse the sick and wounded. Poets sung its praises in heroic verse. The loyal ladies of Baltimore presented it with a national flag; and the citizens of Bergen Point, in New Jersey, with another, as a " slight acknowledgment of their appreciation of its moral and soldierly deportment, its gallantry at Baltimore, and timely rescue from danger of the capital of our common country." The United-States House of Representatives unani mously voted these soldiers the thanks of the House for their "prompt response to the call of duty," and "their patriot ism and bravery in fighting their way through Baltimore to the defence of the capital ;" and, in so doing, spoke the sentiments of the loyal men of the nation. The Eighth Regiment reached Philadelphia, as we have before stated, on the evening of April 19. There they learned that the Sixth Regiment had been attacked in Baltimore, and compelled to fight its way through the city. This intelligence gave new energy and enthusiasm to the men, and made them more eager to press forward to Washington. They had expected to reach the capital by way of Baltimore ; but that route w r as now closed, and a new one had to be opened, which served as the military highway to Washington for Eastern troops until sedition was suppressed in Baltimore, and that city assumed a loyal attitude. The new route was by the Susquehanna and Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland. A branch railroad of seventeen miles connected Annapolis with the Baltimore and Washington Railroad. By this route, Washington could be reached without touching Baltimore. It was a flank movement ; and the honor of suggesting and making it successful belongs to Samuel M. Felton, Esq. The honors due him for this ser vice can only be measured by the important ends which it accom plished. General Butler was in Philadelphia with the Eighth. His orders were to march to Washington by way of Baltimore. That was now impossible. Mr. Parton, in his "Life of Gen eral Butler," says, THE EIGHTH OPENS THE WAY TO ANNAPOLIS. 99 " On this evening, at Philadelphia, there was telegraphing to the Governor of Massachusetts ; there were consultations with Commodore Dupont, commandant of the navy yard ; there were interviews with Mr. Felton, President of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad, a son of Massachusetts, full of patriotic zeal, and prompt with needful advice and help ; there was poring over maps and gazetteers. Mean while, Colonel A. J. Butler was out in the streets buying pickaxes, shovels, tin-ware, provisions, and all that was necessary to enable troops to take the field, to subsist on army rations, to repair bridges and railroads, and throw up breastworks. All Maryland was supposed to be in arms ; but the general was going through Maryland." The same writer says, " Before evening was far advanced, he had determined his plan. His officers were summoned to meet him. On his table were thirteen revolvers. He explained his design to go by way of Annapolis, and took upon himself the sole responsibility. Taking up one of the revolvers, he invited every officer who was willing to accompany him to signify it by accepting a revolver. The pistols were all instantly appropriated." A " Memorial of Plan and Reasons for Proceeding to Anna polis," written that evening by General Butler, was received by Governor Andrew, enclosed in a, letter from Major P. Adams Ames, an officer of Major-General Andrews s staff of the Massa chusetts Volunteer Militia, who happened to be in Philadelphia at the time. This paper was as follows : "I have detailed Captain Devereux and Captain Briggs, with their commands, supplied with one day s rations and twenty rounds of am munition, to take possession of the ferry-boat at Havre-de- Grace for the benefit of this expedition. This I have done with the concurrence of the present master of transportation. The Eighth Regiment will remain at quarters, that they may get a little solid rest after their fatiguing march. I have sent to know if the Seventh (New York) Regiment will go with me. I propose to march myself at the hour of seven o clock in the morning, to take the regular eight and a quarter o clock train to Havre-de- Grace. The citizens of Baltimore, at a large meeting this evening, denounced the passage of Northern troops. They have exacted a promise from the President of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail road not to send troops over that road through Baltimore ; so that any attempt to throw troops into Baltimore entails a march of forty miles, 100 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. and an attack upon a city of two hundred thousand inhabitants at the beginning of the march. The only way, therefore, of getting commu nication with Washington for troops from the North is over the Balti more and Ohio Railway, or marching from the west. Commodore Dupont, at the navy yard, has given me instructions of the fact in accordance with these general statements, upon which I rely. I have therefore thought I could rely upon these statements as to time it will take to proceed in marching from Havre-de-Grace to Washington. My proposition is to join with Colonel Lefferts, of the Seventh Regi ment of New York. I propose to take the fifteen hundred troops to Annapolis, arriving there to-morrow about four o clock, and occupy the capital of Maryland, and thus call the State to account for the death of Massachusetts men, my friends and neighbors. If Colonel Lefferts thinks it more in accordance with the tenor of his instructions to wait rather than go through Baltimore, I still propose to march with this regiment. I propose to occupy the town, and hold it open as a means of communication. I have then but to advance by a forced march of thirty miles to reach the capital, in accordance with the orders I at first received, but which subsequent events, in my judgment, vary in their execution, believing, from the telegraphs, that there will be others in great numbers to aid me. Being accompanied by officers of more experience, who will be able to direct the affair, I think it will be accomplished. We have no light batteries ; I have therefore tele graphed to Governor Andrew to have the Boston Light Battery put on shipboard at once to-night to help me in marching on Washington. In pursuance of this plan, I have detailed Captains Devereux and Hrig2;s, with their commands, to hold the boat at Havre-de-Grace. Kleven, A.M. Colonel Lefferts has refused to march with me. I fro alone at three o clock, P.M., to execute this imperfectly written plan. If I succeed, success will justify me. If I fail, purity of inten tion will excuse want of judgment or rashness. B. F. BUTLER. His Excellency Governor ANDREW. This despatch of General Butler is inaccurate and obscure. When lie speaks of Havre-de-Grace, he means Perry ville, as Perryville is on the northern side of the Susquehanna, and Havre-de-Grace is on the southern side. When he says, "If Colonel Lefferts thinks it more in accordance with the tenor of his instructions to wait rather than go through Baltimore," he means rather than go through Annapolis; for Baltimore GENERAL BUTLER. MR. FELTCXN S NARRATIVE. 101 was the city to be avoided. Neither the despatch nor the biography gives just credit to Mr. Felton, who had suggested and fixed upon this route on the 19th, when the Mayor of Balti more telegraphed him to send no more troops through that city, and he promised that no more would be sent. Mr. J. Edgar Thompson, President of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, and Isaac Hazlehurst, Esq., of Philadelphia, were in his office when the despatch from the Mayor of Baltimore was received ; and to them he suggested the Annapolis route, and they agreed that it was " the only thing to be done." He immediately tele graphed to Captain Galloway, of the ferry-boat "Maryland," at Perry ville, to fill her up with coal, and to make her ready to go to Annapolis ; and also to procure a pilot who knew Anna polis Harbor. These three gentlemen also conferred with the steamboat owners in Philadelphia about getting their boats ready to take troops from Perry ville to Annapolis ; and, in some cases, they became personally responsible for the pay of the officers of the boats. Some of the men declined absolutely to put their boats at the disposal of the Government ; and they were seized by Governor Curtin, who arrived that evening from Harrisburo;. A consultation was held that niorht at the house O O of General Patterson, in Philadelphia, at which Governor Cur- tin, Mr. Felton, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Hazlehurst, and Mr. Henry, Mayor of Philadelphia, were present. The exciting state of affairs was discussed, and Mr. Felton explained the route to Washington by way of Annapolis. "After considera ble discussion, the Annapolis route was adopted by the military, and the programme of Mr. Felton and Mr. Thompson ap proved." I now quote from Mr. Felton s manuscript : " General Butler arrived in Philadelphia the same evening, with the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment; and I requested General Patter son to give me an order to take to General Butler, directing him to go to Washington by the Annapolis route. The general said he had no military authority over General Butler, and could not give the order ; but that I might say to him that he most urgently advised that he should go to Annapolis. I then, in company with Admiral, then Commodore, Dupont, and my brother Frank, called upon General Butler at the Continental Hotel, and told him all I knew about the condition 102 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. of things in Baltimore, and of the impossibility of his going that way, as then they had the streets barricaded, and a large force under arms, with artillery, to resist his march through the city. I then advised his taking the Annapolis route, which he at first declined, saying his orders were to go to Baltimore, and he would go that way ; and, if they fired upon him from any house, he would raze that house to the ground, by the help of God, or leave his bones and ashes in the streets of the city. We told him he could not get through that way ; that our bridges would be burned that night, if they were not already ; and we could not land him in the city : so the only route left was Annapolis. After some considerable discussion and hesitation, the gen eral concluded to go by Annapolis, in our ferry-boat, from Perryville, with Captain Galloway, and the pilot whom I had engaged, in charge of the boat. I was to see Colonel Lefferts, of the New-York Seventh, then on its way to Philadelphia, and give him all the facts that I had come in possession of, and urge him to join General Butler. I then went to my oilice ; and at about three, A.M., Colonel Lefferts arrived at the depot, but declined to go with General Butler, saying his orders were to go through Baltimore. Mr. Thompson and myself endeavored to persuade him to join General Butler. He finally concluded to embark on board the steamer Boston, one of the steamers we had secured, and go up the Potomac. I earnestly advised him against this course, as I had heard that the rebels had erected batteries on the banks of the Potomac. I urged his going to Annapolis in the steamer Boston, and then joining General Butler for a inarch to Washington, as the next best thing to going to Perryville, the Perryville route being quicker than the route down the Delaware and by sea. He finally gave up his Potomac route, and joined General Butler at Annapolis. At three o clock the next day (Saturday), April 20, Gen eral Butler started from the Broad and Prince Streets Station, in the cars, to Perryville, and thence by steamer k Maryland to Annapolis. I watched his progress from station to station by telegraph with great anxiety, as our bridges had been burnt, as I had expected, the night before, between the Susquehanna and Baltimore, by J. R. Trimble, at the head of a military rebel force of about one hundred and fifty men ; and he was threatening to come to the river, and take possession of our boat, which was then our chief dependence. I had, however, so arranged matters on board the boat as to make it impossible for him to capture} it, if my orders were obeyed. We also found that our bridges would be destroyed on this side of the Susquehanna, unless we were better guarded than on the other side. Trimble did not succeed in reaching the river and capturing the ferry-boat, being frightened FKOM PHILADELPHIA TO ANNAPOLIS. 103 from his undertaking by one of our engine-men, who was on the engine that Trimble had seized, in order to take his force out to the river. This man told him, when he was within about eight miles of the river, that there were twenty-five hundred soldiers on board the ferry-boat, who would give him a very warm reception if he attempted to go to the river. Trimble thereupon concluded that discretion would be the better part of valor, and returned to Baltimore, burning the bridges after passing over them. At six, P.M., the telegraph announced that General Butler had arrived at Perryville. He embarked imme diately on board the Maryland, with his regiment, and started for Annapolis. After this, I went home completely worn out by anxiety, labor, and loss of sleep, having eaten only irregularly in my office, and having neither changed my linen, shaved, nor closed my eyes in sleep, for three days and two nights." In making up the record of this gallant regiment from its departure from Philadelphia until its return, I am under especial obligations to the full and interesting narrative of Captain George T. Newhall, of Company D, Lynn Light Infantry. On arriving near Perryville, the cars stopped, and skirmishers were thrown forward. The main body followed closely. A crowd was at the ferry. The regiment moved by "double quick." Captain Newhall says, "The steamer, a very large ferry-boat, called the Maryland, being in its slip, was instantly taken without firing a shot." It is evident from this, that neither the officers nor men of the regiment knew that the " Maryland " had been pre pared, and was waiting to take them to Annapolis. After getting on board the luggage, the " Maryland " proceeded to Annapolis, where it arrived on Sunday morning, April 21, and anchored in the harbor, near the frigate " Constitution." The men suffered from fatigue. Seven hundred persons were on board. The United-States Naval Academy is at Annapolis. The frigate " Constitution " was the school-ship of the academy. It was the most famous ship in our naval annals ; having, in the war of 1812, won the choicest laurels. It was sup posed that she would be seized by the rebels : to save her from such a disgrace was the duty of the hour. Two companies of the Eighth were placed on board ; the crew not being strong enough to defend her, if seriously attacked. Cap tain Rogers, U.S.N., who commanded her, was prepared to 104 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. sink her, rather than strike his colors. Both the "Maryland" and the " Constitution " were aground ; great efforts were made to float them, and tow the frigate over the bar. This was accomplished with the assistance of the steamer " Boston," which arrived in the harbor in the morning with the Seventh New- York Regiment. Company K, of Pittsfield, was sent by steamer to Fort McHenry, Baltimore Harbor, and did not join the remment airain for three weeks. The " Constitution " was O O taken safely from Annapolis to New York, having Captain Devereux s company, and a detail of Lynn, Gloucester, and Mar- blehead men on board under command of Lieutenant Berry, of Company D, Lynn, to assist in working her. They afterwards joined the regiment at Washington. The rest of the Eighth was kept on board the "Maryland" forty-eight hours, short of ra tions, and without water. Captain Newhall says the men were "supplied with pilot-bread from the Constitution, stamped 1848, the year it was made, and salt pork bearing the same brand, which the men were obliged to eat raw. Salt water only could be procured : this was eagerly drank by some, making them more thirsty than ever." The regiment was not landed until Tuesday morning. The Seventh New York, which arrived in the harbor a day after the Eighth, landed first. Sev eral communications had passed between General Butler and the Governor of Maryland, the latter protesting against landing the troops, and also between the general and the commandant of the Naval Academy, who rendered him all the assistance in his power. On the day on which the troops landed, a report was brought to General Butler, that the slaves in the city and surrounding country were to rise against their masters, and assert their right to be free. General Butler immediately offered the services of himself and command to put down the insurrec tion. The offer was declined ; there being no truth in the report, and the masters being able to maintain peace, and sup press a revolt of their slaves. The railroad from Annapolis to the Junction, where it con nects with the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, had, in part, been destroyed, and the engines and cars partially broken. After considerable delay, the track was relaid, and the enoines THE EIGHTH REACH WASHINGTON. 105 and cars were put in order by the men of the Eighth. Many of them were mechanics, who had made locomotives and cars. On the 24th of April, the Eighth and the New- York Seventh marched twenty-two miles to the Junction. The heat was oppressive, and the men suffered for want of food. " On arriving at the Junction, they dropped asleep." On the afternoon of Friday, April 26, the regiment arrived in Washington, eight days after its departure from Boston. The National Intelligencer the next morning, speaking of the Eighth, said, "We doubt whether any other single regiment in the country could furnish such a ready contingent to reconstruct a steam-engine, lay a rail-track, and bend the sails of a man-of-war." General Butler remained behind at Annapolis in command of that im portant post. The hard labor of laying the railroad track, and repairing the locomotives and cars, had worn out the men s uniforms. The fact being presented to the President by Colonel Monroe, he ordered them to be furnished with army trousers and blouses. On the 30th of April, the regiment was mustered into the United-States service. The regiment remained in Washington until the middle of May, when it was ordered to the Relay House to guard the railroad. It remained there, with changes of detail, until the 29th of July, when it received orders to return home. It arrived in Boston on the 1st of August, where it was honorably received, and addressed by the Mayor of the city. These soldiers received the thanks of the United-States House of Representatives, "for the energy and patriotism displayed by them in surmounting obstacles upon sea and land, which traitors had interposed to impede their progress to the defence of the national capital." On the 4th of July, while at the Relay House, the regiment was presented with a new flag, made and forwarded by the ladies of Lynn. On the 12th of May, Colonel Monroe resigned his commission, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hinks was elected to fill the vacancy. In acknowledgment of the long and valuable services of Colonel Monroe in the militia of his State and country, Governor Andrew directed the Adjutant- General to address him the following letter : 106 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. ADJUTANT-GENERAL S OFFICE, BOSTON, May 15, 1861 Colonel MUNROE, M.V.M. SIR, I am directed by His Excellency the Commander-in-chief to inform you, that, in assenting to your discharge from the command of the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, now in active service at Wash ington, to defend the Union, the Constitution, and the Government of the United States, he is impressed by your long and meritorious services in the militia of the Commonwealth ; that you have earned long years ago an honorable discharge ; but by your alacrity and patriotism so recently exhibited in answer to the order to march your command to Washington, where you have taken an honorable and prominent part in the defence of the country, you are doubly entitled to it. His Excellency takes this occasion to assure you of his high ap preciation of your services, and expresses a hope that you may live many years in the enjoyment of that peaceful Union to which your services have been devoted. Major- General Sutton will transmit this letter to Colonel Monroe, together with his discharge. By order of His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and Commander-in-chief. WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General. To the Eighth Regiment will ever be the honor of having opened the route to Washington by way of Annapolis, and of having saved from possible loss the frigate "Constitution," the "Old Ironsides" of the war of 1812. The Third Battalion of Rifles, by transport from New York, readied Annapolis April 24, and quartered in the Naval Academy, where it remained until the 2d of May, when it was ordered to Fort McIIenry, where it continued until the end of its term of service. The battalion was drilled in the practice of heavy ordnance, and in infantry tactics. The men were always ready for duty, and by their good conduct and discipline received the confidence and praise of the garrison commanders. They were engaged in no battle ; but the fort which it held saved Baltimore and Maryland from going with Virginia and other Southern States headlong into rebellion. They were thanked by General Dix, post commandant, for their patriotism and good CLOSE OF THE THREE MONTHS SERVICE. 107 behavior, and, at his request, remained on duty two weeks after their term of service had expired. This battalion was from Worcester, "the heart of the Commonwealth." Company C was originally a local organization, composed of men of Irish birth, who, on the call for troops, offered their services to the Governor, which were accepted, and the company was attached to the Third Battalion. It was the first Irish company to reach the seat of war, and be mustered into the United-States service ; and Company D, of the same battalion, was the first to reach Washington by the Potomac River. Major Cook s Light Battery, which left New York with the Fifth Regiment and Rifle Battalion, arrived at Annapolis on the 24th of April, and was quartered at the Naval Academy, where it remained until the 4th of May, when it was sent to the Relay House. On the 13th of June, it was ordered, with the Sixth Regiment, to Baltimore, to protect the polls on election day. It remained in that city until the 30th of July, four days beyond the term of its enlistment. Two detachments were stationed in Monument Square, and others at the Custom House. The battery arrived in Boston on the 3d of August, where it was cordially received by the Mayor of the city, and a large crowd of people. The First Battalion of Dragoons, the Second Battalion of Infantry, and the National Lancers hon ored the corps with an escort to their old quarters. In the preceding pages, I have sketched the departure, the services, and the return of the first three-months men. They made an honorable record. Speaking of them, the Adjutant- General, in his annual report for 1861, says, " They were the first to respond to the call of the President ; the first to march through Baltimore to the defence of the capital ; the first to shed their blood for the maintenance of our Government ; the first to open the new route to Washington by way of Annapolis ; the first to land on the soil of Virginia, and hold possession of the most impor tant fortress in the Union ; the first to make the voyage of the Potomac, and approach the Federal city by water, as they had been the first to reach it by land. They upheld the good name of the State during their entire term of service, as well by their good conduct and gentle- 108 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. manly bearing, as by their courage and* devotion to duty in the hour of peril. They proved the sterling worth of our volunteer militia. Their record is one which will ever redound to the honor of Massachusetts, and will be prized among her richest historic treasures. These men have added new splendor to our revolutionary annals ; and the brave sons who were shot down in the streets of Baltimore on the 19th of April, have rendered doubly sacred the day when the greensward of Lexington Common was drenched with the blood of their fathers." The three-months service was a good preparatory experience. It educated officers to command three-years companies and regiments, which were then being raised in the State ; several of whom came back, when the war was over, with distinguished fame, and with generals stars upon their shoulders. Among these we name Hinks and Devens and Briggs and Martin and Dev- ercux and McCartney. Others rose to high rank, who never came back, but who fell in distant battle-fields, by the side of their men, and beneath the shadow of the flag they carried, which symbolized their cause and the nation s. Of these we name Chambers and Pratt and Parker and Prescott and Keyes and Dodd. While the events here enumerated were transpiring at a distance, others of great importance and interest were of daily occurrence at home, as will appear in the next chapter. CHAPTER III. The People of the Towns The Press The Pulpit Edward Everett Fletcher Webster offers to raise a Regiment The Sunday Meeting in State Street Mr. Webster s Speech Meeting in the Music Hall Speech of Wendell Phillips Meeting in Chester Park Speeches of Edward Everett and Benjamin F. Hallett Meeting under the Washington Elm in Cambridge Ex-Governor Banks, George S. Hillard, and others Letters received by the Governor Extracts Reception of the Dead Bodies of the Killed in Baltimore Mr. Crowninshield goes abroad to buy Arms Ex-Governor Boutwell sent to Washington Letter of John M. Forbes to Mr. Felton Letter to General Wool To Rev. Dr. Stearns To Robert M. Mason Offer of a Ship Load of Ice Purchase of the Cambridge Provisions sent to Fortress Monroe and Washington Governor to President Lincoln Attorney-General Foster The Ladies of Cambridge Call for Three Years Volunteers Letter of John M. Forbes Letters received by the Adjutant- General Extracts Letters from Dr. Luther V. Bell and Richard H. Dana, Jr. Ex-Governor Boutwell arrives at Washington Letters to the Governor State of Affairs at Washington Letter from Mr. Foster Cipher Telegram Judge Hoar at Washington Letters to the Governor The War De partment will accept no more Troops Charles R. Lowell, Jr., Massachusetts Agent at Washington His Instructions Letter of Governor to Dr. Howe Appointed to examine the Condition of the Regiments His Report Colonel Prescott Letters of the Governor and General Butler Slavery. THE people of Massachusetts were deeply moved by the depar ture of the three months men, and the attack made upon the Sixth Regiment at Baltimore. Meetings were held in city and town. Speeches were made by the most distinguished orators in the State. In some of the towns, the people were called together by the ringing of church-bells, and in others by the town-crier. The meetings generally were opened with prayer ; and the oldest and most venerable of the inhabitants were seated on the platform. The veterans of the Revolution had passed away, and the seats which they would have filled were occupied by the surviving soldiers of the War of 1812. Addresses were made by clergymen, lawyers, and by young men, to whom the 110 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. cause gave words of earnest eloquence. The UNION, one and inseparable, and lio\v Massachusetts could best serve it, were the themes which inspired them all. Resolutions were passed, pledging life and fortune to the cause. Large sums of money were subscribed and paid. Historic memories were revived, and the sacrifices of the fathers in the War for Independence held up for imitation. The women formed aid societies to sew and knit and work for the absent soldiers and for their families at home. Young men formed military companies, and more companies were offered than the Government would receive ; and more articles of clothing and stores of provisions than the men required. The public journals of the Commonwealth spoke with one voice. Party spirit was allayed, political differences forgotten. The past was buried with the past. The Boston Morning Post, the leading Democratic paper in New England, gave to the cause its strong support, it had sustained the nomination of John C. Brcckinridge for President the preceding year ; but it did so without intent or thought of following him into rebel lion. On the morning of April 16, the Post published a patriotic appeal to the people, from which we make the follow ing extract : " Patriotic citizens ! choose you which you will serve, the world s best hope, our noble Republican Government, or that bottomless pit, social anarchy. Adjourn other issues until this self-preserving issue is settled. Hitherto a good Providence has smiled upon the American Union. This was the morning star that led on the men of the Revo lution. It is precisely the truth to say, that when those sages and heroes labored they made Uxiox the vital condition of their labor. It was faith in Union that destroyed the tea, and thus nerved the resist ance to British aggression. Without it, patriots felt they were noth ing; and with it they fe.lt equal to all things. The Union flag they transmitted to their posterity. To-day it waves over those who are rallying under the standard of the LAW; and God grant, that in the end, as it was with the old Mother Country, after wars between White and Red Roses and Roundheads and Cavaliers, so it may be with the daughter ; that she may see PKACE in her borders, and all her children loving each other better than ever!" The Boston Liberator, edited by William Lloyd Garrison, SPEECH OF COLONEL WEBSTER. Ill the well-known and ably conducted organ of the extreme Aboli tion party, spoke with equal spirit in support of the Govern ment. The religious press, without exception, invoked the blessings of Heaven upon our soldiers and the holy cause they had gone forth to uphold. Religious creeds, like political dogmas, were harmonized in the general current of opinion. Edward Everett, who in the preceding fall election was the Conservative candidate for Vice-President, threw himself, with all his powers of eloquence and culture, into the struggle. He was absent from the State when the call for troops was made, but returned to Boston on the 18th of April. He fully approved the measures taken by the Government, and thought the Administration ought to be cordially supported by all good citizens. Among the first to raise a regiment for the service was Fletcher AYebster, the sole surviving child of Daniel Webster. On Sunday morning, April 21, an immense meeting was held in State Street, in front of the Merchants Exchange. It had been announced in the papers of the preceding day that Mr. Webster and other gentlemen would speak. There was much excitement and enthusiasm, notwithstanding it was the sabbath. Mr. Webster began his address from the -steps of the Merchants Exchange. The position was unfavorable ; the crowd could not hear, and calls were made to adjourn to the rear of the Old State House. The adjournment was carried. The crowd re mained in the street. Mr. Webster spoke from the rear bal cony, facing State Street. Pie was received with great favor. He said he could see no better use to which the day could be put than to show our gratitude to Divine Providence for bestowing upon us the best Government in the world, and to pledge ourselves to stand by it and maintain it. lie whose name he bore had the good fortune to defend the Union and the Constitution in the forum. This he could not do ; but he was ready to defend them on the field. [Applause.] But this is no time for speeches ; it is a time for action. He proposed to raise a regiment for active service ; he called for volunteers. Mr. Webster then gave directions regarding the manner in which companies were to be raised, in order to comply with the laws 112 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. of the State and the requirements of the War Department. He concluded by saying, "Time presses. The enemy is approaching the capital of the nation. It may be in their hands now. [Cries of Never ; it never shall be. ] Promptness is needed. Let us show the world that the patri otism of 61 is not less than that of the heroes of 76 ; that the noble impulses of those patriot hearts have descended to us. Let us do our duty, and we shall yet see the nation united, and our old flag remain without a star dimmed or a stripe obliterated." The report of the meeting in the Daily Advertiser says, "The remarks of Mr. Webster were received with great enthu siasm, and at the close of his speech he was loudly cheered. Loud calls were then made for General Schouler, who was seen upon the balcony. In response, he stepped forward, and thanked the vast assembly in an almost inaudible voice for their good feeling, and asked Mr. Webster to speak for him. Mr. Webster at once informed the audience that the General was utterly prostrated with the arduous labors during the past week, and that he had scarcely been in bed for fifty-four hours ; that he must be excused, as he was utterly unable to address them. The crowd then gave three cheers for General Schouler." The meeting was ably addressed by William Dehon, Edward Riddle, and Charles Lcvi Woodbury, who were received with great favor and satisfaction. Mr. Webster s appeal met with a prompt response. More companies were offered than he could accept ; but, before the regiment was ready to leave the State, orders came from Washington that no more three months regiments would be received. On the receipt of this information, Mr. Webster s regiment immediately volunteered to serve for three years: it was accepted, and during the war was known as the Twelfth Regiment of Massachusetts Infantry. Wendell Phillips spoke in the afternoon of this memorable Sunday in the great Music Hall, which was crowded in every part ; and thousands were unable to gain admission. Many feared that he would not be permitted to speak ; and that, if he attempted to sustain the position which he assumed in his speech at New Bedford ten days before, a riot would occur. The first sentence uttered by Mr. Phillips, however, gave WENDELL PHILLIPS IN THE MUSIC HALL. 113 assurance that the events of the preceding week had not been without their effect upon his mind. The hall was profusely decorated with the stars and stripes ; and the speaker stood upon the platform beneath an arch formed by the national colors. The speech was remarkable not only for its force and vigor, its patriotic and elevated sentiments, but for its strong contrast with the speech quoted in the first chapter. He began by say ing, " I am here to retract riot a single word of what I Lave ever said. Every act of my life has tended to make the welcome I give this war hearty and hot. Civil war is a momentous evil, and needs the soundest justification. I rejoice before God, that every word I have said has counselled peace; and I rejoice, for the first time in my anti-slavery life, I stand under the stars and stripes, and welcome the tread of Massachusetts men. [Great applause.] No mutter what may have been done in the past. To-day the slave asks but a sight of this banner, and calls it the twilight of his redemption ; to-day it represents sovereignty and justice. The only mistake I have ever made is in supposing Massachusetts wholly choked with cotton dust and cankered with gold. [Laughter.] The first cannon shot upon our forts has put the war-cry of the Revolution on her lips. I can not acknowledge the sentiment, Our country, right or wrong. In a moral light, it is knavish and atheistical ; but it is sublime to see this rallying of a great people to the defence of the national honor ; a noble and puissant nation, arising like a strong man from a sleep and shaking his locks. She is thus collecting her scattered elements and rousing her dormant thunder. How do we justify this last appeal to arms ? I always cry for peace ; and the anti-slavery banner has that name upon it. We have thought to set free the millions of slaves, and the North has responded. It is in the increasing education of our people, and in that moral sense which is fast gaining ground, that we are to accomplish this. No man can prevail against the North in the nine teenth century. It thinks. It can appreciate the argument. The South is the fourteenth century. Wat Tyler and Jack Cade loom up on the horizon. There the fagots still burn, and men are tortured for opinion. Baron and serf are names which form too flattering a picture. Su in ner stamped them the barbarous States. The struggle now is, not of opinion, but of civilization. There can be but two tilings, compro mise or battle. The integrity of the North scorns the first ; the general forbearance of nineteen States has preceded the other. The South opened with a cannon-shot, and Lincoln showed himself at 8 114 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. the door. [Applause.] The war is not of aggression, but of self- defence ; and Washington becomes the Thermopylae of liberty and justice. Rather than surrender it, cover every foot of ground with a living man. Guard it with a million of men, and empty our bank- vaults to pay them. Proclaim that the North is under the stars and stripes, and no man is in chains." He said the Xorth is all right and the South all wrong ; that for thirty years there has been no exhaustion of conciliation and compromise. ""We must," he said, "acknowledge the right before you send Massachusetts through the streets of Baltimore, and carry Lexington and the 19th of April into the Southern States." "During long and weary years we have waited. Massachusetts blood has consecrated the streets of Baltimore, which are now too sacred to be trodden by slaves." "When the South cannonaded Sumter, the bones of Adams rattled in his coffin ; and we might have heard him from his granite grave in Quincy say, Seize the thunderbolt, and annihilate what has troubled you for sixty years. " "There are four sections of people in this struggle : First, the ordinary masses, mingling mere enthusiasm in the battle ; Second, those that have commer cial interests, the just-converted hunkerism ; Third, the peo ple, the cordwainers of Lynn and the farmers of Worcester, people who have no leisure for technicalities; Fourth, the Abolitionists, who thank God that he has let them see salvation before they die. Europe, and some of you, may think it a war of opinion ; but years hence, when the smoke of the conflict shall have cleared away, we shall see all creeds, all tongues, all races one brotherhood ; and on the banks of the Potomac the Genius of Liberty robed in light, with four and thirty stars in her diadem, broken chains under her feet, and the olive branch in her right hand." Mr. Everett made his first speech in the war on Saturday the 27th of April, to a vast crowd of citizens in Chester Square, Boston. The people who lived in the south part of the city had erected a lofty flag-staff, and from its height the national banner was to be unfurled that afternoon. The ceremonies were opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Hepworth, and national songs were sung by the school-children. Mr. Everett was SPEECHES OF ME. EVERETT AND MR. HALLETT. 115 received with loud applause ; which he gracefully acknowl edged, and said, "The great assemblage that I see around me; the simple but inter esting ceremonial with which the flag of our country has been thrown to the breeze ; the strains of inspiring music ; the sweet concord of those youthful voices ; the solemn supplication of the reverend clergyman, which still fills our ears, all these proclaim the deep, patriotic sentiment of which the flag is the symbol and expression. Nay, more: it speaks for itself. Its mute eloquence needs no aid from my lips to interpret its significance. Fidelity to the Union blazes from its stars : allegiance to the Government under which we live is wrapped within its folds. We set up this standard, my friends, not as a matter of idle display, but as an expressive indication, that, in the mighty struggle which has been forced upon us, we are of one heart and one mind, that the Government of the country must be sus tained. "We are a law-abiding, quiet-loving community. Our time, our thoughts, our energies are habitually devoted to the peaceful arts by which States grow and prosper ; but. upon an issue in which the life of the country is involved, we rally as one man to its defence. All former differences of opinion are swept away. We forget that we ever had been partisans. "We remember only that we are Americans, and that our country is in peril. . . . Why does it float as never before, not merely from arsenal and masthead, but from tower and steeple, from the public edifices, the temples of science, the private dwelling, in magnificent display or miniature presentment? Let Fort Suinter give the answer. When on this day fortnight, the loth of April (a day for ever to be held in inauspicious remembrance, like the Dies Alliensis in the annals of Home), the tidings spread through the land, that the standard of United America, the pledge of her union and the symbol of her power, which so many gallant hearts had poured out their life-blood on the ocean and the land to uphold, had, in the harbor of Charleston, been for a day and a half the target of eleven fratricidal batteries, one deep, unanimous, spontaneous feeling shot with the tidings through the bosoms of twenty millions of freemen. that its outraged honor must be vindicated." Mr. Everett then described the bombardment of Suinter, and paid a high tribute to Major Anderson and his gallant com mand. He also referred to his long and intimate acquaintance with the leading men of the South, from whom he had hoped never to have been separated by civil war. He closed with these words : 116 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. " All hail to the flag of the Union ! Courage to the heart and strength to the hand to which in all time it shall be intrusted ! May it ever wave in unsullied honor over the dome of the Capitol, from the country s strongholds, on the tented field, upon the wave-rocked topmast. It was originally displayed on the 1st of January, 1776, from the headquarters of Washington, whose lines of circumvallation around beleaguered Boston traversed the fair spot where we now stand ; and it was first given to the breeze within the limits of our beloved State : so may the last spot where it shall cease to float in honor and triumph be the soil of our own Massachusetts ! " The gentleman who succeeded Mr. Everett was Benjamin F. Hallctt, who, for thirty years, had been a distinguished leader of the Democratic party. He had made its platforms, advo cated its principles, and labored for its success. No Democrat in Massachusetts was better known than Mr. Hallett. He had never wavered in bis love or faltered in his allegiance to his party. No one doubted bis sincerity, no one questioned his ability. As a lawyer, he held a high rank. Notwithstanding his determined zeal and devotion to his party, his nature was kind and generous ; and his private character was pure and spotless. Like Mr. Everett, he gave up party for his country. His speech in Chester Square was worthy of his talents and of the occasion which called it forth. Like Mr. Everett, he re mained true to the Union ; and, like him, he died ere the end was gained. In the city of Cambridge, almost within the shadows of the halls of Harvard University, stands the "Washington Elm," where it has stood sentinel since the foundation of the college. O They have grown old and venerable together. Beneath the branches of the tree, Washington first took command of the American army, in 1775, which was drawn up in line on the Common in front. On this historic spot, on the same day that Mr. Everett and Mr. Hallett spoke in Chester Square, the people of Cambridge held a meeting. John Sargent, the mayor of the city, presided. Among the vice-presidents were Jared Sparks, Henry W. Longfellow, Joel Parker, Emory Washburn, Isaac Liverrnore, and Theophilus Parsons. A pre amble and resolutions were read by John G. Palfrey. One of the resolutions was in these words : MEETING UNDER THE "WASHINGTON ELM." 117 " Resolved by us, citizens of Cambridge, convened under the shadow of the Washington Elm, that animated, we trust, by the spirit of him who, in the clouded dawn of the Revolution which created our nation, drew his sacred sword on this memorable spot, we desire to consecrate ourselves to the services of freedom and our country." The meeting was addressed by John C. Park, ex-Governor Banks, George S. Hillard, and Thomas H. Russell in speeches filled with patriotic sentiments and earnest appeals to the judg ment and conscience of the people. We now return to the State House, where the work of fitting out regiments, organizing new departments, listening to various propositions, answering innumerable questions, receiving and writing letters, pressed upon the Governor and his personal staff, the Adjutant-General and his assistants, the Quarter master-General and his clerks, from early morning until mid night. An abstract of a portion only of the correspondence will show the nature and extent of a part of the labor performed. April 18. Tbe Governor writes to Miss A. J. Gill, also to Miss Anna M. Clarke, also to Mary A. G. Robinson, who have offered themselves to be nurses ; to Robert B. Forbes, acknowledging the receipt of his " Address to the Merchants and Seamen of Massachusetts to organize a Coast Guard ; " to Dr. Winslow Lewis, who offered to give medical advice and attendance to soldiers families free of charge. Thanks Leopold Morse, of Boston, for a gift of one hundred pairs of ready- made pants for soldiers. To Secretary Cameron, asking for more muskets. April 19. Governor telegraphs to the Secretary of War, " Would you like another regiment composed of Irishmen en listed specially? " Writes to Arthur Hanley, who had inquired " if unnaturalized persons would be accepted in the militia," to " go ahead." Acknowledges " with gratitude the devoted and benevolent offer of Mrs. Harriet M. Gibson;" also a letter from Miss Hannah E. Stevenson, who offered her services as a nurse. Telegraphs to Secretary Cameron that "the steamer State of Maine, with the Fourth Regiment on board, is detained at New York; depends on his providing a convoy from the capes of Virginia, if necessary. Writes to William Gray, 118 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. accepting the offer made by ladies through him " to supply under-clothing for the soldiers." Thanks James M. Stone "for his valuable aid as assistant quartermaster in getting off the regiments. Acknowledges the receipt of a beautiful fire-arrn from Dr. Henry G. Clark, " to be given to the surgeon of the forces of Massachusetts who shall best perform his duty in the exercise of his profession towards the brave men who have taken up arms in behalf of liberty and the country." Tele graphs, seven o clock, P.M., to General Butler, "When did you reach Philadelphia? When will you leave? Is the way open ? Can you communicate by telegraph with Washington ? Has Jones reached Washington ? " April 20. Writes to Dr. H. II. Fuller that " surgeons are appointed under the militia law by colonels of regiments, and not by the Governor." Acknowledges receipt from Captain Edward Ingersoll, Springfield Armory, of " two hundred and fifty rifled muskets." Thanks Miss Laura A. Phillips, of Great Falls, N.H., for her offer to nurse our wounded men in Balti more ; also Miss Laura B. Forbes, of Cambridgeport, for the same offer. Telegraphs Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, Yice-Presi- dent, Hampden, Me., "I advise you to come forward without delay, in view of possible events at Washington." Telegraphs Governor Washburn, of Maine, " One advance regiment [the Sixth] has reached Washington. No other yet beyond Phila delphia." Directs the Adjutant-General " to grant all applica tions for organizing new companies when he has confidence in the parties. When doubts exist, consult the Governor." Di rects the Adjutant-General " to get off Cook s Light Battery by steamer before midnight ; also the left wing of the Fifth Kegi- mcnt, under Lieutenant-Colonel Greene, and the right wing, under Colonel Lnwrence, by railroad during the night." This arrangement could not be made ; and the Governor telegraphed to Simeon Draper, New York, to "engage steamers for twelve hundred troops, six cannon, caissons, and seventy-two horses, from New York to Annapolis, to leave New York Sunday morning." Telegraphs Major Ladd, " Senator Wilson will be in New York to-morrow morning, and will inform you fully what our wants are for the troops on their march." Telegraphs MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS OF THE GOVERNOR. 119 Major P. Adams Ames, Philadelphia, "We will send horses, artillery, and infantry to New York by rail, thence by steamer to Annapolis." Telegraphs the Mayor of Baltimore, "I pray you to cause the bodies of our Massachusetts soldiers dead in Baltimore to be immediately laid out, preserved with ice, and tenderly sent forward by express to me. All expenses will be paid by this Commonwealth." Telegraphs Simeon Draper, New York, "Procure, to be delivered to Colonel Law rence, of our Fifth Regiment, to-morrow morning, eight hun dred knapsacks suitable for service, or else slings for carrying blankets." Thanks Mrs. William Ward for her offer " to aid in any manner in her power, our departing troops, and to cheer those whom they leave behind." Telegraphs to Mayor Sargent, of Lowell, " We have no official information of the names of the dead. A despatch from the Mayor of Baltimore says the bodies cannot be sent on at present, as communication by land and sea is stopped. But they have been carefully cared for, and will be put in Greenwood Cemetery till they can be sent to Massa chusetts." Informs A. B. Ely, of Boston, that "we are taking most active measures for procuring a supply of efficient arms." Thanks Rev. Eli A. Smith "for his patriotic and Christian offer" of assistance; also Dr. Coale, of Boston, for offer of professional services, and Miss Hazard and Miss Burns, who offer themselves as nurses. Notifies Mr. Crowninshield that the Executive Council have "approved of his suggestion, and he has appointed him to proceed to Europe in the next steamer to purchase arms." Telegraphs George William Brown, Mayor of Baltimore : " Dear Sir, I appreciate your kind attention to our wounded and our dead, and trust that at the earliest moment the remains of the fallen will return to us. I am overwhelmed with surprise, that a peaceful march of American citizens over the highway, to the defence of our common capital, should be deemed aggressive to Baltimoreans. Through New York the march was triumphal." To Adams & Co. s Express, Boston : "Can t you get the bodies of our dead through Baltimore? The Mayor telegraphs the railroad is interrupted." Major Ladd, who is referred to above, was an officer on the staff of Major- General Sutton; and Major Ames, also mentioned, was an 120 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. officer on the staff of Major-General Andrews, of the Massa chusetts Volunteer Militia. They had been detailed on special duty at New York and Philadelphia. April 22. The Governor telegraphs to the Superintendent of the Springfield Armory, " Can you send me to-night a first- rate armorer, who is a judge of arms, ready to go where he may be wanted for six weeks ? " A first-rate armorer, Charles McFarland, was procured, who went abroad with Mr. Crown- inshield, two days after, to purchase arms. Governor acknowl edges receipt of a check for five hundred dollars from George Draper, " to be appropriated for the relief of the families of those who have fallen or may fall in obeying the call of their country." Gives a letter to Rev. N. Shepard, pastor of the Tremont-Street Baptist Church, who said he should " start for Washington this evening, if he had to walk all the way." Acknowledges the receipt from William Dehon of eighty-eight flannel shirts ff for the soldiers of Massachusetts who may be unprovided for in the present emergency." Requests S. G. Ward, of Boston, banker, " to issue a letter of credit in favor of F. B. Crowninshield for fifty thousand pounds sterling." Tele graphs Simeon Draper, New York, that Mr. Crowninshield "will be at Fifth Avenue Hotel to-night, to take steamer Persia for Liverpool on Wednesday." Writes to General Butler, that " the citizens of Salem have appointed Dr. Lincoln R. Stone to attend to the wants of the companies that have marched from that city, and that he would see that the funds raised by sub scription for that purpose may be properly expended." Writes to President Lincoln, that "Ex-Governor Boutwell has been appointed the agent of the Commonwealth to proceed to Wash ington to confer with him in regard to the forts in Massachu setts and the militia." Governor Boutwell was also to see General Wool in New York. Instructs Mr. Crowninshield " that he is to procure twenty-five thousand stand of arms, of the best style and patterns, and to have them conform as nigh as possible to those now in use in the army." He was to co-ope rate with agents from other loyal States, and to look out if agents of disloyal States were abroad on a similar errand. Writes to Secretary Cameron, that Ex-Governor Boutwell will MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS OF THE GOVERNOR. 121 confer with him in regard to garrisoning our forts with militia ; also recommends that a guard be placed at the United-States Arsenal at Springfield. " Two thousand men could be thus employed, who would enlist for one or two years, be drilled as soldiers, and sent forward when required." Telegraphs to Secre tary of War for " one or two thousand smooth-bore muskets, of which there are one hundred thousand at the Springfield Arsenal." Acknowledges with thanks the offer of the Empire Association of Lynn to " give to the new volunteer company raised in that city sixty-six military frock-coats." Thanks " Mr. Tilson, and the ladies of the Baptist Church and Society of Hingham, for the tender of their services to make clothing and sew for the soldiers." April 23. The Governor writes a letter to Major-General Wool, introducing William L. Burt, of Boston, who was in structed to " get authority to garrison the forts in Boston harbor with militia." John M. Forbes, by direction of the Governor, writes to Samuel M. Felton, of Philadelphia: " Your informa tion about matters at Annapolis received. The expedition which left New York yesterday will take care of Annapolis ; but we shall continue our preparations, including armed ships. Look out for Port Deposite. Keep us posted." Governor writes to Mrs. Harriot C. Gould and Mrs. Harriot A. Jaquith, who had offered to furnish the soldiers with the New Testa ment, and informs them " that each soldier of the Fifth Regi ment, which left Boston on Sunday, had been furnished with a Bible ; and there is an abundant supply to furnish those who are expected to leave." Writes to Henry A. J. Williams that " colored men cannot be enrolled in the miiitia. It cannot be done by law, which limits the militia to white male citizens. Personally, he knows no distinction of class or color, in his regard for his fellow-citizens, nor in their regard for our com mon country." Writes to Mrs. Devereux, wife of Captain Devereux, of the Eighth Regiment, who had offered her services as a nurse, " that he would be reluctant to call into the field another member of a family which has already contributed so many of its children to the country." Two brothers of Captain Devereux were also in the service. 122 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE BEBELLION. April 24. The Governor writes to Governor Washburn, of Maine, that "the understanding is, that Mr. Crowninshield is to purchase three thousand rifled muskets, of the most approved pattern, for Maine, and Maine is to bear her proportion of the expenses of the agent." Also to Governor Goodwin, of New Hampshire, that Mr. Crowninshield is to purchase two thou sand muskets for that State, with the same understanding in regard to sharing expenses. April 25. The Governor writes to the Trustees of the State Nautical-School Ship, inclosing an order passed by the Execu tive Council, "to place guns on board the ship, and to have the boys drilled in their use for the defence of the coast. The guns are to be four bronze six-pounders." Writes to the Secre tary of War a letter introducing Wilder Dwi ht and George v O 3 & L. Andrews, who were going to Washington to get authority to raise a regiment of volunteers for the war. He had written to the Secretary on the 17th on the subject, but had received no answer. He fully indorses the scheme, and "hopes it may receive such assistance and co-operation from the United States as can with propriety be offered. Major Gordon, who will command the regiment, is a gentleman of careful military edu cation and large executive ability ; and it will be officered by such gentlemen as Mr. Andrews and Mr. D wight, gentlemen of the best standing in Massachusetts." Writes to the Com mander of the Charlestown Navy Yard, " Allow me to advise and urge you to hold at the navy yard, or under your control, all naval officers who will not swear allegiance to the United-States Government, until instruction can be got from Washington." Writes to the Secretary of War, " In addition to raising Gor don s regiment, we can send you four thousand more troops within a very .short time after receipt of a requisition for them. Do you wish us to send men as we may get them ready, without waiting requisitions? What shall we do, or what do you wish us to do, about provisioning our men? Is Fortress Monroe supplied with provisions? Will you authorize the enlistment here, and mustering into the United-States service, Irish, Ger mans, and other toiujh men, to be drilled and prepared here for service? We have men enough of such description, eager MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS OF THE GOVERNOR. 123 to be employed, sufficient to make three regiments. Finally, will you direct some general instructions and suggestions to be sent to me as to any thing, no matter what or how much, you may wish from Massachusetts, and procure General Scott also to do so ? and we will try and meet, so far as may be, every wish of the Government up to the very limit of our resources and power. Will you put the six thousand rifles, now at the United-States Arsenal at Watertown, at our disposal for our men, and send immediately orders for that purpose? "We shall be able to replace them at an early day, if it shall be necessary." Ac knowledges the receipt of a letter from George T. Curtis, of New York, who had written " to express his sincere apprecia tion of, and thanks for, his co-operation in all actions taken by the Commonwealth, and by himself as its chief magistrate, to maintain the integrity and supremacy of the Federal Union." April 26. Governor writes to Commodore Hudson, Navy Yard, Charlestown, "John M. Forbes is acting as agent for the Commonwealth in fitting up and preparing the Cambridge as an armed steamer for coast defence, and for the benefit of the common cause. Will you be good enough to oblige us with furnishing him with guns, armament, and ammunition he may need from the navy yard? Any aid you may give will serve the great object nearest the hearts of us all, and receive my lasting gratitude." To George S. Bout well, Groton, Mass. : "We need your information, influence, and acquaintance with the Cabinet, and knowledge of Eastern public sentiment, to leave immediately for Washington. Hope you will proceed at once, and open and preserve communication between you and myself." To Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General: "Hon. D wight Foster, our Attorney-General, will hand you this note, with my full commendations. Mr. Foster is a gentleman with whom you can take counsel, finding him full of the fire and hard-working zeal of Massachusetts. How long, O Lord ! how long will they delay our people ? " To George Ashmun, Spring field, Mass. : "A Mr. T. Jones Lyman, of Montreal, Canada West, informs me that there are two hundred thousand percus sion muskets at the armories, either at Quebec or Montreal. Will you ascertain if there is any way in which they can be 124 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. bought?" Governor to General John E. Wool, commanding Department of the East, New York : " I have garrisoned Fort Independence, on Castle Island, in Boston harbor, with a battalion of infantry of one hundred and fifty men ; and shall have another battalion of the same strength in Fort Warren, on George s Island, on Monday morning. I have a third battalion, which 1 can station at Fort Winthrop ; and there are from two to three thousand volunteers, whom I wish to place under drill and disci pline, in these forts. In Fort Independence, there are none of the casemate guns mounted, and no barbette guns on the face which vessels entering the harbor approach. In Forts Warren and Winthrop there are no guns. This important harbor, there fore, seems to be almost entirely undefended. I would therefore request you to order Captain Rodman [Watertown Arsenal] to supply these forts with the guns and carriages necessary for their defence, and detail an officer of engineers to put the works in proper condition. If an officer of artillery could also be detailed to give the necessary instruction, the garrison would soon be able to use the guns with effect. Please give us the order for the guns and carriages at once." Governor to Governor Washburn , of Maine (telegram): "New York urges that Maine would hurry forward her men. We have parted with certain equip ments to Mr. Blaine, the agent of your adjutant." Governor to Governor Fairbanks, of Vermont (telegram) : " New York wants Vermont to hurry. The case is urgent. Your adjutant said that the three hundred muskets we let him have would finish equipment." April 27. By direction of the Governor, Colonel Sargent, aide-de-camp, writes to Secretary Cameron, asking "to have the Irish Brigade, so called, sent to the forts to help man them and place the guns." Governor to General Wool, "Cannot you send us an officer of the United States army, with authority to superintend the military operations, and to give us some advice, from time to time, on military questions?" By direc tion of the Governor, Colonel Browne, private secretary, writes to the Mayor of Boston, in reply to a letter of the day before, " Concerning the action of the city of Boston in reference to the subsistence of troops detailed to garrison the forts in the MISCELLANEOUS LETTEKS OF THE GOVERNOR. 125 harbor, His Excellency directs me to say, that at the earliest practical moment, probably during the first days of the coming week, he shall place troops in the forts, to whom the bounty of the city will apply ; and the Adjutant-General is instructed to superintend and arrange all the details of the operation." Gov ernor to John M. Forbes, "Buy the Pembroke on the best terms possible, letting the merchants or coast-guard company put in such part of the cost as you can arrange. She must be armed and fitted with all reasonable speed, and be prepared to carry stores. She must only be used as coast-guard, when we can spare her from transportation. Let the alterations be as few as possible, so as to keep her cost down to the lowest point compatible with effi ciency as an armed storeship." Governor to James M. Stone, who had given valuable aid as assistant-quartermaster: "I received your account last Saturday, with your admirable, full, and accu rate report. The whole forms a model statement. I will have the account passed to-day by the Council." The Council ap proved Mr. Stone s account, and voted to pay him seventy-five dollars for his services, which he declined to receive, as he in tended his services to be gratuitous. April 29. Governor to Rev. Dr. Stearns, President of Amherst College : " I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter concerning the three young gentlemen, students of Amherst College, Mr. James A.. JKhea and Mr. Joseph B. Rhea, of Blountville, Tenn., and Mr. William A. Stay- maker, of Alexandria, Va., who, you assure me, are loyal to their Government, and who, on account of the perils of the times, are summoned by their friends to return to their homes. No persons who are loyal to their Government need any r pass port or testimonial, from me or from any other person, to travel freely throughout this Commonwealth ; and I feel confident, that the travel of such persons throughout the United States will be obstructed nowhere, unless by traitors and rebels, or as a mili tary necessity by troops acting against traitors and rebels." Governor to George Dwight, Superintendent of the Springfield Armory, introducing Mr. Elaine, agent of the State of Maine, who wished to get three thousand muskets for that State. Governor to Robert M. Mason, of Boston : "I hold a check for 12G MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ten thousand dollars, payable to my order, being the gift of William Gray, Esq., for the benefit and relief of the families of the Massachusetts privates and non-commissioned officers called into active service. It was tendered to me before the forma tion of the Committee of One Hundred; and I now, with Mr. Gray s consent, at your convenience, desire to place it in your hands, as the treasurer of the committee, for appropriate distribution according to the methods and rules of that organi zation. I cannot perform this pleasing task without adding a feeble expression of the deep sensibility with which I received this noble and characteristic munificence, and of the honor I feel in being made the instrument of its transmission." Also, a similar letter to Mr. Mason, transmitting a check of Mrs. Han nah F. Lee for one thousand dollars. To Governor Bucking ham, of Connecticut, "We cannot furnish you with muskets, as we have exhausted our store. Will you co-operate with us, and have some bought by our agent -in England?" To Dr. William J. Dale, "Express to Mrs. Tyler, and other citizens of Baltimore, my thanks for the care they have taken of our wounded men in that city." These extracts show the variety of topics which, in the first two weeks of the war, engaged the Governor s attention. The letters on file in the Adjutant-General s office, embracing the same period, also disclose much that is of interest, though in a more limited and local sense. They are chiefly confined to answering inquiries made by selectmen of towns, and ap plications made by young men to raise new companies, many of whom were afterwards officers in the volunteer service, and rose to high commands. On the 25th of April, the Adjutant- General received a letter from Addison Gage & Co., of Boston, tendering to the Massachusetts soldiers a ship-load of ice. The letter says, " The Massachusetts troops who have so nobly responded to the call of our Government for the defence of the capital, being, for the most part, in the habit of using i ce , and now called to a warm climate, where it is more a necessity than a luxury, we shall be happy to contribute a cargo for their use, the time to be at your disposal, whenever you deem it expedient to send it. In case there is no suitable place to receive THE DEAD WHO FELL AT BALTIMORE. 127 the cargo, it can be packed in the vessel, and kept for months, with proper care." The offer was accepted, and a vessel was chartered to take the ice to Fortress Monroe. The occupants of Quincy Market, of whom Hiscock & Winslow and Harrison Bird were a com mittee, contributed a large quantity of fresh provisions, which were preserved on the ice, and sent in the ship. On the 1st of May, the bodies of Luther C. Ladd, Addison O. Whitney, and Sumner H. Needham, who were killed in Baltimore on the 19th of April, reached Boston. Even then the names of the dead were not positively known. The bodies were properly received, and placed in the receiving-vault at King s Chapel. That same afternoon, the Governor wrote to Colonel Jones, of the Sixth Regiment, " Mr. Merrill S. Wright arrived at Boston this afternoon in charge of the bodies of three Massachusetts soldiers who fell at Baltimore. They were received by me at the depot, and were conveyed, under an appropriate escort, to the King s Chapel, where they are deposited until they can be finally interred with appropriate funeral honors. When ever you can obtain the finite and absolutely certain information con cerning the names of the three dead, I desire you to inform me. I understand them to be James Keenan, of Stoneham ; Edward Coburn, of Lowell ; and S. Henry Needham, of Lawrence : but I desire to obtain final and official information as to the correctness of my pres ent understanding." He also wrote to Mr. Sargent, Mayor of Lowell, " I met these relics of our brave and patriotic soldiers at the Wor cester Railroad Depot, accompanied by my military staff and the Executive Council, where we took them in charge, and, under the escort of the corps of Independent Cadets, bore them through our streets, thronged by sympathizing citizens, and placed them in the Vassall tomb, beneath the ancient King s Chapel, at the corner of Tremont and School Streets. There they remain, subject to the orders of those friends who have the right to decide their final disposi tion. But it would be most grateful to the Executive Department, in co-operation with those nearest to the lamented dead, to assist in the last funeral honors to their memory ; and I should be pleased to meet you, and the Mayor of Lawrence, and the Selectmen of Stoneham. as soon as you may convene them, at the State House, to consider the arrange ments suitable to this occasion." 128 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. On the 2d of May, Colonel Sargent, of the Governor s staff, wrote to Mrs. Mary E. Whitney : " I promised to write to you if I learned any thing of interest to you. There are no marks of any description whatever on the arms of the man whom you saw this afternoon. I had a careful examination made. There is no doubt whatever that this man and your husband are two entirely different persons. There is no reason to think that any harm lias come to your husband. I have no doubt he is alive and well, and doing his duty like a good citizen and brave soldier." James Keenan and Edward Coburn were wounded in Balti more, but neither of them fatally. Of the four who were killed, Charles Taylor was buried in Baltimore. No trace of his family or friends has ever been discovered. Needham was buried in Lawrence ; Whitney and Ladd, in Lowell. The funeral services at Lawrence and Lowell, over the bodies of these first martyrs of the great Rebellion, were grand and imposing. In each city, monuments of enduring granite have been raised to commemorate their deaths, and to be their sepul chres. On the 2d of May, Governor Andrew wrote to Simeon Draper, of New York, that he had "about four thousand troops already in the field, as many more ready at brief notice ; proba bly ten thousand drilling, hoping for an opportunity. Why don t the Government call faster ? We sent a steamer with sup plies to-day." The steamer here referred to was the "Cam bridge," which had been fitted out by the State, and had sailed, laden with supplies of clothing and provisions for the Massa chusetts troops, on the 1st of May. She had also some re cruits for the Third Regiment, and a company for the Rifle Battalion. After taking out certain supplies and men at For tress Monroe, she was to go by the Potomac to Washington, if it were safe to do so. Governor Andrew wrote to General Scott a detailed statement of the expedition. lie said, "1st. I desire our Massachusetts troops to receive and have the first benefit of oui- supplies, but, if need be, that others should share them. 2<L That, if you see any objection to the Cambridge going up the Potomac, you would give orders to Captain Matthews, her com mander, who is instructed to receive your directions." STEAM TRANSPORTS WITH PROVISIONS. 129 The vessel cleared for Annapolis ; but her real destination was Washington, and she was the first ship that arrived there with troops and supplies of clothing and provisions. On ar riving at Washington, Captain Matthews was ordered to report to General Scott, and, if he needed the steamer for the public service, to obey his commands ; if not, to return immediately to Boston. His sealed orders were to report " first to the senior Massachusetts officer at Fortress Monroe, and deliver to him such supplies and special packages as shall be designated for that port. " Second, if at Fortress Monroe he should hear from General Butler that the passage up the Potomac was dangerous, he was to wait twenty-four hours for orders from General Scott ; and, if he received orders from him not to proceed up the Potomac, he was to proceed forthwith to Annapolis, land Captain Dodd s company, and turn over the stores to the senior Massachusetts officer in command. He was to bring back such sick or duly discharged soldiers as he might be requested to take and could accommodate." If at any time he should be attacked, he was to resist, and, if possible, to take or sink the attacking vessel. He was to preserve strict discipline, and to practise, at suitable times, with his guns. He was to offer to every Massachusetts command he fell in with to bring home any letters or packages they might wish to send home to friends. The following is a list of reserved stores sent to Fortress Mon roe, purchased and shipped by John M. Forbes, under orders from the Governor : 60 beef barrels mess beef, at $10 per bbl 600.00 30 beef barrels prime pork, at $14 per bbl 420.00 5,000 Ibs. hams, about, at 10 cents per Ib 500.00 20 kegs lard, about 850 Ibs., at 12 cents per Ib 102.00 1,000 Ibs. butter, about, at 23 cents per Ib 230.00 2,000 Ibs. cheese, about, at 11 cents per Ib 220.00 2,000 Ibs. of sugar, about, at 8 cents per Ib 160.00 500 Ibs. Oolong tea, about, at 35 cents per Ib 175.00 1,000 Ibs. coffee, about, at 13 cents per Ib : 10,000 Ibs. pilot bread, about, at 4 cents per Ib 400.00 5 beef bbls. pickles, about, at Is. per gall Lot meats in canisters, for officers, valued at $3,070.33 130 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. On the 3d of May, Governor Andrew addressed the follow ing letter to President Lincoln : O " I hand you copy of a letter addressed to the Commissary-General, explaining the action they (the agents I have appointed) have taken to provide subsistence for our Massachusetts troops. " Cut off as we were from connection with you, I took the responsi bility of providing and forwarding such things as could be bought advantageously here, believing they will be found useful to the army and navy. " I hope that you will direct the proper department to take charge of such of their supplies as are suitable to their use, and pay for the same, as suggested. We have, further, under the pressure of the exigency, taken the responsibility of joining the underwriters and merchants of Boston in buying, fitting out, and, with the help of Captain Hudson, arming two propellers, for the combined purpose of coast-guard arid transports for troops and supplies. " Neither of the vessels is exactly what is wanted ; but they are strong, useful, nearly new, and are bought at prices but little above their commercial value in peaceful times, and can hardly fail to be use ful to the public service in the impending struggle. If you approve our action, will you be pleased to direct the proper departments, either to receive the vessels at their cost, as if bought for the United-States Gov ernment, or, if that is impossible, to give them employment in carrying stores and troops, at the highest prices which are paid to individuals, with the assurance that the vessels will be always at the disposition of Government, and will meantime be used to guard our coasts, and allay the apprehension of our people regarding the threatened piratical proceedings of the secessionists? A description of these vessels is annexed. " I beg leave to add, that, immediately upon receiving your proc lamation, we took up the war, and have carried on our part of it in the spirit in which we believe the Administration and the American people intend to act ; namely, as if there was not an inch of red tape in the world. "We have now enough additional men to furnish you with six more regiments to serve for the war, unless sooner discharged. " We think the efficiency of any further levies will be much greater if you will muster them, and put them into camps at once for some drill ing here. The men we offer, besides fighting, can do any other things for which there may be occasion, from digging clams up to making piano-fortes. LOAN OF MONEY TO THE GOVERNMENT. 131 " Fervently devotional to the cause of our country and to the great interests of our country and of the great interests of posterity as well as our own time, and cordially in earnest in the support of the honor and success of your Administration, the people of Massachusetts are ready for the amplest and promptest obedience to your commands." The above letter was inclosed in one to Mr. Foster, the Attorney-General of the State, who was in Washington. He was requested to call upon the President and deliver it to him, and to exert his power and influence to have matters properly adjusted and permanently settled. A number of ladies of Cambridge formed a society to work for the soldiers. They requested Professor Washburn, of the Law School, to communicate their purpose to the Governor, who wrote, May 3, in acknowledgment of the offer as fol lows : " In glancing over the list of their names, I realize most completely how deep a hold the cause, in behalf of which those troops are mus tered, has upon every social class in our community ; that there are no hands in Massachusetts too delicate to contribute something to the work. Almost the next letter which I opened, after breaking the seal of yours, was from a poor needle-woman, saying she had but little, but desiring to give something from that little in the same behalf; and surely a cause which so appeals both to the garret and the drawing- room cannot be other than national and just."" May 4, Governor writes to J. Amory Davis, President of the Suffolk Bank, " Please read the within. We shall have an extra session of our Legislature on Tuesday, May 14. Will the banks of Massachusetts take $5,000,000 of United-States loan at par? If not, supposing that the Legislature of Massachusetts should authorize a loan of o $5,000,000 to the United States, would the banks lend that amount to this Commonwealth? They have already offered it more than $6,000,000. Will you confer on this subject with the gentlemen upon State Street? I should like to see you, and any others who will take an interest in this subject, at your first convenience." This brings the correspondence of the Governor to the day when orders were issued by the War Department, that no more three months regiments would be accepted. On the 3d of 132 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. May, 1861, the President called for thirty-nine regiments of in fantry and one regiment of cavalry, to serve for three years, or during the war, making an aggregate of officers and enlisted men of 42,034 volunteers. On the 4th of May, General Order No. 15 was issued by the Secretary of War, in which directions were given respecting the organization of the volunteers, but nothing was said regarding the number of regiments which each State was to furnish ; and it was not until the 22d of May, eighteen days after the call had been made, that the quota which Massachusetts was to furnish was received from Washington. During this interval, companies in all parts of the State were offering their services, and pressing to be accepted. These com panies comprised in the aggregate at least 10,000 effective men. After much solicitation on the part of the Governor, by letter, telegram, and gentlemen appointed by him to visit Washington, leave was given to furnish six regiments of infantry. But, before entering upon a narration of the three years regiments, other matters claim attention. Reference has already been made to the valuable services rendered by John M. Forbes at the outbreak of the war. His labors ceased only with the war. In a letter of recent date, written by Mr. Forbes, he says : " When the war fairly broke out, on the Monday after Fort Sumter fell, 14th or 15th of April, I first remember taking part in the trans port question. In common with all Massachusetts, I then offered my services to the Governor, and was authorized to make preliminary arrangements for securing transportation. I accordingly got posted up, with the help of George B. Upton, Esq., of Boston, and Colonel Borden, of Fall River, as to the available steamers at both places, and was accordingly prepared to act, when, about five, P.M., of Tuesday, the 16th [?] of April, Colonel Harry Lee, of His Excellency s staff, conveyed to me an order to go ahead with vessels ; the despatch having arrived to start two regiments for Fortress Monroe, besides those which it was arranged to send by land. I remember well the electric shock which this order gave me. I felt that it would the whole country. A north-east storm was blowing ; and a glance at the window was enough to enable me to tell the colonel, Too late for to-night. But, with the help of the friends above referred to, you will remember, that, the fol lowing night (Wednesday), we got off one regiment by the Spaulding, LETTER OF JOHN M. FORBES. 133 one by the State of Maine, in company with the Sixth, which was sent by railway to New York, Baltimore, and Washington. In this connection, it may be worth while to recall the circumstances under which Governor Andrew disobeyed (fortunately) the order of the War Department to send his troops to Fortress Monroe via Baltimore by rail. I had heard two months earlier from S. M. Felton, not only the plot to attack Mr. Lincoln in Baltimore, but also the plan which he had discovered of burning the bridges on his road between Perryville and Baltimore ; and this suggested still more strongly than the mere arguments of convenience the importance of re-enforcing Fortress Monroe by sea. I accordingly took a chart of the coast up to the State House, and pointed out to the Governor the ease and certainty with which he could place the troops at the fortress by water, with the additional advantage of having any or all of them taken directly up to Annapolis or Washington, in case they were needed for the defence of the capital. The Governor looked at his orders from General Scott, which were to send the whole by rail, then scrutinized the chart carefully, and, after a short delay, replied, It s a clear case ; be ready to send the two regiments by water. This was, I think, on Monday, the glorious day when our Massachusetts men were rallying from their fields, workshops, and homes to defend the flag. If you will take the trouble to look at the charters of the Spaulding and the State of Maine, you will find a clause allowing the Governor to order the ships either to Annapolis or Washington ; and in the telegraphic letter-book at the State House you will find a telegram, dated, I think, Wednesday, to General Scott, informing him when these two regiments would be due at Fortress Monroe, and also that the charters of the vessels pro vided for taking them up to either place. This, you will notice, was before the burning of the bridges or the fight of 19th of April in Baltimore ; and it is due to Samuel M. Felton, that the historian should award to him the credit of calling General Butler s attention to the Annapolis route, as the best means of reaching Washington." While Mr. Forbes, Mr. Upton, and Colonel Borden were active in securing transports to forward troops, other gentle men were interesting themselves with the subject. William F. Durfee, of Fall River, wrote to the Adjutant- General, April 15, " Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island, has been trying to charter steamers of Colonel Borden, of Fall River, to take a Rhode Island regiment to Washington. I think they may succeed in getting the 134 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Empire State. The Metropolis is laid up, and will not be ready for two or three days. Application has also been made from New York. I write for the purpose of posting you in regard to the operations of our neighboring States. The gentleman stated that Governor Sprague intended to have the Rhode-Island troops in Washington in advance of any other State in New England ; and I have an ambition to see the Massachusetts men there as soon as Little Rhody s, sooner, if possi ble. If they can get the Empire State, they intend to leave Provi dence Thursday, at twelve o clock." The " Empire State " was chartered by Governor Sprague, but the Rhode-Island troops did not get to Washington first. The following extracts from letters received by the Adjutant-General show in part the patriotic feeling which inspired tbe people : April 15. Charles Bowers, of Concord, writes, "Believing most fervently in tbe doctrine vindicated at the Old North Bridge in 1775, that resistance to tyrants is obedience to God, in this hour of our country s peril I offer my poor services in her defence. If you can assign me to any position, however humble, where I can do any thing for freedom and the right, I will hasten to the post in your command." The writer went out lieutenant in the Concord company attached to the Fifth Regiments. He was afterwards captain in the Thirty-second Regiment, and served through the war. Rev. B. F. De Costa writes, "I hereby tender my services as chaplain for any of the forces now called into service by the State. I should be glad to accompany any regiment to the capital or elsewhere, and cheerfully endure with them the hardships of the campaign." Mr. De Costa was appointed and commissioned chaplain of the Fifth Regiment. A. A. Marsh, of Cincinnati, Ohio, telegraphs, " I wish you would let me know if you can buy ten six-pounder rifled field-pieces ready for use, and at what price, and when we can get them. We want them for use here, for the protec tion of this city. Telegraph the price." General George H. Dcvcrcux, of Salem, writes, "I earnestly hope that the General Government will go into this contest with the olive branch frankly and cordially displayed in one hand, offering every reasonable opportunity to avoid the dreadful alternative of a civil war with our own countrymen. But, if war must come, PATRIOTIC OFFERS OF SERVICES. 135 all sound policy and even humanity requires that it be vigorously sustained, and that we show ourselves capable of maintaining the honor, dignity, and safety of our country." General Devereux had three sons officers in the war, one of whom was brevetted a general. April 16. General Nettleton, of Chicopee, writes, " I hereby tender to His Excellency the Governor, and through him to the President, my personal services to any appointed post in the gift of either. I cannot, by reason of age, be admitted to the ranks by enlistment; yet I am hearty and hale, and not older than my grandsire was when following the lead of Wash ington." General Nettleton s son raised a company for the Thirtieth Kegiment, of which he went out captain, and came home colonel of the regiment. April 17. Edward Kinsley, of Cambridge, writes, "The patriotic ladies of Cambridge are making bandages and pre paring lint for our troops who have been ordered out of the State. A box will be ready to-morrow morning. Please tell the bearer where you will have it sent." Colonel Borden, of Fall River, writes, " The Empire State will be let at a thousand dol lars a day; the State of Maine, for eight hundred." George B. Upton, of Boston, writes that he had made a "contract with the agents of the S. R. Spaulding to take troops to Fortress Monroe at twelve dollars each. The vessel will be ready in eight hours after notice is received." April 18. E. C. Peirce, of Weymouth, writes, "If the services of an active horse and rider as courier are required for any distance, great or small, let me know." Daniel Denny, of Boston, writes, "I have three spacious lofts, No. 142, Fulton Street, quite light and airy, which I freely offer for the use of the military. Being considerably more than forty-five years old, 1 fear my personal services would not be accepted if offered." Captain Peard, of Milford, writes, "I offer my company, the Davis Guards, all of whom are adopted citizens, for the ser vice." This company was accepted, and formed part of the Ninth Regiment, of which Captain Peard was commissioned major. He died in the service. The following letter is from one of the most noble and highly 136 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. cultivated men whom Massachusetts sent to the war, and who sacrificed his life for the cause : MONUMENT SQUARE, CHARLESTOWN, April 19, 1861. ADJUTANT-GENERAL SCHOULER, We are at that point where every man who can devote himself to his country s service should come forward. I beg that you would put on file this my application for any position in the medical service of the Commonwealth in which I could be useful. I am aware of the law under which surgeons are ap pointed, and of course understand that you have no direct control of this matter. But there may be exigencies from deaths, resignations, unusual demands, or unforeseen circumstances, when you may be called upon to advise or suggest. If such a call is made, be pleased to remember this application of your old personal and political friend. I may be allowed to say, should this communication ever be brought up for consideration, that, while I am known mainly in another specialty, I was educated in the New- York hospitals for a surgeon ; and for some years, in a wide field, I was much engaged in that capacity. Inquiry in New Hampshire would show, that there are but few of the greater operations of surgery which I have not performed. I am a little above fifty ; in health so good as not to have been confined to my house a day in the past three years ; and, entirely removed from all cares by easy personal circumstances, of course am ready at the shortest notice for any duty. As this application is for use, not show, may I beg of you, that it may not reach the press, which, in its avidity for para graphs, might be ready to put me unnecessarily before the public ? Truly yours, LUTHER V. BELL. Dr. Bell s offer was accepted. He was appointed surgeon of the Eleventh Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, was commis sioned June 13, 1861, and immediately entered upon his duties. His family was one of the oldest and most distinguished in New- Hampshire ; his father, John Bell, having been Governor of the State and a member of the United-States Senate. Dr. Bell for many years had charge of the McLean Asylum for the Insane, in Sornerville, and was at the head of his profession in that branch of medical science. His figure was tall and command ing ; his face was eminently handsome and pleasant. On the 3d of August, 1861, while with his regiment at the front, he was appointed brigade-surgeon by President Lincoln, and was placed on the staff of General Joseph Hooker. About four PATRIOTIC OFFERS OF SERVICES. 137 o clock, on the wintry morning of February 5, under his canvas shelter at Camp Baker, two miles from Budd s Ferry, on the Potomac, Dr. Bell was taken suddenly ill ; and about nine o clock, on the evening of the llth, he passed peacefully away for ever. We shall have occasion to refer again to this distin guished person in the next chapter. April 19. General John S. Tyler, commanding the "An cient and Honorable Artillery Company," "tenders, by vote of the corps, their services for coast defence." The Massachusetts Bible Society " offers a supply of Bibles and Testaments for the soldiers." April 21. Mrs. Julia K. Seavy, Jamaica Plain, writes, " I am anxious to contribute in some way to the comfort of our brave volunteers. Would twenty flannel shirts be acceptable? If so, I will have them made and forwarded to you for distribu tion. Our country, right or wrong." April 23. Edward Greenmon, or Greenmast, of Mendon, writes, "Will you accept the service of a Dartmoor prisoner in the war of 1812, and near seven years on board of a British ship-of-war? Impressed at the age of twelve years, when the war was declared, I was most cruelly flogged and threatened to be hung, because I would not fight against my country. I am ready now to fight the traitors of my country, and battle for freedom." Edward S. Waters, of Salem, suggests " the organi zation of an engineer corps, to repair the bridges between Philadelphia and Washington." George Gregg, of Boston, informs the Adjutant-General, that "certain British sub jects in Boston and vicinity have formed themselves into a rifle company, and offer their services for duty anywhere within thirty miles of Boston, to be drilled, armed, and clothed at private expense." April 27. Colonel Newell A. Thompson, of Boston, re ports, " Have fulfilled the duty for which I have been detailed, to remove certain arms and ammunition from the United-btates Arsenal at Watertown, to the State Arsenal at Cambridge." Rev. George D. Wilde, of Salem, sends a roll of forty men for "field-hospital corps, to be sent to the front; and each pledges himself to submit to all the requirements of military life." 138 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. April 28. James L. Merrill, of Athol, volunteers him self and three " of my seven sons, with eight or ten other good, faithful, and temperate men, to go to the front, and act as scouts, to be armed with rifles and side-arms." John Waters, of West Sutton, writes, "I and several citizens of this town, being well acquainted with the use of the rifle, are anxious to form a company of sharpshooters." Captain Kand, First Regiment of Infantry, writes, " At a meeting of my company, held last even ing, it was unanimously voted to adopt the following as a com pany name, Schouler Volunteers, with many thanks to you for your numerous kindnesses." This company w r as Company I, First Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. Captain Rand was killed at Chancellorsville. Captain Peirson, of Byfield, " volunteers his whole command (Company B, First Battalion of Rifles) for the war." May 1. Samuel Fowler, of Westfield, writes, "This town has appropriated ten thousand dollars for the equipment and outfit of a company of volunteers, and to drill them until called for. God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Richard H. Dana, Jr., of Cambridge, writes, " The topi I left with you yesterday is the result of fifty years expe rience of the British in the East. It is now universally used by the British military in India, China, and Indian Islands. I wore that topi in China, India, and Egypt some six months, including June, July, and August. It is the best thing possible. It gives air between the head and the outer case all round. This is the best safeguard against sunstroke or congestion. It is a mistake to wear any thing thin or light like straw. The desiderata are (1) a thick wall between the head and the sun s rays, and (2) air between the wall and the head. The weight on the head, when adjusted around the side, and not on the top, is of little consequence, as all men experienced in Eastern life and travel will tell you. The rim to this protects the eyes, and back of the head and neck. In the East, the back of the head and back of the neck are considered specially sensitive to the sun. The topi may be made either of felt (as mine is) or of pith. I prefer the felt." The topi spoken of was a most excellent protection to the head from the heat of the sun, but was never adopted, either by the State or the Federal authorities. AGENTS SENT TO WASHINGTON. 139 May 6. President Felton, of Harvard University, informs the Adjutant-General that "between three and four hundred students have entered their names for a drill-club ; and between one and two hundred have brought their fathers certificates, that they consent to the watch. In a day or two, I shall proba bly be able to furnish you a complete list of both." The " watch " here spoken of was in reference to a guard of students to watch the State Arsenal at Cambridge. May 10. Colonel Newell A. Thompson presented " a roll of one hundred past members of the Boston City Guards, who have voluntarily placed themselves under my command, and authorized me to tender their services as a Home Guard." The foregoing extracts, from letters received by the Adjutant- General in the first days of the war, serve to show in a degree the patriotic spirit of the people. They are selected from a great mass of letters received by him in those early days of the war ; all of which bear more or less on the same subject, and are imbued with the same spirit and determination. From the time the three months troops left the State until a call was made for three years volunteers, May 3, communica tion with the departments at Washington was dilatory and un satisfactory ; which caused the Governor to request Ex-Governor Boutwell, Attorney-General Foster, Judge Hoar, and William L. Burt to go forward, and endeavor to keep up a line of com munication with him. This will explain some of the letters and telegrams given in preceding pages. One great point to be gained was authority from the War Department to garrison and man the forts in Boston Harbor, the defenceless condition of which exposed the city to attack, and caused much uneasiness among the merchants, underwriters, and other citizens of Bos ton. After the attack upon the Sixth Regiment in Baltimore, on the 19th of April, inquiry was made by the Governor in regard to establishing hospital accommodations for the sick and wounded who may return to the State. The matter was referred to Dr. William J. Dale, who, on the 21st of April, reported, "I have conversed with Mr. Rogers, chairman of the Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the institution will be open for soldiers in the service ; and, at short notice, 140 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. they can put up a large temporary building in the hospital yard for the accommodation of the sick and wounded." This excellent institution, during the whole war, gave all the accom modation and assistance within its power to the sick and wounded soldiers. Ex-Governor Boutwell left Boston for Washington on the 23d of April. In New York, he had an interview with Major- General Wool, commanding the Department of the East, and with Vice-President Hamlin, whom he met there. On the 24th he wrote to the Governor, " General Wool and Vice-President Hamlin are in favor of your taking the responsibility of sending two regiments to take charge of the forts, and to furnish and arm three vessels for the protection of the coast. You can exercise the power, under the circumstances, better than any one else." On the same day on which this letter was written, an order passed the Executive Council, that the Governor send a force of militia to garrison the forts, and one company to each of the arsenals at Cambridge and Watertown, the whole not to exceed seven hundred men ; the Adjutant-General to furnish subsistence, and the Quartermaster-General transportation. On the same day, Mr. Boutwell telegraphed from New York to Governor Andrew, " Send without delay a steamer, with pro visions, for General Butler s command at Annapolis. She must be armed. Mr. Burt returns by eleven-o clock train with orders from General Wool." On-the 25th of April, Mr. Crowninshield, who was in New York to take the steamer for Europe to purchase arms, writes to the Governor, " I am detained till this forenoon for despatches from the British minister. I learn that he has telegraphed to Halifax for a fleet to go to Washington to protect him and save the archives of their Government. I believe it." Before leaving New York, Mr. Boutwell succeeded in obtain ing an order from General Wool upon the ordnance officer at the United-States Arsenal at Watertown, for four thousand stand of arms. These arms were what were known as the " Windsor rifle," and had the sword bayonet. Upon the receipt of Mr. BcflitwelPs telegram to forward provisions to General Butler at Annapolis by armed steamer, Governor Andrew consulted John LETTER OF MR. FORBES TO THE GOVERNOR. 141 M. Forbes, and put the matter in his charge. On the after noon of the same day, he addressed the following letter to Governor Andrew : BOSTON, April 25, 1861. To His Excellency Governor ANDREW. SIR, Having reference to the letter of Hon. George S. Boutwell, I beg leave to say, that, after you showed it me this morning, I found that the only really suitable vessel in port for the purpose indicated was on the point of being sold for $75.000. Just before the war, her owners asked $70,000 for her, which I thought a little too high. Under the circumstances, however, she seemed to me cheap ; and I took the responsibility of buying her, intending to offer her to you or to the General Government. I have since applied to the underwriters and merchants to take and own half of the ship, if the State will take the other half, with the understanding that she is to be managed as an armed transport, used to convey troops and stores, at the prices current for other transports ; and, when not so used, to act as coast-guard or despatch vessel, under the management of a Government agent or agents. It is hoped, upon this basis, to make her pay her way, with little or no loss, besides doing good service, and keeping up the confidence of our citizens and the fears of our enemies. If you approve the plan, I should like to have you own such part of her as I cannot get readily taken by the underwriters ; also, propor tion of her outfit, which I estimate at under $10,000. She can at once load coal and the stores ordered, get on board the guns, which the Navy Yard will lend us temporarily, and be ready for troops or other service. I have inquired also about other vessels. The only suitable pro peller is a small vessel of about three hundred tons, nearly new, due here to-night, which can be bought for a trifle under $30,000. She would make a good temporary gunboat ; could carry her crew, a good load of stores upon a pinch, and a few troops, not many. If you are disposed to have another vessel, she is the most available, and is not dear. I think, if you wish it, the merchants and under writers would take part of her, probably half. She would be well adapted to the coast-guard now being raised. In addition to these, I have found a side- wheel ship of about one thousand tons, older than the others, and having the single advantage of light draught of water, a good serviceable ship. She can be bought on reasonable terms to-day, not cheap, not very dear, but, in my 142 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. opinion, not so desirable as either of the others, unless some new arrangement arises. I should strongly recommend some prompt action as to the first two vessels, if you knew the emergency as I do, and are willing to take the responsibility. The money for the " Cambridge " ought to be appropriated immedi ately, and orders given as to the name in which she shall stand regis tered, perhaps two trustees, one to represent the State, and* one the individual subscribers. With much respect, your obedient servant, J. M. FORBES. N.B. I do not think the merchants ready, at this moment, to share in the third vessel, the side-wheel steamer. On the same day, the letter was referred by the Governor to a committee of the Executive Council, who reported that "the Committee authorize the Governor to procure, on the basis of the letter, two steam-vessels, the State to take one half and the under writers the other, to be managed as armed transports to convey troops and stores, and, when not so used, as a coast guard or despatch vessels." These vessels were immediately purchased, the "Cambridge" at a cost of $75,000, and the " Pembroke " at $30,000. The outfit of the " Cambridge " cost $10,000. The Council also ordered, "that the Governor, with the advice of the Council, employ John M. Forbes, Esq., to procure proper rations for the supply of four thousand men in service for thirty days, to be furnished immediately." Mr. Boutwell arrived at Washington on the 28th of April, and, on the evening of that day, wrote the following interesting letter to Governor Andrew, which was the first satisfactory communication he had received from Washington since the regi ments had left the State : WASHINGTON, April 28, 1861. To His Excellency Governor ANDREW. Sm, I arrived in Washington to-day, after a journey of forty- eight hours from Philadelphia by Annapolis. There have been no mails from the North for a week ; and you may easily understand, that the mighty public sentiment of the Free States is not yet fully appre ciated here. The President and Cabinet are gaining confidence ; and the measures of the Administration will no longer be limited to the defence of the MR. BOTJTWELL WRITES FROM WASHINGTON. 143 capital. Secretary Welles has already sent orders to Captain Hudson to purchase six steamers, with instructions to consult you in regard to the matter. I regret that the Secretary was not ready to put the matter into the hands of commissioners, who would have acted effi ciently and promptly. Mr. Welles will accept, as part of the quota, such vessels as may have been purchased by Mr. Forbes. Senator Grimes, of Iowa, will probably give Mr. Crowninshield an order for arms. The United-States Government may do the same ; but no definite action has yet been taken. Martial law will be proclaimed here to-morrow. Colonel Mansfield will be appointed general, and assigned to this district. He is one of the most efficient officers in the country. Baltimore is to be closed in from Havre-de- Grace, from the Relay House, from the Carlisle line, and by an efficient naval force. She will be reduced to unconditional submission. The passage of the troops through Maryland has had a great moral effect. The people are changing rapidly in the country places. Many instances of a popular revolution, in towns through which troops have passed or been stationed, have come to my knowledge. I came to Washington with the Twelfth New- York Regiment ; and from Annapolis Junction there were cheers from three-fourths of the houses by the wayside. Every thing appears well at Annapolis, where General Butler com mands in person. There is a large body of troops, the people are gradually gaining confidence in the army and the Government, and the regulations seem to be effective. General Butler is popular with the officers whom I met. He has taken command of the highlands that command the town and the encampment. All sorts of rumors are spread among the troops concerning an attack upon the Annapolis Station ; but the place can be defended under any conceivable circum stances. I am sorry to say, that every thing is in confusion at Annap olis Junction ; and a moderate force might, in a single night, break off the connection of this city with the North. It is at present a military station without a permanent head. Each colonel, as he moves towards Washington, commands for twelve or twenty-four hours. My own belief, however, is, that Maryland will never see two thousand men together as a military organization in opposition to the Government. I presume that your Excellency has means of obtaining information concerning the condition of Massachusetts men, morally and physically ; but, as I am here, I shall try to obtain and transmit any information that seems important. I may say now, that the Eighth Regiment is quartered in the rotunda of the Capitol ; and a military man, not of 144 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Massachusetts, says, that they are already suffering from the cold and dampness of the place. He advises tents and out-door encampment. I repeat what is every hour said in my hearing, that Massachusetts has taken her place at the head of the column in support of the Gov ernment ; and our regiments are everywhere esteemed as noble exam ples of citizen-soldiers. I, for one, feel anxious that every thing that is proper should be done. I have written this communication in great haste ; and I have only time to subscribe myself your Excellency s obedient servant, GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. On the 30th of April, Governor Andrew received from Attorney-General Foster a telegram from Washington, saying, "Arrived last night. All well at Annapolis and here." Mr. Foster had followed on the heels of Mr. Boutwell. While at New York, on his way to Washington, he wrote to Governor Andrew as follows : NEW YORK, April 27, 1861. I have spent to-day in trying to find the utmost known in this city ; but there is no reliable intelligence not known to you. New York has sent up to this time five thousand four hundred troops, and by Tuesday next will send four thousand more. Three regiments from Connecticut are nearly ready, two thou sand four hundred. New Jersey claims to have four regiments nearly ready, three thousand two hundred. Notwithstanding all this, it seems to be the strong desire of every one here, that more men should go from Massachusetts, without waiting for a requisition. General Wool says, if you telegraph to him whether you shall send two more regiments, he will answer, " Yes." I have seen him, and he appears well, but very much overworked and worn out. For the occasion, the committee of merchants are working very hard, and comprise many of their best men. I did not feel it was a sufficiently clear case in favor of sending more men to telegraph to that effect. But I would do it unless you get later advices adverse. The present feeling here is, that Washington is safe, but that more troops are greatly needed ; and the universal cry is, that the Government is far behind the people. I am going to Washington to-night via Annapolis, and no doubt shall find the way open and safe. There are a number of bills here for transportation by steamer, and for subsistence furnished our men ; and I am very confident, that a faithful, sensible man, with a small office in this city, to act as agent for Massachusetts, and to whom alone you should refer all bills, &c., would save a great deal of STATE OF FEELING IN THE CABINET. 145 money and time. There will be men going and returning, and a great variety of wants, large and small, until the end is reached ; and we shall have undesirable men claiming to represent the State, and inter meddling in many ways, unless there is some one agent on the spot all the time. The praise of the Old Bay State is in every mouth ; and the repeti tion of the half said of her Governor to you would be flattery. Very respectfully and truly yours, DWIGHT FOSTER. Mr. Boutwell remained in Washington until the 1st of May, when he left for Boston. At Perry ville, he telegraphed to "Mr. Forbes & Co., Two lots of stocks additional ordered by Cabot." This was in the cipher arranged by Mr. Forbes, and meant, "Two regiments of troops additional ordered by Cameron." Mr. Boutwell arrived at New York on the 2d of May, and wrote to Governor Andrew that evening : I arrived here this afternoon, and I hope to report to you in person Saturday. I had free conversation with the President, General Scott, Mr. Seward, Mr. Chase, General Cameron, and Mr. Blair, upon public affairs. The impression I received from all, except perhaps Mr. Sew ard, was favorable to a vigorous prosecution of the war. Mr. Seward repeated his words of December and February, " The crisis is over." It is, however, understood at Washington, that Mr. Seward favors vigor ous measures. Mr. Chase says, that the policy of the Administration is vigorous and comprehensive, as sure to succeed in controlling the Rebellion, and preserving the whole territory of the Union. I will only say now, that I left Washington with a more favorable impres sion of the policy of the Government than I entertained when I left Boston. General Cameron agreed to authorize Massachusetts to raise two regiments in addition to that of Dwight s. The papers were all made, and only a Cabinet meeting prevented their completion on Tuesday. I did not wish to remain another day, and I left the papers with the chief clerk : and I also received the assurance of Colonel Ripley, that he would give personal and prompt attention to transmitting them to Boston. I shall expect them on Saturday. Colonel Ripley issued an order on Tuesday for rifling cannon. Mr. Forbes s letter aided very much. I am very truly your most obedient servant, GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. 10 146 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The "Cambridge" had arrived in Washington from Boston, with troops and military stores. Judge Hoar was in the city. There appears to have been no one to act for the Government to take charge of the stores, or to superintend their distribution. The following letter from E. Rockwood Hoar, one of the jus tices of the Supreme Court, to the Governor, relates to this matter, and to the hardships borne by the Fifth Regiment, from the time it left Boston until it arrived in Washington, which, in part, were occasioned by haste and bad management in loading the transports at New York, by which the rations and the bales of blankets, which were to have been distributed to the men, were covered with other merchandise, and could not be got at, so that the men suffered for want of food and blankets : WASHINGTON, May 6, 1861. To His Excellency Governor ANDREW. DEAR SIR, Mr. Foster, I learn, has gone with General Butler, and cannot be communicated with. Dr. Howe has not arrived. The " Cambridge " arrived yesterday afternoon. I have therefore, as I wrote to you yesterday, " taken the responsibility," which I trust will meet your approbation, as there is nobody here to attend to the busi ness ; and, unless instant attention be paid to it, in the present extreme confusion of affairs here, there would be even great delay in getting their private packages to our troops. I saw the President this morn ing the instant he left the breakfast table, presented your letter to him, and explained to him the whole business. I also saw General Cam eron, and he has agreed to take the stores, with the exception of such as we may retain for hospital use, and for the reasonable comfort of our men, at the invoice price, with the freight added at the price you named. The President sent for Mr. Seward ; and I had a conference with them jointly as to the purchase or employment of the steamers, and also with General Cameron. The strong inclination of the Gov ernment is to purchase rather than charter vessels ; and I think the arrangement can be made to sell them. But to-morrow they are to have a detailed report of the number of vessels already engaged, and I am promised a definite answer on Wednesday. I took Senator Wilson with me, and consulted Colonel Lawrence, the senior officer in command of the Massachusetts men, and Colonel Monroe, and the quartermaster of the Sixth Regiment, as to the sup plies and stores which should be retained for the hospital service and the comfort of the troops, and we have examined the invoice and made JUDGE HOAR AT WASHINGTON. 147 the selection ; and I have the promise that by one o clock the business shall be put through the proper department. The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment left Washington yesterday, under General Butler s orders, for the Relay House, between Annap olis Junction and Baltimore. Their future destination is not certain ; but, if there should be a march for the occupation of Baltimore, it is felt that poetical justice requires that regiment to have the first place. I have the honor, further, to submit a matter which I venture to press upon your immediate attention. The Fifth Regiment left Boston, by their own choice, partially equipped, on Sunday morning, April 21, rather than wait another day to have their equipments completed. They had to sleep in Faneuil Hall, in the confusion and bustle of the two preceding nights. They went to New York on that Sunday, marched the whole length of that city in the evening, hardly able to stand from fatigue and sleeplessness. They were crowded on board the steamer, and sent fresh from their country homes and habits to the sickness and misery of the sea voyage, with only the deck to lie down on, and not room enough for all to do that. They landed at Annapolis at night, were kept standing in line, waiting for orders, four or five hours, and at eleven, P.M., required to march on foot to Annapolis Junction, twenty miles. Their blankets and clothing were done up into bales and boxes on the steamer, and had only been partially landed when they started. Colonel Lawrence wanted to wait for it ; but the danger and necessity of their immediate presence at the junction made their march imperative. He left forty men detailed to take charge of and forward the baggage ; but, after the regiment had gone, General Butler ordered them off to serve as a guard on the line of the railroad. The regiment reached the Junction, and took their first substantial sleep on the ground, without shelter or blankets. Our Concord company had nothing but their guns, and what they left home in and their ^reat-coats ; and a number had not even the coats O 7 left behind at Annapolis. The baggage, left without charge, got mixed with general United-States stores, and got distributed to Penn sylvania and other troops promiscuously. It is gone past redemption. Thirty men of the Concord company have not yet got a blanket, and sleep on a hard floor. They had not a shirt in the company till last Friday, two weeks from home, except those they wore from home, nor a pair of drawers or stockings till Saturday, and then not enough to go round. There is no complaint. Health generally good, and spirits and patriotism as high and cheerful as yours or mine, the heroes ! The United States have no blankets here ; and all attempts possible have been made, here and at Annapolis, to supply them. Colonel 148 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Lawrence is doing, and has done, all in his power, and is entitled to great credit for his services. But they want what the enclosed list states, instantly. I know you will send them if you can. If the State cannot pay for them, send the bill for the Concord company to Concord, and it shall be paid as soon as I get there. I will write again this evening. The commissary says Government is very short of money. Treas ury-notes are but partially serviceable, because they are used to pay dues to the Government, and so must cut off revenue ; in fact, substan tially amount only to an anticipation of revenue. The matter of the loan, on which we addressed you last week, is therefore of the highest importance. I learned on my arrival, that the orders for Massachusetts regiments to be enlisted, mustered, and drilled at Boston had been forwarded. If they have not come to hand, telegraph me or Wilson, and duplicates will be sent. Faithfully your Excellency s friend, and the servant of the com mittee and the cause, E. R. HOAR. With the following letter from Judge Hoar to the Governor, we close this part of the correspondence relating to matters connected with the three months troops, and the disposition of the War Department neither to accept more troops, purchase transports, nor to take charge of commissary stores which had been forwarded by Massachusetts : WASHINGTON, May 8, 1861. To His Excellency Governor ANDREW. DEAR SIR, The " Cambridge" arrived this morning, having been detained between two and three days at Fort Monroe to bring on some heavy guns and shells. Dr. Howe arrived this morning, having been detained on the way by illness. Mr. Cameron told me this morning, that his department would not purchase, or agree to employ, the steamers ; and, in answer to my urgent representations about the six Massachusetts regiments for the war, said that none could be received at present, and that he could give no promise or encouragement for the future. I asked Mr. Chase if he could help us, and he said he was afraid he could not, as he had been trying to get Cameron to receive ten regiments from Ohio, and had succeeded in getting him to accept only three. In regard to the steamers, I have made a very strong application to the Secretary of the Navy, which I think has produced some impres- OFFER TO FURNISH MORE TROOPS. 149 sion ; and he has promised to have the naval inspectors examine the " Cambridge " to-morrow, and to see if he can take her. I put the matter upon all the public grounds I could urge, and upon the claim which our State has for consideration from what she has done and what she is doing ; and I am sure Mr. Welles feels personally friendly to our purpose. The " Pembroke " I do not believe you can sell to either department, and think you had better put her freight charge, and make your plans for her future employment upon that suppo sition. I have the promise, that the duplicate orders for our troops to be mustered into service in Boston shall be immediately transmitted. I received your telegram too late to have it done to-day. I must leave Washington to-morrow morning, and shall leave Mr. Lowell in charge of the affairs of the " Cambridge " until he is superseded by some one else. I trust he may receive express and direct authority, addressed to him personally from you, or by your order, which I think will facili tate his action and communication with the authorities. Dr. Howe prefers he should go on with the business, as he under stands and has begun it ; and it requires a great deal of running about and personal hard work. I think it will be done to your satisfaction. The captain of the " Cambridge " thoughtlessly omitted to make any bargain for the transmission of the guns and shells from Fortress Mon roe, and that will make some trouble, but will be carefully looked after. Senator Wilson will do all he can to forward the sale of the vessel ; and he and Dr. Howe will advise with Mr. Lowell. Faithfully your Excellency s obedient servant, E. R. HOAR. The letters of Mr. Boutwell and Judge Hoar describe the duties with which they were charged by the Governor. They were to consult with the President and his Cabinet and with General Scott respecting the exigencies of the occasion, and keep up a communication with the authorities of the State. They had also charge of the provisions, clothing, and munitions of war, forwarded from the State to the Massachusetts soldiers. Judge Hoar, who was in Washington about the time when the proclamation of the President was issued for regiments of three years volunteers, made, by direction of the Governor, urgent efforts to induce the Government to accept of all the regiments which Massachusetts was prepared to furnish. On the 8th of May, a proposition was made by him in writing, to the Secretary of War, offering, on behalf of the State, to "furnish six regiments 150 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. for three years, or for the war, perfectly equipped , in addition to the quota which Massachusetts might be called upon to furnish under the first call of the President ; and, on the same day, it was refused by the Secretary. He also, in co-operation with Mr. Foster, the Attorney-General, and Senator Wilson, by direction of the Governor, offered such aid as Massachusetts could furnish to the pecuniary credit of the Government. Judge Hoar left Washington on or about the 15th of May, to return home ; and his duties and responsibilities were assumed by Charles R. Lowell, Jr., who had been appointed by the Gov ernor as the agent of Massachusetts in Washington. Before leaving Washington, Judge Hoar addressed a letter to Mr. Lowell, in which the duties he was expected to perform were carefully and concisely stated. He was to communicate with the departments in relation to stores sold, or troops carried on the Massachusetts transports. He was to communicate with the officers commanding Massachusetts regiments ; and every thing wanting by them was to be received and distributed through him. He was to keep an account of his expenses, and report as nearly daily as practicable of all his doings to the Governor. He was empowered to buy a copying-press, and "to employ a clerk, if necessary."- "The object of the whole arrangement is," says Judge Hoar, "to have some one responsible, competent agent, who will know all that is done and sent from Massachu setts, and all that is wanted and received at Washington, or by the troops, wherever stationed ; to take care of property, take vouchers, prevent waste, and to be the sole channel of commu nication between supply and demand." This letter of Judge Hoar to Mr. Lowell brings up pleasant and sad memories of one of the best and bravest of men. Mr. Lowell was born in Boston, Jan. 2, 1835. He was the son of Charles It. Lowell, and the grandson of Rev. Charles Lowell. The best blood of Massachusetts flowed in his veins. He graduated at Harvard University at the head of his class in 1853. When the Rebellion broke out, he was in Cumberland, Md. He had charge of the Mt. Savage Iron Works at that place. On the 20th of April, 1861, hearing of the attack upon the Sixth Regiment in Baltimore, he abandoned his position, and set out MR. LOWELL APPOINTED AGENT. 151 for Washington. In what manner he made the journey is not clearly known ; but he reached the capital on Monday, April 22. On the 24th, he wrote to his mother, "I was fortunate enough to be in Baltimore last Sunday, and to be here at pres ent. How Jim and Henry will envy me ! I shall come to see you if I find there is nothing to be done here. So have the blue-room ready." Mr. Lowell remained at his post as the agent of Massachusetts in Washington until the 14th of May, when he was appointed by the President a captain in the Sixth United-States Cavalry. On the 15th of April, 1863, he was commissioned by Governor Andrew colonel of the Second Regi ment of Massachusetts Cavalry, a regiment which was recruited by him in this State. It was while raising and organizing this J O O O regiment that we became acquainted with him. On the 19th of October, 1864, he was made a brigadier-general of volun teers by President Lincoln. On the same day, he fell from his horse, from wounds received at the battle of Cedar Creek, and died on the day following, October 20. The writer was in Washington when the battle was fought in which Colonel Lowell was killed. The following is an extract from a letter addressed by me to Governor Andrew, and which is printed in the Adju tant-General s Eeport for 1864 : " On arriving at my hotel in Washington, I had the honor of an intro duction to Brigadier-General Custar, of General Sheridan s army. He had arrived in Washington that afternoon (Oct. 22) from the Shenan- doah Valley, having in his custody twelve battle-flags, which had been captured from the enemy the Wednesday preceding. He was to pre sent them the next day to the Secretary of War, and he was pleased to give me an invitation to be present. From him I first learned that Colonel Lowell, of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, had been killed, gallantly leading the regiment in the front of battle. This news sad dened my heart. Colonel Lowell was my beau ideal of an officer and a gentleman. I had seen much of him while he was in Massachusetts, raising and organizing his regiment, and had become warmly attached to him. He was one of our best and bravest. General Custar in formed me that Colonel Lowell was severely wounded in the early part of the engagement, and was advised to retire to the rear. He thought, however, he could stand the fatigues of the day, and stoutly held to his command; in a few hours afterwards, he fell, mortally 152 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. wounded. It was pleasant to listen to the words of praise which Gen eral Custar bestowed upon his fallen comrade." Mr. Lowell was succeeded as agent for Massachusetts in Washington by Charles H. Dalton, of Boston, who was com missioned assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of colonel, May 23, 1861. Of his services we shall speak here after. On the 2d of May, Governor Andrew addressed the follow ing letter to Dr. Samuel G. Howe : o EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, BOSTON, May 2, 1861. To Dr. SAMUEL G. HOWE, Boston. MY DEAR SIR, The Massachusetts Volunteer Militia now in the field demand and deserve our anxious care, as well in respect to their sanitary condition (including their medical and surgical supplies and attendance, their nursing and comfort in sickness), as also in respect to the departments of the commissary and the quartermaster. I desire to avail myself of your experience, and good judgment, and energy, to procure a speedy and exhaustive survey of the condition, in those respects, of our men pertaining to General Butler s brigade, wherever they may be, and an early and minute report thereon. We wish to know what they have received, so as to learn whether what we pay for reaches them, whether it is distributed, and, if so, how carefully and skilfully, and whether it is properly husbanded. I desire especially also to ascertain how it happens that we hear so much complaint from Colonel Lawrence s regiment about being stinted for food on the voyage from New- York City to Annapolis, when we are advised that Major Ladd obtained fifteen days rations in New York for the whole command, and shipped them on board the steamers " Ariel " and " De Soto," on which the troops sailed. Major Charles Devens, major of the Rifle Battalion of Worcester, will be found, among others, a most intelligent person with whom to consult. Learn and report, if possible, what aid, if any, is needed in the commissary and quartermaster s departments and on the medical staff. 1 desire you particularly to attend to the proper distribution of the stores shipped on the steamer " Cambridge," which will be due at Washington, probably on Saturday next. Please advise with Brigadier-General Butler and with Lieutenant-General Scott on this subject. DR. S. G. HOWE, SANITARY AGENT. 153 I annex invoices of the stores belonging to the Commonwealth, which were shipped on board of her. In all these matters which I commit to your care for inspection and supervision, it must be left to your discretion to obtain the fullest and most accurate information possible, in order to direct your course of action. In all your operations, I do not doubt that you will receive the most cordial assistance and co-operation from General But ler, to whose kind attention I commend you, and with whom I desire you shall constantly advise and consult. What I desire to obtain is, a thorough comprehension of the position and condition of our troops, in all respects, so as to remedy existing deficiencies and provide against future evils. It is impossible to convey any such thorough idea to me through written despatches so speedily as I wish to obtain it ; and therefore, inasmuch as in the absence of a Lieutenant-Governor I cannot con veniently leave Massachusetts in person for that purpose, I desire you to act in a species of representative capacity for observation in my behalf. Your expenses will be paid by the Commonwealth ; and I con gratulate the service that I have been able to induce you to undertake this duty. With great regard, your friend and servant, JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor. Dr. Howe immediately entered upon his duties. Upon his return, he made a report of the condition of the regiments. He went by way of Annapolis to Washington. His first im pression was at the changed appearance of the men. But yes terday they were citizens ; to-day they are soldiers, five hundred miles from their homes, and ready to go a thousand more. On looking at the actual condition of the regiments, he was sur prised to find how abundant had been the provision made for their comfort and efficiency. There were some complaints and grumblings about exposure and sleeping on the ground by ni^ht, and about hard fare and disgusting food by day ; but on one who had found relish in boiled sorrel, and a luxury in raw snails, these complaints made but little impression. It was evi dent, as a general thing, there had been an abundant outfit, and a superabundance of what are usually considered luxuries at home. The breaking-in of a soldier to campaign life seems 154 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. a rough and hard process ; but it is not a killing one, especially to Xew-Englanders. In a while, the boys would laugh at what they have complained of. There is a vein of humor and sar casm running through the report of Dr. Howe, such as might have been expected from a gentleman of his peculiar tempera ment, knowledge, and practical experience in the rough usage of active military life ; and yet it is full of kind words and wise suggestions. He says, " The invoice of articles sent by the Cambridge and other vessels for our troops, contains articles hardly dreamed of even by general officers in actual war. Hun dreds of chests of Oolong teas, tons of white crushed sugar, and then a whole cargo of ice ! " Besides these regular sup plies, a vast variety of articles of use and luxury had been sent by the families of the soldiers and the town committees. "Their principal value (and that is priceless) is as a testimony of the patriotism, zeal, and generosity of the men and women, who felt that they must do something for the cause, which seemed to them, not only of their country, but of humanity." He speaks of the reports of cruelty practised in one of the regiments (not named), which are so frequent that they made a powerful im pression on him. He found only about one per cent on the sick-list, and only two cases of dangerous illness. As to the matter of suffering, he says, "Some soldiers do indeed complain that they have undergone needless exposures, privations, and hardships, through the indifference of officers. It is hoped that the most flagrant cases of the kind arose from over-sanguine temper, which made the officers overlook the great liability to storms, when leading out troops unprovided with tents, and that longer experience will correct this." But, he says, " There will be many captains like one whom I could name in the Massachusetts Fifth, the stalwart man, every inch of whose six feet is of soldier stamp ; the captain who eschews hotel dinners, and takes every meal with his men, eating only what they eat; who is their reso lute and rigid commander when on duty, but their kind and faithful companion and friend when off duty ; who lies down with them upon the bare ground or floor, and, if there are not blankets enough for all, refuses to use one himself; who often gets up in the night, and draws the blankets over any half-covered sleeper, and carries water to any ANECDOTE OF CAPTAIN PRESCOTT. 155 one who may be feverish and thirsty ; the man who is like a father as well as a captain of his soldiers. He is the man who administered that stern rebuke the other day to the upstart West- Point cadet, sent to drill the company. The first day, the cadet interlarded the orders with oaths, his commands with curses. The men complained to their captain. * I ll stop that to-morrow, says he. The next day s drill begins, and the cadet begins to swear at the soldiers. Please not swear at my men, sir, says the captain. What do you know about the drill ? says the cadet ; and what can you do about my swearing ? Sir, says the captain sternly, I know this, and you ought to know it, swearing is forbidden by the army regulation ; and, if you con tinue to break the rule, I ll order my men to march off the ground, and they ll obey me, and leave you to swear alone. The cadet took the rebuke, and swore no more at that company. There are many officers of this stamp ; and then there is among the soldiers enough of the old Puritan leaven to lighten the lump." " The stalwart man, every inch of whose six feet is of soldier stamp," was undoubtedly Captain Prescott, who com manded the Concord company in the Fifth Regiment, as the story is told of him in nearly the same words by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his address, delivered a few months ago on the occasion of the dedication of the soldiers monument, erected in Concord in honor of the soldiers of that town who fell in the war. On that monument is the name of George L. Prescott, who, as colonel of the Massachusetts Thirty-second Regiment, fell in front of Petersburg, mortally wounded, on the 18th of June, 1864, while leading his men in a charge upon the enemy, and who died on the field. A brave and generous gentleman ! Dr. Howe s report is too long to quote entire. It contains many wise suggestions in regard to cleanliness and cooking rations, and concludes with this pithy sentence : " If a tithe of the science, skill, and care which are so liberally given to im proving all the means of killing the soldiers of other armies were devoted to the means of keeping our own soldiers in health, the present fearful mortality of war would be greatly lessened." We have stated in the preceding chapter, that, when General Butler landed with the Eighth Regiment at Annapolis, a rumor reached him that the slaves in that vicinity were on the eve of 156 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. rising in rebellion against their masters ; and that he offered to Governor Hicks the Eighth Regiment to suppress it, which offer was declined peremptorily by the Governor of Maryland. The rumor had no foundation upon which to rest. Governor Andrew was informed that such an offer had been made, by a despatch from General Butler, written at Annapolis. He re garded it with disfavor, and immediately wrote to the General, expressing his approval of all that he had thus far done, with the exception of this offer to use Massachusetts troops for such a purpose, especially as their first duty was to get to Washington, and protect the national capital from threatened attack. Gov ernor Andrew said, " I think that the matter of servile insurrection among a commu nity in arms against the Federal Union is no longer to be regarded by our troops in a political, but solely in a military point of view ; and is to be contemplated as one of the inherent weaknesses of the enemy, from the disastrous operations of which we are under no obligations of a military character to guard them, in order that they may be enabled to improve the security which our arms would afford, so as to prose cute witli more energy their traitorous attacks upon the Federal Government and capital. The mode in which outbreaks are to be considered should depend entirely upon the loyalty or disloyalty of the community in which they occur ; and, in the vicinity of Annapolis, I can on this occasion perceive no reason of military policy why a force, summoned to the defence of the Federal Government, at this moment of all others, should be offered to be diverted from its immediate duty, to help rebels, who stand with arms in their hands, obstructing its progress towards the city of Washington. I entertain no doubt, that, whenever we shall have an opportunity to interchange our views per sonally on this subject, we shall arrive at entire concurrence of opinion." General Butler, on the 9th of May, wrote a long letter to Governor Andrew, in which he defended his action in offering the Eighth Regiment to suppress a slave insurrection. He be gan by apologizing for delay in writing ; his active official duties pressing him for time, and a slight attack of illness, being his excuses. Pie acknowledges " the more than usual accuracy " of the despatch received by Governor Andrew, and then proceeds to defend his course. He said, " I landed on the soil of Mary- GENERAL BUTLER S OFFER TO GOVERNOR HICKS. 157 land against the formal protest of the Governor and the corpo rate authorities of Annapolis, but without armed opposition on their part." He informed Governor Hicks that the soldiers of his command were armed only against insurgents and disturbers of the peace of Maryland and of the United States. He received from the Governor and Mayor assurances of the loyalty of the State to the Union. He told the Governor and Mayor, that, supported by the authorities of the State and city, he should repress all hostile demonstrations against the laws of Maryland and the United States ; and would protect both himself and the city of Annapolis from any disorderly per sons whatever. Therefore, when he was subsequently informed of the probable insurrection, he could do nothing less than make the offer he did, as it came within the pledge he had given. He proceeds, " The question seemed to me to be neither military nor political, and was not to be so treated. It was simply a question of good faith and honesty of purpose." He then speaks of " the benign effect " which his offer had upon the people of Annapolis. The people had returned to their homes, and peace and order everywhere prevailed. " Confidence took the place of distrust, friendship of enmity, brotherly kindness of sectional hate ; and I believe to-day there is no city in the Union more loyal than the city of Annapolis. I think, therefore, I may safely point to the results for my justification." He also says, the "neighboring county of Washington" had a few days before elected a Union delegate to the Legislature by a vote of four thousand out of five thousand ballots, This vote "is among the many fruits of firmness of purpose, efficiency of action, and integrity of mission." But, as he may have to act hereafter "in an enemy s country, among a servile population, when the question nmy arise as it has not yet arisen, as well in a moral and Christian as in a political and military point of view, what shall I do ? " The remainder of the letter we give entire : "I appreciate fully your Excellency s suggestion as to the inherent weakness of the rebels, arising from the preponderance of the s population. The question, then, is, in what manner shall we take advantage of that weakness? By allowing, and of course causing, 158 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLIOX. that population to rise upon the defenceless women and children of the country, carrying rapine, arson, and murder all the horrors of San Domingo a million of times magnified among those whom we hope to re-unite with us as brethren, many of whom are already so, and all who are worth preserving will be, when this horrible madness shall have passed away or be threshed out of them ? Would your Excel lency advise the troops under my command to make war in person upon defenceless women and children, of any part of the Union, accompanied with brutalities too horrible to be named ? You will say, God forbid ! If we may not do so in person, shall we arm others so to do, over whom we can have no restraint, exercise no control, and who, when once they have tasted blood, may turn the very arms in their hands against ourselves as a part of the oppressing white race? The reading of history, so familiar to your Excellency, will tell you, the bitterest cause of complaint which our fathers had against Great Britain, in the war of the Revolution, was the arming by the British Ministry of the red man with the tomahawk and the scalping-knife against the women and children of the colonies ; so that the phrase, May we not use all the means which God and nature have put in our hands to subjugate the colonies? has passed into a legend of infamy against the leader of that ministry who used it in Parliament. Shall history teach us in vain ? Could we justify ourselves to ourselves, although with arms in our hands, amid the savage wildness of camp and field, we may have blunted many of the finer moral sensibilities, in letting loose four millions of worse than savages upon the homes and hearths of the South ? Can we be justified to the Christian com munity of Massachusetts ? Would such a course be consonant with the teachings of our holy religion ? I have a very decided opinion upon the subject; and if any one desires as I know your Excellency does not this unhappy contest to be prosecuted in that manner, some instrument other than myself must be found to carry it on. I may not discuss the political bearings of this subject. When I went from under the shadow of my roof-tree, I left all politics behind me, to be resumed only when every part of the Union is loyal to the flag, and the potency of the Government through the ballot-box is established. " Passing the moral arid Christian view, let us examine the subject as a military question. Is not that State already subjugated which requires the bayonets of those armed in opposition to its rulers to pre serve it from the horrors of a servile war ? As the least experienced of military men, I would have no doubt of the entire subjugation of a State brought to that condition. When, therefore, unless I am better advised, any community in the United States who have met LETTER ON SLAVERY. 159 me in an honorable warfare, or even in the prosecution of a rebellious war in an honorable manner, shall call upon me for protection against the nameless horrors of a servile insurrection, they shall have it ; and from the moment that call is obeyed, I have no doubt we shall be friends, and not enemies. " The possibility that dishonorable means of defence are to be taken by the rebels against the Government I do not now contemplate. If, as has been done in a single instance, my men are to be attacked by poison, or, as in another, stricken down by the assassin s knife, and thus murdered, the community using such weapons may be required to be taught, that it holds within its own border a more potent means for deadly purposes and indiscriminate slaughter than any which it can administer to u?. " Trusting that these views may meet your Excellency s approval, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, " BENJ. F. BUTLER." The letter of Governor Andrew was not written for publica tion : whether the reply of General Butler was written for that purpose, the reader can judge for himself. To the surprise of the Governor, both letters appeared in the public prints shortly after the reply of General Butler was received by him. General Butler gave as one reason for the publication, that the Boston correspondent of the New- York Tribune had referred to the correspondence in one of his letters to that paper ; and stated that the correspondent had received information concerning them from the Governor s private secretary, Colonel A. G. Browne. This charge was emphatically denied by the secre tary, in a letter addressed to General Butler, and he also obtained from the Tribune correspondent a letter denying, in the fullest and broadest sense, that he had given him the information. Copies of these letters are on file in the executive department in the State House. The letters of Governor Andrew and General Butler are interesting and important as an exhibition of the sentiments of the two gentlemen respecting the proper course to pursue in regard to the slave population in a rebellious State, and also as to what was the proper course to pursue in the exigency which then existed. The Government had called for troops to proceed without delay to Washington, which was threatened by 1GO MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. rebel forces from Virginia and Maryland. The troops had been called from their homes and workshops, and sent from the State to perform this duty, not to put down a negro insurrection in Maryland. They had not volunteered for that purpose. They were to go to Washington with all possible despatch, and report to the United-States officers in command of that post. The capital of the nation was in imminent peril. They were to defend it against the enemy. Thus Governor Andrew re monstrated against their being diverted, in violation of express orders, from the purpose for which they had been called into action. General Butler, in his reply, does not touch this point, which was the strong point in Governor Andrew s letter. The Gen eral goes into a long argument upon the question of slave insurrections, illustrating his meaning by references to the atrocities of San Domingo, and the barbarities committed by the Indian allies of Great Britain in the war of the Revolu tion. It is not our intention, however, to pursue this subject further. The correspondence makes an interesting episode in the war record of Massachusetts, and therefore could not prop erly be passed over without remark. Nor is it necessary now to criticise the argument used by General Butler, to show how utterly, at that time, he misunderstood and wrongly appreciated the character of the colored race in the Southern States. The only notice which Governor Andrew took of General Butler s letter was in a letter addressed to him, dated May 21, 1861, from which we extract as follows : Your note of the 16th instant is before me. While I have no objection to your publishing your views on military, political, and moral questions in the character of a private controversialist (for of that it is your own supreme right to judge as a gentleman and a citi zen), yet I cannot engage in the controversy, however agreeable to me it might be to do so under other circumstances, since a great and noble cause ought not to be disturbed or imperilled by personal complica tions. And therefore, although your paper, by its discussions of questions not logically arising out of that to which it is in professed reply, has the tendency to mislead the reader injuriously to myself, yet I cannot persuade my own judgment that I should do otherwise than wrong, considering our mutual and public relations, were I to join END OF RECORD OF THREE MONTHS TROOPS. 161 issue, and go to trial before the popular tribunal of newspaper readers. On this ground you will excuse my silence and non-appearance in the arena of debate." It is proper to state, that the offer made by General Butler to Governor Hicks was not known to the colonel of the Eighth Regiment, who informed the writer that he was not aware that such an offer was ever made, or that a correspondence had passed between General Butler and Governor Andrew on such a subject. We now close the record of the three months troops. A call for volunteers to serve for three -years or the war had been issued by the President. An extra session of the Legis lature had been called by the Governor of Massachusetts. The war began to assume a giant form, that increased in stature and in power, and cast its shadow to the ends of the civilized world. ii CHAPTER IV. Companies sent to the Forts Officers appointed to command Militia Bat talions First Call for Three Years Troops Delays at Washington Let ter to Montgomery Blair Letter of Secretary of War General Order No. 12 Six Regiments allowed Governor anxious to send more Letter of General Walbridge Governor to Senator Wilson More Delay Extra Session of the Legislature Address of the Governor Proceedings of the Legislature War Measures adopted Debate on Colored Troops Bills passed by the Legislature -^ Sinking Fund Government Securities Pay of Troops Established Camps Seven Millions of Dollars State Aid to Families of Soldiers The Six Regiments of Three Years Men Ten more Regiments called for Their Organization Additional Staff Officers ap pointed Surgeon-General s Department organized Letter of Governor to Dr. Lyman Board of Medical Examiners Promotion of the Surgeon- General Letter of the Governor to Colonel Frank E. Howe New-England Rooms, New York Letter of Colonel Lee to Charles R. Lowell Letters of the Governor to Different Parties Circular of the Secretary of War Colonel Browne to Colonel Howe Abstract of Correspondence Colonel Sargent to General Scott Cobb s Battery Letter to Colonel Webster Letter to the President Irish Regiments Flag-raising at Bunker-Hill Monument Speech of Governor Andrew Speech of Colonel Webster Interesting Ceremonies Conclusion. THE defenceless condition of the forts in Boston Harbor, in the early part of the war, was a cause of much labor and anxiety to the Governor, and to the merchants and under writers, whose vessels at anchor in the harbor, or lying at the wharves, were greatly exposed. Frequent representations of the insecure condition of Boston were made by the Governor to the Secretary of War, which, for a considerable time, failed to elicit attention. To allay, in some degree, the gen eral feeling of insecurity, the Governor, on the 24th of April, ordered the Fourth Battalion of Infantry, under com mand of Major Thomas G. Stevenson, to garrison Fort Inde pendence, where it remained until the 21st of May. On the 2 ( Jth of April, the Second Battalion of Infantry, under com- TROOPS SENT TO THE FORTS. 1(13 mand of Major Ralph W. Newton, was ordered to garrison Fort Warren, where it remained until the 1st of June. Major-General Samuel Andrews, of Boston, was ordered to take command of both forts, which position he held from the 1st of May until the 1st of June, when he was relieved. The command of Fort Warren was given to Brigadier-General Ebenezer W. Peirce, on the 13th of May. He was relieved on the 27th of the same month, having been appointed to take command of the Massachusetts troops at the front, and to fill the vacancy occasioned by the promotion of General Butler to be a major-general of volunteers. General Peirce was suc ceeded in command of Fort Warren by Brigadier-General Joseph Andrews, who remained on duty there, and at Camp Cameron, in Cambridge, until Nov. 18, 1861. On the 21st of May, the Fourth Battalion of Rifles, Major Samuel H. Leonard, was ordered to Fort Independence, where it was recruited to a regiment of three years volunteers, afterwards known as the Thirteenth Regiment. A camp was also formed on Long Island, in Boston Harbor, to which a number of companies, composed of men of Irish birth, were ordered. These companies were to form two regiments of three years men, to be known as the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Regiments. They were afterwards consolidated into one, and known as the Ninth. Of this camp, on the llth of May, Brigadier-General William W. Bullock was placed in com mand. He remained on duty until the 12th of June, when the Ninth was ordered to Washington, and the camp was broken up. The battalions first ordered to the forts performed much labor in removing rubbish, old shanties, piles of bricks, and lumber; filling up excavations ; erecting chimneys and cook-houses ; ar ranging hospital accommodations, and preparing them, as well, as the limited means would permit, for defensive operations. These labors have never been properly acknowledged by the General Government ; on the contrary, a captious and unjust report of the condition of the forts was made, in June, 1861, by an army officer, a copy of which was sent to Governor An drew by Major-General Wool. This report sets forth that the 164 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. forts had been greatly injured by the two battalions ; that nails had been driven into the walls of the casemates, drains ob structed, filth accumulated, and chimneys so erected that large guns could not be properly manned and worked. That these statements had a slight foundation upon which to rest, we shall not deny ; but if the officer had made a survey of the forts, and especially of Fort Warren, before the two battalions had taken possession, his report would have been of a different tenor, and he would have accorded to the soldiers praise instead of censure. They certainly deserved it : they saved the Govern ment time and money in making the forts habitable, and by put ting them in a condition to defend the harbor, and maintain garrisons. The Governor, on the 25th of April, appointed the three major-generals of militia, Messrs. Button, Morse, and Andrews, with a portion of their respective staff, an examin ing board to pass upon the qualification of persons elected officers of new companies. This board remained in service until the 24th of May, when it was relieved from further duties. The number of persons examined by the board was six hundred and forty-one men, thirty-nine of whom were rejected. On the 2d of May, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. Holmes, of the First Company of Cadets, was placed in command of a guard at the State Arsenal at Cambridge, and the powder magazine at Captain s Island. The guard was composed of members of the cadets and students of Harvard University, who volunteered their services. They were relieved on the 30th of May, and received the thanks of the Governor. We have already stated, that the President issued a proclama tion, on the 3d of May, for volunteers to serve for three years, or during the war. On the 4th of May, Secretary Cameron issued General Order Xo. 15, setting forth the number of regiments to be raised, and the manner in which they were to be organ ized. There were to be thirty-nine regiments of infantry, and one regiment of cavalry. Nothing was said or intimated in the Secretary s order about the proportion of men or regiments which each State was to furnish. At this time, there were, in Massachusetts, upwards of ten thousand men organized into DELAY IN WASHINGTON. 165 companies. They had enlisted as militia: they now pressed forward to the State authorities to be accepted and organized as volunteers for three years. The Governor could not accept them ; could not muster them ; could not encourage them, fur ther than with kind words, until answers were received from Washington to messages which he had sent, asking that they might be accepted. Days passed on : no requisitions came. The companies held to their organizations ; paraded the streets, partly for drill, but chiefly to pass the time, until information should come from Washington, that their services would be ac cepted. No orders came ; delay and disappointment marked the hour ; men could not understand why the Government would not accept their services. They pressed daily to the State House ; the Governor wrote and telegraphed again and again to Washington, beseeching the Secretary to accept the services of men anxious to serve their country. No answer came for more than a fortnight after the President s call had been issued. A letter from Secretary Cameron was received by Governor Andrew, on the 22d of May. As a favor, Massachusetts was allowed to furnish six regiments of three years men. From among a number of letters written at this time, and upon this subject, we select the following, to Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General : May 6, 1861. Hon. MONTGOMERY BLAIR, Washington, D.C. MY DEAR FRIEND, Your last letter, in which was mentioned a possible plan for retaking Sumter, reached me in the midst of cares and toil, which have left no opportunity to pursue the subject. I do not know what may be your opinion, or that of the Administra tion, as to operating at that point. The whole matter has now assumed the broadest proportions, and we in Massachusetts are only anxious to be up to our whole duty ; and it is my strong desire to receive from you every friendly and prompt ing hint, and to endeavor to follow it. At the same time, I wish your aid in affording Massachusetts those full opportunities which become her services and her character. I have not the honor of personally knowing the Secretary of War. nor do I know how far he may share your sympathy with Massachu setts in her present attitude. At all events, I cannot address him on 166 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. paper in the earnest and familiar manner I wish, and which, indeed, I might adopt if face to face. Massachusetts, first in the field, hurrying thither but half prepared, eager, at any risk, to save the capital, and, if possible, clinch by a blow the national resolve, and, by some gallant act or exhibition, revive the nagging pulsations of the public heart, by reason of her promptness of action ; of the blood which, flowing from her veins, has once more ren dered the 19th of April an historic day; by the good conduct of her Old Colony Regiment, in the affair of Norfolk Navy Yard ; of Butler s whole command at Annapolis, in holding the post, saving " Old Iron sides," cutting out a ship-of-war at Baltimore, rebuilding railroads, and reconstructing locomotives, may possibly be looked upon, even though useful to the country, as too forward in earning renown. But, my dear Blair, I can trust you, that you both believe and know of Massachusetts, that we fight from no love of vulgar glory, no desire to conquer what is not ours, but that from the quiet industry of their peaceful callings, all unused to arms, and with no thirst for war, our men have drawn their swords, simply because their country called, and justice, patriotism, and honor summoned them to the field. Trusting that no shameful concessions of the Government will ever purchase the cherished blessings of peace for a price incompatible with the undoubted, eternal, and confirmed establishment and restoration of natural rights, and the cause of liberty and democratic constitutional government, we relent at no sacrifice appropriate to a patriotic and de voted people. In that spirit we began, and are continuing to prepare soldiers and material. We are enlisted for the war ; we have put ourselves, or rather keep ourselves, where we belong, under the national lead of the President and his Cabinet, under the folds of the flag our fathers helped to raise. Hut we wish to go onward, not to stand still. " From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, let the bow of Jonathan turn not back, and his shield return not empty." I pray you now, as my personal friend, who may speak for me and my people to the President and in the Cabinet, I pray you claim and secure to us the right, as ours was the first military force to encounter the shock of arms (namely, the Sixth Regiment of the Massachusetts line), the right to furnish six regiments in number, and to march with the advancing column over the very streets where our brothers poured out their blood. The number of our citizens ready to go, the strength of their convictions, their willingness to support the Government, the variety of useful capacity which characterizes our people, certainly leave them behind no others. Moreover, we believe, since we have a war LETTER TO SECRETARY CAMERON. 167 on hand, in making it a short one, by making it an active one ; and, as we have it to carry on, we desire to " pay attention to it," finish it up, suppress speedily the rebellion, and then restore the waste places of Zion. Tell Mr. Chase I have begun inquiries and efforts, in the hope that Massachusetts may take five millions of his loan. It ought all to be taken at par, on six per cent interest. I am, ever faithfully, JOHN A. ANDREW. P.S. I understand that matters at our navy yard, in Charlestown, are not as expeditious as they would be if some old incumbents were away. The blacksmith is especially complained about. We do need men in sympathy with the great work ; and I hope Mr. Welles will refer to Mr. Greene, of the Ordnance Department, and Mr. Roulstone, of the same carriage department, and see if, with their suggestions, he cannot inspire some new life, with new blood, into certain branches of the work. The letter of Secretary Cameron, permitting Massachusetts to furnish six regiments of volunteers, as before stated, was not received until the 22d of May. It was not calculated to inspire either spirit or enthusiasm. We copy it entire. WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, May 15, 1861. Governor JOHN A. ANDREW, Boston. DEAR SIR, I have the honor to forward you enclosed 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 regiments. 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 Department. I am, sir, respectfully, SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. On the receipt of this letter, General Order No. 12 was issued by direction of the Governor, which gave notice that the quota of Massachusetts was "fixed at six regiments of infantry, to be 168 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. organized as prescribed in General Order No. 15 from the War Department." The plan for the organization of the regi ments was substantially the same as in the regular army. Each regiment was to be composed of ten companies, each company to have a captain, two lieutenants, and ninety-eight enlisted men. The field and staff officers of a regiment were to consist of a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, adjutant, quartermaster, as sistant-surgeon, sergeant-major, quartermaster-sergeant, com missary-sergeant, hospital-steward, two principal musicians, and a band of twenty-four musicians. This system of regi mental organization was observed during the whole of the war, with the exception that an additional surgeon was allowed, and regimental bands were discontinued. The six regiments selected to complete the requisition of the Secretary of War, were, the First, which was ordered to " Camp Cameron," in North Cambridge. The regiment left the State on the 15th of June, for Washington, and marched through Balti more on the 17th, the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill. It was the first three years regiment that reached Washington in the war. The Second, which was recruited at " Camp Andrew," in West Roxbury, left the State on the 8th of July, for the front. The Seventh, which was recruited at "Camp Old Colony," in Taunton, left for Washington on the llth of July. The Ninth, which was recruited and organized on Long Island, in Boston Harbor, left the State in the steamer "Ben De Ford," on the 24th of June, for Washington. The Tenth, which was recruited in the western part of the State, remained in camp near Springfield, until completely organized. Before leaving the State, the regiment was ordered to Medford, and was there until the 25th of July, when it was sent forward to Washington. The Eleventh, which was quartered in Fort Warren, left for Washington on the 24th of June. These six regiments were organized, armed, equipped, clothed, and sent forward, within four weeks after orders were received that they would be accepted. Several others were in a state of formation, some of them in camp with full complement of men, and could have been sent to the front with little delay if the Secretary had given his consent. This could not be obtained. His letter MORE REGIMENTS ACCEPTED. 169 of the 15th of May cast no ray of hope that more regiments would be accepted from Massachusetts : on the contrary, " it was important to reduce rather than to enlarge this number." The Governor, nevertheless, continued to urge upon the President and the Secretary the acceptance of more regiments. Among the men who sympathized with the Governor in his desire to have more troops accepted was General Hiram Walbridge, of New York. He was earnest to have the war carried on with vigor. At the request of Governor Andrew, General Walbridge brought the subject to the attention of the President. His efforts were successful. He wrote to the Governor from Washington, June 17th, " I am gratified to enclose you herewith a copy of a letter addressed to me by the Secretary of War, with the sanction of the President, in response to my application in favor of taking additional forces, author izing me to notify you that ten additional regiments will be called from the loyal and patriotic State of Massachusetts, in accordance with the terms stated in your letter to me of the 12th inst." This permission to send forward ten more regiments gave great satisfaction, and relieved the Governor from much anxiety and care, with which, at this particular period, he was sorely pressed. Immediate orders were issued to organize and send forward the regiments. The correspondence of the Executive Depart ment reveals some of the embarrassing questions which pressed upon it at this time. On the 8th of May, Senator Wilson who was in Washington, wrote to the Governor, that " the con dition of the uniforms and equipments of the Massachusetts three months troops was bad, as compared with those of other States." On the receipt of this letter, the Governor wrote to the Senator a long and able reply. The letter is dated May 10th; and in it he said, "he has sent and is sending forward large supplies both of provisions and of clothing ; but as he is not gifted by the Lord with omniscience, and as in no single instance has he received any report from any of the regiments in and about Washington of what they need, he is sorry he is unable to satisfy everybody, and still more sorry that Massa chusetts troops should be permitted to suffer. Although a month 170 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. has now elapsed since they left the State, the muster-rolls of the Eighth Regiment are the only ones which have as yet been received." He then recites the facts concerning the blankets which were put on board of the transport at New York for the Fifth Regiment, which were stowed away so that the regi ment could not get them, and were finally taken at Annapolis, and distributed among Pennsylvania troops. He also speaks of the neglect of officers to report to him what they need fully and frequently, in order that he may know what to furnish. In no single instance had authentic informa tion been received of any needs, without measures being taken instantaneously to supply them. " We have not less than fifty thousand dollars worth of under-garments and other clothing now on hand. We are now having manufactured no less than six thousand summer uniforms ; and we have spent not less than fifty thousand dollars in merely supplying subsistence to our troops on their way and in the field." He had, when the call was first made for troops, informed the Secretary of War that the troops needed some articles of equipment, who replied in substance, "No matter : only hurry them forward, we will look out for all that, and will remedy all such needs when they are arrived here : it is essential to us that they should be sent at once." Notwithstanding, from that day to this he had not been advised in any manner what supplies he has furnished or expects to furnish. Notwithstanding repeated requests, no United-States officer had been detailed here to muster troops or to advise with the Governor concerning military affairs, as has been done in the instance of New York and other States. Not withstanding he had frequently called attention to the defence less state of Boston Harbor, it remains undefended by a single gun. His requests meet cither with silence, or with positive refusal. He is even denied by the Secretary of War permission to clean Fort Warren at the expense of the State, so as to render it healthy and comfortable for the volunteer troops to be placed there. The Governor suggests " that the influence of all the agents of Massachusetts at Washington is needed, and may be profitably exerted to extort from the national Govern ment, if it cannot be done by persuasion, at least some approach MEETING OF THE LEGISLATURE. 171 to the courtesy and attention which have evidently been extended to other States in these respects, and which is pre-eminently due to Massachusetts, by reason of her constant loyalty, her prompt movement to the defence of the nation, her children dead at Baltimore, and the sacrifice of money and of men which she expects, and is willing, to make for the common cause." The delay at Washington in calling for more troops, and the apparent neglect with which the Governor s letters were treated, did not change his purpose nor daunt his spirit. He never doubted that a change of policy would soon be adopted at Washington, and that the war would be carried on with might and vigor. Foreseeing that it would be a long war, he deter mined that the State should be placed in a condition to sustain her part with all the resources of men and money at her com mand. Accordingly, he called an extra session of the Legislature, which met at the State House on Tuesday, the 14th of May. Mr. Claflin, in calling the Senate to order, referred to the ex traordinary events which had transpired since the adjournment, and urged upon the Senate the importance of meeting them in a proper spirit. " To this end, let us act our part faithfully, that those who placed in our hands these great trusts may not be disappointed, and we, in corning time, may have the proud con sciousness of having done our duty." Speaker Goodwin congratulated the House that the Old Bay State had so nobly sustained her heroic fame. He referred to the absence of some of the members who were with their regiments in the field, and concluded by saying, "I know you will all join in a most ardent aspiration, that an honorable peace may soon be won by our army, and the arts of peace once more become the engrossing topic of the Legislature of the Commonwealth . " The two branches met in convention, and Governor Andrew delivered his address. " The occasion," he said, " demands action, and it shall not be delayed by speech ; nor do either the people or their representatives need or require to be stimulated by appeals or convinced by arguments. A grand era has dawned, inaugurated by the present great and critical exio-encv of the nation, through which it will providentially and 172 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. triumphantly pass, and soon, emerging from apparent gloom, will breathe a freer inspiration in the assured consciousness of vitality and power. Confident of our ultimate future ; confident in the principles and ideas of democratic republican government, in the capacity, conviction, and manly purpose of the American people, wherever liberty exists, and republican government is administered under the purifying and instructing power of free opinion and free debate, I perceive noth ing now about us which ought to discourage the good or to alarm the brave." The Governor then spoke of the nature of the war. "This is no war of sections, no war of North and South. It is waged to avenge no former wrongs, nor to perpetuate ancient griefs or memories of conflict. It is the struggle of the people to vindicate their own rights, to retain and invigorate the institu tions of their fathers." lie then recapitulated the services of the Massachusetts troops, their prompt response to the call of the President ; the march through Baltimore ; the garrisoning of Fortress Monroe ; the advance by way of Annapolis and the Potomac River ; the saving of " Old Ironsides; " the activity of General Butler and of the State officers ; the cost of equipping and provisioning the regiments, which, up to that time, amounted to $267,645.18, exclusive of the fifty thousand pounds sterling drawn in favor of Mr. Crownin shield, for the purchase of arms in Europe, and of contracts made, which, when fulfilled, would amount to $100,000 more. Up to that time, one hundred and twenty -nine new companies had been organized. The Governor recommended the formation of a State camp for military instruction, under proper rules and regulations, but which encampment " should be confined to those enlisting themselves for an extended term of actual service, and should not include the ordinary militia." He was opposed to towns paying bounties to men enlisting in local companies, and to all costly and inefficient modes of organizing and disci plining troops. His recommendations to the Legislature met with unanimous approval, as the patriotic and judicious acts passed at this brief session abundantly prove. Near the close of his address, the Governor paid the following merited tribute to the services and worth of the then commanding General of the United-States armv : THE GOVERNOR S ADDRESS. 173 " For myself, I entertain a most cordial trust in the ardor and patriotism of the President of the United States and his Cabinet, and of the venerable head of the American army, whose long and eminent career has given him a place second to no living captain of our time. True to his allegiance to his country and to himself, may he long be spared to serve his countrymen, and to enjoy their gratitude ! and though white the marble, and tall the aspiring shaft, which posterity will rear to record his fame, his proudest monument will be their affectionate memory of a life grand in the service of peace, not less than of war, preserving in their hearts for ever the name of WINFIELD SCOTT." He spoke also in fitting words of the generous sympathy and munificent gifts of the entire people for the soldiers and their cause, which came "from every department of social, business, and religious life ; from every age, sex, and condition of our community; by gifts, by toil, by skill, and handwork; out of the basket and the store, and out of the full hearts of the com munity, they have poured through countless channels of benevolence." In concluding, he asks, " But how shall I record the great and sublime uprising of the people, devoting themselves, their lives, their all ? No creative art has ever woven into song a story more tender in its pathos, or more stirring to the martial blood, than the scenes just enacted, passing before our eyes in the villages and towns of our dear old Common wealth. Henceforth be silent, ye cavillers at NEW-ENGLAND thrift, economy, and peaceful toil ! Henceforth let no one dare accuse our Northern sky, our icy winters, or our granite hills ! Oh, what a glorious morning ! was the exulting cry of SAMUEL ADAMS, as he, excluded from royal grace, heard the sharp musketry, which, on the dawn of the 19th of April, 1775, announced the beginning of the war of Independence. The yeomanry who in 1775, on Lexington Common, and on the banks of CONCORD RIVER first made that day immor tal in our annals, have found their lineal representatives in the historic regiment, which, on the 19th of April, 1861, in the streets of Baltimore, baptized our flag anew in heroic blood, when Massachusetts marched once more in the sacred cause of liberty and the rights of mankind. 1 " Before passing from the consideration of this remarkable address, we would refer to the following paragraph, which illus- 174 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. trates so well the liberal and just mind of the author, we mean his defence of the right of citizens to freely discuss the acts of public men and the policy of government : " Let us never," he said, " under any conceivable circumstances of provocation or indignation, forget that the right of free discussion of all public questions is guaranteed to every individual on Massachusetts soil, by the settled convictions of her people, by the habits of her successive generations, and by express provisions of her Constitution. And let us therefore never seek to repress the criticism of a minority, however small, upon the character and conduct of any administration, whether State or national." It is probable that the occurrence spoken of in the following letter of Colonel Lee caused the Governor to incorporate in his address the paragraph quoted : BOSTON, May 13. Messrs. CATITES, HESCOCK, BIRD, and others, Quincy Market. DEAR SIRS, The Sunday papers report the extortion of one hundred dollars from a produce-dealer named Walker, who seriously arid jestingly expressed sympathy with the secessionists, and hoped that our troops would starve. The receipt of this money casts a slur upon the reputation of our State, and upon the sincerity of all the generous men who freely contributed. It must be returned at once, or we are disgraced : our cause is too good to be injured with illegal violence. While we fight for liberty and the law, let us respect them ourselves. I feel sure, upon reflection, you will agree with the Governor on the subject. Yours truly, HENRY LEE, A. D. C. When the Governor concluded his address, the Senate re turned to its chamber, and the two branches entered at once upon the business of the session. In the Senate, on the same day, on motion of Mr. Stone, of Essex, it was voted, that a committee of seven on the part of the Senate, and fifteen on the part of the House, be appointed, to whom the address of the Governor, and the accompanying documents, should be referred. The motion was adopted : and the committee appointed on the part of the Senate were Messrs. Stone of Essex, Bonney of Middlesex, Northend of Essex, Rogers of Suffolk, Davis of Bristol, Walker of Middlesex, and Cole of Berkshire ; on the part of the House, Messrs. Bullock PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE. 175 of Worcester, Calhoun of Springfield, Branning of Lee, Davis of Greenfield, Tyler of Boston, Coffin of Newburyport, Peirce of Dorchester, Peirce of New Bedford, Jewell of Boston, Gifford of Provincetown, Clark of Lowell, Kimball of Lynn, Mer- riam of Fitchburg, Bamfield of West Roxbury, and Hyde of Newton. Mr. Northend, of Essex, introduced a bill of eighteen sections, entitled " a bill to provide for the disciplining and instruction of a military force." Petitions were presented of James W. White, and eighty others of Grafton, and of the commissioned officers of the Twelfth Regiment of Infantry (Colonel Webster), severally for an act to legalize the appropriations of cities and towns in behalf of the volunteer militia, and for other purposes. Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. May 15. In the Senate. Petition of Robert Morris and seventy-one others, for a law authorizing colored men to form military companies ; of John Wells and others, of Chicopee, for a law to allow cities and towns to raise money for the support of volunteers and their families. On motion of Mr. Carter, of Hampden, a joint committee was appointed to consider the expediency of tendering the service of members of the Legislature free of expense. Mr. Stone, of Essex, reported a bill regulating drill com panies, also in favor of the bill for the establishment of a home guard. On motion of Mr. Boynton, of Worcester, it was voted, that the joint special committee on the Governor s address consider the expediency of providing by law for the expense of improving and drilling the volunteer companies, and also of re-imbursing such expenditure of money as towns and military companies have incurred for such purposes. Mr. Northend, of Essex, reported his bill from the joint committee to provide for the discipline and instruction of a military force. The same gentleman, from the same committee, introduced a bill "in aid of the families of volunteers." Mr. Stone, of Essex, from the same committee, reported a bill to enable banks to purchase government securities. 176 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Li the House, Mr. Bullock, of Worcester, from the same committee, reported a bill " to provide for the maintenance of the Union and Constitution." Also a bill to repeal the act of the previous session "to authorize the Treasurer and Receiver-General to indorse the notes of the United States." And, under a suspension of the rules, these bills passed to a third reading. May 16. In the Senate. The Senate discussed the bill in aid of the families of volunteers. Several amendments were offered, after which it was recommitted. The bill for the or ganization of a home guard was passed to be engrossed. A bill to regulate drill companies was opposed by Mr. Rogers, of Suffolk, and Mr. Battles, of Worcester, and re jected. The bill to enable banks to purchase Government securities, under a suspension of the rules, was passed to be enacted. Mr. Whiting, of Plymouth, moved an amendment to limit the pur chase to fifteen per cent of their capital stock. Lost. The bill to provide for the discipline and instruction of a military force was amended, on motion of Mr. Schouler, of Middlesex, to limit the force to five thousand men, instead of three thousand. The bill and the amendment were then re committed. In the Senate. Afternoon Session. On motion of Mr. Hardy, of Norfolk, the act to provide for the maintenance of the Union and the Constitution was taken up. An amend ment was proposed by Mr. Clark, of Middlesex, to strike out the clause ratifying the acts done by the Governor and Council in any way connected with the disbursements made by them, &c. Mr. Whiting, of Plymouth, favored the amendment ; but it was rejected, yeas 10, nays 11. The bill was then passed to be engrossed. The bill authorizing the issue of State scrip to the amount of seven millions of dollars was passed unanimously, by a yea and nay vote. The bill for the discipline and instruction of a military force was reported, providing for five regiments of infantry and one DEBATE ON RIGHTS OF COLORED MEN. 177 battery of artillery, to be sent to camp ; and, in this form, it passed to be engrossed. The Special Committee reported, that the petitions of J. Sella Martin, and Eobert Morris and others, to strike out the word " white " in the militia laws, be referred to the next General Court. In the House. A petition of John T. Hilton and twenty- two others, colored citizens of Massachusetts, that the word "white" be stricken from the militia laws, was laid on the table. The Senate report referring the petitions of J. Sella Martin and Eobert Morris and others, to the next General Court, was opposed by Mr. Slack, of Boston, who spoke in favor of striking out the word "white" from the militia laws. He said the colored men were anxious to serve their country, and that no law should be enacted to prevent them. Mr. Hammond, of Nahant, spoke in favor of accepting the report. On motion of Mr. Albee, of Maryborough, the question on receiving the report was taken by yeas and nays. The report was accepted, yeas 119, nays 81. The Senate bill to enable banks to purchase Government secu rities was passed to be engrossed, under a supension of the rules. The Senate bill for the organization of a home guard was passed to be engrossed, without opposition. May 17. In the Senate. Mr. Whiting, of Plymouth, moved a reconsideration of the vote whereby the petition of J. Sella Martin, Robert Morris, and others, was referred to the next General Court. Placed in the orders of the day. In the House. A petition was presented by B. C. Sargent, Mayor of Lowell, and a committee of the City Council of Low ell, for State aid in the erection of a monument to Luther C. Ladd and Addison O. Whitney, who fell at Baltimore, April 19. Referred. Mr. Jewell, of Boston, from the Special Committee, reported a bill "to provide for a sinking fund." May 18. In the Senate. The motion to reconsider the 12 178 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. vote referring the petition of J. Sella Martin, Robert Morris, and others, to the next General Court, was advocated by Mr. Whiting, of Plymouth, who said this was not a time to make invidious distinctions between the different classes of citizens. Mr. Cole, of Berkshire, spoke in opposition. The vote stood, for reconsideration, 11 ; against it, 22. In the House. Mr. Stebbins, of Boston, asked and ob tained leave to introduce a bill, " withholding certain aid from the people in the so-called seceded States," which was referred to the Special Committee. Mr. Drew, of Dorchester, asked leave to introduce a bill to strike out the word "white" from the militia laws. Leave was refused, yeas 56, nays 139. May 20. In the Senate. Almost the entire day was oc cupied in debating the bill " in aid of the families of volunteers." A number of amendments were proposed, some of which were adopted, others rejected. The bill, as amended, was ordered to a third reading. Laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. In the House. Mr. Bullock, of Worcester, from the Joint Special Committee, reported "resolves concerning the present crisis" (five in number). A debate arose upon ordering them to be printed, in the course of which Mr. Durfee, of New Bedford, said the resolves could not be fairly understood by the House from merely hear ing them read. lie wished to see them in print. Mr. Drew, of Dorchester, spoke at length. In the course of his speech, he attacked General Butler, for offering, to the Gov ernor of Maryland, Massachusetts soldiers to put down a slave rebellion. lie said the war was a means of emancipation, and complained of the Legislature for retaining the word " white " in the militia laws, which forbids a portion of our people from taking part in the struggle. Mr. Stevens, of Boston, could not see any thing objection able in the resolutions, and was in favor of their immediate passage. The resolves were ordered to be printed. PROCEEDING OF THE LEGISLATURE. 179 May 21. In the Senate. The whole of the forenoon ses sion was taken up in discussing and amending the bill " in aid of the families of volunteers." It finally passed to be engrossed, yeas 27, nays 7. The resolves from the House, "concerning the present crisis," were discussed in the Senate a great part of the afternoon ses sion, but, before taking the question, were laid on the table, to allow a committee to be appointed to wait upon the Governor, and request him to return the bill " for the organization of a home guard." The committee subsequently reported, that they had returned with the bill ; when, on motion of Mr. Stone, of Essex, the vote whereby the bill was passed, was reconsidered ; and on motion of Mr. Boynton, of Worcester, it was referred to the Commit tee on the Judiciary. In the House. Mr. Jewell, of Boston, from the Joint Special Committee, reported "a bill in addition to an act for the maintenance of the Union and the Constitution," which was passed to be engrossed, under a suspension of the rules. Mr. Branning, of Lee, from the same committee, reported that the bill offered by Mr. Stebbins, " withholding certain aid from the people of the so-called seceded States," ought not to pass. The resolves concerning the present crisis were taken up, dis cussed, and ordered to be engrossed. Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, introduced a bill authorizing the Governor to pay the company of Cadets of Boston for guard duty at the State Arsenal at Cambridge, and at Captain s Island ; also, the Second Battalion, for garrison duty at Fort Warren, and the Fourth Battalion, for garrison duty at Fort Independ ence, one dollar a day, including rations to each man while in service ; which was referred to Special Committee on Governor s Address. The bill withholding certain aid from the people of the so- called seceded States was taken up, and, after being amended, was passed to be engrossed. The bill giving aid to the families of volunteers was dis cussed, amended, and passed to a third reading. 180 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Wednesday, May 22. In the Senate. On motion of Mr. Northern!, of Essex, the bill to provide for the discipline and instruction of a militia force was taken from the table, the question being on passing it to be enacted. Mr. Bonney, of Middlesex, opposed the bill. He said that it authorized the Governor to order into camp a military force of not less than six thousand men. It provided for nothing less than a standing army, for an unlimited period. It conferred upon the Governor a power which the sovereigns of England and France did not possess over their troops. Mr. Northend spoke briefly in support of the bill, after which, no amendment being in order, the bill was passed to be enacted, yeas 27, nays 2. Mr. Northend then moved to take from the table the resolves concerning the present crisis, which motion was rejected, yeas 10, nays 24. The House bill, entitled an act " withholding certain aid from the people of the so-called seceded States," was rejected. Mr. Stone, of Essex, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported, in a new draft, " a bill to provide for a home guard," which, under a suspension of the rules, was ordered to be en grossed. In the afternoon session, Mr. Whiting, of Plymouth, moved a reconsideration of the vote by which the bill " withholding cer tain aid from the people in the so-called seceded States " was re jected, which was placed in the orders of the day. In the House. The bill for aid to the families of volunteers was discussed in the morning session, until adjournment; with out taking the question, several amendments were offered. lu the afternoon, a petition was received from Robert Morris and sixty-three other colored citizens, for leave to form a home guard. Referred to the Committee on the Militia. Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, reported that the bill to pay for the services of the Cadets, and other militia organizations, for services, ought not to pass, as payment had been provided in another bill. The bill giving aid to the families of volunteers was passed to be engrossed. DEBATE CONCERNING COLORED CITIZENS. 181 Also, the Senate bill to organize a home guard. May 23. In the Senate. Mr. Davis, of Bristol, intro duced a series of resolutions " on the national crisis ; " but as they were opposed by Messrs. Northend of Essex, Bonney of Middlesex, Battles of Worcester, Cole of Berkshire, Carter of Hampden, and Boynton of Worcester, Mr. Davis reluct antly withdrew them. The resolves which had been rejected in the House, " in re gard to the rights of citizens," elicited a warm debate. Mr. Schouler, of Middlesex, spoke in favor of the resolves. He could not see the objection to this act of simple justice to the colored man. Mr. Northend asked what good the passage of these resolu tions would do in the present crisis. Would it strengthen the hands of the Administration ? No : no one believed that it would. It would embarrass them. Mr. Bonney, of Middlesex, was not opposed to the sentiments of the resolves ; but he did not believe it was expedient to in struct our Senators and Representatives in Congress at this time. Mr. Davis, of Bristol, said it was always safe to do right. He should vote for the resolves. Mr. Schouler said we were afraid all the time of doing some thing that would hurt the feelings of the South. The resolves were then passed to a third reading, yeas 18, nays 12. On their passage to be engrossed, Mr. Cole, of Berkshire, and Mr. Hardy, of Norfolk, spoke in opposition. They were then passed to be engrossed, yeas 17, nays 13, and were sent back to the House. In the House. Mr. Durfee, of New Bedford, from the Committee on the Militia, reported that the petition of Robert Morris and others be referred to the Joint Special Com mittee. On motion of Mr. Slocum, the report and accompanying papers were laid on the table. Mr. Durfee, of New Bedford, introduced resolutions in rela tion to the rights of colored citizens, which were referred to the Special Committee. Subsequently, Mr. Davis, of Greenfield, 182 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. from the committee, reported, that, in view of the exigencies of public affairs, and the near approach of the close of the session, the resolves ought not to pass. He deemed it unwise to legis late on a minor point of the controversy, when the fact is, the battle for the black man is being fought every day, and will be fought on battle-fields yet unknown. Mr. Albee, of Marlborough, spoke in favor of the re solves. Mr. Slack, of Boston, recurred to the days of the Revolu tion, when the deeds of the colored citizens were the subject of the highest marks of approval. Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, advocated the passage of the re solve, and read the words of General Andrew Jackson in com mendation of the bravery of the colored battalions at New Orleans, in the war of 1812. Mr. Branning, of Lee, had always been, and was now, in favor of the rights of colored men ; but he did not think it was wise to pass these resolves at the present time. The vote to accept the report that the resolves ought not to pass was then taken, yeas 78, nays 69. The following was the principal resolution : " Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their utmost efforts to secure the re peal of any and all laws which, deprive any class of loyal subjects of the Government from bearing arms for the common defence." On assembling in the afternoon, a committee of the two branches was appointed to inform the Governor that the Houses were ready to be prorogued. The House then took a recess of an hour. On re-assembling, at three o clock, the resolves in relation to the rights of colored citizens carne down from the Senate, adopted. Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, moved a suspension of the rules, that they might be considered at once. Mr. Bullock, of Worcester, made an earnest argument against suspending the rules, and against passing the resolves. He avowed his willingness to remove every vestige of disability from the colored citizens, and, in a proper time, he hoped to see it. DEBATE. RIGHTS OF COLORED MEN. 183 This was not the time. Twenty-three sovereign States are a unit in this conflict. He who would now cast a firebrand amon- o the ranks of the united North and West and the Border States, will initiate a calamity, the extent of which will be appalling and inconceivable. Let us cultivate unity and union. Let us frown upon every element of distraction and weakness and dis cord. "I am therefore willing," said he, ?f to place my name in the negative upon an imperishable record, believing that I am doing a service to my beloved arid imperilled country." After further remarks by Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, the pre vious question was moved ; and the House refused to suspend the rules, by a yea and nay vote of 74 to 69. Two-thirds not voting for suspension, the motion was lost. The resolves then went into the orders of the day. Mr. Slack, of Boston, moved that a committee be appointed to wait upon the Governor, and request him to postpone, for the present, the prorogation of the Legislature. During his remarks, the Secretary of State w r as announced, w r ith a message from the Governor, that his Excellency had pro rogued the Legislature, according to request. The Legislature was then prorogued, and the resolves were left among the unfinished business in the orders of the day. We have given prominence to the debate upon these resolves, as it reflects the opinions of members at that period in regard to the rights of colored men. This was undoubtedly the first debate in the war touching the right of colored men to bear arms, and the expediency of employing them as soldiers to put down the rebellion. The resolutions passed the Senate ; and, if the vote in the House to suspend the rules was a test of the opin ions of the members, the resolutions would have also passed the House, had it remained another day in session. The following is an abstract of the laws which bear upon 5 our subject, passed in this session : First. An act to provide a sinking fund. The Treasurer is to report, on Jan. 1, 1863, the amount of all scrip, or cer tificates of debt, of the United States, which shall have been received by this Commonwealth from the United States, under provisions of acts of the Legislature, and the actual market- 184 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE KEBELLION. price of the same at the date of such report ; and the same shall be pledged and held as part of the sinking fund hereby created, the same to be applied for the redemption of the debt. It also provides, that there shall be raised, by tax, twice in each year, commencing Jan. 1, 1863, a sum equal to one-tenth part of the difference found by the report of the Treasurer, as above provided, to exist between the amount of scrip, or certificates of debt, issued under said acts, and the actual market-value of the scrip or certificates, and to be held as a sinking fund to pay the same. Approved May 21, 1866. Second. An act to enable banks to purchase Government securities provided that loans directly made by any bank to the Commonwealth or to the United States, and notes or scrip of the Commonwealth or United States, held by any bank, and directly purchased by such bank from the Commonwealth or United States, shall not be deemed debts due within the mean ing of the twenty-fifth section of the fifty-seventh chapter of the General Statutes. Third. An act to provide for the maintenance of the Union and the Constitution confirmed and ratified all that the Gov ernor, Executive Council, or any other person, with his or their sanction, had done in furnishing and forwarding troops for the service of the Government. It vested the Governor, with the ad vice of the Council, with full power and authority, as he might deem best, to provide for additional troops, and also to appoint and commission all needful officers and agents, and to fix their rank and pay ; also, to investigate, adjust, and settle all accounts and matters between the State and the General Government, which might arise under the provisions of this act; also, to pay, out of the fund created by this act, any of the troops of this Commonwealth which had been or might be mustered into the service of the United States, during the whole or a part of the time of such service, and to settle the same with the United States : also, created a fund, to be called the Union Fund, of three millions of dollars, to be raised by the issue of scrip. The scrip to bear interest of six per cent, to be redeemable in not less than ten, nor more than twenty, years from the first of July, 1861 ; and not more than five hundred thousand dollars shall be redeemable in any one year. LAWS PASSED FOR THE SOLDIERS. 185 Fourth. An act entitled an act in addition to the act for the maintenance of the Union and the Constitution, gave the Gov ernor, with the advice of the Council, power to issue scrip or certificates in the name and in the behalf of the Commonwealth, for sums not exceeding, in the aggregate, seven millions of dol lars. Fifth. An act further in addition thereto authorized the Governor, with the advice of the Council, to pay from the Union Fund any of the troops of the Commonwealth, mus tered into the service of the United States from the time that they reported themselves for service until they were mustered into the service of the United States. Sixth. An act to provide for the discipline and instruction of a military force empowered the Governor, with the consent of the Council, to establish one or more camps in suitable places within the Commonwealth, for the instruction and disci pline of a military force, not to exceed five regiments of in fantry, and one battery of six pieces of artillery, at any one time ; for which tents, camp-equipage, and other necessary arti cles, were to be furnished by the State. The Governor was also empowered to rent land for such camp purposes. No companies or regiments were to be placed in such camps until all the members should agree to be mustered into the United-States service, on such terms as the President should direct in his calls for volunteers. The entire formation, organi zation, drill, and discipline of these forces was to conform as near as possible to the regular army, and be subject to the rules and articles for governing militia in actual service. Each camp was to be under the command of a suitable officer appointed by the Governor, and subordinate only to him. He had the power to recommend, and the Governor to commission, such subordinate camp officers as might be proper ; the pay and rank of such officers to be fixed by the Governor. The authority of the officers commanding these camps might be extended by the Governor one-fourth of a mile beyond the limits of the camp ; and certain rules and regulations were to be made for the admission of visitors. 186 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The privates, when in camp, were to receive the same pay as privates in the regular service ; and the officers were to receive such pay as the Governor and Council might determine, pro vided that the pay of no officer should exceed that of a captain in the regular army. The officers and men to be paid once a month. The Governor, with the consent of the Council, could appoint and fix the pay of a suitable person for paymaster, to pay the men in the camps, he giving bonds and securities for the proper discharge of his duties. The regimental and line officers were to be chosen and COm- ci missioned as provided for by the militia laws of the Common wealth. Seventh. "An act in aid of the families of volunteers, and for other purposes," contained eight sections, and was one of the most humane and admirable passed during the war. It provided, 1st, That any town or city might raise money by taxation, and apply the same for aid of the wife, and of the children under sixteen years of age, of any volunteer mustered into the service of the United States to the credit of Massachusetts, and for each parent, brother, sister, or child, who, at the time of his enlistment, was dependent on him for support. 2d, The sum so paid or applied should be annually re-im- bursed from the State treasury to such city and town, provided it did not exceed one dollar a week for the wife, and one dollar for each child or parent of such soldier ; provided that the whole sum for the family and parents of each soldier did not in the aggregate exceed twelve dollars a month. The act also provided, that any town or city might raise money by taxation to defray any expense already incurred, or to carry out any contracts heretofore made with any of its inhabi tants who might have enlisted in the volunteer service, or who may have been or might be called into the service of the United States ; but all other contracts in the militia should terminate in ninety days. The act also provided, that any city or town, "when danger from attack from the sea is apprehended, is authorized to DEPARTURE OF SIX VOLUNTEER REGIMENTS. 187 organize an armed police to guard against such an attack, and may provide by taxation to maintain the same." Such police might act in any part of the county within which city or town might be situated. The act provided for the " discipline and instruction of the military forces," and gave the Governor the power to appoint such staff officers as he might consider necessary, which power continued in force until the end of the war. After the six regiments first called for by the Secretary of War for three years service had left the State, and ten more had been accepted, a constant demand was made upon the State until the close of the Rebellion, for all the troops that could be raised, which were sent forward to the front as they were organized. Therefore the establishment of a State camp, as contemplated by the act of the Legislature, for drill and organ ization, was never established ; but, instead thereof, temporary camps were formed in different parts of the State to accommo date the local demand. Thus it was, that the First Regiment, Colonel Cowdin, which was recruited in Boston and its imme diate vicinity, was sent to "Camp Cameron" in North Cam bridge, where it remained until June 15, when it was ordered to Washington. The Second Regiment, which was recruited by Colonel Gordon, and officers under his command, established a camp in West Roxbury, which was called " Camp Andrew," in honor of the Governor. Governor Andrew determined that the regimental number should not be duplicated ; hence it was, that the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Regiments should retain their own designations, and should not be confounded with the three years regiments. Therefore the next three years regiment which was recruited by Colonel Couch at "Camp Old Colony," near Taunton, was called the Seventh Regiment, The Eighth Regiment, being a three months regiment, retained its original number ; and the next three years regiment was called the Ninth Regiment, which was composed of men of Irish birth, and their immediate de scendants, and was recruited and organized under the superin tendence of Colonel Thomas Cass, at Long Island, in Boston 188 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. Harbor. The Tenth Regiment was recruited in the five western counties, and had its camp near the city of Spring field, until it was fully organized. The Eleventh Regiment was recruited in Boston and vicinity by Colonel Clark, and was placed at Fort Warren, where it was recruited to the full standard, and mustered into the service. These regiments completed the quota under the first requisition of the Secretary of War. When leave was given to send forward ten more regiments spoken of in the letter of General Walbridge to Governor Andrew, measures were taken immediately to consolidate the companies in different parts of the State into regiments. The first of these was the Twelfth Regiment, which was always familiarly known as the Webster Regiment, because it was recruited and organized by Colonel Fletcher Webster, who held command of it until he was killed at the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 30, 1862. He fell gallantly at the head of his regi ment, for "Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and insepa rable." The Twelfth Regiment was recruited and organized at Fort Warren. It left Boston for Washington, July 23, 1861. The Thirteenth Regiment was recruited at Fort Independence. The Fourth Battalion of Rifles formed the nucleus of this regi ment. It had been ordered, on the 25th of June, to garrison the fort; and, while upon that duty, it was recruited to a full regiment of three years volunteers. Major Samuel H. Leonard commanded the Fourth Battalion ; and he was commissioned the colonel of the Thirteenth, the regiment having been recruited by him. It left the State for the front on the 30th day of July, 1861, and was stationed during the year on the line of the Potomac in Maryland. The Fourteenth Regiment was recruited by Colonel William B. Greene, a graduate of West Point, at Fort Warren. He was in Paris with his family when the Rebellion broke out, and immediately returned to his native State, and tendered his ser vices to the Governor. On the 25th of June, he was placed in command of the regiment at Fort Warren, and left Boston with his command on the 7th of August, 1861, for Washington. This regiment was afterwards changed to heavy artillery, and during the war was known as the First Regiment Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. ORGANIZATION OF TEN NEW REGIMENTS. 189 The Fifteenth Regiment was recruited in the county of Worcester, at "Camp Lincoln," in the city of Worcester. Major Charles Devens, Jr., who commanded the Second Bat talion of Rifles in the three months service, was appointed colonel. It left the State on the 8th of August, 1861 : it bore a prominent part in the battle of Ball s Bluff of that year, which made it one of the marked regiments of Massachusetts. The Sixteenth Regiment was raised in Middlesex County. It was ordered to "Camp Cameron," Cambridge, June 25, 1861, and left the State, August 17, 1861, for Washington. Colonel Powell T. Wyman, who commanded it, was a graduate of West Point, and had served with distinction in the regular army. He was in Europe when Fort Sumter was fired upon. When the news reached him, he wrote by the next steamer to the Adjutant-General, tendering his services to the Governor in any military capacity in which he might be placed. Without waiting for an answer, he came home, and reported in person to the Governor. His offer was accepted ; and he was commissioned colonel of the Sixteenth, which was recruited at "Camp Cameron," Cambridge, and left the State for the seat of war on the 17th of August, 1861. Colonel Wyman was killed in battle near Richmond, June 30, 1862 ; having in this short time achieved a reputation for military capacity and bravery not surpassed by any. The Seventeenth Regiment was recruited at "Camp Schouler," Lynnfield, of which eight companies belonged to the county of Essex, one to Middlesex, and one to Suffolk. Captain Thomas J. C. Amory, of the United-States Army, a graduate of West Point, was commissioned colonel. He belonged to one of the oldest and best families of Massachusetts. He died in North Carolina, while in command of the regiment. The Seventeenth left Massachusetts for the front on the 23d of August, 1861. The Eighteenth Regiment was recruited at "Camp Brigham," Readville, and was composed of men from Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth Counties. The camp was named in honor of Colonel Elijah D. Brigham, Commissary-General of Massachusetts. James Barnes, of Springfield, a graduate of West Point, and a veteran officer, was commissioned colonel. The regiment left 190 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. the State for Washington, on the 24th of August, 1861. Colonel Barnes graduated at West Point in the same class with Jeff Davis. He was commissioned by President Lincoln brigadier- general of volunteers. The Nineteenth Eegiment was organized and recruited at " Camp Schouler," Lynnficld. It was composed of Essex- County men. Colonel Edward W. Hinks, of Lynn, who had command of the Eighth Regiment in the three months service, was appointed colonel. This regiment left for Washington on the 28th of August, 1861. Captain Arthur F. Devereux, of Salem, who commanded a company in the Eighth Regiment in the three months service, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel ; and Major Henry J. How, of Haverhill, a graduate of Harvard College, class of 1859, who was killed in battle June 30, 1862, was commissioned major. The Twentieth Regiment was recruited at " Camp Massasoit," Readville, and left the State for Washington on the 4th of Septem ber. 1861. William Raymond Lee, of Roxbury, a graduate of West Point; Francis W. Palfrey, of Boston, son of Hon. John G. Palfrey ; and Paul J. Revere, of Boston, were chiefly in strumental in raising the regiment : and they were commissioned, severally, colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major. The roster of this regiment contains the names most distinguished in the history of Massachusetts. The Twentieth bore a prominent part in the disastrous Battle of Ball s Bluff, Oct. 21, 1861. Many of the officers were killed and wounded. Colonel Lee, Major Revere, and Adjutant Charles L. Peirson, of Salem, were taken prisoners, and confined in a cell as hostages at Richmond. We shall have occasion to speak of these gentle men in subsequent chapters. The Twenty-first Regiment was recruited at "Camp Lincoln," at Worcester. The men belonged to the central and western por tions of the Commonwealth. This was one of the five regiments recruited in Massachusetts for special service, designed originally to be commanded by General Thomas W. Sherman, but which command was afterwards given to General Burnsidc ; but of which more in the next chapter. Augustus Morse, of Leo- minster, one of the three major-generals of militia of the SENATOR WILSON S REGIMENT. 191 Commonwealth, was commissioned colonel. A. C. Maggi, of New Bedford, who had volunteered as quartermaster-sergeant in the Third Regiment of the three months militia, was com missioned lieutenant-colonel. He was an Italian by birth, a citizen by choice, and a thoroughly educated officer. William S. Clarke, a professor of Amherst College, was commissioned as major. The regiment left the State for Annapolis, Mary land, on the 22d of August, 1861. The Twenty-second Regiment, known as Senator Wilson s regiment, because it was recruited by him, under special per mission of the Secretary of War if agreeable to the Governor, was organized at " Camp Schouler," Lynnfield. It left the State, on the 8th of October, 1861, for Washington. To this regiment were attached the Second Company of Sharpshooters, Captain Wentworth, and the Third Light Battery, Captain Dexter H. Follett. Shortly after the arrival of the Twenty- second at Washington, Colonel Wilson, whose duties as Senator precluded the possibility of retaining command, resigned ; and Colonel Jesse A. Gove, of Concord, New Hampshire, a regular-army officer, was commissioned colonel. Colonel Gove was killed in battle before Richmond, July 27, 1862. This regiment was attached to the army of the Potomac during the war. The lieutenant-colonel was Charles E. Griswold, of Bos ton, who was afterwards colonel of the Fifty-sixth Regiment, and was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864. The major was William S. Tilton, of Boston, who afterwards became colonel, and, for brave and meritorious services in the field, was commissioned by the President brigadier-general of volunteers. The Twenty-third Regiment was recruited at Lynnfield, and left the State for Annapolis, on the llth of November, 1861. The Twenty-third was one of the five regiments of General Burnside s special command. The field officers were Colonel John Kurtz, of Boston, who commanded a company in the Thirteenth Regiment. The lieutenant-colonel was Henry Merritt, of Salem, who was killed in battle in North Carolina, March 14, 1862. The major was Andrew Elwell, of Glou cester, who was afterwards commissioned colonel. The Twenty-fourth Regiment was known as the New-England 192 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Guards "Regiment. It was recruited by Colonel Thomas G. Stevenson, at "Camp Massasoit," Readville, and left the State for Annapolis on the 9th of December, 1861, and formed part of General Burnside s command. The Twenty-fourth was one of the best regiments ever recruited in Massachusetts. Colonel Stevenson, its first commander, was a gentleman of intelligence, high character, and sterling worth. For his bravery and effi ciency, he was appointed by the President, Dec. 27, 1862, brigadier-general of volunteers, and was killed in the Battle of Spottsylvania, Va., May 10, 1864. The lieutenant-colonel, Francis A. Osborne, also rose to the rank of brigadier-general, and served with distinction during the war. Major Robert H. Stevenson, after the promotion of his superiors, was commis sioned lieutenant-colonel, and served in that capacity until after the death of his brother, General Stevenson, when from wounds received he resigned his command, and returned home. The Twenty-fifth Regiment was raised in Worcester County, and was organized at " Camp Lincoln," near the city of Wor cester. It left the State for Annapolis, on the 31st day of October, 1861, and formed a part of General Burnside s divi sion. The field officers were Edward Upton, of Fitchburg, colonel ; Augustus B. R. Sprague, of Worcester, lieutenant- colonel ; and Matthew J. McCafferty, of Worcester, as major. These gentlemen had held commissions in the volunteer militia, and were possessed of considerable military knowledge. Lieu tenant-Colonel Sprague commanded a company in the Rifle Battalion in the three months service, and, before the close of the war, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel in the Third Regiment Heavy Artillery. The Twenty-sixth Regiment was recruited at " Camp Chase," Lowell, and was attached to Major-General Butler s division, designed to attack Xew Orleans. Many of the officers and men of this regiment belonged to the Sixth Regiment in the three months service, which was attacked in Baltimore, on the 19th of April, 1861. The Twenty-sixth left Boston in the transport steamer "Constitution," on the 21st day of November, 1861, for Ship Island, Mississippi. This was the first loyal volunteer regi ment that reached the Department of the Gulf. Its field officers DEPARTURE OF THREE YEARS* REGIMENTS. 193 were Edward F. Jones, of Pepperell, colonel; Alpha B. Farr, of Lowell, lieutenant-colonel ; and Josiah A. Sawtelle, of Lowell, major, all of whom were officers in the Sixth Regi ment in the three months service. The Twenty-seventh Regiment was recruited at "Camp Reed," Springfield, from the four western counties in the State. It left the Commonwealth for Annapolis on the 2d day of November, 1861, and formed a part of General Burnside a command. The field officers were Horace C. Lee, of Spring field, colonel, who afterwards rose to the rank of brigadier- general ; Luke Wyman, of Northampton, lieutenant-colonel ; and Walter G. Bartholomew, of Springfield, major, both of whom were made full colonels before the close of the war. The Twenty-eighth Regiment was recruited at " Camp Cam eron," Cambridge. Its officers and men were chiefly of Irish birth or descent. It did not leave the State until January, 1862. Its field officers were William Monteith, of New York, colonel; Maclelland Moore, of Boston, lieutenant-colonel; George W. Cartwright, of New York, major. The colonel and major had served in one of the New-York regiments in the three months service. The lieutenant-colonel had been for many years connected with the militia of Massachusetts, and commanded a company in the Eleventh Massachusetts Regiment, three years volunteers, from which he was discharged for pro motion in the Twenty-eighth. The Twenty-ninth Regiment was composed of seven com panies originally raised as militia in the three months service, but which volunteered for three years, and were sent by detach ments to Fortress Monroe, while the Third and Fourth three months regiments were still there : on the return of the three months regiments, these seven companies remained at the for tress, and were formed into a battalion, under the command of Captain Joseph H. Barnes. Permission was given by the Secretary of War to recruit the battalion to a regiment, by the addition of three new companies. The field officers of the regiment were Ebenezer W. Peirce, of Freetown, colonel; Joseph H. Barnes, of Boston, lieutenant-colonel; and Charles Chipman, of Sandwich, major. Colonel Peirce, on the break- 13 194 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ing-out of the war, was brigadier-general of the Second Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Militia, and succeeded General B. F. Butler, after his promotion to major-general of volun teers, to the command of the Massachusetts three months men at Fortress Monroe. General Peirce had command of the expedition against Big Bethel, in May, 1861. On the return of the three months men, he was mustered out of service, and remained without command until he was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-ninth by Governor Andrew, Dec. 13, 1861. He lost his right arm in the battle before Richmond at " White Oak Swamp," in 1862. The seven original companies of this command were among the first three years volunteers raised in Massachusetts, that were mustered into the United-States service. While these infantry regiments were being organized and forwarded to the front, a battalion of infantry for three years service was organized, and sent to Fort Warren for garrison duty. It was composed of five companies, of which Francis J. Parker, of Boston, was commissioned major. It was on duty at Fort Warren, at the close of the year 1861. Two companies of sharpshooters, with telescopic rifles, were recruited at Lynnfield. The first company, under command of John Saunders, of Salem, was not attached to any regiment. It left the State for Washington on the 3d day of December, 1861, and was ordered to report to General Frederick W. Lander, who commanded a brigade near Maryland Heights, on the Upper Potomac. The second company was attached to the Twenty-second Regiment, and left the State with it. In these two companies were many of the best marksmen in the Com monwealth. The first regiment of cavalry was ordered to be raised on the third day of September, 1861 ; and Colonel Robert Williams, of Virginia, one of the most accomplished cavalry officers in the regular army, was detailed to accept the command. Horace Binney Sargent, of West Roxbury, senior aide-de-camp to the Governor, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel ; Greely S. Curtis, of Boston, and John H. Edson, of Boston, were com missioned majors. The regiment was recruited at " Camp Brig- DEPARTURE OF LIGHT BATTERIES. 195 ham," Readville, and left for the seat of war in detachments, -the first being sent forward Dec. 25; the second, Dec. 27 ; and the third, on Sunday, December 29, 1861. The regiment was ordered to Annapolis; and Colonel Williams was to await orders from the Adjutant-General of the United States. The regiment remained at Annapolis until the close of the year. The First Light Battery was recruited at "Camp Cameron," Cambridge, by Captain Josiah Porter, assisted by William II. McCartney, Jacob H. Sleeper, Jacob Federhen, and Robert L. Sawin, of Boston, who were severally commissioned lieutenants. The battery left the State on the 3d of October, 1861, for Washington. The Second Battery was recruited at "Camp Wollaston," Quincy, and left for Washington, on the eighth day of August, 1861. Its officers were Ormond F. Nims, Boston, captain; John W. Wolcott, Roxbury, first lieutenant; George G. Trull of Boston, Richard B. Hall of Boston, second lieuten ants. The Third Battery was recruited at Lynnfield, by Captain Dexter H. Follett, and was temporarily attached to the Twenty- second Regiment, and left the State on the seventh day of October, 1861. Its officers were Dexter H. Follett, Boston, cap tain : Augustus P. Martin, Boston, and Caleb C. E. Mortimer, Charlestown, first lieutenants : Valentine M. Dunn and Philip H. Tyler, Charlestown, second lieutenants. Soon after the battery reached Washington, Captain Follett resigned his commission, and Lieutenant Martin was appointed to fill the vacancy. The Fourth Light Battery was recruited at " Camp Chase," Lowell, and formed part of Major-General Butler s command to invade Louisiana. The nucleus of this battery was a section of light artillery in the Second Division of Militia at Salem, commanded by Captain Charles II. Manning. When recruited to a full battery, it left Boston in the steam-transport " Con stitution," Nov. 21, 1861. Its officers were Charles H. Man ning, of Salem, captain : Frederick W. Reinhardt, Boston, and Joseph R. Salla, Boston, first lieutenants : Henry Davidson and George W. Taylor, of Salem, second lieutenants. 196 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The Fifth Light Battery was recruited at Lynnfield, and at r Camp Massasoit," Readville, and left the State for Washing ton, with orders to report to Major-General McClellan. Its officers were Max Eppendorff, of New Bedford, captain : George D. Allen, Maiden, and John B. Hyde, New Bedford, first lieutenants : Robert A. Dillingham, New Bedford, and Charles A. Phillips, Salem, second lieutenants. This battery was the only one which left the State in 1861 without a complete equipment. Every thing was furnished except horses, which Quartermaster-General Meigs, U.S.A., preferred to have supplied at Washington. These regiments and batteries of three years volunteers com prised, in the aggregate, twenty-seven thousand officers and enlisted men. They had been organized, officered, equipped, and sent to the front, within six months. Including the three months men, the number of soldiers furnished by Massachu setts, from the sixteenth day of April to the thirty-first day of December, 1861, in the aggregate was thirty thousand seven hundred and thirty-six officers and enlisted men. This is exclu sive of six companies, raised in Newburyport, West Cambridge, Milford, Lawrence, Boston, and Cambridgeport, which went to New York in May, and joined what was called the Mozart Regi ment, and Sickles s brigade ; nor does it include two regiments which were recruited by Major-General Butler at Pittsfield and Lowell, and which were originally known as the Western Bay State and the Eastern Bay State Regiments, of which we shall speak in the next chapter ; nor does it include three hun dred men who were recruited in Massachusetts for a military organization at Fortress Monroe, known as the Union Coast Guard, and commanded by Colonel Wardrop, of the Third Regiment Massachusetts Militia, in the three months service. Including these enlistments, the total number of officers and sol diers, furnished by Massachusetts in 1861, would be thirty-three thousand six hundred and thirty-six, or more than twice the number of the entire army of the United States at the com mencement of the war. But, in addition to this large number of men furnished by this Commonwealth for the military de fence of the nation, it appears, by the enlistment-record of the STAFF APPOINTMENTS BY THE GOVERNOR. 197 receiving-ship at the navy yard in Charlestown, that seven thousand six hundred and fifty-eight Massachusetts men entered the navy to maintain our rights, and defend the flag upon the ocean. Add these to the men furnished for the army, and the aggregate is forty-one thousand two hundred and ninety-four. To avoid confusion, we have given, in consecutive form, the organizing and getting off the regiments during the year 18(U, which required great attention and much labor, and rendered necessary the appointment of additional staff officers, and the creation of new military departments. On the twenty-fifth day of May, 1861, General Ebenezer W. Stone was appointed master of ordnance, with the rank of colonel, which position he held until the third day of October of the same year. Al bert G. Browne, Jr., of Salem, was appointed, on the twenty- seventh day of May, 1861, military secretary to the Governor, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, which position he held until the close of Governor Andrew s administration in 1865. On the thirteenth day of June, 1861, Dr. William J. Dale, of Bos ton, was appointed Surgeon-General of Massachusetts, with the rank of colonel. Dr. Dale and Dr. George H. Lyman had given their time and professional services in a medical supervision of the troops, and the selection of proper persons for surgeons to the regiments, from the commencement of the Rebellion. Dr. Dale, in a letter addressed to me, says, " Whatever of success attended the preparation of the troops, prior to my commission, is attributable to Dr. Lyman, who showed great energy and good judgment. He was constantly in consultation with the Governor ; while I attended to the routine of office dutie.*, and gave such help to Dr. Lyman as my limited knowledge of such matters al lowed. He is an accomplished man, an able surgeon, and stood high in his profession. He was considered one of the most energetic and thorough officers on the medical staff in the United-States army, until honorably mustered out at the expiration of the Rebellion." The following letter of the Governor to Dr. Lyman shows how well he appreciated the services rendered by him : - June 14, 1861. MY DEAR SIR, I wish to render you my sincere thanks, both personally and in behalf of the Commonwealth, for the constant and valuable services which you have so kindly rendered in our medical ser- 198 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. vice, and of the faithfulness of which, I beg to assure you, I am deeply sensible. I shall esteem it an especial favor, if you will retain your connection with the medical department for the present, in order to co-operate with Dr. Dale in the work respecting ambulances, hospital outfits, &c., on which you are now engaged, and if you will also henceforth act as a member of the Board of Medical Examiners, to which I beg you to con sider this letter as an appointment. I shall always remember with gratitude almost beyond any other service I have ever received the friendly co-operation of those who came to the assistance of the Commonwealth during the anxious and hurried days of April, when, destitute as we were of any efficient mili tary organization, we were enabled, as individuals working in a common spirit, to effect a result which was creditable to Massachusetts. Yours faithfully and respectfully, JOHN A. ANDREW. To Dr. G. II. LYMAN. At the beginning of the war, a memorial was addressed to the Governor, signed by Drs. James Jackson, George Hay- ward, and S. D. Townsend, asking that none but well-qualified and competent surgeons should receive medical appointments. The memorial was favorably regarded by the Governor ; and he appointed Drs. Hay ward, Townsend, John Ware, Samuel G. Howe, J. Mason Warren, S. Cabot, Jr., K. M. Hodges, George II. Lyrnan, and William J. Dale, as a medical commis sion. Drs. George H. Gay, Samuel L. Abbott, John C. Dalton, and R. W. Hooper were subsequently appointed to fill vacancies caused by death or resignation. This board was charged with the responsibility of examining candidates for the medical staff, and also acted as a board of consultation in sanitary mat ters, when called upon by the Surgeon-General. Their valua ble services were in constant requisition during the war ; and, being composed of men distinguished and humane, their opin ions had great weight. Their services were entirely voluntary, and continued during the war. The Surgeon-General established hospitals, received and cared for the sick and wounded who returned ; and his labors in the reception and care of these men continued until the establish ment of general hospitals by the Government, and were exceed ingly laborious, and of great usefulness. SURGEON-GENERAL S OFFICE. 199 Soon after the commencement of the war, as there was no army-surgeon in Boston, the Medical Bureau at Washington appointed Surgeon-General Dale acting assistant surgeon in the United-States army, for the purpose of giving him official responsibility in matters pertaining to the sanitary welfare of the troops. Under these joint commissions, he furnished medi cal supplies, organized hospitals, received and cared for the sick and wounded, and remained acting medical director in the United-States army, until relieved, in July, 1862, by Surgeon McLaren, of the regular service. The admirable manner in which General Dale organized his department, and discharged his duties, his humane and tender care of the sick and wounded, will ever be regarded with grati tude by our people ; in acknowledgment of which, he was ap pointed to the rank of brigadier-general by Governor Andrew, by General Order No. 24, dated HEADQUARTERS, BOSTON, Oct. 7, 1863. In view of the considerate, able, and unwearied services rendered the past two years by Colonel William J. Dale, as Surgeon- General of the Commonwealth, his Excellency the Governor directs that he here after take rank as brigadier-general, and that he be obeyed and respected accordingly. WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General. Elijah D. Brigham, of Boston, on the thirteenth day of June, 1861, was commissioned Commissary-General of Massachusetts, with the rank of colonel, which rank he held until May 14, 1864, when he was promoted by the Governor to the rank of brigadier-general. Charles H. Dalton was appointed assistant quartermaster- general, on the twenty-third day of May, 1861, with the rank of colonel. Colonel Dalton did very acceptable services at Washington, as the agent of the Governor, in the early part of the war, which were given gratuitously. William P. Lee and Waldo Adams, of Boston, were ap pointed assistant quartermaster-generals, with the rank of first lieutenant, June 14, 1861. The services rendered by these gentlemen were given gratuitously. Frank E. Howe, of New York, was appointed assistant 200 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. quartermaster-general Aug. 23, 1861, with the rank of lieuten ant-colonel. Colonel Howe was a native of Massachusetts, doing business in New York. In the month of May, he had written to Governor Andrew, tendering the use of rooms in his store, and his own personal services, to take charge of the sick and wounded Massachusetts soldiers who might pass through New York on their return from the front. On the twentieth day of May, Governor Andrew wrote him the following letter in reply : FRANK E. HOWE, Esq., 203, Broadway. May 20, 1861. SIR, I have received, with great pleasure, the liberal and patriotic tender of the services of yourself and employees, and the use of your premises on Broadway, for the benefit of the Massachusetts troops, and the general advancement of the interests of this Commonwealth in its relations to the present war. Expressing to you my thanks, I accept your generous offer. It will be of great advantage to our soldiers to make your premises their head quarters, so far as convenient, while in New York ; and you may ex pect, from time to time, to be intrusted with the performance of various offices for their benefit. Should you fall in with any sick or wounded Massachusetts officers or soldiers, you will please to relieve them at the expense of the State, and take measures for forwarding them to their homes. With regard to the sundry other duties that we may ask of you to perform, you will, so far as possible, receive specific instructions as they arise. You will please to make a weekly return of the expenses to be de frayed by the State to this department. Yours faithfully, JOHN A. ANDREW. This was the origin of what was familiarly known as the New-England Rooms in New York, of which Colonel Howe had charge during the entire war. It became a home and hos pital for the sick and wounded of New-England soldiers, both in going to, and returning from, the front. Other New-England States, following the lead of Massachusetts, appointed Colonel Howe their agent to take care of their soldiers. These rooms were supported, by voluntary subscriptions, by patriotic and liberal men in the city of New York. We shall have occasion MILITARY STORES AT FORTRESS MONROE. 201 to speak again of this admirable institution and Colonel Howe in a subsequent chapter. Charles Amory, of Boston, who, in the early part of the war, had tendered to the Governor his services, free of charge, in any position where he could be of use, was appointed master of ordnance, upon the discharge of General Stone, on the seventh day of October, 1861, with the rank of colonel. Colo nel Amory performed the duties of the office until Jan. 9, 1863, when he resigned, there being no further necessity for his ser vices. He received the thanks of the Governor, in General Orders No. 2, series of 1863. William Brown, of Boston, who was chief clerk in the office of the Adjutant-General when the war broke out, and for several years previous thereto, was commissioned Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of colonel, on the twenty- ninth day of October, 1861, which position he held until re moved by death, Feb. 16, 1863. He was a faithful and intelligent officer, and died at his post. These were all the staff commissions issued in 1861. We now return to the correspondence of the Executive De partment. A large amount of valuable stores for our troops had been forwarded to Fortress Monroe, in the steamer "Pembroke," early in the month of May, 1861. The following letter, writ ten by Colonel Lee by direction of the Governor, has reference to these stores : May 20, 1861. DEAR Sm, The captain of the steamer Pembroke," just re turned from Fort Monroe, reports, that several boxes and bales, put ashore for the Fifth and Eighth Regiments, remained as long as the " Pembroke " lay at the fort, exposed to mud and the weather ; and that, although he applied successively to the quartermasters of the Third and Fourth Regiments, and to the colonels, then to the quartermaster of the regulars, and, lastly, to Colonel , he did not succeed in interesting any one to receive and store these goods, or to engage to forward them to the regiments in Washington, or else where. Governor Andrew would like to have the whereabouts of these goods discovered; and, if they have not been delivered, would like to 202 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. have them sent to the regiments to whom they are addressed. Com modore Stringham very kindly promised to send them by the first opportunity, but that may not have come. The Governor would also express his great surprise at the indiffer ence almost surliness exhibited by United-States officers, when applied to as to the reception and care of these comforts for Massachu setts troops ; also, his astonishment that room could not be found in Fort Monroe for their storage. As you are obliged to leave Washington, the Governor has commis sioned for the time, as Massachusetts agent, Mr. Charles H. Dal ton, a gentleman of perfect integrity, and great business experience and abil ity, and he leaves Boston for Washington, this evening ; and any busi ness you have in hand, when obliged to leave, you will give to his charge. Your obedient servant, HENRY LEE, JR., Aide-de-camp. CHARLES K. LOWELL, JR., Esq., Washington, D.C. May 23, 1861. The Governor telegraphs to Hon. Charles Sumner, at Washington, " Why can t I send a brigadier in But ler s place? It is my wish, and is only just to General Peirce. Butler recommends him. He is sound, faithful, and ardent. Answer immediately." Permission was given, and General Peirce was appointed. On the same day, the Governor writes to Professor Rogers, thanking him for eight hundred military hats, contributed by the "Thursday Evening Club;" also, to Mrs. Jared Sparks, Cambridge, and the ladies with whom she is associated, for presents of needle-books and handkerchiefs for the soldiers. May 24, 1861. Governor writes to Lieutenant Amory, U.S.A., mustering officer at Boston, "Whatever rations, cloth ing, &c., you may want for the soldiers, after they are mustered in, will be furnished upon proper requisitions." The same day, he writes to A. W. Campbell, of Wheeling, Va., inclosing an order passed by the Executive Council, loaning that city two thousand muskets. He writes to William Kobinson, of Balti more, Md., " I have gratefully received, and desire cordially to acknowledge your very kind letter, concerning the fate and last days of poor Need- ham, of Lawrence, Mass. Allow me also to render to you my thanks LETTERS TO SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. 203 in behalf of those most nearly related to the young man, as well as in behalf of all my people, for your Christian, brotherly conduct towards the strangers who fell in your way, rendering the offices of a good Samaritan. I have sent a copy of your letter to the Mayor of Law rence, who will send it to the Needham family. " I beg leave to add the assurances of my personal respect, and the hope that I may yet see you in Boston." He writes to Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Trea sury : " I have consulted with the representatives of many of our princi pal banking institutions, and with our leading private capitalists ; and I feel confident, that, if necessary or desirable, $5,000,000 of the $14,000,000 of the next loan can be taken in this Commonwealth. " If the United-States bonds to that amount should be guaranteed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, they would command a pre mium probably, and could certainly be readily negotiated at par. Will you advise me what would be the wishes of the national Administration in this respect ? " He writes again to the Secretary of War, calling his atten tion to the defenceless condition of the forts in Boston Har bor ; also to General Stetson, of the Astor House, thanking him for his kindness and liberality to our soldiers in passing through New York ; also thanks Daniel Lombard, Esq., of Boston, who offers to clear "a cargo of rice, free of expense, for the use of our troops." He writes to Colonel Dalton, at Washington, inclosing him an extract from a letter written by F. A. B. Simkins, to the effect that a soldier of the Fifth Kegiment had told him that the quartermaster of the regiment had neglected his duty. " Mat tresses that came with the regiment had since lain in a cellar, while the men have slept on stone floors ; tons of cheese from Boston had been there more than a week, before the men could get a mouthful of it ; canteens had also been there, for a con siderable time, and had not been distributed, thinks some thing wrong." He also incloses another letter from a gentleman in Washington, giving an entirely different account of the con dition of the regiment. Colonel Dalton is asked to look into the matter, and report. 204 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. May 28, 1861. Governor writes to Jacob F. Kent, Esq., Providence, R.I., that "Massachusetts is allowed six regi ments, and would be glad to send twenty, if they would let her." He writes to Governor Washburn, of Maine, " If I have a chance to make an appointment of a good man as offi cer, I make no question as to his age, unless he comes somewhere near Methuselah. I hold that I am not bound to take judicial notice of a man s age, or to enter into any particular investigation on the subject, provided I feel that I have got the right man. Both of us know some people at fifty who are younger than some at twenty -five ; yet, on the whole, I like the suggestion of the War Department ; and, if they err in favor of young men, why, that is so uncommon an error now-a-days among Government officials, that I regard it with great charity, as a hopeful symptom." This letter undoubtedly has reference to a circular letter addressed to the Governors of the loyal States by the Secretary of War, in which the following suggestions are made in respect to the appointment of officers in the volunteer service : " 1. To commission no one of doubtful morals or patriotism, and not of sound health. " 2. To appoint no one to a lieutenancy (second or first) who has passed the age of twenty-two years, or to a captaincy over thirty years ; and to appoint no field officers (major, lieutenant-colonel, or colonel), unless a graduate of the United-States Military Academy, or known to possess military knowledge and experience, who have passed the respec tive ages of thirty-five, forty, forty-five years. " This department feels assured, that it will not be deemed offensive to your Excellency to add yet this general counsel, that the higher the moral character and general intelligence of the officers so appointed, the greater the efficiency of the troops, and the resulting glory to their respective States." May 28. The Governor telegraphs to Governor Dennison, of Ohio, "If you wish us to buy or contract for any equipments for you, can get two hundred a day made, suitable, if you wish." He telegraphs to the Secretary of War, " The First Regiment LETTER TO COLONEL HOWE, NEW YORK. 205 has been mustered in. I want to know whether they shall be sent to Fortress Monroe, as General Butler wants them to be, or what I shall do with them. They are ready to start at twenty-four hours notice." May 29. He telegraphs to Colonel Dalton, Washington, " Urge Government to let me have guns from ordnance yard, and mount them in harbor forts. Merchants here constantly pressing me to obtain them." He writes to M. C. Pratt, Holyoke, " I have no orders for cavalry. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to fur nish more infantry and cavalry, but cannot do it." He writes to Colonel Jonas H. French, Boston, declining to accept his offer to raise a regiment, " as there are troops now under arms in the State sufficient to fill double the quota as signed to Massachusetts. Nothing would give me greater pleas ure than to have liberty to send more troops." In the early weeks of the war, several debts were contracted in the name of the Commonwealth, by officers and others, for supplies for the immediate use of troops on their way to Washington. The commissary and quartermaster s departments had yet to be organized, and a proper system of expenditure and personal accountability established. Many of the bills which were forwarded from New York and other places to the State authorities for payment contained items which were not recognized in "the regulations," and the prices charged were extravagantly high. The files of the Governor contain a num ber of letters relating to these matters. One of these letters states that in "almost all the New- York bills for supplies bought at that time for the troops, the charges average very much more than Boston prices for similar articles." One of the committee of the Governor s Council, to whom these bills were referred for settlement, remarked that "the purchasers, whoever they were, seemed to have looked for persons who sold at retail prices, and to have succeeded admirably in finding what they were looking for." These bills were, however, paid ; and the appointment of Colonel Frank E. Howe as the agent of the Commonwealth to look after the wants of our soldiers in New York put an end to these early attempts to peculate upon the 206 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. liberality of Massachusetts. The Executive Council also kept a close watch upon expenditures, and scrutinized all bills pre sented for payment, which relieved the Governor and heads of departments from much of the drudgery of examining and ascertaining the accuracy of this description of accounts. May 30. The Governor writes to Colonel Dalton, at Wash ington, asking him to urge again upon the Government the necessity of arming our forts. " There are plenty of guns at the navy yard, at Watertown, and Springfield, which could easily be put into position. The necessity is urgent." He acknowledges the receipt of the letter of Powell T. Wy- man, from Europe, forwarded to him by the Adjutant-General, offering his services in any military capacity. May 31. The Governor telegraphs to Henry Ward Beecher, New York, "The Milford company will arrive by the Norwich boat, to-morrow morning ; the Newburyport company, by the Stonington boat ; the West-Cambridge company, by the land train, leaving here at eight o clock, this evening. Prepare to receive them : they are consigned to you." These three com panies were impatient to enter the service. They could not be placed in any regiment here, as the quota assigned to this State was full, and the Secretary of War would accept no more. They were induced, by representations made, to go to New York, and complete a regiment said to be forming in Brooklyn, and to be known as the " Beecher Regiment." Upon arriving at New York, they were sadly disappointed in their expecta tions. No such regiment as had been represented was in readi ness to receive them, and they were utterly neglected. Those by whom they were encouraged to come to New York gave them no support or assistance ; and they telegraphed to the Governor for transportation to return home again. They came back, and again went to New York, and entered the Mozart Regiment, so called. June 3. In regard to these companies, the Governor tele graphed to Frank E. Howe, "Brooklyn must prepare to return our three companies. We have incurred expense, raised hopes ; and Brooklyn has cruelly misled, disappointed, and mortified us." Colonel Sargent, by direction of the Governor, writes to LETTER TO GENERAL SCOTT. 207 Henry Ward Beecher, asking if Brooklyn people will send the companies back. If not, Massachusetts will pay the expense. Also, writes a letter of introduction for William E. Parmenter, Esq., of West Cambridge, to Colonel Howe. Mr. Parmenter went on to see about the West-Cambridge company. The Governor telegraphs to Colonel Dalton, at Washington, " Urge desperately for one more regiment from Massachusetts. It is next to impossible for us to get along without at least one more." June 4. Governor telegraphs to Colonel Dalton, at Wash ington, "Can regiments be received without tents and wagons? Hearing that the Government can t supply them, we contracted, and expect some in a few days, and can forward regiments soon as mustered, and wagons and tents received. Will forward the regiments, and send things afterwards, if permitted." June 5. Governor writes a long letter in answer to one received from Colonel Hinks, of the Eighth Regiment, then in Maryland, who had asked that the regiment might be detained in the service as one of the six regiments asked for the three years service. The Governor declines to entertain the propo sition. " As the men have a right to come home at the end of three months, and the officers cannot speak for them, they must speak for themselves." June 10, 1861 To Lieutenant- General WINFIELD SCOTT. GENERAL, His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts orders me to make a detailed statement to you in regard to Cobb s Flying Artillery. Major Cobb raised, drilled, and commanded Cook s Battery, now in service under General Butler; and understands himself. He has one hundred and fifty picked men, most carefully selected; six pieces rifled and throwing twelve-pound shot and nine-pound shell (concussion), intended to burst on striking a column of men. The principle is beautiful. Captain Van Brunt, of the " Minnesota," saw a trial of these guns with shot, and expressed surprise and delight. The trials with shell are pronounced by competent judges to be even more satisfactory, with equal precision, at three and a half degrees elevation, one thousand three hundred and fifty yards distance, one and a half pounds powder, 208 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. time four and a half seconds. The shot, weighing with patch twelve pounds, were thrown from these rifled six-pounders with precision enough to strike a section nearly every time ; and most of them were thrown within four feet lateral deviations, towards the latter part of the trial. The guns are bronze, of course. At twelve degrees elevation, chronometer measurement over water indicated a flight of two and a half miles before ricochet. At twenty degrees, ricochet was lost. The shells burst beautifully. There is no lead to strip off over the heads of men, and they are very safe to handle or drop. The charge fits so loosely, expanding after ignition of the powder, that a child can ram the shot home. Major Cobb can fire one hundred rounds from his battery in six minutes. Every thing horses, wagons, and all is ready for your call. I have the honor to be sir, your most respectful and obedient servant, HORACE BINNEY SARGENT, Aide-de-camp. June 10. The Governor writes to Governor Buckingham, of Connecticut, "I have your letter of the 7th, inclosing duplicate letter of credit for 10,000 on George Peabody, which you state will be sent to Mr. Crowninshield. That gentleman has already received orders to execute your orders ; and I trust that he will be able to do so." On the same day, the Governor gave written instructions to Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, to visit our regiments at the front, and confer with General Scott as regards future movements, and to report. The Governor writes to General Scott, asking the discharge of Captain Henry S. Briggs, of the Eighth Regi ment, M.V.M., three months regiment, that he may com mission him colonel of the Tenth Regiment, three years service. Captain Briggs was discharged, and commissioned colonel of the Tenth, June 21, 18(51. He served gallantly through the war, and was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers by President Lincoln, for brave and meritorious services in the field. He was wounded in the seven days fight before Richmond, in 1862, but remained in service to the end of the war. He is a son of the late Hon. George N. Briggs, formerly Governor of Massachusetts, and he is now Auditor of State, having been elected three times to that responsible position. June 14. Governor telegraphs to the Secretary of War, LETTER TO COLONEL WEBSTER. 209 "Lieutenant Amory, U.S.A., mustering officer in Boston, thinks we ought to furnish thirty wagons, instead of fifteen, for every thousand men. If so, we will send wagons additional to fifteen." The Executive Council passed an order to have the Twelfth Kegiment (Colonel Webster) go to Fort Warren, preparatory to being mustered into the service. On the same day, the Governor s military secretary addressed the following letter to Colonel Webster : To Colonel WEBSTER. DEAR SIR, His Excellency the Governor, having accepted an invitation to assist in raising an American flag on the summit of the monument at Bunker Hill, will take pleasure, if you will join his military staff on that occasion, the 17th of June. The staff will meet at the private room of the Governor, at the State House, on the morning of that day, in season to take carriages for Charlestown at eight o clock. It is desired that there may be no delay as to the time of starting for Charlestown ; for, according to the programme of the managers of the celebration, it is expected that the Governor and staff shall be present at the house of Mr. Warren, President of the Monument Association, at half-past eight o clock. Very truly, your obedient servant, A. G. BROWNE, Military Secretary to Commander-in-chief. June 15. The Governor addressed the following letter to the President of the United States, which was given to Mr. William Everett, and taken by him to Washington, and delivered to Mr. Lincoln : His Excellency A. LINCOLN, President United States. SIR, I beg to present Mr. Everett, of Boston, a son of the Hon. Edward Everett, and through him to present to your notice a copy, 1. Of a letter from Bishop Fitzpatrick to yourself. 2. Copy of your Excellency s endorsement thereon. 3. Copy of endorsement of the Secretary of War. 4. A letter from myself to Mr. H. A. Pierce, the agent of the regiment referred to. 5. A copy of my general order, under which our six regiments were designated, and encamped regiments provided for. 14 210 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. I do this for the purpose of showing the system in which I have proceeded in regard to the three years men, the effect of progress made and making, and what we are willing and desire to do ; and also what is the truth as to the Fourteenth* (Irish regiment), which I am as willing to forward as any other, but not to the cost or injustice to others by deranging the scheme. If the United-States Government will designate any special regiment, without leaving any responsibility of selection on me, I will, however, proceed with the utmost zeal and alacrity to execute its order, whether it agrees with my scheme or not. Again I wish to urge attention to our splendid new battery of light artillery, specially prepared for service ; arid to add, that, if the want of a United-States army officer is in the way, I should be very glad to have one detailed, and allowed to take its command. I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, JOHN A. ANDREW. The above letter requires explanation. The Fourteenth Regi ment referred to was composed, in great part, of men of Irish birth. At the beginning of the war, Colonel Thomas Cass, of Boston, proposed to raise an Irish regiment for the three months service. lie had been long and favorably connected with the volunteer militia of Massachusetts. His request was granted, and the regiment was raised ; but, before its organization could be completed, information was received from Washington that no more three months regiments would be accepted. Coinci dent with the request made by Colonel Cass, an offer was made by Dr. Smith and others, of Boston, to raise a second Irish regiment, which they were pleased to designate " the Irish Bri gade." This regiment was to be commanded by a person by the name of Rice, who was not a citizen of Massachusetts, although he was here at the time, and, so far as the writer knew, of no military experience whatever. This regiment was also raised, but was not accepted, for the same reasons that Colonel Cass s regiment was not. When the call was made for three years troops, a very large proportion of the men composing the two regiments agreed to enlist for three years ; and both were sent to Long Island, Boston Harbor, until their organizations could be completed, and the regiments accepted by the Government. The The disbanded old Fourteenth Regiment. ORGANIZATION OF THE IRISH REGIMENTS. 211 long delay, by the Secretary of War, in fixing the quota of Massa chusetts under the first call of the President for three years men, and his persistent refusal, for a still longer time, to accept more than six regiments from this State, and the uncertainty which existed whether they would be accepted at all, had a demoral izing and pernicious effect upon both commands. When, how ever, orders were received on the twenty-second day of May, that Massachusetts was to furnish six regiments, the Governor determined that one of the six should be an Irish regiment. At this time, neither of the Irish regiments were full. They were designated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Regiments. Until a regiment was full, that is, with ten companies, and each com pany with ninety-eight enlisted men and three commissioned officers, it could not be mustered into the United-States service, and consequently could not receive United-States pay. Colonel Cass s regiment lacked about two hundred men to complete it to the maximum. These men were to be obtained at once; and the Governor decided that these men should be taken from the Fourteenth Eegimeiit, which numbered only about six hundred men. The Adjutant-General was ordered by the Governor to effect this consolidation. He proceeded the same day to Long Island with the Governor s orders, which he read to the officers of the Fourteenth, and requested their assistance to fill up the regi ment of Colonel Cass. It appeared that the intention of the Governor had been known at the camp before the Adjutant- General arrived ; and a meeting of the officers had been held, at which resolutions had passed condemnatory of the orders of the Governor, which resolutions were to appear in the Boston papers the next morning. The resolutions which were passed were shown to the Adjutant-General upon his arrival at Long Island. He read them with surprise, and told Mr. Rice and the officers, that, if they were made public, he thought the Gov ernor would order the organization to be disbanded at once. The resolutions were suppressed. After considerable difficulty, and a good deal of forbearance, a sufficient number of men agreed to join Colonel Cass s regiment to fill it up ; and, in a few days afterwards, it was mustered into the service of the United States 212 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. as the Ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers. The remain- inn; men of the Fourteenth, through heeding advice given them by disappointed aspirants for commissions, became dissatisfied, and left the island. As they had not signed the enlistment paper, and had not been mustered into the United-States service, they could not be held to service. Nothing was further from the desire of the Governor or the Adjutant-General than to break up or dis band this nucleus of a regiment. But bad counsels prevailed, and unjust complaints were made, which demoralized the men, and rendered it necessary in the end to disband the organization. Many of the men went to New York, and joined regiments there. Some returned to their homes, and others entered regiments which were being organized in other parts of the State. The letter of Bishop Fitzpatrick, mentioned in the Gov ernor s letter to the President, we have no doubt was an earnest request that the President would allow more regiments to be furnished by Massachusetts, and that the so-called Fourteenth Regiment should be one of them. One of the most interesting and imposing ceremonies of the year was the flag-raising from the summit of Bunker-Hill Monu ment on the seventeenth day of June, the anniversary of the bat tle. The day was warm and pleasant, and a large concourse of people were assembled. At the base of the monument a stage was erected, on which were the officers of the Association, the school children, the city authorities of Charlestown, Governor Andrew and his staff, Colonel Fletcher Webster, of the Twelfth Regiment, and many other prominent citizens of the State. A fine band of music played national airs. The services were opened by prayer by the Rev. James B. Miles ; and a short and eloquent address was made by Hon. G. Washington Warren, introdu cing Governor Andrew, who was received with hearty cheers by those present. The Governor s address was brief, fervent, eloquent, and patriotic. After referring to the men of the Revo lution who had sacrificed their lives for independence, and made moist the soil of Bunker Hill with their blood, he said, " It is one of the hallowed omens of the controversy of our time, that the men of Middlesex, the men of Charlestown, the men of Concord, of Lexington, of Acton, are all in the field in this contest. FLAG RAISING ON BUNKER HILL. 213 This day, this hour, reconsecrated by their deeds, are adding additional leaves to the beautiful chaplet which adorns the fair honor of good old Massachusetts. Not unto me, not unto us, let any praise be given. Let no tongue dare speak a eulogy for us ; but reserve all the love and gratitude that language can express for the patriotic sons of Massachusetts who are bearing our country s flag on the field of contest. . . . " Obedient, therefore, to the request of this Association, and to the impulse of my own heart, I spread aloft the ensign of the republic, testifying for ever, to the last generation of men, of the rights of man kind, and to constitutional liberty and law. Let it rise until it shall surmount the capital of the column, let it float on every wind, to every sea and every shore, from every hill-top let it wave, down every river let it run. Respected it shall be in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and in Charleston, South Carolina, on the Mississippi as on the Penobscot, in New Orleans as in Cincinnati, in the Gulf of Mexico as on Lake Superior, and by France and England, now and for ever. Catch it, ye breezes, as it swings aloft ; fan it, every wind that blows ; clasp it in your arms, and let it float for ever, as the starry sign of Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable." The flag had been at the summit of the staff, rolled up as the signal-flags are on board of a man-of-war. As Governor Andrew concluded, he pulled the rope, the knot was loosened, and the flag floated out on the breeze, amid the shouts of the assembled thousands, and the playing of the Star-spangled Banner by Gilmore s band. The words of the Star-spangled Banner were then sung by F. A. Hall, Esq., of Charlestown; and the whole assemblage joined in the chorus, the ladies taking part with peculiar zest. The Governor then called for nine cheers to the glorious Star- spangled Banner, which were given with great heart, the ladies waving their handkerchiefs. When the excitement had somewhat subsided, the Governor came forward, and, in a few complimentary remarks, introduced to the audience Colonel Webster. The speech of this gentle man was brief and appropriate. His father had made the oration when the corner-stone of the monument was laid, and again when the monument was completed. Colonel Webster said he well remembered the preliminary meetings of the com- 214 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. mittee selected to decide upon the size, character, design, and site of this monument. They met frequently at his father s house. lie could remember the appearance of most of them, Colonel Thomas H. Perkins, William Sullivan, and Gilbert Stuart, the great painter, whose enormous block-tin snuff-box attracted his youthful attention. " As a boy, I was present at the laying of the corner-stone of this great obelisk under whose shadow we now are. La Fayette laid the stone with appropriate and imposing masonic ceremonies. The vast pro cession, impatient of unavoidable delay, broke the line of march, and in a tumultuous crowd rushed towards the orator s platform ; and I was saved from being trampled under foot, by the strong arm of Mr. George Sullivan, who lifted me on his shoulders, shouting, Don t kill the orator s son ! and bore me through the crowd, and placed me on the staging at my father s feet. I felt something embarrassed at that notice, as I now do at this unforeseen notice by His Excellency; but I had no occasion to make an acknowledgment of it." He had also noticed the ceremonies of the completion of the monument in the pres ence of many distinguished persons from all parts of the country, " some of whom," said Colonel Webster, " I regret to say would hardly like to renew that visit, or recall that scene. " Within a few days after this, I sailed for China ; and I watched, while light and eyesight lasted, till its lofty summit faded at last from view. I now stand again at its base, and renew once more, on this national altar, vows, not for the first time made, of devotion to my country, its Constitution and Union." He concluded as follows : " From this spot I take my departure, like the mariner commencing his voyage ; arid, wherever my eyes close, they will be turned hither- ward toward this North ; and, in whatever event, grateful will be the reflection that this monument still stands, still, still is gilded by the earliest beams of the rising sun, and that still departing day lingers and plays on its summit for ever." The services concluded by a benediction by the venerable Father Taylor. The flag thus raised, floated from its serene height during the entire war, until it was respected in Charleston, South Carolina, as in Charlestown , Massachusetts. Few men who knew Colonel Webster, can read the words uttered by him on this occasion, without recalling many pleasant memories con- SPEECH OF COLONEL WEBSTER. 215 nected with his name. It was his last utterance in public ; for, before the close of the next year, he fell in Virginia, at the head of his regiment, in a desperate battle. His body was brought home to Massachusetts, and lay in state at Faneuil Hall a day, when it was taken to Marshfield, and buried by the side of his illustrious father, " and there it will remain for ever." CHAPTER V. Death of Governor Andrew The Great Loss Mission of Mr. Crowninshield to Europe The Purchase of Arms Colonel Lucius B. Marsh Vote of Thanks by the Council The Policy of the Governor in making Military Appointments Letter to General Butler in regard to our Soldiers Neglect of Officers Letter to Colonel Couch, of the Seventh Sends Two Thousand Muskets to Wheeling, Va. General Lander Governor Stevens, of Oregon General Sherman comes to Boston to confer with the Governor The War Department and Appointments Governor makes an Address to the People Mission to Washington Writes to Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania Blockade-runners at Halifax Governor saves the Life of a Private Soldier His Letter to Patrick Donahoe Religious Toleration To the Editor of the Boston Post Massachusetts Companies in New- York Regiments Gene ral Sherman s Command Liberality of the People Battle of Ball s Bluff The Massachusetts Dead A Noble Letter Exchange of Prisoners Governor s Letter to President Lincoln Scheme to invade Texas Sug gests that Congress offer Bounties Controversy about making Massachusetts Soldiers catch Fugitive Slaves Letter to General McClellan Another Let ter to the President, about Exchange of Prisoners Our Men in Richmond Jail San Francisco sends Two Thousand Dollars for Soldiers Families The Maryland Legislature Liberal Action The Republican State Con vention Interesting Debate Democratic Convention Thanksgiving Proclamation Thanksgiving in the Massachusetts Camps Major Wilder Dwight The Second Regiment at Harper s Ferry Full Account of the Controversy between Governor Andrew and Major-General Butler about re cruiting and raising Regiments in Massachusetts. THE last chapter was finished on the thirtieth day of October, when an event occurred which brought sorrow to every true heart in the nation : John A. Andrew died on that day. The preceding pages of this work have exhibited, in an imperfect and feeble manner, a portion of the services which he rendered to his State and country in the hour of its greatest peril, we say imperfect and feeble, because much which he did was never put in writing, and many of his best thoughts and wisest sug gestions were the inspiration of the moment, and conveyed to his friends and subordinates in colloquial conversation. We had DEATH OF GOVERNOR ANDREW. 217 known him long and well ; and, during the five years of his administration as Governor of this Commonwealth, our connec tion was official and confidential. We saw him every day, and had occasion to consult him upon nearly every matter in relation to the part which Massachusetts took in the war. He was one of the few men whom we have known, upon whom public life worked no detriment to the simplicity, honesty, and kind ness of their character. No man ever appeared in his presence to make a dishonest proposition. If any one approached him for such a purpose, he would not have had the hardihood to make it. His mind was active, and labor appeared to give him strength, rather than weakness. It was the wonder of us all, how he could stand so much bodily and mental labor. When not absent from the city upon business connected with the war, at Washington, he was in his room at the State House, like a skilful and steady pilot at the helm, guiding the Ship of State. We all felt his loss when he was absent, and felt relieved when he returned. In the darkest hours of the war, after the first Bull Run battle, the disastrous affair at Ball s Bluff in 1861, after the retreat of McClellan from before Richmond, and many of the stoutest hearts were despondent, and the peril of the na tion oppressed the minds of men, Governor Andrew never lost faith or hope in the ultimate success of our arms, and the favorable termination of the conflict. It was in these days of depression, these hours of sadness, that he shone forth with the brightness of the sun. Never despair of the republic, was his motto, and guide of life. He infused hope into minds bordering almost on despair, and his acts corresponded with the promptings of his heart. We well remember one night, when the news of McClellan s retreat reached Boston ; the papers were filled with accounts of the ter rible disaster ; the names of the dead and wounded of Massa chusetts bravest and best were arrayed in the ghastly bulletins transmitted from the front. That very night, the Governor said, "We must issue a new order, call for more men, incite recruiting, inspire hope, dispel gloom ; this is the time which requires bold ness, firmness, and every personal sacrifice." The order was 218 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. issued ; it aroused the latent energies of the people ; young men, who had not before thought of volunteering, offered them selves as recruits, eager to press forward to fill the gaps which disaster and death had made in our ranks : and so it was all through the war. He always had a kind word for the soldiers and their families, and he felt every word he spoke. It was no lip-service ; it was no honeyed phrase ; it was no politician s flattery. It was earnest talk, kind talk. Every one felt it, and were wiser men and truer patriots because of it. This is not the time, nor this the place, to speak his eulogy. No one but Pericles could fitly pronounce the honors of the Athenian dead ; and no one less gifted than the great orator of Greece can speak the eulogy of him whom we have lost. It was fitting that the heart of Massachusetts should sigh when John A. Andrew died. It was fitting that his remains should be borne to the grave by those who knew him best, and loved him most, the funeral cortege, as it wound its solemn way from the church in Arlington Street around the Common, past the State House, over the broad avenue leading from the city ; the march of the Cadets, with reversed arms, keeping step to the funeral dirge ; that the sidewalks should be crowded with well-dressed men and women, who bowed their heads, or raised their hats, as the coffin moved before them to its resting-place in Mount Auburn. He was a private citizen when he died ; he held no office ; he had no honors to bestow : but his was a name beloved and cher ished in all loyal hearts, and his was a death that moved them to the inmost core. He died when his manhood was in its prime ; when the fruits of his wisdom and knowledge were ripening, and the future was holding out, with favoring hand, the highest honors of the republic ; but " He has gone on the mountain, He is lost to the forest, Like a summer-dried fountain, When our need was the sorest." We pass from the contemplation of the character and merits of the dead to the consideration of his services while living. We have already stated, that Francis B. Crowninshield, of PURCHASE OF ARMS IN ENGLAND. 219 Boston, was appointed, in April, to proceed to England to pur chase arms. Mr. Crowninshield discharged the important trust confided to him with great fidelity, and to the satisfaction of the Governor. It may be interesting to learn, from so intelligent a party, the state of feeling in England towards this country in the beginning of the war. Mr. Crowninshield arrived in London on Sunday morning, the sixth day of May. He found, on his arrival, that there were a very few rifles for sale in England. The "Persia," the steamer in which he was a passenger, had taken out many orders to purchase. He found an agent there from South Carolina, to purchase arms for that State. New York had also sent out an agent in the same ship with him ; but he did not know the fact until after his arrival in England. There were also several pri vate speculators in the ship for the purchase of arms. Many telegrams were sent from Queenstown to England, on the arrival of the "Persia" at that port. The London Times, the morning on which Mr. Crowninshield arrived in that city, contained the announcement that agents had come over to purchase rifles, which caused great excitement in the trade. On arriving at Liverpool, Mr. McFarland, who had been em ployed to go with Mr. Crowninshield, was despatched to Birming ham, and directed to act promptly in the purchase of arms, if he found any there suitable for our purpose. John B. Goodman, the chairman of the gun trade in Birmingham, had the control of about twenty-five thousand Enfield rifles, of excellent quality, which could be delivered in a very short time. The current price for these arms was sixty shillings sterling each ; a party stood ready to give one hundred shillings each for the lot to go South. The preference of purchase was given to Mr. Crowninshield, and he purchased two thousand of them at that price. One thousand of them were to be sent in the "Persia," on her return voyage. In London, he purchased two thousand eight hundred, at seventy shillings each ; he also purchased two hundred from the London Armory, at sixty-five shillings each. The New-York agent purchased about the same number, and contracted for about fifteen thousand more ; he also contracted for five thousand second-hand rifles, used in the Crimea. The 220 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. first lot of guns were ready to be sent over ; but the " Persia " would not take them, which delayed their arrival here. In a letter to the Governor, Mr. Crowninshield says, "I have not ventured to approach the British Government about guns, at the strong recommendation of Mr. Baring ; but one of the gun trade, who has the means to do so, has promised to sound them about buying some from them on his own account. I have but little hope of success. Colonel Fremont, who is here, assured me that he was confident I could do nothing in France, but has written for information, which he will give me. The Government seems inclined to favor the South, so far as the question of cotton is concerned, I think no further. I have a credit of one hundred thousand dollars from Ohio, with author ity to buy to that extent. It does not seem to me, under the emergency, that we ought to haggle too much about the price : to save ten thousand dollars might be to lose every thing." Before Mr. Crowninshield s return, he had bought and con tracted for Massachusetts, and forwarded part of them home, 19,380 Enfield rifles, and 10,000 sets of equipments, with which several of our regiments were provided, and rendered much ser vice in the war. Among the gentlemen who were very active in procuring arms and equipments in the States, and indefatigable and untir ing in their exertions to serve the Commonwealth and the cause, was Lucius B. Marsh, whose services were rendered gratuitous ly. In recognition of them, the following order was passed by the Executive Council : Ordered, That the thanks of the executive branch of the Govern ment of Massachusetts be tendered to Lucius B. Marsh, for his very valuable services to the State in the procurement of arms and military equipments. These services were rendered as a patriotic duty to the country, and wholly without compensation, and entitle him to the grati tude of the State, and to that of every loyal citizen ; and it is further ordered, that the generous act of Mr. Marsh be recorded upon the books, of the Council, and that a copy of the record be transmitted to him. Mr. Marsh was chiefly instrumental, in the succeeding year, in raising and organizing the Forty-seventh Regiment, nine months troops, of which he was commissioned colonel. The THE ACT OF CONGRESS CONCERNING VOLUNTEERS. 221 regiment was sent to the Department of the Gulf, and served out the time of its enlistment in the defences at New Or leans. On the twenty-second day of July, 1861, Congress, in extra session, passed an act authorizing the President to accept the services of five hundred thousand volunteers ; in which it was provided, that " the President shall, from time to time, issue his proclamation, stating the number desired, and the States from which they are to be furnished, having reference in any such requisition to the number then in service from the several States, and to the exigencies of the service at the time, and equalizing, as far as practicable, the number furnished by the several States, according to the federal population." This act also provided, that the volunteer regiments and companies should be recruited and organized, and the officers commissioned, by the Governors of the several States. Under this authority given by Congress, requisitions continued to be made upon Massachu setts, as upon other States, during the year 1861, and regiments were organized, formed, and sent to the front, in the order stated in the preceding chapter. It was the desire of the Governor to have the regiments commanded by the best educated and most experienced officers he could find. In the selection of company officers, the same care was taken. Political influences to obtain appointments had no effect upon him ; as he frequently declared, that the lives of the soldiers, their health and discipline, de pended in a great degree upon the officers who commanded them, and that mere political opinions, and the mere political services of applicants for commissions, properly had no connec tion with these matters. It was his desire to have as many of the three months men enlist in the three years regiments as possible ; and, as an encouragement to this end, he telegraphed, on the twenty-second day of June, to Colonel Ritchie, who was then in Washington, " Wouldn t it be expedient for the Mas sachusetts militia-men now in the service to be discharged, who will enlist in our new volunteer regiments? Many of the Eighth Regiment, I am told, would enlist, if this opportunity were given." He also telegraphed to the Secretary of War, asking that 222 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Lieutenant Palfrey, of the regular army, stationed at Fortress Monroe, and Lieutenant Paine, of the regular army, stationed at Fort Schuyler, New York, both of whom were Massa chusetts men, might be furloughed to accept colonelcies in Massachusetts volunteer regiments. He also telegraphed to Senator Sumner, requesting him to urge Joseph Hooker, after wards major-general of volunteers, then in Washington without a command, to accept the commission of colonel in one of our regiments. Neither of these requests were granted. June 24. Lieutenant William P. Lee, assistant quarter master-general, was directed to accompany the steamers "Cam bridge" and "Pembroke," to Fortress Monroe, as the agent of the Commonwealth, with authority to sell, charter, or make any disposition of the " Pembroke " as he should think best. On the same day, the Governor wrote a long letter to General Butler, at Fortress Monroe, concerning the Massachusetts troops at that post, under his command ; it having been represented to him by Colonel Ritchie, of his staff, who had made a tour of inspection, that the men were suffering for the want of canteens, shoes, and other necessary articles. The letter fills eight pages, and expresses with great freedom the Governor s profound re gret that no requisitions had been made, either upon the General Government or upon the State, for articles necessary to the comfort and health of the troops. He informs General Butler that he has that day forwarded eight hundred canteens to supply the Massachusetts troops at Fortress Monroe, although no requisition had been made for them by any one, nor proper information received that they were in need of them. He had also been informed by Colonel Ritchie that the men were in want of shoes ; but no intimation of the kind had reached him from the officers at Fortress Monroe. It would have been absurd to "have launched out canteens, shoes, or any other arti cles, upon mere unauthorized rumors of need for them." At the same time, " no properly authenticated requisitions have ever reached me which have not been promptly and amply answered." "In the complicated and unprecedented relation in which this State stands to the Federal Government with regard to sup plies," he thought " application for every thing should in the first CONDITION OF OUR SOLDIERS AT FORTRESS MONROE. 223 place be made to the United States." The men were mustered into the United-States service, and were United-States soldiers. When the men were forwarded upon the requisition of the Presi dent, the Governor represented that they were deficient in cer tain necessary equipments: the answer was, "No matter for any deficiencies : only hurry on the men, and any and all defi ciencies will be supplied here." He considered, therefore, that the Federal Government had pledged itself to see our troops properly supplied. He had also received a despatch from General Butler, dated May 20, which said, "The Massachusetts troops are now supplied with all pro visions and clothing necessary for their term of service." How ever, in view of their present wants, the Governor asked him to impress upon the officers, "that if their men need any neces sary equipments or provisions whatever, and fail to obtain them from the United States, the State will furnish them." Colonel Ritchie had also informed the Governor, that there were, at Fortress Monroe, several hundred pairs of thin trou sers, which had been condemned as unfit for service, and had not been issued to the soldiers. These were part of a lot of thin clothing sent forward in April, and which were designed to be used during the warm weather. The Governor hoped Gen eral Butler would issue them to the troops, as they would serve them during the brief remainder of their term. "Let them," he says, " get what comfort out of them they can. If the United States will not accept the pecuniary responsibility for the cost, then this Commonwealth must defray it. The question who shall pay for them afterwards, is of secondary importance, if our troops need clothes." The Governor also represented that no report had reached him, from any source, of the disposition of the Massachusetts stores sent to our troops at Fortress Mon roe, and particularly of the cargo sent by the bark "Aura." He hoped, as a Massachusetts man, having a common interest in the comfort and reputation of Massachusetts soldiers, the Gen eral would interest himself in these matters. On the eighth day of July, the Governor telegraphed to Colonel Dalton, at Washington, that he might sell the steamer "Cambridge" for $80,000, exclusive of her armament. 224 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION . July 16. He wrote a long letter to General Butler, protest ing against his taking " from the three months regiments under his command, when about to leave for home, on the expiration of their time of service, the Springfield rifled muskets, which they carried with them, and giving them poor smooth-bores in exchange. The muskets belonged to Massachusetts, and were wanted to arm our three-years volunteers." The rifled muskets were retained, however, and the men came home with the smooth-bores. On the same day, he wrote to the Secretary of the Navy in regard to Southern privateers capturing our commerce on the seas, and of the anxiety felt in the mercantile community about them. He urges that stronger measures be taken to seal up the Southern ports, and again offers him the privilege of buying the steamers " Cambridge " and " Pembroke." The Governor was unable to visit the camp at Taunton, and witness the departure of the Seventh Regiment from the State. He wrote an excuse to Colonel Couch, in which he expressed warmly and sincerely his regrets that business required his pres ence at the capital. "I am reluctant," he says, "to permit any regiment to depart from Massachusetts without a chance to bid it God-speed, that I was even inclined to delay you for a day or two in order to secure such an opportunity ; but, on reflection, it seemed to me unwise to postpone for a mere sentiment your call to active duty. We shall watch your career, and rejoice in your successes with no less eager interest than that with which we followed those regiments which preceded you, and those which are to tread in your footsteps. And to you, per sonally, I wish to express my thanks for your quiet, con siderate, and judicious conduct ; and I beg you never to hesitate to call upon Massachusetts, whenever you need, for sympathy and aid." About the beginning of June, an agent of the loyal people in the city of Wheeling, Va., came to Boston, and represented that they were greatly in need of two thousand muskets, which they could not obtain from the Government, nor from any of the other States. Governor Andrew, aware of the importance of Wheeling as a military point, agreed at once to furnish DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OFFERED COMMISSIONS. 225 them, and, on the 19th day of July, telegraphed to Hon. John S. Carlisle, of Wheeling, that they had been forwarded, con signed to Thomas Hemlock, collector of the customs at that place. July 25. The Governor telegraphed to Colonel Dalton, at Washington, to find out whether a "company of sharpshooters, for one year or the war, would be accepted, to be raised in four divisions of twenty-five men each, with four lieutenants and four sergeants. They should have twenty-five dollars a month. Their rifles will cost one hundred dollars each : will the Government pay for them ? " July 2 7. --The Governor telegraphed to Colonel Dalton, " See Frederick W. Lander, who is reported to be with McClellan ; offer him the command of the Seventeenth Regi ment, encamped at Lynnfield. Definite and final answer imme diately desired." July 30. The Governor telegraphed to General Wilson, United States Senate, "I will give Governor S. an Essex regi ment, if you are sure of your man. If you say that you are sure, telegraph reply and send him on immediately." This had reference to Governor Stevens, who was a Senator in Congress from Oregon, a man of Massachusetts birth, and an expe rienced officer. The doubt expressed by Governor Andrew in the despatch arose from the fact that Governor Stevens had sup ported John C. Breckenridge in the presidential election. From some cause unknown to the writer, Governor Stevens was not commissioned at this time. He was afterwards commissioned colonel of the Seventy-ninth Regiment, New-York Volunteers, and was killed in the second battle of Bull Run. Aug. 1. The Governor writes to General Ripley, chief of Ordnance Bureau, that the Massachusetts regiments, armed with the Enfield rifles, want an additional supply of ammunition ; and he wishes to know whether the Government " does not in tend to supply suitable ammunition ; if not, what arrangements it is desirable for Massachusetts to make ? " Aug. 2. The Governor telegraphs to Senator Wilson, at Washington, "Has any provision been made for half-pay to 15 226 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. soldiers families ? Such an arrangement would prevent much suffering this winter." Aug. 3. The Governor telegraphs to Senators Sumner and Wilson, "Can it be intended by Congress, that volunteers in the field shall fill vacancies by election? Where is to be the source of discipline, when every candidate is seeking personal favor of the men ? " Aug. 14. The Governor telegraphs to Governor Wash- burn, of Maine, "General Sherman left here, this afternoon, for Concord, N.H., intending to proceed thence to Augusta. His business is of importance, which justifies your waiting for him there." General Sherman came to Boston to confer privately with the Governor, in regard to an expedition contemplated by the Government to the coast of North Carolina. Massachusetts was to furnish three regiments for it ; New Hampshire and Maine were also to furnish regiments. General Sherman had commanded a brigade at the first battle of Bull Run, and had distinguished himself as a commanding officer. His subsequent career in the war is known and appreciated by all. The Gov ernor entered warmly into the proposed scheme, and promised him the support he required. Out of this promise grew the subsequent controversy between the Governor and General But ler, to which we shall hereafter refer. Up to this time, no definite instructions, pointing out the man ner of filling vacancies in volunteer regiments after they had left the State, had been received from the War Department. The act of Congress of July 22 appeared to be clear enough, that the vacancies should be filled by appointments made by the Governors of the States ; but the action of the War Depart ment for a time appeared to contravene this mode of action. The Governor had written to our Senators in Congress in re gard to the subject, but had received no satisfactory reply. Accordingly, on the 16th of August, he wrote to the Adjutant- General of the United States army, at Washington, upon the subject ; stating that he was continually embarrassed, from want of information and direction from the military authorities of the FILLING VACANCIES, ADDRESS OF THE GOVERNOR. 227 United States upon this important point. He therefore re quested minute information. He says, " As I understand it, at present, I can appoint to no vacancy which is not officially certified to me by the United States Adjutant-General, from headquarters, at Washington. But in no single instance has any such vacancy been so certified to me ; and yet I am aware that many such vacancies exist, and I am continually entreated by Massachusetts commanders to make appointments to fill them. Within the past week, I have received notices from Major-General Butler, from Fort Monroe ; from Colonels Couch, Cowdin, and Cass, and Lieutenant-Colonel Blais- dell, at Washington; and from Colonel Gordon and Major-General Banks, at Harper s Ferry, of vacancies existing among the officers of their respective commands, and I am anxious to fill them, if I have the power to do so : for delay in filling them is prejudicial in various ways, which I need not mention." The letter had the desired effect ; and from that time, when a vacancy occurred, the Governor was immediately notified of the fact by the Adjutant-General of the United States, and an ap pointment made to fill it. Aug. 17. The Governor telegraphs to the Secretary of War, "I have unofficial information, that General Fremont is wanting muskets and equipments in Missouri. Massachusetts can and will send him from five to ten thousand, if the Govern ment says so, and will take them at cost price." On the 20th of August, the Governor published a short and stirring address to "the citizen-soldiers of Massachusetts," call ing upon them to fill up the regiments recruiting in the several camps in the State, and to fill the ranks of those in the front which had suffered loss at the battle of Bull Run, a few weeks before. The address closed in these words : " Citizen-soldiers of Massachusetts ! Duty, honor, the clearest sentiments of patri otic love and devotion, call for your hearts and unconquerable arms." Aug. 30. The Governor sent General Reed, Quartermaster- General, and Colonel Browne, his private secretary, to Wash ington, with instructions to arrange for the settlement of Massachusetts claims against the Government for money and stores furnished by the State. Among the results of this mis- 228 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. sion was the payment in cash, by the Government, of seven hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. An elaborate and carefully matured system was also devised for the adoption and payment, by the Federal Government, of future contracts for military stores. These gentlemen were furnished with letters by the Governor to the President and members of the Cabi net. Aug. 31. Governor telegraphs Colonel Frank E. Howe, New York, "Find George S. Greene, late of the United-States Engineer Corps, and see if he will take command of a Massa chusetts regiment." On the same day, the Governor wrote a letter to the Secretary of War, in regard to the high prices paid for provisions by the Government here, and concerning dis honest practices in the purchase of shoes ; and, at his request, Senator Wilson, who was at the State House, sent the following telegram to the Secretary : " Pay especial attention to a letter you will receive from Governor Andrew and the Commissary- General of Massachusetts (Colonel Brigham), relative to the cost of rations here to the United-States troops. The Govern ment is paying much more than the State does for the same article. It is reported here, on good authority, that army shoes condemned by inspectors in New York are sold again to con tractors, who are permitted to fill their contracts with them. A competent inspector should be appointed here, to see that com- demned shoes are not sold a^ain." O Sept. 2. Governor wrote to Governor Curtin, of Pennsyl vania, " I have read, with great interest and pleasure, the copy of your com munication of the 21st ult. to the President of the United States, which you were kind enough to send me, and in which you have so thoroughly exposed the evils resulting from the interference of the War Department with the regular, legal mode of organizing regiments of volunteers. " In common with Pennsylvania, Massachusetts has suffered much loss of enthusiasm, and great inconvenience, from those irregularities of which you so justly complain : but I trust we may congratulate our selves, that this source of trouble is to be dried up at the fountain-head ; as I have received the most positive assurance from the Secretary of War, that, in future, no outside interference with the regularly consti- REBEL BLOCKADE RUNNERS. 229 tuted authorities of the State will be permitted, and that persons hold ing commissions from the War Department, authorizing them to raise regiments of volunteers, will be required to report to, and take orders from, the executive departments of the States. " Hopeful and confident, in these eventful days, that all will yet be well with the republic, I have the honor to remain your obedient ser vant." When we come to speak of recruiting in Massachusetts by General Butler, which began about this time, we shall find that the confident hope expressed by the Governor, that the State authorities should not again be interfered with, proved wholly delusive. On the 26th of August, the Adjutant-General wrote to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, that he had reliable information, that five schooners had arrived at Halifax, N.S., having run the blockade in North Carolina, and had landed four teen hundred barrels of turpentine. They were loading again with merchandise, intending to run the blockade on their return home. The names of the vessels were given, and two of them were captured on their return voyage. The following telegram, dated Sept. 3, we copy from the Governor s files : Senator Wil son to Mr. Seward, "Is your consul at Halifax thoroughly loyal ? Four vessels from North Carolina have recently arrived there, loaded with naval stores, and are now loading with con traband goods." Same day, Governor writes to General Lan der, "Will you please look out for the welfare of Captain Sanders s company of sharpshooters, which will this day march almost from under the shadow of your own roof-tree, in the county of Essex?" This splendid company was recruited at " Camp Schouler," Lynnfield. Captain Sanders was killed in battle, Sept. 17, 1862. Sept. 10. Governor writes to the selectmen of Wellfleet, acknowledging the receipt of five hundred dollars, raised in that town for the benefit of the families of soldiers. Sept. 11. Governor writes to Major-General John A. Dix, commanding at Baltimore, "Pray do not execute private Stephen C. Scott, of our Sixteenth Regiment, until you have given his friends an opportunity to be heard ; for I have every 230 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. reason to believe the man has been for a long time crazy. Besides, Colonel Wyman promised his friends the case should be delayed until all the evidence on either side can be collected." The man was crazy. He was sentenced to be hung for killing a comrade : he was pardoned and discharged from the service. It was represented to the Governor by Patrick Donahoe, Esq., of Boston, that the religious opinions of some of the Catholic soldiers in one of our regiments had been interfered with by the officers. The Governor wrote to Mr. Donahoe, saying, " I am utterly surprised by the intimation you make. I will cause our Adjutant-General to pursue a strict inquiry into this subject immediately." After expressing his views of religious toleration, he says, "Those who serve God according to their convictions, are not likely to fear man, or offend against the rights of others." A paragraph appeared in the Boston Morning Post, reflect ing upon a part of the Governor s personal staff, which caused him to address a private letter, on the 16th of September, to the editors of that paper, showing how unjust it was, and how laborious and useful their gratuitous services had been. " In all these," he said, " my staff help me, not deciding nor establishing any thing, but investigating, arranging, reporting and sometimes executing, always modest, loyal, disinterested, respectful to others, and most capable and efficient. "And the least duty /can do is to ask that they may not be re warded by sarcasm or unkind remark. " Whatever is rightly done may be credited to any one ; but whatever is deemed worthy of blame, charge it to ?ne, not to them. I am in truth responsible, acting often against their opinions and advice, and feeling at all times perfectly willing to meet whatever may fall thereon, conscious of no merit of any sort, save a good intent. Excuse this note, one I should not have written, but to gentlemen of urbanity who will appreciate the feelings of a gentleman in others." Sept. 17. - - The Governor wrote to the Secretary of War, calling his attention to the delay on his request for the transfer of three Massachusetts companies in the New- York Mozart Regiment, to be sent to Fortress Monroe, to be attached WAR RELICS. REBEL EMISSARY. 231 to the seven Massachusetts companies there, and the ten to form a regiment. It was a matter that ought to have been im mediately attended to ; for while the companies remained in the New- York regiment, and were credited to the quota of that State, the families of the men were deprived of the benefits of the Massachusetts State-aid law, which would amount to them, in the aggregate, to one hundred and forty-four thousand dollars a year. The subject was presented with much force by the Governor ; but the transfer never was made, and the families were deprived of the State-aid until the following winter, when the Legislature amended the State-aid act, so as to include them in its provisions. Sept. 18. The Governor wrote to General Stetson, of the Astor House, acknowledging the receipt of fragments of the flag taken by Colonel Ellsworth, at Alexandria, and of that which waved over Fort Pickens, while commanded by Lieu tenant Slemmer, U.S.A. These were placed among the military relics and trophies, side by side with mementoes of Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Bennington. Sept. 19. The Governor telegraphed to Governor Den- nison, of Ohio, "Five thousand infantry equipments sent for ward to day, as directed." Sept. 20. He received the following telegram from Joshua R. Giddings, American Consul, at Montreal, Canada. " John Bateman, a major in the rebel army, bearer of despatches to Europe, and now returning, will be at the Revere House this evening. He is five feet nine or ten inches in height, dark complexion, dark hair, wears a moustache, and has the evidence of guilt on his person. I have also telegraphed Mr. Seward." This was placed in the hands of John S. Keyes, United-States Marshal for this district. Major Bateman, however, did not come to Boston, but went by another route to Nova Scotia, and sailed in the steamer from Halifax to England. Marshal Keyes writes, " This was only one of the thousand instances of Governor Andrew s active efforts in the good cause." Sept. 21. The Governor telegraphs to Secretary Seward, "Large quantities of shoes are shipped from this city to 232 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. Louisville, Ky., and Baltimore, Md., intended for the rebel army. Cannot a stop be put to it? " Sept. 28. The Governor writes to Senator Wilson to " recommend James Magner as a first lieutenant in the Twenty- second Regiment, that he might be commissioned, and detailed on the staff of General Sherman." This was not done ; but Magner was afterwards commissioned a lieutenant in the Twenty-eighth Regiment, and was killed in battle, May 18, 1864. Oct. 1. The Governor writes to Colonel Frank E. Howe, New York, "What has become of General Sherman? I have not heard from him for some days. Does he wish Wilson s regiment to go with him ? The regiment is expected to leave on the 3d." On the same day, he writes to General Scott, " It is my desire that the regiment under Colonel Wilson shall form a part of the force of General Sherman, but I am not advised whether the battery attached to the regiment is desired for that especial service ; and, as I have no positive recent information of the present location of General Sherman s camp, I await orders from you. "There seems to be no diminution of the zeal or the patriotism of the people of Massachusetts ; and I am happy in being able to report to you that all our regiments are in a fair way to be speedily filled to the maximum standard." Oct. 3. The Governor telegraphs to the proprietors of the Stevens House, New York, " Is General Sherman in New York? if so, ask him if he wants the Massachusetts battery that will arrive there to-morrow." Oct. 7. - - The Governor issues another address to the people of Massachusetts, urging them to assist, with all their power, recruiting for our regiments in the Commonwealth, and asking the citizens to forward to Boston, without delay, such blankets and underclothing, for our soldiers at the seat of war, as their means will admit of. Quartermaster-General Reed also addressed a letter to the Presidents of the Massachusetts railroads, inquiring if they would pass over their several roads without charge, during the next two weeks, such contributions as might be received. An immense quantity of blankets and underclothing BATTLE OF BALL S BLUFF. 233 was received in response to the call, and forwarded without delay to the front. The Governor telegraphs to the Secretary of War, "Shall Wilson s regiment go to Old Point Comfort by sea from New York, as General Sherman requests by telegram just received ? " The same day, he telegraphs to General Scott, "A sufficient guard shall be placed at Fort Warren at any moment we are directed. If a force specially organized shall not be ready at that time, the Cadets, who constitute the Governor s body guard, will act in the mean while." The same day, he telegraphs to General Sherman, at New York, "Wilson s regiment starts to-morrow for Washington. He is directed to see you in New York, and take such other orders as may be given." A sworn statement having been forwarded to the Governor, making serious charges against the quartermaster of the Fifteenth Regiment, the Governor sent it to Colonel Devens, with direc tions to make an investigation of the charges. In the letter, he says, " I am determined that no dishonest officer shall hold a commission for any length of time, after the full proof is fur nished to me which establishes his guilt ; and I feel quite sure, that, in this view of my official duties, I shall have your hearty support and co-operation." The charges were not sustained. The Governor, at this time, visited Washington, where he had gone to arrange about the payment of Massachusetts claims, and did not return until the twenty-second day of October. He was successful in making arrangements for payment. Oct. 23. The Governor writes to Hon. David Sears, of Boston, thanking him for his offer to place the large hall in Liberty-tree Block at the disposal of the Executive, as a place of deposit for articles for the soldiers. The battle of Ball s Bluff was fought Oct. 21. The Fif teenth and Twentieth Massachusetts Regiments were engaged in it. They behaved with great gallantry, and suffered severely, especially the Twentieth. On the 25th, Lieutenant-Colonel Pal frey telegraphed, " Colonel Lee, Major Revere, Adjutant Peir- son, Dr. Revere, and Lieutenant Perry, prisoners ; Lieutenants 234 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Babo and Wesselhoeft, probably drowned; Lieutenant S. W. Putnam, killed ; Captains Dreher, Schmitt, Putnam, Lieuten ants Lowell and Holmes, wounded, not fatally. All other officers safe, including myself. Captains Dreher and Schmitt, badly wounded, probably not fatally. Captain Putnam s right arm gone, doing well. Lowell and Holmes doing very well." This disastrous battle carried grief into many of our Massa chusetts families, and depressed the buoyant and patriotic spirit of our people for a time. Its effect upon the country was also unfavorable. Nothing had occurred, since the battle of Bull Run, in July, which so disappointed the expectations and saddened the hearts of loyal people. A distrust was felt of the loyalty and military capacity of some of the high army officers. In many quarters, the Administration was blamed for our ill luck, and want of success. It was at this trying hour that the Governor wrote this splendid letter : BOSTON, Oct. 30, 1861. HON. J. D. ANDREWS, Washington, D.C. MY DEAR SIR, I trust you will attribute my non-reply to your letters before this moment to the pressure of employment, and not to inadvertence or neglect. I fear and feel sometimes in the spirit of your own state of mind, as given in your correspondence ; but still I prefer not to lose faith in any one, much less in those in whom I have heartily confided, and to whom belongs the wielding of the national power. I see great proofs of en ergy arid of skill. I also see tokens of slowness, both of sight and of insight. States falter, which should be firm. Counsels cross each other, which should combine, and bear up together. O God ! for a Cameronian battle-cry ; for a grand, inspiring, electric shout, coming from the high priests themselves, from the very Jerusa lem of our cause ! I wait to hear it, and believe it will yet burst forth, arid ring in all our ears. This people must be welded together with the fire itself, both of the spirit and the flesh. They must turn their backs upon the possibility of compromise ; devote themselves to the labor and pains of this grand conflict of Western civilization ; combine heartily in the industries, economies, and enterprises of public and social material life, and in the devoted and daring efforts of war. Every drop of blood shed by our braves will be avenged, not by the cruelty of sav age warriors, but by the stern resolve of Christians, patriots, and phi- CAPTAIN SCHMITT, OF THE TWENTIETH. 235 lanthropists, who soon will understand the barbarism of our foes, and will know what price to ask for the lives of those who fall. How many of our noblest and bravest shall give their blood for the ransom of a subject race, the redemption of their country s peace, and the final security of her honor and integrity ? Yours always, j. A. ANDREW. Captain Schmitt, who is mentioned as having been wounded, was an instructor at Harvard College. We well remember the day he came to the Adjutant-General s office, accompanied by two young gentlemen, Mr. Putnam and Mr. Lowell, one of whom was killed at Ball s Bluff, and the other wounded, for leave to raise a company for the Twentieth Regiment. Leave was granted, the company was raised, and the three gen tlemen were commissioned officers of it. Putnam and Lowell were cousins, and belonged to distinguished families. Lieuten ant Putnam, we thought then, and think now, was, in style, manner, and features, a youth of rare beauty. The writer little thought then, that, in a few short months, he would at tend his funeral ceremonies, which were performed in the old church on Cambridge Street, of which his grandfather, Dr. Charles Lowell, had been the pastor for half a century. But the paths of glory lead but to the grave. As an evidence among the thousand which might be given of Governor Andrew s kind regard for the soldiers and their relatives, we copy the following letter, written to the father of Captain Schmitt, while the son w r as lying wounded in hospital, near the banks of the Potomac : Oct. 29, 1861. To Mr. MICHAEL SCHMITT, teacher at Versback, near Wiirzburg, Bavaria. MY DEAR SIR, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Vol unteers, in which your son is a captain, formed part of a detachment of Federal troopsjwhich, on the 21st inst., crossed the Potomac, some thirty miles above Washington, and had an engagement with the enemy. The latter, being far superior in numbers, and having a more favorable position, compelled our troops to retreat, after they had fought with a bravery unsurpassed by that of the best troops of either hemisphere. Your son was severely, but not mortally, wounded ; and from one of my aides-de-camp, whom I have sent to the spot to see that no duty or care is neglected towards the wounded of our regiments, I re- 236 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ceived, last Sunday, a despatch, stating that your son, with some of his wounded fellow-officers, is cheerful, and doing well, and is expected soon to recover. While I take occasion to communicate to you this afflicting informa tion, I, at the same time, have pleasure in congratulating you upon the bravery of your son, which has enrolled his name upon the list of American heroes. I remain truly your friend, JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Oct. 31. The news received concerning the condition of your son, up to this day, continues to be equally favorable to his sure recovery. J. A. A. Nov. 5. The Governor writes to A. H. Bullock, at Worces ter, forwarding to him a check from A. D. and J. G. Smith & Co., Providence, R.I., for one hundred dollars, payable to his order ; fifty dollars to be expended for the soldiers of the Fifteenth, and fifty dollars for the soldiers of the Twentieth Regiment, the two which had been engaged in the battle of Ball s Bluff. Nov. 6. The Governor writes to Surgeon Galloupe, of the Seventeenth Regiment, acknowledging the receipt of one of Ross Winans s pikes, made by him at Baltimore for the rebels, and says, "It will find a place among the other souvenirs of the war in Massachusetts. At present, it finds a place over the portrait in the Council Chamber of Rev. Mr. Higginson, one of the earliest clergymen of Salem, whose ghost must be astonished at the strange incongruity." On the same day, he writes to Colonel Palfrey, of the Twentieth, "Please write to me at once the facts concerning the young man now under arrest for sleeping on his post, as you understand them. I believe that he has always been subject to turns of fainting, and losing his consciousness, when suffering from fatigue, excite ment, and exposure. Please see that he suffers no harm, until I can procure and forward the evidence." No one in the Massachusetts regiments was too high or too humble to elude the vigilance, the watchful care and sympa thy, of Governor Andrew. This was plainly visible throughout SCHEME TO INVADE TEXAS. 237 his entire official life. On the 25th of November, he wrote to the President of the United States, recalling to his mind an interview he had with him, when in Washington a few weeks before, in which he had advocated the policy of an exchange of prisoners. No action having been taken by the Government on the question, he wrote about it to the President. He was con fident of the justice and expediency of making an exchange : it would be both convenient and humane. The letter concludes, "I earnestly hope that immediate measures may be taken to effect exchanges, and that the hearts of the people may not be sickened by hope deferred." About this time, a private conference was held in this city, by some of our most practical, experienced, and influential business men, favoring an armed expedition to Texas. The Governor entered warmly into the scheme, and, on the 27th of November, wrote to Captain G. V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, calling his attention to the subject, and drawing an outline of the objects to be gained. A demonstration was to be made on the coast of Texas. The force, when landed, was to proclaim martial law, and, when the proper time ar rived, to free all the slaves, " compensating loyal owners if necessary." The results would be, first, we flank the entire rebellion ; second, we open a way for cotton ; third, we cut off future annexations in the interests of rebels, and demon strate to foreign nations that this war is to stop the spread of slavery ; fourth, it would prevent loyal men from leaving Texas, and would encourage foreign emigration, and would demonstrate that cotton can be raised without slaves ; finally, it would " leave the question of slavery in the cotton States for philosophical treatment, unless it becomes necessary to settle it under the war power before the present war is ended." The letter concludes as follows : " These points are urged, not in the interests of abolitionists, but by leading commercial men and capitalists, as fairly coming under the necessities and rules of war. Martial law proclaimed, events will no doubt educate the people and the next Congress to a wise solution of all the questions which may afterwards arise in connection with slaves and slavery, in an exceptional State or dependency like Texas. 238 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. By such seizure and treatment of Texas as is briefly indicated above, it is urged, that we shall have, at the end of the war, material guaran ties that will prevent any such compromise or settlement as to make a renewal of the struggle for ascendency, or another rebellion, pos sible." A copy of the letter was sent to some friends of the Gov ernor in New York and Washington, including the Postmaster- General, Montgomery Blair, to whom the Governor wrote, "I believe that the subject will be of interest to you, and that you will be pleased to say the right word at the proper time, in furtherance of some such measure as I have indicated." Of all the Cabinet officers, Mr. Blair appears to have been the one on whose judgment, influence, and activity he relied the most to advance his views of policy upon the Administration. On the same day, the Governor wrote to Senator Wilson, suggesting that Congress offer a bounty of twenty-five dollars to raw recruits in new regiments, and double that sum to soldiers who will serve in regiments in the field. On the 2d of December, he acknowledged, with thanks, the receipt of twenty-seven hundred and eighty-seven dollars, raised by voluntary subscription among the mechanics employed in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Commodore Hudson and Charles Field paid the money to the Governor. It was to be used " for the relief of poor and dependent families of volun teers in the military service of the United States." During the month of December, information reached the Governor, that an order had been issued by Brigadier-General Stone, U.S.A., in command near Pottsville, Md., giving a description of two fugitive slaves, and directing, should they appear in camp, that they be arrested and returned to their owners. On Sunday morning, as usual, several negroes came into the camp of our Twentieth Regiment to sell cakes and fruits to the soldiers. Among the negroes who visited the O O camp were two who answered the description of the fugitives named in General Stone s order. They were immediately arrested. "A file of soldiers, under a sergeant, with loaded muskets, was sent to escort them to their supposed owners, and deliver them up." That Massachusetts soldiers should be CATCHING FUGITIVE SLAVES. 239 employed to catch and return fugitive slaves, sorely vexed the Governor, who immediately wrote to Lieutenant-Colonel Palfrey against Massachusetts men being employed in such duty. He also wrote a long letter to Secretary Cameron, protesting against the practice. He said, "I invoke your interposition, not only now, but for the future, for the issue of such orders as will secure the soldiers of this Commonwealth from being participators in such dirty and despotic work." This letter he enclosed in another to Senator Sumner, with a request that he would read it, and hand it to the Secretary of War, and that he, Mr. Sumner, " would co-operate with him in his efforts to protect the soldiers of Massachusetts from being made the bloodhounds of slavery in obedience to the iniquitous and illegal orders of brigadier-gener als, and others in the interest of the slave power." The War Department took no immediate action upon this particular case. Mr. Sumner brought it before the Senate, and denounced in strong language the order of General Stone, which drew from that officer a letter equally denunciatory of the Senator, and an implied challenge to a duel. Mr. Sumner took no notice of either. But the matter did not end here. On the thirtieth day of December, the Governor wrote a long letter to Major-Gen eral McClellan, in reply to a letter from Brigadier-General Stone, which had been forwarded and apparently approved by General McClellan, in which the order issued by General Stone, directing the arrest of the fugitives, is defended, and an attempt is made to belittle the State of Massachusetts, and in which he speaks of the " usurpations of these ambitious State author ities." It also speaks of the soldiers of the Twentieth Regi ment being " enlisted in the service of the United States, in the State of which the Governor referred to is the re spected chief magistrate ; but this gives him no right to as sume control of the internal discipline of the regiment." The Governor gives the General to understand that the regiment was recruited in Massachusetts, that the soldiers were Mas sachusetts men, that they were provided with every kind of equipment, including Enfield rifles, every thing "down to shoe strings and tent-pins," all of which was furnished by the State, and paid for by the State, that the officers were commissioned 240 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. by him, "the colonel of the regiment was Colonel William Raymond Lee, an army officer, and graduate of West Point, now a prisoner in a felon s cell at Richmond. I would to Heaven he were back now, or that the Army of the Potomac were hammering at his prison-door with both hands, and neither hand averted to protect the institution which is the cause of all this woe." The Governor disclaimed any intention to " assume control of the interior discipline of the regiment." His purpose was to prevent Massachusetts soldiers from being used, contrary to law, to catch and return fugitive slaves. He was sorry "to perceive in the conduct of Brigadier-General Stone a levity of mind which does not appreciate the responsibility of the grave duties with which the power of appointment charges the officer in whom it is vested." This appears to have been the end of the correspondence. General Stone was afterwards imprisoned in Fort Lafayette, by order of the Secretary of War, Mr. Stan- ton ; but the charges upon which the arrest was made have never been made public. The inhuman treatment by the rebel authorities of the Massa chusetts officers and soldiers taken prisoners at Ball s Bluff, caused the Governor, on the 16th of December, to write another letter to the President, upon the necessity of organizing a system for the mutual exchange of prisoners. A large portion of the prisoners in the hands of the rebels belonged to this State ; and he urged upon the President to interpose for their immediate relief. He contrasts the cruel treatment of our men at Rich mond with the humane treatment of rebel prisoners in Fort Warren. " I am informed, from trustworthy sources, that our soldiers who are prisoners of war at Richmond are neither well fed nor well clothed, and they are subjected to the most rigid military surveillance, and occa sionally exposed to the insulting language and demeanor of the popu lace of that city. Some of their number among whom I may mention Colonel Lee and Major Revere, of the Massachusetts Twentieth In fantry, and Captains Bowman and Rockwood, of the Massachusetts Fifteenth (all of them gentlemen and soldiers, who have no superiors, in any sphere of human life, in all those qualities which ought to command respectful treatment) are imprisoned in felon s cells, fed on felon s fare, in a common jail ; huddled together in a space so narrow that there TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 241 is not air enough for health or comfort ; allowed, for exercise, to prom enade half .an hour each day on a narrow pathway surrounding their prison ; and especially exposed to disease, by the fact, that some of their companions, who are grievously sick, are not removed to hospitals, but are left to share the same privations, and breathe the same foul air, with those whose physical vigor is not yet broken. " In contrast, allow me to state, that the prisoners at Fort Warren are allowed certainly equal fare with the garrison, which consists of five companies of loyal Massachusetts troops, and are permitted all lib erties consistent with retaining them upon the island; and that trai tors, like Mr. Mason, of Virginia, and Mr. Slidell, of Louisiana, whose hands are red with the best blood of Massachusetts, are treated with certainly equal consideration (as to quarters, fare, and attendance, and all privileges consistent with retaining them in custody) with the officers of that loyal battalion. These facts and this contrast, sir, are sick ening to many of our people, and are especially painful to those who are closely related, by friendship or blood, to our prisoners in the hands, and at the mercy, of the rebels. I submit to you, with the utmost respect, whether it is just or decent, that the contrast should continue. I urge no inhumanity towards even traitors. If we are at war with cannibals, that is no reason why we should eat human flesh ourselves ; but it is a reason why we should spare no effort to rescue our brothers from the hands of such savages, lest they become their victims." We now turn from these unpleasant subjects to others of a more agreeable character, which close the general correspond ence of the Executive for the year 1861. On the twenty-sixth day of December, the Governor received a letter from the Executive Committee of the Soldiers Relief Society of San Francisco, Cal., dated Nov. 30, enclosing a draft for two thousand dollars upon Messrs. Duncan, Sher man, & Co., New York, the proceeds of which were to be distributed "among the wives, the children, the sisters and brothers, of the patriotic citizen-soldiers of Massachusetts." In acknowledgment of which, the Governor wrote a grateful and patriotic answer, which concludes by saying, that the "Hon. Francis B. Fay, the present Mayor of Chelsea, and George W. Bond, Esq., an eminent merchant of this city, - both gentlemen of the highest integrity, large experience, and humane sympathies, will co-operate with me in the proper 16 242 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. bestowal of the bounty of your association, in connection with the bestowal of a similar fund received for like purposes from other sources." The names of the San Francisco Executive Committee were Messrs. Frank B. Austin & Co., Moses Ellis, James P. Hunt, Aaron Holmes, William V. Welles, C. H. Sher man, William B. Swayne, and F. B. Folger. Another pleasant and gratifying event, which closed this re markable year in the history of Massachusetts, was the liberal and humane action of the Legislature of Maryland, which is best explained by publishing the correspondence entire : LEGISLATURE or MARYLAND, HOUSE OF DELEGATES, ANNAPOLIS, December, 1861. His Excellency JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor of Massachusetts. DEAR SIR, The Committee on Militia have instructed me, as their chairman, to carry out an order passed by the House, a few days since, and referred to them, to confer with you, and learn the condition of the widows and orphans, or any dependants on those patriots who were so brutally murdered in the riot of the 19th of April. In obedience to that order, it gives me great pleasure to state, that the loyal people of Maryland, and especially of the city of Baltimore, after long suffering, are at length able, through a Union Legislature, to put themselves in a proper relation to the Government and the country. In effecting the latter, they feel their first duty is to Massachusetts. They are anxious to wipe out the foul blot of the Baltimore riot, as far as it can be wiped out, and as soon as possible. You will do us a great favor, therefore, by instituting an immediate inquiry into the condition of those who were dependent for support upon the services of those unfortunates, and by informing me, at your ear liest convenience, of the result of your inquiry. I should be obliged to you, also, if you would designate what, in your opinion, would be the best manner of applying an appropriation to be made for that pur pose. Any suggestions you may make will be kindly received, and meet with proper consideration. With many prayers, which I know I offer in common with you, that this unrighteous rebellion may be brought to a speedy close, I am Your Excellency s obedient servant, JOHN F. L. FINDLEY. This letter was received by the Governor on the twenty- PATRIOTIC ACTION OF MARYLAND LEGISLATURE. 243 second day of December, the anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, which is referred to in the text. Dec. 22, 1861. To HON. JOHN F. L. FINDLEY, Chairman of a Committee on Militia of the House of Delegates of the State of Maryland. MY DEAR SIR, It is with feelings which I will not attempt to express that I have received, on this anniversary day, your letter, addressed to me from Annapolis. I immediately addressed the Mayors of the cities of Lowell and Lawrence on the subject of your inquiries, and hope to be able to trans mit their answers at an early day. The past cannot be forgotten ; but it can be and will be forgiven ; and, in the good providence of God, I believe that the day is not distant, when the blood that was shed at Baltimore, by those martyrs to a cause as holy as any for which sword was ever drawn, shall be known to have cemented, in an eternal union of sympathy, affection, and nationality, the sister States of Maryland and Massachusetts. With sincere regard, I have the honor to be, faithfully and respect fully, yours, JOHN A. ANDREW. By direction of the Governor, a list of the killed and wounded on the 19th of April was prepared, and inquiries made in regard to the families and relatives of the men by the Adjutant-General, which information was subsequently transmitted to the Gov ernor, and by him to Mr. Findley. The Legislature of Maryland made an appropriation of seven thousand dollars, and transmitted it to the Governor, and, by him and the Executive Council, it was distributed among the families of the fallen, and to the wounded who survived. This was a most gracious act, and did much to remove the bitterness and ill feeling entertained by the people of the Commonwealth towards the city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland, for the blood of Massachusetts men, shed on their soil. The people in the State were a unit in support of the war. The officers and enlisted men of the regiments were composed of all parties. In the selection of men to be commissioned, politics were never regarded. It was the desire of a large por tion of the Republican party, that, in the nomination of a State ticket in the election in November, representative men of both the Republican and Democratic parties should be placed 244 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. upon it. The Republican Convention met at Worcester, on the first day of October, of which Hon. Henry L. Dawes was chosen President. On taking the chair, he made an eloquent speech, in which he recommended that a liberal policy be pursued in making nominations, and carrying on the war. He paid a well- deserved tribute to the Boston Morning Post, the leading Democratic paper in the New-England States, for its patriotic course in sustaining the Government, and said, " It was fitting, therefore, as it was patriotic, for the organ of that party in this Commonwealth to summon, as it has, to this council the representatives of all her citizens who are in favor of union for the support of the Government, and for a vigorous prosecution of the war against wicked and unprovoked rebellion ; and who are determined, in good faith and without reservation, to support the constituted authori ties in all attempts to restore the sway of the Constitution and laws over every portion of our country. [Applause.] . . . We are here, in the presence of the public peril, ready to sink, more than hitherto, the partisan in the patriot: counting it honor, as well as duty, to lock arms with such glorious patriots as the noble Holt [applause], working at the pumps, whoever is at the helm ; the bold and unflinch ing Johnson [applause], nailing his flag to the mast ; and the peerless Everett [applause], sounding the clarion-notes of his stirring eloquence along the ranks of the army of the Union, from the ocean to the per ilous front of the war, on the dark and bloody ground of Kentucky or the battle-fields of Missouri." This speech was the key-note to the convention. When Mr. Dawes concluded his speech, John A. Andrew was nominated by acclamation, and without opposition, for re-election. A mo tion was then made to have a ballot for Lieutenant-Governor. Thomas Russell, Esq., of Boston, moved to amend the motion, that a committee of two from each congressional district be appointed to report nominations for the other officers to the convention. He said, " We have come here to lock arms with Holt and Dickinson and Butler and Frothingham and Greene, and we have got to do it in some practical way." This amend ment was carried, and a committee appointed, which subse quently reported, for Lieutenant-Governor, Edward Dickin son, of Amherst ; for Secretary of State, Richard Frothingham, of Charlestown ; for Treasurer, Henry K. Oliver, of Salem ; THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. 245 for Auditor, Levi Eeed, of Abington ; and for Attorney-Gene ral, Dwight Foster, of Worcester. Mr. Dickinson had been, in former years, a Whig ; in later years, he was what was called a Conservative. He never had joined the Republican party. Mr. Frothingham had always been a Democrat, of the straightest sect ; and was, at this time, one of the editors of the Boston Post. Mr. Oliver, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Foster were Republicans, and incumbents of the offices for which they had been renominated. On taking the vote upon the report of the committee, Mr. Frothingham failed of a nomination; the incumbent of the office, Oliver Warner, being the choice of the convention. The opposition to Mr. Frothingham was led by Mr. Moses Kimball, of Boston, who quoted part of an article from the Boston Post, of that morning, asking the convention "to drop such extreme men as Governor Andrew, and some of his associates, in the executive departments," in making up a new State ticket. The authorship of the article was attributed by Mr. Kimball to Mr. Frothingham. The effect on the convention answered the purpose of the gentleman who made use of it. Before the vote was taken upon the report, Richard H. Dana, Jr., of Cambridge, replied to Mr. Kimball. He said, " We are engaged in a strug gle which the world has never seen equalled, either in its im portance or its results ; we have got beyond Wilmot Provisos and Dred Scott decisions ; we have got to fight for the exist ence of the country. Let us rise above all personal prejudices, and nominate a ticket as men determined to serve the country ; we are met here to send throughout the Union, and to the ene mies of our institutions abroad, that the pattern Commonwealth is taking the lead in this crisis." A motion was then made by Mr. Russell, of Boston, to sub stitute the name of Hon. Josiah G. Abbott, of Lowell, for Attorney-General, in place of Mr. Foster s name. This motion was sustained by the mover, and by Mr. Usher, of Medford ; and opposed by Mr. A. H. Bullock, of Worcester. Mr. Dana, of Cambridge, said " he could not see his duty in any other way than by placing a Democrat upon the ticket. The rejection of Mr. Frothino-ham involved a reconstruction of the ticket." Cs He paid a high compliment to Mr. Foster ; but, for public rea- 246 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION" . sons, would vote for Mr. Abbott. Mr. Abbott was nominated, by a vote of 286 to 239. This created much excitement and ill feeling in the convention, which, however, was soon allayed by Mr. Foster himself, who arose, amid great applause, and said, " it would give him great satisfaction to have placed upon the ticket any distinguished gentleman of his profession, like Judge Abbott, of different politics from himself, if, in the least degree, the harmony of , the people of Massachusetts can be promoted, and if the national Administration can be sustained in the vigor ous prosecution of the war. He hoped, therefore, his friends would join with him in the hope that the nomination of Judge Abbott would be made unanimous." [Cheers.] The convention adjourned, having placed on the State ticket a " Conservative " for Lieutenant-Governor, and a Democrat for Attorney-General. Subsequently, both declined to be candi dates ; and their places were filled with John Nesmith, of Lowell, for Lieutenant-Governor, and D wight Foster for Attor ney-General. The marked feature of the convention, however, was the speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, which, at the time, gave much offence to the convention, and to the Republican majority in the State. The offence was caused by his open advocacy of pro claiming freedom to the slaves, and using colored men as soldiers in the armies of the Union. He said, " Look at the war as you will, and you will always see slavery. Never were the words of the Roman orator more applicable, Nullum f acinus exstitit nisi per te ; nullum flagitium sine te. No guilt, unless through thee ; no crime without thee. Slavery is its inspiration, its motive power, its end and aim, its be-all and end-all. It is often said, the war will make an end of slavery. This is probable ; but it is surer still, that the overthrow of slavery will at once make an end of the " If I am correct in this statement, which I believe is beyond ques tion, then do justice, reason, and policy all unite that the war must be brought to bear directly on the grand conspirator and omnipresent enemy, which is slavery. Not to do this is to take upon ourselves, in the present contest, all the weakness of slavery, while we leave to the rebels its boasted resources of military strength. Not to do this is to "squander life and treasure on a vain masquerade of battle, which can THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 247 reach no practical result. Believe me, fellow-citizens, I know all the imagined difficulties and unquestioned responsibilities of the suggestion. But, if you are in earnest, the difficulties will at once disappear, and the responsibilities are such as you will gladly bear. This is not the first time that a knot hard to untie has been cut by the sword, arid we all know that danger flies before the brave man. Believe that you can, and you can. The will only is needed. Courage now is the highest prudence. It is not necessary even, according to a familiar phrase, to carry the war into Africa : it will be enough if we carry Africa into the war, in any form, any quantity, any way. The moment this is done, rebellion will begin its bad luck, and the Union will be secure for The speech further elaborated these points. The resolutions which were reported to the convention made no mention, even remotely, of slavery, either as the cause of the war, or of its overthrow as a means of ending it. The only idea advanced in them was, that the purpose we had was to " put down armed rebellion," that " no rights secured by the Constitution to loyal citizens or States of the Union in any section ought to be in fringed, and that rebels in arms against the Government can have no rights inconsistent with those of loyal citizens, which that Government is bound to respect." The whole tenor and purpose of the resolutions were to ignore the question of slavery, and to bring about a political union of men of all parties in the State. Such being the views of the convention, the speech of Mr. Sumner was regarded with disfavor. Rev. James Freeman Clarke, a delegate from Boston, offered two resolutions, which had a bearing towards sustaining the position taken by Mr. Sumner ; but they failed to receive the approval of the conven tion. The first expressed confidence "in the wisdom of the national Administration," and that Massachusetts was ready to give of its blood and treasure to answer its calls ; " yet, believing that slavery is the root and cause of this Rebellion, they will rejoice when the time shall come, in the wisdom of the Govern ment, to remove this radical source of our present evils." Ihe second declared, that, "when the proper time shall arrive, the people of Massachusetts will welcome any act, under the war power of the commander-in-chief, which shall declare all the 248 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. slaves within the lines of our armies to be free, and accept their services in defence of the Union, compensating all loyal owners for slaves thus emancipated, and thus carrying liberty for all human beings wherever the stars and stripes shall float." It is plain, that the Republican party of Massachusetts at this time, so far as its opinions were foreshadowed by the conven tion, did not favor the abolition of or interference with slavery. When charged with favoring such doctrines by the press of the opposition, the Boston Daily Advertiser of Oct. 4, three days after the convention was held, utterly disclaimed them. In its leading editorial it said, " The convention certainly disavowed any intention of indorsing the fatal doctrines announced by Mr. Sumner, with a distinctness that can be hardly flattering to that gentleman s conception of his own influence in Massachusetts. The resolutions offered by Rev. Mr. Clarke, as a crucial test of the readiness of the convention to adopt open abolitionism as its creed, went to the table, and were buried, never to rise." Further on, it says, " It may not appear so to Mr. Sumner and his supporters, and it may be forgotten by some who oppose him ; but we hold it for an incontestable truth, that neither men nor money will be forthcoming for this war, if once the people are impressed with the belief, that the abolition of slavery, and not the defence of the Union, is its object, or that its original purpose is converted into a cloak for some new design of seizing this opportunity for the destruction of the social system of the South. The people are heart and soul with their Government in support of any constitutional undertaking. We do not believe that they will follow it, if they are made to suspect that they are being decoyed into the support of any unconstitutional and revolutionary designs." It would be easy to add similar extracts from the Republican papers in the Commonwealth ; but they would only add weight to an accepted truth. At this time, the importance of saving the border slave States from being engulfed in the current of rebellion was immediate and paramount. The Union men of those States excited our sympathy and admiration. They DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 249 had bearded the lion of Rebellion in its den. They knew its strong and weak points. They asked Massachusetts and other anti-slavery States to take no aggressive stand against slavery, as it would weaken them, and strengthen the enemy. Massa chusetts was one of many States battling for the nation : it was not therefore deemed wise for her alone to attempt to change the issue from a war to preserve the Constitution and the Union, into one for the abolition of slavery. The calm judgment of the people accepted this argument ; and hence they could not affirm the policy advanced by Mr. Sumner, because they did not believe it wise then to adopt it. The time might come, they argued, when it would be the highest wisdom to take such a stand ; and that time came, and the nation was saved. The Democratic convention was held in Worcester, Sept. 18, and nominated Isaac Davis, of Worcester, for Governor; Edwin C. Bailey, of Boston, Lieutenant-Governor; Charles Thompson, of Charlestown, Secretary of State ; Moses Bates, of Plymouth, Treasurer; and Edward Avery, of Braintree, Attorney-General. These gentlemen were war Democrats. Moses Bates was elected president of the convention, and, on taking the chair, made a long speech, which, so far as it related to the great national issue, was decided in favor of a vigorous pros ecution of the war. Speeches were made by Oliver Stevens, of Boston ; E. A. Alger, of Lowell ; and Edwin C. Bailey, of Bos ton, all of whom condemned the Rebellion, and favored " con quering a peace." The resolutions reported by A. R. Brown, of Lowell, and adopted by the convention, were of the same stamp. It appears clear, therefore, that upon this great and vital ques tion, which filled all minds, and overtopped all other issues, the two great political parties were a unit ; and but for the habit of making separate nominations, and of rallying under different party names, a union would have been made, and the ticket, with John A. Andrew s name at the head, would have been elected by a vote approaching unanimity. A union of this sort was not required to insure the election of the Republican candi dates. They were certain to be elected by majorities of thou sands. Every one knew that. Therefore no political advantage could be gained by them in receiving Democratic support. The 250 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. advantage would have been moral, not political ; of effect abroad, not here. It would have shown, that in Massachusetts at least, among her people at home as in her regiments in the field, there was but one party, one thought, one impulse, while the Union was imperilled, and armed Rebellion reared its hated crest. The annual election was held on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The aggregate vote was comparatively small, owing chiefly to the large number of men absent from the State in the army and navy. Governor Andrew received 65, 261 votes; Isaac Davis, 31,264; scattering, 796; majority for Andrew, 33,201. The Legislature was unanimous for a vigorous prosecution of the war. The position of Massachusetts was thus clearly defined, and ad mitted of no doubt. The course taken by the Governor and the Legislature to sustain the Union and the Government, re ceived the approving voice of the Commonwealth. It is hardly possible even to name the vast number of letters received and answered by the Governor, the Adjutant-General, the Surgeon-General, and other department officers, during the years of this Rebellion : they fill more than three hundred vol umes, Many of the letters received from officers contain matters of great interest, especially those received immediately after the battle of Bull Run, in July, and of Ball s Bluff, in October. Among these is a letter written by Dr. Luther V. Bell, surgeon of the Eleventh Regiment, to Surgeon-General Dale, which gives a graphic description of the advance of the army to Bull Run ; his services to the wounded assisted by Dr. Josiah Carter and Dr. Foye. Dr. Bell improvised a hospital in a small stone church near the battle-field, in which seventy-five wounded men were brought, before the rout of the Union army brought the church within the rebel lines, and forced a retreat. The Massachusetts regiments engaged in this battle were the First, Colonel Cowdin, the Eleventh, Colonel Clark, three years volun teers ; and the Fifth, Colonel Lawrence, three months regiment. The reports of these officers, and the testimony of others, show that the regiments behaved with great bravery, and that no part of the defeat can properly be attributed to them. We could fill many pages with extracts from these reports ; but they would THANKSGIVING IN THE AEMY. 251 present no facts of special interest, which have not already been made public. None of the officers of our regiments wrote with more ease and elegance than Major Wilder Dwight, of the Second Regi ment. In one of his letters to the Governor, written in July, at Harper s Ferry, where the Second was encamped to protect the Ferry and hold the town, he says, " It is perhaps worthy of remark, that the guard-house occupied by the town -guard is the engine-house which John Brown held so long, and which is one of the few buildings left standing amid the general ruins of the Government property. Directly opposite to it, from the flag-staff, which lately bore the secession flag, our own banner now floats. Several unavailing attempts were made- to raise it, when Sergeant Hill, of Company B, volunteered to climb the tall pole, and adjust the halyards. This he did amid the wildest enthusiasm of the people. There has been a reign of terror here ; and to-day, for the first time, Union men dare to show themselves, and return to their homes. The protection of the flag is indicated everywhere, and many Virginian men and women have said with quivering lip they were glad to see the old flag again. Throughout our march, in every village, and by almost every house, we have made the hills echo again our national airs." In the Governor s proclamation for Thanksgiving, this year, it may well be supposed the soldiers in the field were not for gotten. It was read in every Massachusetts camp, and the day was celebrated by the regiments with great spirit and cheerful ness. Major Dwight writes, " I had the honor and pleasure to receive the Governor s proclamation for Thanksgiving. I give a short record of the day s celebration. Military duty was, by authority of General Banks, suspended. At ten, A.M., we had the proclamation read, and religious service by the chap lain. The men afterwards sat down to dinner, which may be summed up as follows: turkeys 95, weight 997J pounds; geese 76, weight 666 pounds; chickens 73, weight 165 pounds; plum-puddings 95, weight 1,179 pounds. If you state the weight in tons, the whole dinner amounts to one and a half, in round numbers. The men had games and dancing in the evening. It should perhaps be added, that they are in fine health this morning." 252 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. This gallant and accomplished officer was a graduate of Har vard College, in the class of 1853. He was promoted lieu tenant-colonel of the Second, June 13, 1862, and was mortally wounded in the battle of Antietam, and died two days after, Sept. 19, 1862. His body was brought home to his father s house in Brookline, and was buried from St. Paul s Church, in that town. The Forty-fourth Eegiment, Colonel Frank Lee, then in camp at Keadville, volunteered as military escort. The Governor and staff were present at the funeral, and the people of the village followed, with the mourning relatives, his body to the grave, where it rests quietly from the noise of civil life and the conflict of battle. We turn from these grand but solemn memories to the con troversy between the Governor and Major-General Butler, which stands in Massachusetts great record of the war as the only event in which the fulfilment of official duty grew into a protracted personal controversy. The correspondence would make nearly one hundred pages of this volume. The causes which led to it we shall state as briefly as we can. Massachusetts had forwarded to the front sixteen regiments of infantry to serve for three years ; and in August, 1861, was recruiting, in the various camps in the Commonwealth, six additional regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, four companies of light artillery, and one company of sharpshooters. Two other regiments, to be composed of Irishmen, were also soon to be recruited. It was the intention of the Governor to have these regiments and batteries recruited to the maximum as speedily as possible ; and, until they were filled, no recruiting, except for them and for regiments already in the field, would be permitted in the Commonwealth. Some of these regiments had been prom ised and designated as part of an expeditionary corps, to be commanded by Brigadier-General Thomas W. Sherman, U.S.A. General Sherman arrived in Boston about the first of Sep tember, bringing with him a letter to Governor Andrew from Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, dated Washington, Aug. 27, in which he renews a previous request, that "you," GOVERNOR ANDREW AND GENERAL BUTLER. 253 can the Governor, "will put three regiments, as soon as they be prepared for service, under the orders of General Sherman, who will indicate the place of rendezvous." The place of ren dezvous was somewhere in Long Island, N.Y. On the next day after this letter was written, namely, on the 28th of August, - -" Colonel " David K. Wardwell, who had commanded a company in the Fifth Eegiment, three months militia, received authority from Secretary Cameron to raise a regiment of volun teers in this State. He was instructed " to report to His Ex cellency the Governor of Massachusetts, from whom you will receive instructions and orders in reference to the regiment which this department has authorized you to raise." Governor Andrew was very justly opposed to having these special per missions given to favored parties to recruit regiments in this Commonwealth, without his knowledge or consent. It inter fered with previous arrangements, delayed the completion of regiments already partly recruited, detracted from the authority of the Governor, and violated the act of Congress under which volunteer regiments were authorized to be raised, which pro vided, section fourth, "That the Governors of the States, furnish ing volunteers under this act, shall commission the field, staff, and company officers, requisite for said volunteers ; and in cases where the State authorities refuse or omit to furnish volunteers at the call, or on the proclamation, of the President, and volunteers from such States offer their services under such call or proclamation, the President shall have power to accept such services, and to commission the proper field, staff, and company officers." It is clear from this, that the recruiting of regiments, and the commissioning of officers, in the loyal States, was intended to be under the exclusive control of the Governors of those States. Neither the President, nor the Secretary of War, nor any State or Federal officer, civil or military, had any right either to authorize persons to recruit or to commission officers of volunteers, in States which had loyal Governors, who were ready and anxious to do whatever was demanded of them by the President and the laws of Congress. It was only in States having disloyal Governors, who would refuse to organize regiments and commission officers for the 254 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLIOX. Union service, that the President could act. Massachusetts was not a disloyal State, and John A. Andrew was not a disloyal Governor. Captain Wardwell s authority to raise a regiment in Massa chusetts was not recognized by the Governor. He was granted permission to raise a company for the Twenty-second Regiment, and he was afterwards commissioned captain in that regiment. Having protested to the authorities in Washington against this pernicious and illegal system of granting special permits to raise regiments in this State, on the 28th of August the very day on which Wardwell had been given authority to recruit a regi ment, the Governor received a telegram from the Secretary of War, that " he would not sanction for the future any such irregularities ; " and Quartermaster-General John H. Reed, who was then in Washington, was requested by Governor Andrew to call upon Mr. Cameron, and to " express the pleas ure" which the information had given him. Innumerable difficulties had arisen in New York from similar practices, which led to the issuing by the War Department of General Order No. 71, which directed "all persons having received authority to raise volunteer regiments, batteries, or companies in the State of New York to report immediately to Governor Morgan." They and their commands were placed under his orders, who would organize them " in the manner he might judge the most advantageous." In a letter dated Washington, Sept. 6, written jointly by General John H. Reed and Colonel A. G. Browne, Jr., to Governor Andrew, they state that they had held inter views with the President and the Secretary of War the day before ; and both had promised that no more special permits should be given, and that General Order No. 71 should be made to apply to Massachusetts the same as to New York. These preliminary details are necessary in order to have a correct understanding of the controversy which grew up between the Governor and General Butler. On the seventh of September, the Governor received a tele gram from President Lincoln, urging him to forward troops as speedily as possible to General Sherman s headquarters ; to which he replied on the same day, "I have written General CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 255 Sherman about it during the past week. We are raising five new regiments, all of which I mean Sherman shall have if you will get an order from the War Department to send them to him: This letter was returned to the Governor with the following indorsements : " Respectfully submitted to the War De partment. A. Lincoln."- " Let this be done. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War."- " I send you the order you desire. William H. Seward." On the 9th of September, General Sherman writes from New York to the Governor, "The public interest requires that the remaining troops for this expedition assemble here at the very earliest day practicable." To which the Gov ernor answered on the eleventh, " The new regiments are going forward towards completion very rapidly. General Wilson has about nine hundred men in camp to-day." The other regiments were rapidly filling up ; two would be completed by the twen tieth, "and three more in a good state of forwardness by that time." So matters stood on the llth of September. The Governor, every one connected officially with him, the city and town author ities, were actively at work, and lending all their energies to complete these regiments for General Sherman. It was a great surprise, then, that, after the promises made by the authorities at Washington, and the urgent necessity which existed of complet ing the organization of these regiments, the Secretary of War should, on the tenth of this very month, give authority to Major- General Butler to raise six new regiments in New England, and to arm, uniform, and equip them. The first intelligence Governor Andrew had that such authority had been given, was by a telegram dated Washington, Sept. 11, and jointly signed, "A. Lincoln, President" and "Simon Cameron, Secretary of War," stating that " General Butler proposes raising in New England six regiments, to be recruited and commanded by him self, and to go on special service : we shall be glad if you, as Governor of Massachusetts, will answer by telegraph that you consent." On receipt of this despatch, the Governor immedi ately answered, "Authorize State to raise whatever regiments you wish additional. We will first fulfil engagements with General Sherman, ordered by Secretary of War; then add 256 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. others fast as possible ; will help General Butler to the utmost." On the 12th (next day), Mr. Cameron telegraphed to the Gov ernor, "Despatch of yesterday received. Massachusetts has done so well in all she has promised, that she shall not be dis appointed in any thing she requires from the General Govern ment." This was complimentary, but it was not an answer. A few hours before the Governor received this despatch from Mr. Cameron, he received the following, dated New York, Sept. 11, from General Sherman: "The object of my tele gram of the 10th was to ascertain if there existed any possibil ity of being disappointed in the time when the troops would be prepared" Thus when General Sherman was anxiously waiting in New York for the five regiments authorized to be raised for him in Massachusetts, and when every possible effort was being made to complete them, the Secretary of War wrote the following paper. We do not know what to call it : it is not a letter, because it is addressed to no one ; it is not an order, be cause it is not so designated, and bears no number. WAR DEPARTMENT, Sept. 12, 1861. Major-General Butler is authorized to fit out and prepare such troops in New England as he may judge fit for the purpose, to make an expedition along the eastern shore of Virginia, via the railroad from Wilmington, Del., to Salisbury, and thence through a por tion of Maryland, Accomac, and Northampton Counties of Virginia, to Cape Charles. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. This document, in effect, gave General Butler authority over every new regiment raised, or to be raised, in New England. He was to have as many troops as he might "judge fit" for his purpose ; and what that purpose was no one except himself and Mr. Cameron knew. The document wholly ignored the Gov ernors of the New-England States, the act of Congress already quoted, and, so far as this State was interested, the promise made to General Sherman that he should have three of the Massachu setts regiments then in course of formation. This was not all indeed, it was only a small part of the complicated, contradic tory, and painfully embarrassing position under which this new state of things placed the Governor of Massachusetts. He had CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 257 been ordered to furnish five new regiments for General Sherman, he had promised the General he should have them, he had nearly completed a part of them, when, without consultation or previous knowledge, this paper, prepared in the War Office at Washington, and signed by the Secretary, was issued, placing all the troops in New England under the command of Major- General Butler, and as many more as he might "judge fit" for his purpose. Four days after Mr. Cameron had written the paper just quoted, Special Order No. 78 was issued from the War Department. WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 1861. All persons having received authority from the War Department to raise volunteer regiments, batteries, or companies, in the loyal States, are, with their commands, hereby placed under the orders of the Gov ernors of those States, to whom they will immediately report the pres ent condition of their respective organizations. These troops will be organized or re-organized, and prepared for service, by the Governors of their respective States, in the manner they may judge most advantageous to the interests of the Federal Government. By order, L. THOMAS, Adjutant- General. This order was easy of comprehension, and in strict accord ance with the acts of Congress ; but it was in direct conflict with the paper signed by Mr. Cameron four days before. Upon its receipt, Governor Andrew directed the Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth to issue General Order No. 23, which enumerated the regiments and batteries then being recruited in the State, and the camps at which they were stationed. It also said, that " until they were filled, no recruiting, except for these regiments and batteries, is authorized, or can be en couraged, by the Commander-in-chief." After quoting the preceding order of the War Department, signed by General Thomas, it proceeds to say, " The Commander-in-chief directs that no new regiments or companies be formed, or ordered into camp, nor any already in camp change their location, with out orders from these headquarters." Although the order restricted recruiting for new regiments except those designated, it allowed and encouraged recruiting for 17 258 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. regiments already in the field. It also gave notice that two new regiments, to be composed of men of Irish birth, were soon to be placed in camp, one of which, the Twenty-eighth, "to form a part of the command of Major-General Butler, whose head quarters is at Lowell." On the 23d of September, Mr. Cameron telegraphed to the Governor, "Will the three regiments for General Sherman be ready this week? He must be supplied in advance of all other applications for same service. Please reply immediately." To which the Governor answered the same day, and requested the Secretary not to issue an order detailing particular regiments to General Butler, but to leave all such details to him : he could provide for him otherwise and sufficiently. To which Mr. Cameron answered, " Select the regiments yourself for Sherman, and supply him first." Same day, Colonel Browne, military secretary to the Governor, by order of His Excellency, addressed a note to General Butler, in which he proposed to assign to his command an Irish regiment, in the raising of which Patrick Donahoe, Esq., of Boston, took much interest. This was afterwards known as the Twenty-eighth Regiment. The receipt of this letter was acknowledged by Major Haggerty, of General Butler s staff, on the 24th, and information given that Gen eral Butler had gone to Portland, Me., and that his attention would be called to it as soon as he returned, which would be "to-morrow evening." A letter was sent to General Sherman on the 23d by the Governor, requesting him to exert his personal efforts to secure for his command the regiments promised him, and prevent them from "being diverted to General Butler or any other officer." The regiments designed for him were the Twenty-second and Twenty-third, in camp at Lynnfield, and known as General Wilson s, and the Twenty-fifth, encamped at Worcester. The letter further stated that the Governor proposed " to assign to General Butler the Twenty-sixth Regiment, being raised by Colonel Jones at Lowell," and an Irish regiment. To this General Sherman replied, on the 27th, that he had immediately called the attention of the Secretary of War to it ; that " five regiments are yet waited for, three from Massachusetts, one CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 259 from Maine, one from New Hampshire; and it is hoped that they will all be pressed forward at the earliest day." While this correspondence was going on, and Sherman waiting for his regiments in New York, the Secretary of War sent* orders direct to General Wilson, which he received on the 24th, "to report to General Butler, and form a component part of his pro posed expedition." The Governor then wrote to Secretary Cameron, "I have been much perplexed and embarrassed during the last few days by contradictory orders and assurances, issuing from your department." To avoid which, he said the regiments in this State should be organized through, and not outside of, its Governor. He also says, "General Butler, it is evident to me, desires naturally to secure to his own command, with or without consultation with me, according as best he may, all the force he can, even to the prejudice of what General Sherman has a positive right to expect from Massachusetts." Mr. Cameron replied on the 27th, that General Sherman was to be supplied first, afterwards General Butler. " It is the in tention of this department," he says, "to leave to your Excel lency all questions concerning the organization of troops in your State, and the orders to which you refer were designed to be subject to the approval and control of the Executive of Massa chusetts. It will be my endeavor to act strictly in accordance with your suggestions." This extract is underscored in the original. This appears explicit enough ; and yet the same system of cross purposes was kept up for some time after at Washington, to the insufferable annoyance of the Governor, complicating and retarding recruiting, and delaying the completion of the regiments. On the 1st of October, General Order No. 86 was issued by the Adjutant-General of the army, forming the six New-England States a military department, the head quarters at Boston, and providing that " Major-General B. F. Butler, United States Volunteer Service, while engaged in re cruiting his division, will command." In connection with this, the Secretary directed the Paymaster-General to detail an assistant to pay the men enlisted, and to be enlisted, by Gen eral Butler, a month s pay from date of muster in, which was a 260 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. very proper order if it had been of general application ; but it was very improper, to be applied only to General Butler s com mand, and denied to General Sherman s. On the 2d of October, the Secretary telegraphs to the Gov ernor, " Send three regiments for General Sherman to Hamp- stead Camp, on Long Island, by Monday morning at the latest, earlier if possible." On the 3d, next day, the Secretary tele graphs again to the Governor, " Send the Wilson Eegiment to Washington direct. Give Sherman the next one, as soon as possible." The name of General Sherman henceforth ceases to appear in the correspondence. He was assigned to another department. The command of the special expedition was given to General Burnside, and five Massachusetts regiments composed a part of it. These were the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, Twenty- fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-seventh. The camp of ren dezvous was at Annapolis, and the point of attack was North Carolina, by way of Roanoke Island and Newbern. The ex pedition was successful. Major-General Butler, having assumed command of the De partment of New England, and established his headquarters at Boston, on the 5th of October issued his first general order, announcing his staff, and directing " all officers in command of troops mustered in the service of the United States to report, either in person or by letter, to his headquarters." An official copy of this order was forwarded to Governor Andrew. On the 5th of October, General Butler addressed a long letter to the Governor, informing him that he had been au thorized by the President to raise men for " a special purpose," to which, he stated, "your assent was given." He then says, " Acting upon that assent, I called upon you, and you desired that I should wait a week, when the regiment of Colonel Wilson, then being recruited, would be full, before I took any action upon that subject. To this I assented, and have been only looking out for officers for re cruiting purposes, and have made no public announcement, and allowed no one who had a special corps to make advertisement, which I thought would be fully within the understanding. CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 261 " I then shew you an order to take regiments already raised, and not assigned to other officers, for another purpose, and you offered to assign me Colonel Jones regiment. You also said, that an Irish regiment, now being raised, you would like to be assigned to me; to that I assented, and left for the purpose of organizing recruiting in Maine, and from thence to Washington. On my return, I find that recruiting officers have been making publications injurious to me and the recruit ing service ; so it becomes necessary to know exactly what is under stood between us." He then proceeds, "I desire, therefore, the simple announce ment, by general order, that I have authority to enlist men for a regiment, to be numbered as you please, also a squadron of mounted men ; these troops to be a part of the volunteer force of the State ; these to be in addition to those already assigned by you." He also says he will make no objections, if the Irish regiment is withheld. These requests granted, he adds, "I see no difficulty in the way of filling up all these regiments at once, save this one," which was the practice here of "recruiting offi cers offering private bounties for men, of five and seven dollars/ This he regarded as vicious, and as " the sale of men," and men tions other objections. The Governor replied to the letter of General Butler the same evening, after his return from the cavalry camp at Readville. The letter is of considerable length. In the beginning, he says, " I beg leave to say at once, in reply to your remark relating to some supposed promise of mine, that I did not at any time say, that, while we were already raising so many regiments in Massachusetts, I could consent to an embarrassment of the service by additional com petition for recruits. But while I assured you of my willingness, so far as it lay in my power, to assign to you, out of regiments in progress, our fair proportion, or more than that, of the six regiments you told me you wished to raise in New England, I have constantly declared that I could not concur in a policy, which, by crowding the competition of regiments, would be fatal, or very dangerous, to successful recruit ing." The Governor thought that we were overdoing recruiting ; and, until the regiments already ordered were filled, recruiting for new regiments should not be undertaken. Having given his 262 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. own opinion, however, he asks the General to forward a roster of company officers for the regiment he wishes to raise, and " he would authorize a new regiment to begin in a week from Monday next, under Captain Henry L. Abbott (of Massachu setts), of the United States Topographical Engineers, for colo nel ; and Charles Everett, late colonel of District of Colum bia Volunteers, formerly serving in Mexico, or Major Francis Brinley, for lieutenant-colonel ; the major to be seasonably se lected." The Governor disclaims any knowledge of recruiting officers offering private bounties, and asks that the names of such per sons may be sent to him, "that the more speedy and vigilant measures for suppression and rebuke may be instituted." In the matter of recruiting and organizing regiments, the Governor says, "We have pursued a system, carefully, watchfully, faith fully, and zealously, in which, by the intelligent aid and loyal co-operation of all officers, of the State and of the Union, who have had any connection with such matters here, we have found reason to trust. In fact, almost any system is better than none." After stating that Massachusetts had already forwarded sixteen regiments of infantry, and other troops, to the front, he continues, " We are, at this very moment, doing half as much more, and doing it with the utmost of our ability ; and we have thus far escaped the confusion and uncertainty of movement which have embarrassed some other States, and from which, with much effort, their Governors have only just now escaped. Now, with the utmost respect for the Depart ment of War, and for yourself personally, and with the most loyal sen timents of obedience, I mean to continue to do just what I have, from the first, persistently done ; and that is, to hold, with an iron hand and unswerving purpose, all the powers which, by the laws, pertain to me officially, in my own grasp, yielding the most implicit obedience, in all things, to those having the right to direct me, but, at the same time, remembering that true subordination requires every officer to per form liis own duties and fulfil his own functions himself, as well as to submit himself loyally to his superiors." He then refers to the laws of Congress and the orders of the department, which give to the Governors of States the exclu- CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 263 sive control of raising regiments in their own States : " Nor is it permitted by law, even to the President himself, even were he so disposed, to interfere in the premises." He also informs the General, that he has the assurance of the Secretary of War, "that he had issued no orders, and would issue none, tending to interfere with the State authorities." He concludes this able letter by saying, " I shall do exactly by you as I have done by General Sherman and General Burnside, that is to say, I shall use every exertion to furnish troops for the service you propose, in our full proportion ; but it must be done by pursuing such methods and plans as we have found neces sary for the general advantage of the service. Nor can I permit, so far as it lies with me, to decide any officers of the United States to raise troops as Massachusetts volunteers within this Commonwealth, except for the recruitment of existing regiments, or subject to the conditions indicated ; while any advice or friendly assistance will be gratefully re ceived from any quarter, much more from a gentleman of your capacity to advise, and your hearty zeal in the cause we are both anxious to serve." The Governor had telegraphed, on the morning of the 5th, to the Secretary of War, to know if he " would pay our soldiers, as fast as mustered in, half a month s pay, detailing paymasters therefor. Do not authorize this for any, unless for all. What is General Butler s power and position here ? " To which he received, as an answer, " We cannot pay in advance. General Butler has authority to concentrate a brigade for special service, all of which is to be organized under the several Governors of the Eastern States. We gave General Butler authority with re gard to advance pay." The Governor also wrote a letter to Mr. Cameron in regard to matters. It would appear, that, some time on the seventh of the month, General Butler requested a personal interview with the Governor, and called at the State House ; but, the Governor being engaged in the Council Cham ber, the interview did not take place. It does not appear that the letter of the Governor of Oct. 5 changed in the least decree the determination of General But- o o ler to enlist men. He opened a camp in Pittsfield, and another in Lowell, and commenced recruiting two regiments of infantry, 2b 4 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. one designated the Western Bay-State Regiment, the other the Eastern Bay-State Regiment ; also, a battery of light artil lery, and three companies of cavalry. The only reply made to the letter of the 5th is the following, which is given entire : HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT or NEW ENGLAND, BOSTON, Oct. 12, 1861. Will " His Excellency Governor Andrew " assign to General But ler the recruitment of a regiment of Massachusetts volunteers, and a squadron of mounted men, to be armed and equipped by him, under the authority of the President ; the officers to be selected by General Butler, but commissioned by " His Excellency," with, of course, a veto power upon what may be deemed an improper selection. As these officers are to go with General Butler upon duty, would " His Excel lency " think it improper he should exercise the power of recommenda tion ? To the telegram of the President, asking consent that the authoriza tion should be given to General Butler to raise troops, " His Excel lency " telegraphed, in reply, that he would " aid " General Butler to the utmost. General Butler knows no way in which "His Excellency" can aid him so effectually as in the manner proposed. The selection by " His Excellency " in advance, without consulta tion, of a colonel and lieutenant-colonel of an unformed regiment, not a soldier of which has been recruited by the State, and both these gen tlemen, to whom the General, at present, knows no personal objection, being absent from the State on other duty, seems to him very objec tionable. It is not certain that Lieutenant Abbott, of the Topographical En gineers, will be permitted to leave his corps. Colonel Everett has not lived in the State for many years, and has not such interest identified with the State, or the men of Massachusetts whom he would com mand, as to render his appointment desirable. General Butler has had and can have the aid of neither in his regi ments ; and he believes that those who do the work, other things being equal, should have the offices. General Butler would have been happy to have conferred with " His Excellency " upon these and other points ; but " His Jkcellency " did not seem to desire it. General Butler has proceeded upon this thesis in his recruitment, to say to all patriotic young men who seemed proper persons, and who have desired to enter the service as officers, If you have the confidence CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 265 of your neighbors, so that you can recruit a given number of men, then by giving evidence of your energy and capacity thus far, if you are found fit in other respects, on examination, I will recommend you for a commission to command the number of men you shall raise. This is believed to be a course much better calculated to find officers than to hunt for them by the uncertain light of petitions and recom mendations. General Butler desires to make good his word to these young gen tlemen. " His Excellency " will perceive the impossibility of at once furnishing a roster under such circumstances, as requested, for " His Excellency s " perusal. " His Excellency s " attention is called to the fact that no reply has been received to General Butler s request, as to a squadron of mounted men. General Butler is informed, by the returns of those who have recruited for him, that he has already a number of men equal to two regiments in such progress that they can be organized, being the most prompt recruitment ever done in this State, these besides the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-eighth Regiments, assigned to him by gen eral order. General Butler trusts that " His Excellency " will not, without the utmost necessity for it, throw any obstacles in the way of his recruit ment, as General Butler is most anxious to get his division organized, so as to start upon an expedition already planned, in the service of his country. General Butler hopes that these views will meet " His Excellen cy s " concurrence and co-operation. Most respectfully " His Excellency s " obedient servant, BENJAMIN F. BUTLER. The Governor being absent from Boston, the receipt of the letter was acknowledged by Colonel Browne on the 14th, and was by him forwarded to the Governor. It does not appear that the Governor took any immediate official notice of this letter. We pass over much that was written, but which were but eddies in the tide of this correspondence, to bring it to a fair and intelligent close. We will only state the fact, that, on the llth of November, we received a letter from Colonel Kitchie, senior aid, directing the Adjutant-General to issue Order No. 570, which was, in substance, that General Butler, having sent 266 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. an order to Colonel Stevenson, Twenty-fourth Regiment Massa chusetts Volunteers, to deliver up to him certain soldiers mus tered into said regiment, who had deserted from one of General Butler s regiments, that Colonel Stevenson was not to obey the order, as General Butler had no authority to enlist volunteers in Massachusetts, except for the Twenty -sixth and Twenty-eighth Regiments. Colonel Stevenson, at that time, had a part of his command at Fort Warren, on duty, although his headquar ters were at Readville ; and he was ordered, that, " if he cannot protect and hold his men at Fort Warren, he shall remove them immediately to f Camp Massasoit, at Readville, and hold them until otherwise ordered." The Governor had been written to by Mr. Sargent, the Mayor of Lowell, and many other city and town authorities, asking him whether the families of the men who had enlisted under General Butler were entitled to the " State aid," which com munications were referred to the Attorney-General, Hon. D wight Foster, who returned, as an opinion, that all volunteers who are inhabitants of this State, and enlist here under the authority of the Governor, and the officers of the regiments are commissioned by him, their families are entitled to the aid ; and, if General Butler s brigade is to be so raised and commissioned, then the families of the men enlisted should receive it. He con cludes by saying, " I suppose this will be the case, and the men enlisted by him will be entitled to the usual aid ; and I only state my opinion in this guarded form, because of the possible and highly improbable contingency of vol unteers being enlisted in full regiments in Massachusetts, without the sanction of its Executive, the officers of which he might decline to com mission or recognize." This opinion was, in effect, against allowing the State aid to the families of the men who had been enlisted by General But ler. The "highly improbable contingency" already existed. State aid was not paid by the cities and towns to the families of enlisted men, until the authorities of the places to which the men belonged had received a certificate, signed by the Adjutant-General of the State, that the men were mustered in, and the muster-rolls had been deposited in his office. No CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 267 muster-rolls had been received by the Adjutant-General from the corps said to have been recruited by General Butler. No assurance had been received from Washington, that the men had been mustered in, and credited to the contingent of the State. On the 27th of November, Major Strong, chief of staff to General Butler, forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the State a list of officers which had been adopted by General Butler for " a company known as the Salem Light Artillery," with a request that they be commissioned by the Governor. On the 17th of December, General Butler wrote to the Governor, calling his attention to the letter of Major Strong, with a request that he might be favored " with a reply whether he will or will not commission the officers therein named/ General Butler also claimed, that the company "was raised under the authority of the State, and with His Excellency s approval." By direction of the Governor, Colonel Browne replied on the same day to this communication, that it was the intention of the Governor " at a proper time to appoint and commission suit able officers for the battery ; but that he was not advised of their intended removal from the Commonwealth, nor was any request made for such appointments, either from the company or from the acting officers, or from any source, until eight days after the whole company had been removed from Massachusetts, when the Governor was requested by Major Strong to com mission certain persons, on the ground that they had been elected by the company, as it was said. But the company was gone. None of its rolls having been deposited in the office of the Adjutant-General, there was no means of identifying its men." The letter further states, that the responsibility of appointing suitable officers rests with the Governor, and that, as regards one of the persons recommended, " the information received by the Governor is, that his character is such as to render him unfit for appointment." The Governor further stated, that he was desirous of com missioning officers for the battery, "and would be glad to 268 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. receive the testimonials of any on which their claims are founded." On the 18th (next day), this letter was returned to Colonel Browne by Major Strong, with the following note : IR? Major-General Butler, commanding the Department of New England, directs that the enclosed communication be respectfully returned to His Excellency Governor Andrew, as being of improper address and signature." The same day, the Governor wrote to Major Strong, express ing his surprise, and that, knowing the contents of the letter which is returned, he found himself unable to instruct Colonel Browne how to amend it, " since the particulars of the offence were not stated, and were not discernible to me, nor, as I am assured, by him." He therefore asks "the favor of a precise statement of the offence committed." To which Major Strong replied on the 19th. After referring to army regulations, para graph 449, he said, " The letter to which that was a reply was addressed to your Excellency, and therefore signed by General Butler himself, as claim ing to be your Excellency s co-ordinate. Lieutenant-Colonel Browne s letter was addressed, not to the chief of staff at these headquarters, but directly to the Major- General commanding the department, and even then not in his official capacity." On Dec. 20, a reply was made in a letter signed by Colonel Browne, from which we make the following extracts : " With the single exception of the President of the United States, no officer or person, whether State or national, civil or military, whether temporarily sojourning or permanently residing within the limits of Massachusetts, can be recognized within such limits as the 1 co-ordinate of the Governor of the Commonwealth in official dignity or rank." He then expresses surprise that a gentleman of General Butler s acumen and professional training " should quote the regulations of the army of the United States, as dictating cere monies of official intercourse to a magistrate who is no part of that army, and not subject to its regulations." His attention is also called to the order of the War Department of Sept. 16, by CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 269 which Major-General Butler is placed under the orders of the Governor of Massachusetts, in respect to raising and organizing volunteers. " In the present condition of national affairs, the Governor considers it impolitic and unpatriotic to embarrass the public service by undue nicety of etiquette; and he regrets that Major- General Butler s views of duty in this particular should not have corresponded with his own, so as to render the present correspondence unnecessary." After disclaiming all intentional discourtesy, the letter thus refers to the letter quoted entire on a preceding page : " General Butler s letter of Oct. 12, written to Governor Andrew, but not addressed to him, except in so far as he is mentioned in the third person, after the fashion of dinner invitations, and the like, on private and social occasions, and not signed by the Major-General with any addition of rank or command, and frequently re-iterating the Governor s constitutional title and name, with significant and con spicuous marks of quotation surrounding them whenever repeated. " It is customary to affix marks of quotation in manuscript to indi cate passages or expressions borrowed from some other to whom they ought to be credited. But I am not aware, that a name given in baptism, or inherited from a parent, or a title conferred by the Constitu tion on a magistrate as his official description, are in any sense original ideas, or expressions which it is usual to designate by marks of quota tion. Nor is this a matter in which a gentleman of Major-General Butler s learning and urbanity could have erred by mistake. . . . When a gentleman has violated the substance of courtesy, as did General Butler in that letter of Oct. 12, by a studious, indirect, insinuating, but not less significant, intentional act of impoliteness towards a magistrate whose only offence was fidelity to his duty, to the laws, and to the rights ef his official position, he cannot be permitted, without comment, to arraign another for a supposed breach of military inter course, simply formal, technical, and arbitrary, as he has assumed to arraign me in this matter through yourself." This letter would have been addressed directly to General Butler, had the Governor not been advised that he was at Washington. He soon after returned, and, on the 28th of December, wrote to the Governor a letter in which he says, "I disclaim most emphatically any intentional or even accidental discourtesy to the Governor of Massachusetts. 270 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. " In the matter of the address in quotation, I but copied the address assumed by one of the numerous military secretaries who write me on behalf of the Governor, and it was because of the formality of that address. His Excellency Governor Andrew is neither a baptismal, inherited, or constitutional title ; and, after using it once in the letter alluded to, I carefully used the title of the Constitution, and marked it in quotation to call attention to the difference." It appears by this, that General Butler ^carefully used the title of the Constitution, and marked it in quotation to call attention to the difference" Mr. Parton, in his "Life of General Butler," says, " The person who made the copy sent to the Governor, with per verse uniformity, placed inverted commas before and after those words (His Excellency), as if to intimate that the author of the letter used them reluctantly, and only in obedience to a custom. It looked like an intentional and elaborate affront, and served to embitter the contro versy. Whei), at length, the General was made acquainted with the insertion, he was not in a humor to give a complete explanation ; nor, indeed, is it a custom with him to get out of a scrape by casting blame upon a subordinate." This information, Mr. Parton says, he received "from a con fidential member of General Butler s staff, the late General Strong," who was killed at Fort Wagner. This letter appears to have closed the controversy regarding the letter of Oct. 12 ; but it introduced a new element of con troversy. Respecting commissioning the officers of Battery No. 4, General Butler alludes to the objections which the Gov ernor had interposed in regard to one of the persons recom mended, and says, " If any base charge can be substantiated against either of them, I shall be happy to substitute others. I believe, however, that neither of them have ever done any thing worse than seducing a mother, and making a father wifeless and children motherless ; and that, you know, is no objection to a high military commission in Massachu setts." On the 30th, the Governor addressed a note to General But ler, in which he quotes the words in the above extract, and requests to know what officer it is to whom he refers : CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 271 "Moreover, may I ask whose mother is alluded to, and whose wife? and does the implied allegation mean that the crime of murder was added to that of seduction, although the words you know assume the existence of greater knowledge than I possess ? And, indeed, since the day I had the honor to detail yourself as a brigadier-general of the militia, at the beginning of the present war, to this day and both inclusive, I cannot accuse myself of such an appointment. If I have done so, I beg you to expose it." On the 1st of January, 1862, General Butler answered, " I referred, in my communication of the 28th ult., to the case of Wyman, appointed by your Excellency colonel of the Sixteenth Mas sachusetts Regiment. Unless the testimony of brother officers serving with Wyman is to be disbelieved, facts notorious are to be denied which have never been denied before. " Colonel Wyman, while an officer of the United States army, held long adulterous intercourse with a Mrs. Brannan, the wife of a brother officer. This woman afterwards left her home under such circum stances as to induce the belief that she was either murdered by herself or another. " This Wyman obtained leave of absence from the army, and joined his paramour in Europe ; while there, he resigned his commission, because of a letter from the Adjutant-General of the army that he would be court-martialled if he did not, and remained abroad until after the breaking-out of the war, when he left her embraces, and re turned to the army of the Commonwealth under your Excellency s appointment. " This woman was the mother of children ; and, if I should amend the language of my communication of the 28th ult., I should add, making a father worse than wifeless, and children worse than motherless. " I used the phrase you know, because I have been informed, and I have reason to believe and do believe, that the substance of these facts was known to your Excellency at the time you made the appointment. Will your Excellency deny that you were then put upon inquiry as to them? " I cannot expose this matter, because it has long since been made a matter of exposition in the public prints. I have no farther knowledge of Colonel Wyman, save that which may be learned by inquiry of any officer of the army who served with him. I have no disposition to injure or interfere with him, and have made this communication only in reply to your Excellency s statement." 272 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. As this was a grave, personal matter, touching the character of a brave and patriotic officer of Massachusetts, then at the front with his regiment, and who fell at the head of it, a few months afterwards, bravely fighting, we have thought it proper to copy this correspondence entire. The dead officer lies in Mount Auburn Cemetery. His services and his memory de serve that the defence of Governor Andrew, like the charge of General Butler, should be given without abridgment. Under date of Jan. 6, 1862, Governor Andrew writes to General Butler, - " SIR, At the first hour at my disposal for the purpose, I ac knowledge the receipt of your letter of Jan. 1, in which you state that Colonel Powell T. Wyman, commanding the Sixteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, now stationed at Fortress Monroe, is the person to whom you had reference, when, addressing me under date of Dec. 28, you asserted that I know that seducing a mother, and making a father wifeless and children motherless, i is no objection to a high military commission in Massachusetts. " In answer to your somewhat peremptory interrogatories, ad dressed to me in that letter of Jan. 1, I would state, for your informa tion, that the first knowledge I ever had of Mr. Wyman was through a letter addressed by him to the Adjutant- General of Massachusetts, dated London, England, May 1, 1861, stating that he was a citizen of Boston and a graduate of the West-Point Military Academy, and had served for ten years as an officer of artillery of the United States army, and tendering his services to the Executive of this Common wealth in any military capacity. I am not aware that any acknowledg ment was ever made of this communication. " During the month of June, I received another note from Mr. Wy man, dated at the Parker House, Boston, he having, in the mean while, returned to America. This letter was assigned to a member of my staff, to whom Mr. Wyman was referred for consultation. It was at that time that I first heard that there was said to be a cloud of some sort upon Mr. Wyman s character ; and, having little leisure myself to enter into quasi-judicial investigations as to personal character, I passed over his name in the appointments which I was then making. The nature of the reports against him were not then stated to me ; and, al though I was soon after advised of them, yet there are things stated, in your letter of Jan. 1, as notorious facts, of which it is only through yourself that I have knowledge. CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 273 "Very shortly afterwards, Adam W. Thaxter, Esq., of this city doubtless known to you as one of the most distinguished merchants of Boston, brought the name of Mr. Wyman very urgently to my atten tion, both personally and in a letter, dated June 20, in which he re- quested me to call on himself, if Mr. Wyman should < need an indorser, and stated, that, in his opinion, Mr. Wyman, if appointed a colonel, would do credit to his native State. "And, on July 1, Mr. Thaxter further presented to me a communi cation, in writing, signed by Captain Thomas J. C. Amory, of the Sev enth Infantry, U.S.A., and Captain Lewis H. Marshall, of the Tenth Infantry, U.S.A., both of whom had served in the army with Mr. Wy man, and who were, if I remember, the only United States regular army officers then on duty in this city ; and signed also by Charles G. Greene, Esq., Franklin Haven, Esq., William Dehon, Esq., William Parkman, Esq., Hon. George Lunt, Hon. Benjamin F. Hallett, Henry L. Hallett, Esq., P. Holmes, Esq., Edward F. Bradley, Esq., Joseph L. Henshaw, Esq., Peter Butler, Esq., Thomas C. Amory, Esq., and J. P. Bradlee, Esq., all of these gentlemen of this cjty, who are doubtless known to you by reputation, and with some of whom I cannot doubt that you are personally acquainted, in which communication, these gentlemen requested the appointment of Mr. Wyman as a colo nel, and certified that they believed in him as a gentleman, a man of worth, an accomplished officer, and brave soldier ; and that a regiment under his command would yield to none in the service for discipline, high tone, and efficiency ; and also, that they felt convinced, under all circumstances, he would do honor to his State and to his country. These gentlemen further stated, that they made this request in full knowledge of the existence of the rumors and influences against Mr. Wyman s reputation ; and nevertheless, with such knowledge, they earnestly urged him, as one of those to whom the honor of Massa chusetts may confidently be trusted. " About the same time, Mr. Wyman addressed to me a communica tion in writing, denying the truth of the prejudicial rumors in circula tion against him, and, although admitting that it was true that he had formed a matrimonial connection with a lady who had eloped from her husband by reason of that husband s brutal treatment of her, yet stat ing also that he had not seen the lady for the year preceding, nor for the year after, her elopement. This communication, I find, upon referring to it, amounts also to a denial of the truth of much that is stated by you, in your letter of Jan. 1, as notorious facts, derogatory to Mr. Wyman s character. " Upon the basis of this statement, made by Mr. Wyman, and cou- 18 274 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. trolled by no responsible counter-statement or testimony whatsoever, and upon the formal assurance I received fro*m the numerous gentlemen whom I have mentioned, that he was a good soldier and a good citizen, I did not feel myself justified in rejecting the services of a highly mer itorious and thoroughly educated officer, upon unsubstantial rumors of an alleged moral error, which did not affect his military competency, and more especially at a time when the services of educated officers were so greatly needed for the command of our troops. "I therefore appointed Mr. Wyman to be colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment, an appointment which, under the circumstances stated, commended itself to my judgment, and which I have no reason what soever now to regret, and, under like circumstances, should not hesitate to repeat. " As it was upon the faith of the assurances made to me by Mr. Thaxter and the other gentlemen in their communication of July 1 that the appointment of Colonel Wyman was made. I therefore conceive that your quarrel with this appointment should be with those gentlemen, rather than with myself; and therefore I propose to inclose copies of your correspondence with me, in this connection, to Mr. Thaxter, as rep resenting them ; and I must request you to address to them any future correspondence upon this subject, inasmuch as they are better acquainted than myself with Colonel Wyman, and his character, life, and con nections, which I know chiefly through them. I desire to add, that, in all the intercourse which I have had with Colonel Wyman during the organization of his regiment, I never observed, on his part, the manifestation of any other qualities than those of an accomplished officer ; and I should be very reluctant to give credit to your reproaches against his character, especially in view of the standing of those gen tlemen by whom his character as a gentleman was certified to me. " In conclusion, I would say, that I do not feel that any reason exists, requiring me to enter into such an explanation as the above ; but when an officer of the rank of major-general in the army of the United States volunteers thinks it necessary to diversify his occupations by needless flings at a fellow-officer in the same army, seeking to strike myself through him, a sense of honor and duty, both to the Common wealth and to the gentleman thus struck at, requires me to spare no proper pains to see that justice is fully done." As reference is made, in the above letter, to a letter received by the Adjutant-General from Colonel Wyman, we would say, that our recollection of it is, that it was brought to our office by an old friend of Colonel Wyman, James Oakes, Esq., a CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 275 merchant of this city. The letter had been inclosed in on* which he had received from Colonel Wyman. It was a tender of his services to the Governor of his native State, in any mili tary capacity he might be pleased to place him. Before any action was taken upon the matter, Colonel Wyman arrived in Boston, and reported at the State House. He was a true Union man, and anxiously desired to serve his country. As before stated, he was killed before Richmond, June 30, 1862. No one in command of a regiment of Massachusetts, in so short a time, made himself more beloved by his officers and men, or exhib ited higher military qualities, than Colonel Wyman. He was a modest, quiet, and reserved gentleman. He possessed the qualities of kindness and firmness in a high degree. He was of light frame, of middle age, had a pleasant, thoughtful face, a fine-formed head, and a warm, generous heart. There is not an officer or soldier remaining of the original Sixteenth Regiment who does not speak of him with an affectionate regard, surpass ing ordinary respect ; and many have said, that, if he had lived, he would have commanded the Army of the Potomac before the close of the war. General Butler continued independent recruiting until two regiments of infantry, three companies of cavalry, and a com pany of light artillery, were raised by him in Massachusetts, not withstanding the law save to the Governor the exclusive riii ht to O o 2 organize regiments, and to commission the officers. The con troversy lasted four months. The Governor had given General Butler the Twenty-sixth and the Twenty-eighth Regiments, which was the full proportion of this State, for his expedition. The troops raised by General Butler were sent from the State without commissioned officers, without rolls being deposited in the Adjutant-General s office, and without the knowledge of the Executive ; all of which was against orders, good policy, and statute law. In the mean time, Massachusetts had sent forward to the front eight full regiments, besides many recruits for old regiments. The Governor had written of late frequently to the War Department about General Butler s course, but re ceived no satisfactory answer. On the 21st of December, he enclosed copies of the entire correspondence up to that date to 27(5 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. our Senators in Congress, accompanied by an earnest appeal for them to examine it, and afterwards to present it to the Presi dent. He said, As I do not receive any reply from the officers of the Federal Gov ernment whom I have thus addressed, nor any redress or correction of the evils of which complaint is therein made, I am compelled thus to resort to your official intervention. However humble and unimportant might be the person who holds the place of chief executive magistrate of Massachusetts, the venerable Commonwealth which he serves should be treated with respect." The letter refers to the blood shed by the children of this Commonwealth at Baltimore, at Ball s Bluff, and wherever else they have been called in arms, during the present year, and to the willingness the State has always been to bear her portion of the burdens of the war, and closes with this paragraph : " I am compelled to declare, with great reluctance and regret, that the course of proceeding under Major-General Butler in this Commonwealth seems to have been designed and adapted simply to afford means to persons of bad character to make money unscrupu lously, and to encourage men whose unfitness had excluded them from any appointment by me to the volunteer military service, to hope for such appointment over Massachusetts troops from other authority than that of the Executive of Massachusetts." To this letter Mr. Sumner wrote, Jan. 10, 1862, "I am au thorized by the War Department to say, that, if you will send on your programme with reference to General Butler, it shall be carried out, and the department (of New England) given up. Please let me know your desires. r This was received by the Governor on the 14th ; and he immediately telegraphed, as an answer, "The President has my programme written, replying to liis telegram of last Saturday. My letters should be directly, and not indirectly, answered by the President or Depart ment." The result of the controversy was, that the Department of New England was dissolved. The two regiments raised by General Butler, known as the Eastern and Western Bay-State Regiments, were afterwards designated the Thirtieth and Thirty- first Regiments Massachusetts Volunteers, and the officers were CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 277 selected and commissioned by Governor Andrew ; and, from that time until the end of the war, the War Department, under the Secretaryship of Mr. Stanton, did its business with the States through the Governors of States. Before closing this subject, it is proper to state, that Governor Andrew, about the beginning of November, authorized the Adjutant-General to confer with General Butler in regard to organizing and equipping the Twenty-eighth (Irish) Regiment, which had been set apart as one of the two regiments which the Governor had offered him. At that time, parts of two Irish regiments had been recruiting, one of which was designated the Twenty-ninth, which was encamped at Framingham. It was, however, found expedient to take the men from Framingham, and mass them with the Twenty-eighth, which was in " Camp Cameron," at Cambridge. On the 7th of November, after the consolidation, the Twenty-eighth Regiment had seven hundred and fifteen men. On that day, the Adjutant-General addressed a letter to Major-General Butler, by direction of the Governor, calling his attention to the fact that the men had not been armed, uniformed, or equipped, which General Butler had in formed the Governor he had authority from Washington to do. The regiment had received " no aid or attention " whatever, from his head- quarters. The Governor, therefore, wished to be in formed immediately whether he considered the regiment as part of his command, or whether he did not wish to have it. To which an answer was made, the same day, by Major Strong, that, as the Twenty-eighth Regiment had been thus far recruited by the State, it would be continued to be recruited by the State ; but General Butler would take it as part of his command, if it could be ready by the 1st of December, and would add some recruits to complete it, if he could be permitted to indicate the officers who should command the men they had recruited. This being permitted, General Butler would at once "arm, uniform, and equip the regiment, as his authority re quires him to organize as well ; but he will ask only an advisory power in the organization." The Adjutant-General had a personal interview with Major Strong on the 9th, in which the whole matter was talked over. 278 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. There were, at that time, fifteen parts of companies at " Camp Cameron." After the personal conference with Major Strong, and on the same day, the Adjutant-General wrote to Major Strong, in which he referred to the personal interview, and said, " There are fifteen companies and parts of companies at Camp Cameron. I propose to make ten companies of them, and fill up the ranks of each to the maximum standard ; and I wish to know if Gene ral Butler will furnish men for the purpose. If you prefer, I will mass the men into eight companies, and then have two full companies sent from Camp Chase (Butler s camp) to complete the regiment. Gene ral Butler can advise in regard to the officers. It is important that the regiment be filled immediately, and properly officered. I am author ized to adjust all matters relating to the regiment with General Butler and yourself. ... I will, if you desire it, make out a complete roster ; and you can lay it before General Butler for examination and approval. I would be glad to have him name persons whom he would like to have appointed, if he has any in his mind. His Excellency will leave for New York on Monday evening. I wish to have these matters definitely settled, if possible, before he leaves." Nov. 11. Major Strong wrote, in answer, that " It will be quite satisfactory to make the arrangement proposed, viz., to make eight companies of the fifteen skeleton companies you men tion, and to add two companies from Camp Chase as soon as they are full, with the list of officers accompanying them, to be designated by General Butler, this to be upon the understanding, that the Twenty- eighth Regiment is to be a part of the expeditionary corps soon to sail, and not a portion of the troops to be raised by General Butler, under order of Sept. 10, 1861 ; General Butler desiring to fill up the regiments destined for this purpose as soon as possible, besides those he is re cruiting." Major Strong further stated, that two regiments and two bat teries "will sail the coming week;" also, that the "arrange ment in regard to the Twenty-eighth Regiment is designed to be made wholly independently of the unhappy and unfortunate difference of opinion which has arisen between His Excellency the Governor and General Butler (which the latter much re grets), upon the right of recruitment, on the part of the United States Government, in Massachusetts." He also said, that CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 279 " General Butler would be happy to examine the roster, as pro posed ; " and, if not satisfactory, he would send other recom mendations, as requested. The letter was received by the Adjutant-General on the day on which it was written : and he returned his answer on the same day, as follows : " Yours of date is received, in relation to the Twenty-eighth Regi ment. The fact which I wish to ascertain is this : Will General Butler accept of the Twenty-eighth Regiment ? In your letter, he accepts it, with the following stipulation : On the express understanding, that the Twenty-eighth Regiment is to be a part of the expeditionary corps soon to sail, and not a portion of the troops to be raised by General Butler, under order of Sept. 10, 1861. This acceptance is not satisfactory. If General Butler accepts the Twenty-eighth Regiment for his di vision, it must be as one of the two regiments raised by Massachusetts as her quota of the six which were to be raised for his division in New England ; and I wish to be informed, as soon as possible, whether Gene ral Butler will accept of the Twenty-eighth, with this understanding. The other propositions in your letter are satisfactory." To this, Joseph M. Bell, Esq., acting aide-de-camp to Gene ral Butler, made immediate answer Nov. 11, " If the Governor will authorize two regiments the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth to be organized by General Butler, with a veto power upon General Butler s selection of improper persons as officers, General Butler will accept the Twenty-eighth as one of them. This in answer to a communication of to-day to the Assistant Adjutant- General, who is absent." The following note closed the correspondence : ADJUTANT-GENERAL S OFFICE, BOSTON, Nov. 11, 1861. To JOSEPH M. BELL, Esq., acting Aide-de-camp to Major-General Butler. SIR, Your letter of this date has been received. The proposition is respectfully declined. Your obedient servant, WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General The Twenty-eighth Kegiment consequently never became a part of Major-General Butler s command. When organized, it was sent to South Carolina, and was subsequently transferred to the Army of the Potomac. 280 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. In the foregoing pages, we have endeavored to give an impar tial transcript of the correspondence between the Governor and General Butler, and of the other parties who incidentally took part in it. The original trouble grew out of the unauthorized interference by Secretary Cameron with recruiting in Massachu setts, by giving special permits to outside parties to recruit regi ments here. No one had this right but the Governor of the State ; no one had the right to appoint or to commission offi cers but the Governor. Upon him, and upon him alone, rested the responsibility of selecting proper officers to command our men. It was a responsibility which Governor Andrew had no right, and no wish, to avoid. The wisdom of having the entire control of raising, forming, and officering regiments placed in the hands of the Governors of States, must be apparent to every person who will give the subject a moment s consideration. They alone were responsible for their acts to the people of their several Commonwealths. To recruit men to meet the several calls of the President required in each State a well- arranged plan of operations, with a single will to guide and control it. It admitted of no interference by outside parties. There could be no State within a State. The Governor was the supreme executive officer of the Commonwealth, and there could be "no co-ordinate" power within its limits. He could not divide the responsibilities of his position with another, how ever honorable or distinguished, any more than he could divide the honors of his high office with another. Whenever the State authority was interfered with by the Sec retary of War, or by parties pretending to act under his orders, independent of the Governor of the State, confusion and strife ensued ; out of these attempts grew embarrassing and contra dictory orders, the evil of which is illustrated vividly in this correspondence. By interference, General Sherman lost his original expeditionary command, and Massachusetts the honor of contributing her part of the contingent to complete it. By interfering with the plans of the Governor, and his clearly established rights and responsibilities under the laws, the or ganization and completion of regiments were delayed. It inter posed obstacles by interposing a pretended divided authority CONTROVERSY WITH GENERAL BUTLER. 281 in the State. In the case of General Butler, whatever may be thought of his original authority to recruit six regiments of infantry in New England, it is clear that it was modified, and made to conform to the law of Congress, by subsequent orders of the War Department, that he was to report to the Governor, and the regiments, so far as Massachusetts was concerned in raising them, were to be raised, organized, and officered as the Governor should direct. Two regiments were a liberal por tion for Massachusetts to raise of the six authorized to be raised for his command. The Governor promised the President and Secretary of War to aid in their completion to the ex tent of his ability ; but, having given his promise first to Gen eral Sherman to furnish certain regiments for him, he asked that his promise to General Sherman should be fulfilled before undertaking to recruit new regiments for General Butler. In part fulfilment of this qualified promise, however, he designated the Twenty-sixth Regiment, then nearly completed, and the Twenty-eighth Regiment, when completed, to form the con tingent of Massachusetts for General Butler s command. Not withstanding this, General Butler proceeded to recruit two new regiments of infantry, three new companies of cavalry, and one new company of artillery, in this State. He established a camp in Lowell, and another in Pittsfield. He promised persons commissions, which no one could issue but the Governor ; he appointed recruiting officers, and enlisted men, and, in so doing, wholly ignored the act of Congress, and the orders and au thority of the Governor. The Governor had either to succumb or resist ; to sink the Commander-in-chief of the State and become a mere recruiting officer, to issue commissions to men whom he did not know or respect, or to sustain the whole dig nity of his position as a magistrate, and his honor as a gentle man. Those who knew Governor Andrew can feel no doubt as to the course he would pursue in such an exigency. Without any of the pride which mere place sometimes gives, without any of the arrogance which power sometimes nourishes, without desire of self-aggrandizement or unmerited personal favor, with an entire absence of that " insolence of office " which weak men 282 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE EEBELLION. often show, he was at the same time the proudest, the firmest, the most determined enemy of any thing like mere pretension, come from whatever source it might. He never took a posi tion which he had not first well considered ; and, when his position was taken, nothing but a clear conviction that he was wrong could make him change from it. Though no man cared less for power than he did, no man was more conscientious and scrupu lous in the exercise of it. His authority as Governor he re garded as delegated to him by the people. He held it in trust, to be exercised for their benefit, and to be trampled upon by no man. Hence, what may have appeared to some who have read this correspondence as matters of no moment, and which might have been passed by without objection, the Governor viewed as an indignity to the office he filled, involving principles which could neither be compromised with honor, nor ignored with silence. By pursuing this firm and steady course, he was en abled in the end to preserve inviolate the rights of the State, the dignity of its chief officer, and the demands of public justice. It was these traits of character which made him honored and respected while living, and caused him to be mourned for when dead, even as the children of Israel, when bondmen in a strange land, mourned their captivity, and hung their harps upon the willows which grew by the waters of Babylon. CHAPTER VI. The Campaign of 1862 Meeting of the Legislature Ex-Governor Clifford elected President of the Senate His Speech Alexander H. Bullock elected Speaker of the House Speech of Mr. Bullock Of Caleb Cushing Pro ceedings of the Legislature Abstracts of Military Laws passed Massa chusetts Prisoners in Richmond Clothing sent Letter from Adjutant Pierson Expedition of General Burnside Capture of Roanoke Island Massachusetts Troops first to land Care of the Sick and Wounded Dr. Hitchcock sent on The Wounded in New York Colonel Frank E. Howe Establishment of the New-England Rooms Care of the Sick and Wounded The Army of the Potomac The Wounded at Williamsburg Letters of Colonel Howe Every Assistance given The Agencies of the State for the Care of the Men The Office in Washington Colonel Gardiner Tufts, Mrs. Jennie L. Thomas, Robert C. Carson, William Robinson, appointed Agents Visits of the Adjutant-General, Colonel Ritchie, and Colonel John Q. Adams, to the Front Report to the Governor The Appearance of Washington Reports of Edward S. Rand and Dr. Bowditch First Massa chusetts Cavalry at Hilton Head Our Troops in North Carolina Appoint ment of Allotment Commissioners Their Valuable Services Letters of the Governor Rule for making Appointments Illegal Recruiting Colonel Dudley Thirtieth Regiment Captured Rebel Flags Death and Burial of General Lander Letters of Governor to Secretary of War Secretary of the Navy To the President on Various Subjects Letter to General Burnside Secretary Chase The Retreat of General Banks Great Excite ment Troops sent forward Militia called out The Position of our Regi ments The War in Earnest. AT the close of the year 1861 and the beginning of 1862, Massachusetts had filled every demand made upon her for troops, and most of them had been sent to the front. The Twenty- eighth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Regiments, nearly recruited to the maximum, were yet in camp ; but they were sent forward in January and February, 1862. Massachusetts regiments and batteries were in front of Washington and at Fortress Monroe ; five regiments were at Annapolis, ready to embark in General Burnside s expedition against North Carolina. One regiment and a battery were at Ship Island, in Mississippi, waiting orders from General Butler. In the Army of the Potomac, we were 284 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. the strongest. Gunboats officered and manned by Massachu setts men kept watch and ward on the Southern coast, or carried the flag upon far-off seas. Officers remained here on recruiting service ; and enlistments were made to complete new regiments, and to fill the depleted ranks of those at the seat of war. Wounded officers and soldiers were at home on furlough or dis charged for disability. The "empty sleeve" was seen daily in our streets ; and maimed veterans hobbled up the steps of the State House on crutches, on their return from distant hospitals, to show their honorable discharge papers, and tell in modest words of their toils and dangers. The Legislature met at the State House, on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 1862. Hon. John H. Clifford, of New Bedford, for merly Governor of the State, was chosen President of the Senate, and Stephen N. Gilford, clerk. On taking the chair, Mr. Clifford referred to the present state of the country, to the war which existed, and to the duties which were imposed upon the Legislature. They were then in a new and untried exigency of public affairs, and subject to the solemn and momentous re sponsibilities which attach themselves to every position of public trust. " We should fail, I am sure, to reflect the prevailing sentiment of the people of Massachusetts, and show ourselves unworthy the gen erous confidence of our respective constituents, if we could permit a word of party strife to be uttered within these walls. Whatever may be his professions, he is no true patriot, who, in this season of his coun try s peril, cannot rise to such a height as to lose sight of all those lines of political difference, which, in more peaceful and prosperous times, have divided the people of the Commonwealth, or who is not ready to sacrifice every thing but principle to make and keep them a united people. Already have the gallant sons of Massachusetts, native and adopted, of every class and condition, and holding every variety of opinion upon controverted questions of policy and principle, marched as a band of brothers to the field to uphold the common flag, or to fall in its defence." Hon. Caleb Gushing, of Newburyport, senior member, called the House to order ; in doing which, he made a short address, and referred to his services as a member in years that were past, and said, THE LEGISLATURE OF 1862. 285 " At other times, the wordy warfare of party, the strifes of faction might be tolerated and endured, if not encouraged and applauded. Such is not the present hour. Higher and greater thoughts occupy us now. I confidently believe that you, gentlemen, will prove your selves equal to the emergency ; that you will rise to the height of your duties ; and that, taking the Constitution for your loadstar anji your guide through the troubles of the times, you will dedicate your selves to the single object of contributing, with heart and soul, to uphold, to re-establish, and to perpetuate our sacred and beloved Union. That we resolve and determine to do, with the good help of God." The House then made choice of Hon. Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, Speaker of the House : he received every vote cast. William S. Eobinson, of Maiden, was elected clerk. On taking the chair, Mr. Bullock also referred to the existing war, and to the duty of Massachusetts in regard thereto. " More than thirty thousand of the men of Massachusetts are at this moment far from home, in arms, to preserve the public liberties along the Upper and Lower Potomac, among the islands and deltas of the Gulf, or wherever else they have been called to follow that imperilled but still radiant flag." He closed with these words : " In the service of the State at all times, but especially at the present, the least of duties is a part of the impressive whole." On Friday, Jan. 3, the two branches met in convention to administer the oath of office to the Governor and Lieutenant- Governor elect, and to listen to the annual address. The Governor, in his address, made a broad survey of the military field of observation, and the part which Massachusetts had taken in the war during the year preceding. The amount of money expended by the State, for war purposes, was $3,384,- 649.88, of which there had been reimbursed, by the United States, the sum of $987,263.54; leaving an unpaid balance of about $2,500,000. This was exclusive of the amount paid by the several cities and towns of the Commonwealth for the sup port of the families of soldiers, under the act passed at the extra session of 1861, which amounted, in the aggregate, to about $250,000, which was to be reimbursed from the treasury of 28 G MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. the State, and raised by direct taxation upon the property in the Commonwealth. Upwards of half a million of dollars had been expended in the purchase of Enfield rifles, and about twenty-four thousand dollars for English infantry equipments. Five thousand more Enfield rifles had been contracted for in England ; but the English Government had placed an interdict against the export of arms and munitions of war to this country, which prevented, for a time, the completion of the contract. The Governor also referred, at considerable length, to the coast defences of Massachusetts, and the exertions which he had made to have them placed in proper condition. Xext to the harbor defences of Boston in importance was the harbor of Provincetown, at the end of Cape Cod, which was accessible in all weathers without a pilot, with excellent an chorage, in which whole navies might ride in safety. It was best adapted to be the base of naval operations. It was utterly undefended, and could easily be taken from us by the enemy. The Governor, in referring to other matters, not of a military character, speaks of the national cause ; and as the result of the war, which is but the revolt of slavery, he regards its ulti mate extinction as inevitable. "Yet I mean, as I have done since the beginning of secession, to continue to school myself to silence ; nor can I suspect that my opinions can be miscon ceived ; nor do I believe that the faith of Massachusetts can be mistaken or misinterpreted." The only question which he could entertain is what to do, and, when that was answered, is what next to do; "for by deeds, and not by words, is this people to accomplish their salva tion." The great rebellion was to be put down, and its pro moters crushed beneath the ruins of their own ambition ; and now, he says, " When the beauty of their Israel has been slain in our high places, and when her Lee and Revere, Rockwood and Bowman, lie in felon s cells, and hundreds of her sons wear out their hearts in sad captivity, victims of their valor, and devotion to our Union, one irre pressible impulse moves our people, and inspires our people in the field ; one prayer to see the day when an army of loyal Americans shall hammer at the doors of their prison-houses, and with both hands PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE. 287 pledged to the solemn task of war, and with neither hand averted to uphold the institution which is the cause of all this woe ; and that their bow shall not turn back, and their sword return not empty, until their grand deliverance shall be completed." He speaks in fitting words of praise of the action of the Legis lature of Maryland, in appropriating money to relieve the suffering condition of the widows and orphans of the Massa chusetts men killed by the mob in Baltimore on the 19th day of April, and calls it r? an oasis in all the resentment of the hour." The address concludes as follows: "Inspired by trust in God, an immortal hate of wrong, let us consecrate to-day every personal aspiration, every private hope, in one united apostrophe to our country and her cause, r Where thou goest, I will go ; and where tbou lodgest, I will lodge ; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God : where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. " The Governor the same day transmitted to the Legislature a letter from Secretary Seward, urging that expenditures be made by the State for the defence of its coast, which he had no doubt that Congress would sanction and reimburse ; also, a letter, dated Dec. 20, from Brigadier-General Joseph C. Totten, Engineer Department, L^.S. A., giving a detailed state ment of the different surveys made in time past of the defences on the coast of Massachusetts ; also, a letter addressed to His Excellency by Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, upon popu lar military instruction, in which a review was given of the dif ferent systems in Europe, and recommending that military art be encouraged and taught in some of our public schools, and higher seminaries of learning. Jan. 6. In the House. Mr. Gushing, of Newburyport, introduced an order that the Committee on the Militia con sider the expediency of making provision for the families of citizens of the State engaged in the naval service of the Linked States during the existing war, similar to that made for those in the land service. The order was referred. Jan. 7. In the House. On motion of Mr. Maglathlin, of Duxbury, the Committee on the Militia were instructed to consider the expediency of the State paying the expenditures 288 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. made by the cities and towns of the Commonwealth for uni forming and drilling volunteers during the present war. Mr. Heard, of Clinton, offered an order, which was referred to the Committee on Federal Relations, that the Governor be requested to communicate with the President of the United States in regard to obtaining the release of Colonel Lee and Major Revere of the Twentieth Regiment, and of Captains Rockwood and Bowman of the Fifteenth Regiment, who are confined as hostages, in a felon s cell in Richmond, for cap tured rebel privateersmen. Jan. 8. In the Senate. Mr. Stockwell, of Suffolk, from the Committee on Printing, reported in favor of printing two thousand extra copies of the Adjutant-General s Report. In the House. Mr. Brown, of Taunton, introduced an order directing the Committee on the Militia to consider the expediency of amending the law of 1861, so that each city and town shall provide for the support of persons who may be dependent on volunteers of this State mustered into the United- States service, and that each city and town shall be reimbursed from the State treasury for the money so expended. Jan. 9. In the House. On motion of Mr. Stanwood, of Essex, the Committee on the Militia were instructed to report an amendment to the State-aid law, so as to extend its provisions to the families of Massachusetts soldiers who have enlisted in regiments belonging to other States. Jan. 10. In the House. Mr. Carver, of Newburyport, introduced an order instructing the Committee on the Mi litia to inquire what amount of money was paid to the three months volunteers, while in the service of the State and before being mustered into the service of the United States, and what amount may now be due them for commutation pay. Jan. 13. In the Senate. A bill was reported from the Committee on the Militia, granting State aid to the families of the volunteers in the regiments raised in this State by General Butler. An attempt was made to suspend the rules and pass the bill through its several readings, but did not prevail. In the House. On motion of Mr. Davis, of Plymouth, it PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE. 289 was ordered, that the Governor be requested to communicate to the House the correspondence relating to the recruiting of troops in this Commonwealth by General Butler. Jan. 14. In the Senate. The bill to give aid to the families of volunteers recruited in this State by General Butler was passed to be engrossed. In the House. Mr. Roberts, of Lakeville, offered an order, directing the Committee on the Militia to consider the expediency of making certain amendments to the State-aid law of 1861. The Senate bill to give aid to families, &c., was passed through its various stages, under a suspension of the rules. Jan. 17. In the Senate. On motion of Mr. Northend, of Essex, the Committee on Printing were directed to con sider the expediency of printing three thousand extra copies of the Adjutant-General s Report, in addition to those already ordered. In the House. On motion of Mr. Manning, of Reading, it was ordered, that the Committee on the Militia consider the expediency of amending the militia law, so as to make all the enrolled militia do military duty. Jan. 20. In the House. On motion of Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, it was ordered, that the Committee on the Militia inquire whether the blankets, which were contributed by the people of the State to relieve the necessities of the volunteers in the service, were delivered to the soldiers as gifts, or were charged to them at the market price. Mr. Chandler, of Boston, moved that the same committee consider the expediency of authorizing the Governor to enter into contracts immediately for the manufacture of heavy ord nance for the coast defences of Massachusetts, and also for instituting a camp of instruction for artillery. Jan. 23. In the Senate. A message was received from the Governor, returning the bill to grant State aid to the families of volunteers recruited by General Butler, with his reasons for not signing it. The Governor was in favor of granting the aid as contemplated ; but the bill was imperfectly 19 290 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. drawn. He pointed out the errors which it contained. The message was laid upon the table. In the House. Mr. Burbank, of Boston, from the Com mittee on the Militia, reported that the troops in the three months service had been paid by the Commonwealth, from the time of being ordered out by the Governor until mustered into the United-States service, $9,580.63. There was nothing more due them, and nothing more had been claimed by them. On motion of Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, the Committee on the Militia was requested to consider the expediency of requiring the State Treasurer, or some suitable person, to act as allotment commissioner for such sums as the soldiers in the field may allot of their pay for themselves or families. Jan. 30. In the House. A message was received from the Governor, calling the attention of the Legislature to the illegal enlistment of men in Massachusetts by persons coming from other States. Laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. Jan. 31. In the House. Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, re ported a resolve appropriating $500,000 for the manufacture of ordnance for coast defences. Feb. 3. In the House. The above resolve was debated, and passed to a third reading by a unanimous vote. Feb. 7. Mr. Burbank, of Boston, from the Committee on the Militia, reported a bill concerning the custody and distribu tion of funds of the Massachusetts volunteers. On motion of Mr. Curtis, of Roxbury, it was ordered, that the Committee on the Militia be authorized to send for persons and papers on the matter of blankets and other articles contrib uted for the use of the soldiers. Feb. 11. In the Senate. The veto message of the Gov ernor, of the bill granting State aid to the families of volunteers recruited by General Butler, came up by assignment. The Governor had informed the Militia Committee, that, since the message was sent in, the Secretary of War had placed these troops to the credit of Massachusetts, and under the authority of the Governor, the same as other regiments ; and therefore no further legislation was necessary, as they would come within the PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE. 291 provision of the law of 1861. The whole subject was then laid upon the table. Feb. 15. In the Senate. Mr. Thompson, of Hampden, from the Committee on the Militia, submitted a report upon all the orders which had been referred to them concerning State aid to soldiers families. The report was accompanied by a bill, which provided that State aid should be paid to the families of Massachusetts soldiers who were in the New-York regiments, and whose families resided in this State. It also provided that the same should be paid to the families of Massachusetts men who should thereafter enlist in the navy. Feb. 20. In the House. Mr. Chandler, of Boston, from the Committee on Federal Relations, to whom was referred the resolve requesting the Governor to communicate with the Pres ident in favor of an exchange of prisoners, recommended that the resolve ought to pass. Mr. Chandler made a long and able report in favor of the object sought for in the resolve, which was ordered to be printed. Feb. 26. In the Senate. A long debate ensued upon the bill granting State aid to families of volunteers. That part of it relating to families of men in the navy was stricken out. Pending the consideration of other amendments, the Senate adjourned. March 1. In the Senate. The bill concerning State aid, &c., was amended, and passed to be engrossed. March 3. In the Senate. Mr. Northend, of Essex, an nounced the death of Brigadier-General Frederick W. Lander, and delivered a short but touching eulogy upon his life and character. He also introduced a joint resolution in honor of the deceased, which was passed unanimously. March 5. In the House. A message was received from the Governor concerning three rebel flags, which had been cap tured by the Massachusetts regiments in the battle at Roanoke Island, N.C. A resolution was adopted to have the flags placed in the House of Representatives during the remainder of the session. Patriotic speeches were made by Mr. Field, of Stock- bridge, and by the Speaker of the House, Colonel Bullock. March 6. In the House. The Senate bill granting State 292 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. aid to the families of volunteers was discussed during the greater part of the day, and was passed to a third reading, yeas 100, nays 73. Nothing further of material interest to the volunteers, or in relation to the war, was considered during the session. The acts passed by the extra session the year before left little more to be done for the soldiers. The session continued until the 30th of May, when both Houses were prorogued, having passed 226 acts and 117 resolves. Among the laws passed by the Legislature at this session was one declaring that the term of enlistment of a person in the military or naval service shall not be taken as part of the period limited for the prosecution of actions of such persons, and that, if defaulted, he may sue out a writ of review, and that, when absent, the court may continue or suspend the suit ; also, a resolve authorizing the Governor to build one or more iron clad Monitors for coast defences ; also, authorizing the Treasurer to receive and distribute moneys remitted by Massachusetts vol unteers, and to notify the treasurer of the town in which the family of the soldier resides, who was to notify the party to whom the money was due, and to pay the same free of charge. All such money was exempt from attachment, by trustee process or otherwise. If the money remained in the State treasury over thirty days, interest was to be allowed. A resolve was passed appropriating five hundred and fifty dollars to reimburse expen ditures made for the relief of the Massachusetts prisoners of war at Richmond and elsewhere ; also, a resolve authorizing the Governor to take measures for the removal of the sick and wounded soldiers of Massachusetts to their homes, the expenses of which were to be paid from the treasury of the State ; also, a resolve authorizing the Governor to arrange for the reception and treatment in State hospitals of such of our wounded and sick seamen and soldiers as they can accommodate, to be paid for by the State ; also, an act authorizing towns to raise and appropri ate money for the aid of the families of the soldiers, not to exceed one dollar a week for the wife, and one dollar a week for each child and parent, provided that the whole sum shall not OUR PRISONERS AT RICHMOND. 293 exceed twelve dollars per month for all the persons named, the money thus expended to be annually reimbursed to the cities and towns from the treasury of the State ; also, a resolve thanking Adeline Tyler, of Baltimore, for the kind, humane, and Christian services rendered by her to our soldiers who were wounded in Baltimore, April 19, 1861 ; also, resolves acknowl edging the liberal appropriation of the State of Maryland for the relief of the wounded, and to the families of the killed, of the Sixth Regiment in Baltimore, on that memorable day. The clothing and blankets forwarded to Richmond for the comfort of the Massachusetts prisoners confined there was con tained in thirty-six cases. Lieutenant Charles L. Peirson, adjutant of the Twentieth Regiment, was one of the prisoners at Richmond. He was permitted by the rebel authorities to receive and distribute the articles. In a letter addressed by him to the Quartermaster-General of Massachusetts, dated Richmond, he says, " I have distributed the articles, and find the invoice correct. I find the number of prisoners to be nearly four hundred. By strict economy in the distribution, they are all, with hardly an exception, completely clothed. There are, however, some sailors of the crew of the Massa chusetts who are badly off. I hope soon to see them provided for. I have sent part of the clothing forward to those Massachusetts soldiers who are in New Orleans and Tuscaloosa. One hundred and seventy- five, including some of the Fifteenth arid Twentieth men, are to be sent to Salisbury, N.C., to-morrow; and the remainder will follow in a short time. Mr. Faulkner called upon me yesterday, and assured me that the rebel privateers in New York were much better cared for than Colonel Lee and his associates in Henrico County jail, and promised to use his influence to render their condition more comfortable. I hope soon to represent Massachusetts under the stars and stripes." The military expedition under General Burnside, to invade North Carolina, commenced embarking on board transports at Annapolis, on the fifth day of January, 1862, and sailed from that port on the ninth and tenth. The military force was divided into three brigades, of five regiments each. One- third of the whole force was from Massachusetts ; comprising the Twenty-first, in the Second Brigade, commanded by Gen- 294 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. eral Jesse L. Reno, and the Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-seventh Regiments, in the First Bri gade, commanded by Brigadier-General John G. Foster. The most intense interest was felt in Massachusetts for the safety and success of this expedition. The report reached Boston, on the twenty- third day of January, that shipwreck and disaster had befallen the fleet, which gave pain to many hearts. The report, however, proved groundless, although the ships had encountered a succession of severe storms for nearly two weeks the ships were at sea ; great difficulty was encountered in cross ing the bar at Cape Hatteras, which was at length successfully surmounted. When the fleet came to anchor off Roanoke Island, an escaped slave came on board the ship to General Burnside, with whom he had a long interview, and gave much valuable information in regard to the best place to land, and the force of the enemy on the island. The troops disembarked on the seventh day of February. A detachment of General Foster s Brigade, and the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, was the first regiment to land and invade the soil of North Carolina. The capture of the island, the bravery exhibited by the troops, and the large number of prisoners taken from the rebels, made it one of the most successful and brilliant exploits, up to that time, of the war. The Massachusetts regi ments were conspicuous for their bravery and good conduct, and captured three rebel regimental colors. On the reception of the news of Burnside s success, great joy was felt throughout the Commmon wealth, although many homes were made desolate by the death of members who had fought, and won the victory. The news of the battle reached Massachusetts on the fifteenth day of February ; the battle having been fought on the eighth. The Legislature was in session ; and a number of the members requested the Governor to send a special agent to the island to take care of the wounded. He at once selected, with great judgment, Hon. Alfred Hitchcock, of Fitchburg, a member of the Executive Council, and one of the most experienced and skilful surgeons in the State. The doctor reached the island in the quickest possible time, where his services as a surgeon were put in immediate requisition. He remained there RETURN OF SICK AND WOUNDED. 295 several weeks, and assisted in preparing the convalescents for transportation to New England. On the seventh day of March, one hundred and twenty-five sick and wounded soldiers were placed on board a steam transport, by order of General Burnside ; and Dr. Hitchcock was placed in charge of them, with full power to provide for their wants, and procure transportation to their several homes. They reached Baltimore on the evening of the 9th of March. On arriving at New York, the wounded soldiers were welcomed by Colonel Frank E. Howe, our Massachusetts agent, and amply supplied with whatever was necessary for their wants. The Massachusetts men, seventy-one in number, were at once forwarded by rail, and reached their homes or hospitals before the thirteenth day of March. At the New- York and New- Haven depot, in New- York City, a cruel and unjustifiable detention occurred in the embarkation of these wounded men, which elicited some very sharp criticisms in the loyal papers of that day, and in letters of Dr. Hitchcock and Colonel Frank E. Howe to Governor Andrew. Colonel Howe writes to the Governor, from New York, March 11, "Received telegram from Dr. Hitchcock at two o clock at night, got up immediately, did all I could for him and his poor men. Dr. Hitchcock is a remarkable man. It was very rough for him and all his men. I have spent a good many dollars to-day." Also telegraphs the Governor the same day, "Dr. Hitchcock leaves with his men in half-past- three-o clock train. They will need litters, carriages, and re freshments." During the month of March, a large number of other sick and wounded soldiers were forwarded by General Burnside. March 25, Colonel Howe telegraphs to the Governor, "One hundred wounded men from Burnside left Baltimore this morning, mostly Massachusetts men. Shall take good care of them." Same day, he writes to the Governor, " Dr. Upham has just arrived, with thirty Massachusetts men, Major Stevenson, Lieu tenant Nichols, Lieutenant Sargent, Sergeant Perkins, and others. We shall get them off to-morrow morning by the eight- o clock train. A hundred and fifty men, who left Baltimore 296 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLIOX. this morning, have not vet arrived." On the fourth day of April, Surgeon-General Dale made a report to the Governor, in which he submitted a plan of forwarding the sick and wounded men of the Massachusetts regiments, which would obviate much of the confusion and delay heretofore experienced. He says that Colonel Howe had leased in New York a large, commodi ous, and well-ventilated store, on Broadway, for the accom modation of the returning sick and wounded, and that Dr. Satterlee, the army purveyor stationed there, had provided them with one hundred and fifty iron bedsteads, with bed-sacks, blankets, sheets, and pillow-cases. He would also furnish medicines, dressings, and every thing necessary for the comfort of the sick and wounded in this temporary building. Colonel Eaton, U.S.A., would furnish subsistence, and Colonel Tomp- kins, United-States Quartermaster, would furnish transportation. Nothing is wanted of the State, except an ambulance wagon. Colonel Howe writes, April 6, "The store is nearly ready. Every thing is in it but baths and cooking ranges, and those I am at work on day and night, and am ready to take in and care for the wounded soldiers from any and every where. Plenty of money, heaps of hearts ready and determined. I have got all the United States officials with us, and as many of the surgeons as we want. The community is with us, and we feel sure that we have the Almighty with us." About the middle of March, General McClellan began his movement against Richmond, by a change of base from before Washington to the James River. It was not until the middle of April that the Army of the Potomac was ready to advance. Yorktovvn was captured April 26 ; and the battle of Williams- burg was fought May 5, in which Hooker s brigade bore a conspicuous part, and the Massachusetts First and Eleventh Regiments suffered severely. From that time until the retreat of McClellan, in August, the Army of the Potomac stood with its face towards the rebel capital, every foot of its onward march contested by the rebels, and almost every mile of its advance a battle-field. Many of the Massachusetts dead were embalmed, and sent home to their relatives for burial by the graves of their kindred. Many of COLONEL HOWE IN NEW YORK. 297 the wounded were forwarded to the North ; the military hospi tals at Washington, Fortress Monroe, and elsewhere being filled to repletion. On the 13th of May, the first instalment of the wounded at William sburg reached New York. Colonel Howe on that day telegraphs to the Governor, "I am com pelled to send off thirty-three wounded to-night, by eight-o clock train, all able to walk, all from Williamsburg. Twenty-six of them belong in Boston. The transport Daniel Webster in, with three hundred more." Next day, May 14, he tele graphs, "I send, by eight-o clock train, six bully Chelsea boys, of the First Regiment, in care of a Councilman, John Buck, also five more brave fellows. All will have to ride from the depot. We are with the sick and wounded day and night, ladies and all. Have one hundred at rooms, and one hundred and fifty coming in this morning. Not one complains." Every assistance in the power of the Governor, the Surgeon-General, and other State officers, was rendered the brave men, upon their arrival in Boston. Among the many despatches received at this time is one dated New York, May 18, to the Governor: "Have sent forty-eight men, Twenty-third Regiment, by five-o clock train, to Boston, from Burnside s Division, all able to travel." This, on being referred to Surgeon-General Dale, was returned to the Governor, with this characteristic indorsement : " The men came four hours ago ; and I am sorry I was not in formed of it, though none of them required medical assistance, probably ; yet it is better to be there when they arrive. It looks more friendly, and as if the State was solicitous about them. No harm done now, however." From this period until the end of the war, the number of our sick and wounded soldiers increased ; and the duties of the seve ral State agents were rendered more important and arduous. The Governor was fortunate in the selection of gentlemen to fill these places, and discharge these duties. The most important of these agencies was the one established in Washington, of which Colonel Gardiner Tufts, of Lynn, was placed in charge. A brief sketch of its origin and subsequent growth deserves a place in this volume, and may as well be given now as here after. 298 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. When our Sixth Regiment reached Washington, April 19, 1861, it was ordered to the Capitol, and quartered in the Senate wing. No provision had been made for the wounded ; but by advice of Major McDowell, U.S.A., they were taken in car riages by the Massachusetts residents, who met the regiment at the depot, to the Providence Hospital. This institution is under the direction of the Sisters of Charity. Here the first wounded in the war were kindly and tenderly cared for. On the same evening, a meeting of the Massachusetts residents was held, to organize a society to look out for the wants of the Massachu setts soldiers. We have before us the original copy of the con stitution which was adopted, with the names of the original members, who signed it. The preamble is in these words : " The undersigned, now or formerly citizens of Massachusetts, in order to secure, by organization and mutual co-operation, proper care for the wounded and disabled, and decent interment for the dead, of the Massachusetts troops which are now or may be on duty in this vicinity, do form ourselves into a society, to be called the Massachu setts Association." This preamble expresses, in clear language, the object of the association. This was the first organization of the kind formed in the war. The names of the original signers were Ben. Perley Poore, George W. McClellan, Charles F. Macdonald, Arthur W. Fletcher, Arnold Burgess Johnson, Ira Murdock, William Stimpson, I. O. Wilson, Nathan S. Lincoln, Edward Shaw, Henry O. Brigham, H. H. Pangborn, J. Wesley Jones, Z. K. Pangborn, Judson S. Brown, B. Fanuel Craig, B. W. Perkins. The meeting for the choice of officers was held in the old Senate Chamber, in the Capitol. George W. McClellan, Sec ond Assistant Postmaster-General, was elected president ; Z. K. Pangborn, vice-president ; Charles F. Macdonald, surgeon and treasurer ; and A. B. Johnson, secretary. This society appointed Miss Lander, of Salem, to distribute proper articles for the sick and wounded. Before the end of April, it was in successful operation. Upon the arrival of our Eighth Regiment at Wash ington, Lieutenant Herrick, of the Beverly company, whose foot was severely wounded by the accidental discharge of a mus- STATE AGENT AT WASHINGTON. 299 ket in the rotunda of the Capitol, was taken to the supreme- court room, where his foot was amputated. It was then de cided to fit up the room as a field hospital ; and it became the first army hospital established in the Rebellion. Its beds were soon all occupied ; and the care of sick and wounded devolved upon the members of the association, who were promptly sec onded by the Massachusetts ladies then in Washington. Miss Lander, of Salem, sister of the late General Frederick W. Lander, was a leader in these good works. She " headed the advance-guard of that corps of mercy." This volunteer associa tion fulfilled its mission. As the war went on, many of the most active members entered the army and navy. The de mands for hospital accommodations now required the action of the Government, and an organized system. In the summer of 1862, when the sick and wounded were returned in great num bers from the peninsula of Virginia, the Governor decided to appoint Gardiner Tufts the agent for Massachusetts in Wash ington ; and, on the 18th of July, Mr. Tufts was commissioned for that purpose. His instructions were prepared at the State House, and for warded to him. He was to prepare a weekly report of the dis abled Massachusetts soldiers in Washington, with the company and regiment to which they belonged. As far as practicable, he was to visit the hospital in person, and supply all proper wants of our men. He was to communicate with the families of the patients, stating their wants, and how the needed sup plies could be forwarded. He was to have an oversight of the burial of the dead, and, when requested by their friends, to have the bodies forwarded, at the expense of the parties re questing it. He was to aid the soldiers with money in return ing home, if they had not sufficient for their wants themselves. The instructions were very comprehensive, and drawn with marked ability. They covered every service which an agent could do, or a soldier require. Mr. Tufts entered upon his duties July 28, 1862. There were, at that time, forty-four army hospitals in the District of Columbia, Fairfax, and Falls Church, Va. The battles of Cedar Mountain, second Bull Run, Chantilly, and Centreville, 300 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLIOX. soon after increased the sick and wounded to sixty hospitals, which were filled. The first business of the agent was to ascer tain the number of Massachusetts soldiers among the sick and wounded, also their condition, the regiments to which they be longed, and what assistance they required. Nearly five hun dred of our men were in these hospitals ; and the whole number upon the books of the agency, as having been in the hospitals in that department, during the war, was seventeen thousand four hundred and eighty-eight, of which seven hundred and thirty-six died. Soon after the appointment of Mr. Tufts, an other society, composed of Massachusetts men, living in the district, was organized, under the name of the " Massachusetts Soldiers Relief Association," the members of which visited the hospitals regularly, and ascertained the name and condition of every Massachusetts soldier, and relieved his wants. This organization ceased some time in 1863 ; and the labor which the members had performed devolved upon the State agent, who was empowered to employ persons to visit the soldiers, for which they were paid by the Commonwealth. By systematic effort, the agent, during the entire war, was enabled to ascertain the exact condition of every patient belonging to the State, and to have a perfect record in his office. The greatest number of persons employed at any one time was eighteen. This was in December, 1864. All accessible battle-fields were visited by the agent, a knowledge of our wounded obtained, and assist ance rendered. In May, 1864, when General Grant began his memorable advance toward Richmond from the Rapidan, a field- agency was established, following the army, which continued in successful operation until the end of the war. During the general exchange of prisoners, which began in December, 1864, a force of the agency was maintained at Annapolis, Md., and information of great value obtained in regard to our men who had suffered and who had died in rebel prisons, and much needed assistance was rendered. Up to Jan. 1, 1867, over twenty-five thousand letters had been written at the agency at Washington, which covered twenty thousand pages of letterpress. During the same period, about five hundred and sixty thousand dollars had STATE AGENTS AT PHILADELPHIA AND BALTIMORE. 301 been collected from the Government for soldiers or their heirs without charge. During this period, the total amount of money transactions of the agency was $721,722.87. The total num ber of names of Massachusetts soldiers invalided during the war at the agency was 36,151, the names of whom had, from time to time, been reported by Mr. Tufts to the State authorities. Many more interesting facts connected with the agency might be given ; but those already stated are suf ficient to show its importance, and to make manifest the ar duous and faithful labors of the agent, in grateful recognition of which the Governor appointed Mr. Tufts an assistant adju tant-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. The entire cost of the agency to the Commonwealth was thirty-five thousand dollars. We cannot close this brief sketch without expressing our acknowledgments to Colonel Tufts, for the services rendered by him to the sick and wounded soldiers of the Commonwealth ; and also to Mrs. Jennie L. Thomas, of Dedham, who was appointed in October, 1862, to assist Colonel Tufts in his humane labors, and whose devotion to the cause and kindness to the worn and weary of Massachusetts soldiers, suffering from honorable wounds or from fevers engendered by exposure in the Wilderness of Virginia, the morasses of the Carolinas, and the swamps of Mississippi and Louisiana will never be forgotten by them. Agencies were also formed in Baltimore and Philadelphia. William Robinson was appointed to take charge of the first named, and Robert C. Carson of the last. Mr. Robinson had been kind to our soldiers who were wounded on the 19th of April; and Mr. Carson had been distinguished for his attention to our men on their way to the front, and on their return, while in Philadelphia. Mr. Robinson died before the close of the war; Mr. Carson was appointed assistant quar termaster-general, and commissioned by the Governor lieu tenant-colonel. These two agencies were of much assistance to the State authorities, and of material service in many ways, especially as useful auxiliaries to the two great agencies in New York and Washington, at the heads of which were Colonel Howe and Colonel Tufts. 302 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. In addition to the agencies established by the Governor to guard the rights and protect the suffering soldiers of Massachu setts, members of his staff, at various times, were sent to the front to look after them, to report their condition, and ascertain if any thing could be done by the State to render them more comfortable. The Governor also frequently visited the Massa chusetts regiments, and made himself personally acquainted with their condition. During the year 1862, which was one of much disaster and suffering, the Adjutant-General, Colonel Ritchie, Colonel John Q. Adams, and Dr. Bowditch, were sent to the front and visited our men, and reported to the Gov ernor all matters of interest in relation to them. An abstract of these reports we now present. The Adjutant-General left Boston on the 21st of January. He remained in New York one day, and visited the Twenty- eighth Regiment, which was in the old fort on Governor s Island, New-York Harbor. The cold and gloomy casemates, in which they were quartered, and the badly provided commis sariat, caused much suffering and discontent among the men. He hurried on to Washington that night, and the next morning, accompanied by Senator Wilson, called at the War Department, and had an interview with Adjutant-General Thomas, and ac quainted him Avith the condition of the regiment. The latter promised to lay the subject before the Secretary of War imme diately. The Adjutant- General says, " I waited three days be fore I could see him again ; and it was not until I received your Excellency s letter, inclosing a copy of a letter from Captain Barrett complaining of the treatment of this regiment, that I was enabled, with Senator Wilson s assistance, to have action taken by the A\ r ar Department. Secretary Stanton issued orders immediately, by telegraph, to the commander of the fort and to the colonel of the regiment, which I subsequently ascer tained were of great service in obtaining the necessary comforts for the men. On my return to New York, a fortnight after, I found the regiment in good condition." The Twenty-eighth sailed, on the 16th of February, from New York, to join General Sherman at Port Royal, S.C. The Fifth Battery was encamped on Capitol Hill, and had VISIT TO THE ARMY. 303 been assigned to General Franklin s division. The officers had preferred to be put in General Fitz John Porter s division, as he had many Massachusetts regiments in his command. This he effected with the aid of Messrs. Elliot and Gooch, members of Congress. He next visited the camps of the Seventh and Tenth Regiments at Brightwood, about six miles from Wash ington. He says, "Although the weather had been bad, and the roads were in a condition hardly conceivable by a New- Englander, I found the officers and men in good health and excellent condition. There was but one man sick in the Sev enth, and the Tenth had not a single person in the hospital. The men lived in comfortable log huts, which they had built themselves, and were quite well satisfied with their quarters. After spending some pleasant hours with the officers, and making an inspection of the men s quarters, I returned to Washington, much pleased with the day s labors." The journey was made on horseback ; and he was accompanied by Captain Dudley, U.S.A., then stationed in Washington, but who was shortly after appointed by the Governor colonel of the Thirtieth Regi ment ; and by Major Fletcher, United-States paymaster. The next two days, he remained in Washington, transacting business at the War Department, arid endeavoring to secure the accept ance of Maxwell s company of sharpshooters, but failed to accomplish it. The report then proceeds : " Having obtained a pass from General McClellan, I proceeded to the Virginia side to visit the Massachusetts troops beyond the Poto mac. I passed over the Long Bridge about nine o clock, and was surprised at the number of wagons, equestrians, and pedestrians, moving through the mud into Virginia. At the end of the Long Bridge is Fort Runyon, garrisoned by a company of the Massachu setts Fourteenth [shortly afterwards changed to the First Heavy Artillery]. The other companies of this command are near, at Forts Albany and Hamilton ; the main body being at Fort Albany, the headquarters of Colonel Green." Here he spent an hour, and then rode on to visit the Ninth, Eighteenth, and Twenty-second Regiments, and the Third and Fourth Batteries in General Porter s division. The roads were shocking. He stopped at General Blenker s headquarters, 304 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. which were in what had formerly been a cross-roads tavern. He was kindly received, and was introduced to a number of the staff officers. They were all foreigners, among whom was Prince Salm-Salm, who has since become famous for his ex ploits in Mexico, under the late Emperor. Blenker s brigade was composed almost entirely of German regiments. The Massachusetts regiments named above were encamped near Hall s Hill. The camps of many of the regiments were decorated with evergreens ; beautiful arches, made of pines and cedars, adorned the company streets. On a large, open field, between the German and the Massachusetts camps, he witnessed a spendid sham-fight, in which upwards of five thousand men, of all arms of the service, took part. After making a pleasant call at the headquarters of the Eighteenth and Twenty-second Regiments, where he found the men in good health, and supplied with every necessary for camp life, he passed on over Hall s Hill and Minor s Farm, through fields made desolate by war, to the camp of the Ninth Regiment, stationed within a mile of Fall s Church, which was plainly in sight, though it was within the rebel lines, where pickets were plainly visible. "Between Hall s Hill and the camp of the Ninth is a large field, where a skirmish had taken place some months before. The graves of the men who had fallen, and the skeletons of dead horses, half buried, mark the spot." He found Colonel Cass in his tent, and received from him a warm and hearty welcome. The regiment was full, and not a sick man among them. General Morrell, who commanded the Brigade, came over to Colonel Cass s quarters in the evening, and stopped several hours. " That night I slept under canvas ; and, although it rained inces santly, not a drop came through. The next morning, I saw the regi ment in line ; and, notwithstanding the snow and rain which continued to fall, the ranks were full. I saw most of the officers, and passed many pleasant hours with this regiment. On my return, Colonel Cass accompanied me as far as Fort Albany. On our way, we called on Major-General Porter, and arranged with him about receiving our Sixth Battery. We also called at the headquarters of Brigadier- General Martindale, but he was absent ; but I was glad to find, in a GENERAL SCHOULER S REPORT. 305 tent near by, our old friend Dr. Lyman ; also, Captain Batchelder, late of the Twenty-second Regiment, now on Martindale s staff. We then proceeded over fields of fallen timber, and across ravines, for about four miles, to Fort Cass, which was constructed last summer by the Ninth, and named in honor of their colonel. After warm ing ourselves and drying our clothes, we started across the country towards Fort Albany, passing through several camps ; among them, that of the Nineteenth Indiana, commanded by an old veteran friend of mine, Colonel Meredith. At Fort Albany, we parted with Colonel Cass ; he returning to his regiment, and we to Washington, and reached our hotel about six o clock." We never saw Colonel Cass in life again. Pie was mortally wounded before Richmond, and died July 12, 1862. The report continues, " I had been two days on horseback, through a continued storm of rain and snow, with mud up to the stirrups part of the way ; and yet I never had a more delightful journey." Two more days were passed in Washington, transacting busi ness at the War Office. On the third day, accompanied by Colonel Coffin, of Newburyport, went on board a steamer, and were taken to Budd s Ferry, about fifty miles down the Potomac, on the Maryland side. Here were the First and the Eleventh Regiments, which formed part of General Hook er s brigade. We quote again : " On the opposite side from the landing, one of the rebel batteries was distinctly visible. The roads from the lauding to the camps of our regiments were the worst I ever saw. At one place, a wagon of the Second New-Hampshire Regiment was stuck fast in the mud. The forward wheels were completely out of sight, and the thin, red mud was running into the bottom of the wagon. We soon came to a de tachment of the First Regiment, under command of my friend, Captain Chamberlain, of Roxbury, making a corduroy road. After a tiresome ride on horseback of two hours, we came to General Hooker s head quarters." We had a pleasant interview with the General, and then went forward to the regiments, where we met with a hearty welcome. Colonel Cowdin was acting Brigadier-General. The regiments were comfortably quartered, and there were but few in the hospi- 20 306 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. tals. We remained in Colonel Cowdin s quarters all night, made an inspection of the regiment next morning, and, taking a friendly good-by of officers and men, rode back to the ferry, and reached Washington that night. "The next day" (says the report), "I went to see General Barry, chief of artillery, with Captain Davis, of Lowell, to have his com pany, which has been at Fortress Monroe ever since May last, changed to a light battery, as recommended by Major-General Wool." The change was made the next day, and the company was from that time known as the Seventh Light Battery Massachu setts Volunteers. On the following day, we went to Baltimore, where the Seventeenth Regiment and the First Light Battery were stationed. We received a hearty welcome from officers and men ; visited the barracks and the hospital. There was more sickness in the regiment than in any others we had visited, which we attributed to its close proximity to a large city. The number in hospital was thirty. The report says, " The officers take good care of the health of the men. Both the regiment and battery are highly esteemed by the loyal citizens of Bal timore, several of whom I saw, and conversed with." On the same evening, we left Baltimore in a steamer for Fortress Monroe, and arrived there the next morning. We paid our respects to Major-General Wool, who was in command of the department. He spoke warmly in praise of our State, and of the Massachusetts troops in his command. We quote " I remained three days at Fortress Monroe and Newport News, and had an excellent opportunity of becoming acquainted with the condition of our Sixteenth and Twenty-ninth Regiments. Here, as elsewhere, I found our men in general good health, and earnestly de siring to advance on the enemy. Colonel Wyman is almost idolized by his regiment (the Sixteenth), which he has brought to a high state of discipline. Colonel Pierce had taken command of the Twenty- ninth a short time before my arrival. From all I can learn, his ap pointment seemed to give general satisfaction ; and I believe he will be an efficient and popular officer. The New-York Ninety-ninth is sta tioned near Fortress Monroe, and commanded by my old friend, Colonel COLONEL RITCHIE S REPORT. 307 Wardrop.* As nearly one-half of his regiment is composed of Mas sachusetts men, I regret he does not hold a Massachusetts commission. Captain Davis s company, to which I have before alluded, is stationed inside of the fortress, and is permanently attached to the garrison." We remained at Fortress Monroe three days, and then re turned direct to Boston. We succeeded in getting from the regiments correct rolls of desertions, discharges, and deaths, since they had left the Commonwealth. These rolls were of great value in correcting the descriptive rolls at the State House, and in preventing frauds in paying the State aid to the families of soldiers. We were absent from the State about three weeks. It was difficult to realize the change which the war had made in Washington and vicinity. Soldiers were everywhere. From the dome of the Capitol, a splendid view was obtained of the different camps, in which were stationed a hundred thousand armed men, the nucleus of what afterwards became the Grand Army of the Potomac. The railroad from the Susquehanna was guarded by soldiers, along the entire line, to Washington. Pennsylvania Avenue was patrolled by detachments of infantry and cavalry. New regiments arrived daily, marched up the avenue, crossed the Long Bridge into Virginia, selected their camp-ground under orders of brigade commanders, pitched their tents, lighted their camp-fires, and became a part of the living mass wherein were centred the best hopes of loyal America, and for whom the prayers, from a million family altars, as cended daily to heaven. No one can fully realize the grandeur of the army, and the magnitude of the Rebellion, who never visited Washington in the years when it was being fought. On or about the 20th of July, the Governor despatched Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, to the James River, to make a per sonal examination into the condition of the Massachusetts regi ments in General McClellan s army, which had fallen back from before Richmond to the James River, near Harrison s Landing and Malvern Hill. On the 28th of July, Colonel Ritchie had * Colonel Wardrop commanded the Third Regiment of Massachusetts Mill tia, in the three months service. 308 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. readied Harrison s Bar, James River, Va., where he wrote a long and interesting letter to the Governor. It appears that Colonel Bitchie went by way of Washington, where he found General Burnside, who had been summoned from North Carolina to a consultation with General Halleck ; "and they both left, that same day, for this place, to confer with General McClellan. This move on the part of General Halleck was intended to be kept a great secret, and he left Willard s almost in disguise ; but, though no one at Fortress Monroe or this point knew of the visit, it was duly recorded by those admirable spies for the enemy, the New- York papers. Generals Halleck, Burnside, Reno, Parke, Cullom, and Sedgwick have all made most earnest inquiries concerning the success of the recruiting in Massachu setts, and expressed the greatest satisfaction at your determina tion to fill up the old regiments first. At the same time, I find that the almost universal feeling of the army is against the sys tem of bribing men to do their duty by large bounties, and in favor of an immediate draft." General Burnside offered Colonel Ritchie passage to Fortress Monroe in his flag-boat, which offer was accepted ; and, finding that our Twenty-first and Twenty-eighth Regiments were at Newport News, he deter mined to visit them at once. Captain Davis (Seventh Battery) had left Fortress Monroe, that morning, with a force of infantry, to reinforce against an apprehended attack. It was represented to be in splendid condition. The Colonel then writes, " It may be useful to remark, that General Dix, in command at Fort ress Monroe, exercises a discretionary power, or revising power, at Old Point, as to passes from the Secretary of War ; and the vise of the provost-marshal is absolutely necessary to enable any one to get up this river. I will also notice, for the information of any of the staff whom your Excellency may see fit to send out here at any time, that, con trary to General Reed s opinion, I find my uniform an open sesame, while a civilian s dress would stop a man at every step." Colonel Ritchie found, at Newport News, three divisions of Burnside s corps, and General Stevens s division, from Hil ton Head. General Burnside expected to have, in a short time, thirty thousand men ; but it was a curious fact, that not a regi- COLONEL EITCHIE S EEPORT. 309 ment had been sent up the river to Harrison s Landing. He found the Twenty-first Regiment, which had come from North Carolina, "in fine condition," and only requiring a hundred and fifty recruits to fill it up. Colonel Clarke, who commanded the Twenty-first, informed Colonel Ritchie, that " he had forwarded his recommendations for promotions, and had nothing more to add, excepting that he hoped your Excellency would not give any commissions to officers who had resigned. I will add here, that this is a point upon which I find the greatest sensitiveness, in every direction. The number of resignations have been scandalously large ; only those are accepted which are consid ered beneficial to the service ; and it would have a most disastrous effect to send back men with increased rank, or with any rank, who have shirked the hardships and exposures of the army." Colonel Ritchie next visited the Twenty-eighth Regiment, which was composed, in great part, of men of Irish birth, and which had been brought up from South Carolina to reinforce the Army of the Potomac. It was stationed at Newport News, and formed part of General Stevens s division. Of this regi ment, the Colonel writes, " They have made full returns of the number of recruits required. Colonel Monteith is under arrest, and is now before a court-martial. He has been very ill, and is such a sufferer as to be unfit for duty. The lieutenant-colonel has resigned. Major Cartwright is in command, and is an excellent officer. The regiment is composed of splendid mate rial ; but it requires two new field officers, of energy and capacity, and who are also gentlemen, to bring up its morale and discipline, which is, at present, very unsatisfactory." Colonel Monteith was a citizen of New York. He was strongly recommended by James T. Brady, Esq., of that city, and by prominent Irish gentlemen of Boston. The Governor had no acquaintance with Colonel Monteith, but commissioned him upon the representations made of his fitness by the gentle men referred to. In five days after Colonel Ritchie wrote the report from which we quote, viz., on the 5th of August, - Colonel Monteith was discharged. Colonel Ritchie left Fort ress Monroe on Saturday, the 26th, for Harrison s Landing, 310 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLIOX. in the mail-boat, taking a gunboat as convoy from James Island, about sixty miles up the river. The passage was somewhat hazardous, and very exciting. On landing, he says, " I should have been miserably helpless, had not General Devens sent down his orderlies, with horses and wagon, and Lieutenant Church Howe, aide-de-camp to General Sedgwick, to show me the way. We had to take refuge at this general s headquarters. This gave me a chance of talking with him. He spoke most warmly of the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth, which are in his division, Sumner s corps. The officers he particularly commended were Hinks, whom he has repeatedly urged for a brigadier-generalship ; Palfrey, who, he says, is a most excellent officer ; and Major Paul Revere, who, he says, ought to have a regiment. General Sumner says that he has offered Revere the inspector-generalship of his staff. Revere hesitates, as he has made application for a position in one of the new regi ments." The brigade commanded by General Devens included the Sev enth and Tenth Massachusetts Regiments. The brigade was in Keyes s corps. These were next visited by Colonel Ritchie. The Seventh had been but little exposed in action, and was "in magnificent condition. The colonel is held in high esteem." The lieutenant-colonel was regarded as inefficient ; the major, a most excellent officer. A board had been appointed to exam ine the lieutenant-colonel, and he would probably resign. He was discharged Oct. 4, 1862. A great many officers and men were at this time in hospitals, and a good many enlisted men had deserted. General Marcy, of General McClellan s staff, "urged the importance of some appeal, by the Governors of States, to the authorities of cities and towns, and the people in general, to force deserters to return to their duties, and give such information concerning such men as to get them returned." Colonel Ritchie reports at great length in regard to filling the existing vacancies in the Seventh and Tenth Regiments, and gives a full and impartial review of the qualifications of those who were naturally looking for promotions. The Tenth Regi ment wished to have an army officer appointed colonel in place of Colonel Briggs, wounded, and promoted brigadier-general. Captain Dana, of the regular army, was the choice of nearly all. EDWARD S. RAND S REPORT. 311 "Dexter F. Parker, who has resigned his commissariat to go into the line is highly recommended by General Devens, for a major- ship in the Tenth. Captain Parker said he would not go into the regiment ; but, on the suggestion that the regiment might get Captain Dana for colonel, Parker said, that, in such a case, he would be too glad to go into it ; that he knew Dana well, and considered him one of the entirely honest and reliable men and gentlemen in the Quartermaster s Department." Captain Dana was not commissioned colonel of the Tenth, but Henry L. Eustis, a graduate of West Point, was. Captain Parker was commissioned major, and served until he was mortally wounded in General Grant s advance from the Rapidan, and died May 12, 1864. The remaining part of Colonel Kitchie s report relates to matters not of general interest, though of importance to the Governor, in furnishing information to guide him in making appointments to fill the vacancies in the Massachusetts regiments in the Army of the Potomac. Edward S. Rand, Esq., of Boston, who had a son, an officer, in the First Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry, in April, 1862, visited the regiment, then stationed at Hilton Head, S.C. Of this regiment, much complaint had been made, even before it left the State, concerning the severity of the discipline imposed by Colonel Williams. These complaints reached the State House ; and Mr. Rand was requested by the Governor to in quire into them, and report the facts upon his return. The report made by Mr. Rand was in the highest degree complimen tary to Colonel Williams, and to the condition of the regiment, which had been brought to an excellent state of efficiency. The charges of undue severity and cruelty, made by interested parties, were declared to be entirely groundless. The men were satisfied, were well cared for, and in good health. In conclu sion, he says, "I cannot omit mentioning a custom introduced by Colonel Wil liams, which I could wish prevailed in all the regiments of our vast army. At the close of the dress-parade, each day, and before the parade is dismissed, the chaplain, who has been standing in the rear of the colonel, advances to the front, and, while officers and men stand un covered, offers a short and earnest prayer to Him who is the only shield from danger, and the only Giver of all victories." 312 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Mr. Rand also visited the camp of the Twenty-eighth Massa chusetts Infantry, who were encamped near the cavalry. The camp was kept clean, and the general health of the men good, for which, he says, " Much praise is due to the skilful and attentive surgeon, Dr. O Connell, for his faithful discharge of duty, his care of the men ; and perhaps the highest praise will be found in the fact that in the hospital were but four patients, all convalescent." Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, of Boston, who also had a son, an officer, in the regiment, visited the regiment about the same time. On his return, the Governor requested him to state, in writing, his opinion in regard to the regiment, and upon the general question of the best way to preserve the health of the soldiers on duty in the extreme Southern States. Of the condi tion of the regiment, he fully confirms the favorable report of it made by Mr. Rand. He says, " The drills are actively carried out, and the highest officers in the army agree that, at times, they are equal to any in the regular cavalry. Three times a week, the colonel has recitations, at which the highest principles of military tactics are enforced. To sum up my opinion in one sentence : I have very near and dear relatives, and many young friends, in that regiment ; I should greatly regret, if, from any cause, any of them should be compelled to leave the service of such a com mander." Colonel Williams, at the time of his appointment, was a captain of cavalry, U.S.A. He was a graduate of West Point, and distinguished as a cavalry officer. He was a Vir ginian by birth, but never hesitated which was the path of duty for him to tread. He was a strict disciplinarian, but he was kind to his men. During the last two years of the war, Colonel Williams was assistant adjutant-general of the army, and was brevetted brigadier-general, for brave and meritorious services. John Quincy Adams, who was appointed on the personal staff of the Governor to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Colonel Horace Binney Sargent, who was ap pointed lieutenant-colonel of the First Massachusetts Cavalry, COLONEL j. Q. ADAMS S REPORT. 313 was directed by the Governor, in September, to visit the Mas sachusetts regiments in the Department of North Carolina, and to report their condition on his return. These regiments were the Seventeenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and the Twenty-seventh. The Seventeenth he found in camp upon a fine plain across the river, westward from Newbern. It was stationed there to guard the ends of two bridges which span the river. The regiment was in excellent order, and the men looked hardy and cheerful, and were under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fellows. Colonel Adams requested a report showing the exact condition of the regiment on that day, their wishes, wants, notes, or information in any way appertaining to their condition, in order that he might lay the same before the Governor. But the regiment was ordered on an expedition up the Roanoke River, and Lieutenant-Colo nel Fellows promised to send the report home by mail. Colonel Amory, of this regiment, had been for some time act ing as brigadier-general. Colonel Adams witnessed a review of the regiment, and afterwards made a thorough inspection of each company. He says, " I examined every musket personally, and almost every equipment, and can say, with perfect satisfaction that their condition, in almost every case, was admirable. The arms, particularly, were as clean and bright as when they were issued. The regiment was then drilled by Lieutenant-Colonel Fellows in various evolutions, concluding with the drill as skirmishers, in all which the men showed careful and faithful training, and most commendable proficiency." The Twenty-third Regiment, Colonel Kurtz, had been sta tioned, since May preceding, in the town of Newbern itself, where it performed the duties of provost guard, Colonel Kurtz acting as provost-marshal. He could not, therefore, speak of the condition of their camp-equipage ; but the barracks, which he visited, were clean and orderly, and the appearance of the men tidy and excellent. He also reviewed the regiment, and inspected their arms and equipments, which were in perfect order. "Altogether," he says, "the condition of the regiment was very satisfactory, and reflects great credit upon their of ficers." 314 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. Colonel Adams next visited the Twenty-fourth Regiment, Colonel Stevenson, who had been for some time acting as brigadier-general ; and the command had devolved upon Lieu tenant-Colonel Osborne. The regiment was in camp on a fine, dry plain, about a quarter of a mile from the town. Every thing was in perfect order, as he found upon careful inspection of the arms and equipments, and of the camp. " Both officers and men might well be a source of pride to the Com monwealth." On the morning of the second day of his stay in Newbern, he rode out to the camp of the Twenty-fifth Kegiment, Colonel Upton ; but neither he nor the lieutenant-colonel nor the major were in camp at the time ; but the adjutant was there, and with him he examined carefully the camp, which was on a fine, beach plain of very large extent, and admirably adapted for a drill and parade ground, about half a mile from the centre of Newbern, and westerly from the camp of the Twenty-fourth Regiment. He says, * " I was entirely satisfied with the appearance of the camp, and the aspect of the men. Great neatness was evident in the cleanliness of the company streets, and the men seemed tidy, cheerful, and contented. I attended a dress parade of this regiment with General Foster, and found their appearance admirable, and their drill excellent." Colonel Adams says General Foster told him, " The first thing an officer should do is to try to make every man of his regiment a dandy, proud of his appearance, the glitter of the musket, and the polish of the brass on his equipments. When you see such a man, be sure he is a good soldier." The Twenty-seventh Regiment, Colonel Lee, he found under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman. Colonel Lee was acting as brigadier-general. There were only five com panies in camp, the remaining five being engaged in picketing the railroad to Beaufort, and thus scattered, in small squads, along twenty miles of road. Colonel Adams could not see them. Those in camp looked as well as any companies he had seen. These comprised all the Massachusetts regiments in that department ; and as each had made regular reports to the APPOINTMENT OF ALLOTMENT COMMISSIONERS. 315 Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth, showing their exact condition, nothing more was necessary to be done. Colonel Adams says, " Major-General Foster repeatedly assured me, that he considered them as good as any regulars in the army ; and he was never weary of extolling the energy, efficiency, accomplishments, and bravery of Mas sachusetts officers, and the intelligence, docility, discipline, and courage of Massachusetts privates." Colonel Adams concludes his report in these words : " I was much impressed with the untiring energy and interest with which General Foster looked after every thing within his reach ; and I was pleased at the high commendation he bestowed upon Colonels Stevenson, Amory, and Upton, in especial. I was the bearer of a recommendation from him to the Secretary of war, that Colonels Amory and Stevenson should be appointed brigadier-generals. He desired me to solicit your recommendation for them also." During the early part of the year 1862, three allotment com missioners were appointed by the President, as provided by acts of Congress, passed July 22, 1861, and Dec. 24, 1861. These acts provided, First, for the transmission, free of expense, of portions of the soldiers pay to their families or friends, as had been done under the half-pay system in the navy. Second, for the appointment, by the President, for each State which chose to adopt this system, of three commissioners, without pay, who should visit the troops, and invite each soldier to avail himself of this opportunity. In February, 1862, President Lincoln, upon the recom mendation of Governor Andrew, appointed, as commissioners for Massachusetts ; Henry Edwards, of Boston ; Frank B. Fay, of Chelsea ; and David Wilder, Jr., of Newton. They imme diately proceeded to visit all the Massachusetts volunteers, in the Army of the Potomac, under General McClellan ; in the Shenandoah Valley, under General Banks ; and at Warrenton, under General McDowell : and, when the Army of the Poto mac moved to James River, they accompanied it to Fortress 316 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. Monroe, and to Yorktown. Allotments were made by the First, Second, Seventh, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thir teenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twen tieth, Twenty-second, and Thirty-second Regiments, and the Third and Fifth Light Batteries, and, subsequently, by the Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-ninth, and Forty-first Regiments, and the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Light Batteries ; at a still later period, allotment rolls were made up for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Forty- third, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty- second, Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Regiments, making, in all, forty- one different organizations which were visited, either in the field, or at the camps at home, before the men were sent forward. The Legislature of Massachusetts passed an act, March 11, 1862, to carry out more perfectly the system of payments. Mr. J. P. Wainwright, as a volunteer agent of the commissioners, aided in getting the soldiers to make allotments, and, in the fulfilment of this work, visited the Massachusetts regiments in the De partment of the Gulf. Communications were made by the commissioners to the officers of the Massachusetts regiments, pressing upon them the advantages, to the soldiers and to their families, of the system. No allotments were received, how ever, from regiments not visited, except, in a solitary case, of the Twenty-fourth, Colonel Stevenson s regiment. Much of the success in securing allotments in regiments depended upon the interest felt, and the encouragement given, by its officers. For instance, in one company, containing eighty- three men, seventy-four, following the example of a worthy captain, allotted a portion of their pay ; and thirty-three of these, mostly young men, placed it in the State Treasury on interest, subject, at any time, to their order, properly approved by the commanding officer of their company ; and two regi ments allotted about seven thousand five hundred dollars a month each. The allotment system was simply this : The sums allotted were deducted by the paymaster on each pay-day, and forwarded to the State Treasurer for distribution, or by separate checks to ALLOTMENT COMMISSIONERS. 317 the family, according to the system adopted by the State. Our Massachusetts system proved most satisfactory, as it avoided all risk of chance of omission by transmission of a check by mail, and secured payment directly to the family at home. The pay ments to the soldiers, from the General Government, were to be made at or near the close of every two months, commencing with January. But, owing to sudden or hazardous movements and other causes, these payments were often delayed, and both the men and their families were much distressed. To remedy this evil, in part, at least, and secure, if possible, the retention of a large share of the soldiers wages at home, the Massachusetts Legislature, in 1863, at the suggestion of Governor Andrew, passed an act, authorizing the State Treasurer to assume the pay ment of all the Massachusetts volunteers, provided that Congress would permit this to be done. For some reason, permission was not given, much to the regret of the soldiers and the Massachu setts authorities. The act passed by the Legislature of Mas sachusetts, March 11, 1862, provided that the Treasurer of the Commonwealth should receive and distribute, without ex pense to the soldiers or their families, all money which our volunteers might forward for this purpose ; and that the distri bution should be made to parties in the State by the Treasurer of the Commonwealth, through the town and city treasurers, who were to notify the persons to whom the money was as signed, and, if they failed to call for it, return the money to the State Treasurer, who placed it on interest, until further order from the soldier. Persons living out of the State, to whom money was assigned, were to be notified ; and, upon the return of a proper order or draft, the amount was forwarded, by a check upon a bank in Boston or New York, as would best serve the interest of the claimant. In many cases, the money was directed by the soldier to be placed at once in the State Treasury, where it drew five per cent interest, thus virtually making the State Treasury a savings bank. It appears, from the report of the State Treasurer for 18< that the first allotments forwarded to him were in April, 1862 ; and that 318 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The whole amount, for that year, including about $40,0.00, placed on interest, was $202,905.56 In 1863, including $90,000 on interest, was . . . . 698,297.76 Also, allotments of State bounties 190,012.50 In 1864 and 1865, including State bounties .... 2,144,136.65 In 1866, for deposits by State paymaster 2,294.65 Total $3,237,647.12 At the close of the year 1866, all this money, excepting $76,269.15, which remained on interest to the credit of eight hundred and seventy soldiers, had been distributed ; and the bal ance awaited the appearance of the men, or their legal representa tives, to whom it will be paid. It is evident, from these figures, that the system of allotment, and the very able and satisfactory manner by the commissioners and the State Treasurer, was of very great utility. It secured to many men and to their families much money which would otherwise have been wasted ; and it induced and encouraged a habit of saving, the effect of which may have a material, bene ficial influence upon those who practised it. It also lessened the taxes which would otherwise have been imposed upon the Commonwealth. To the members of Congress, who in augurated this admirable system, and to Governor Andrew and the Legislature, who encouraged it, and especially to the com missioners, who gratuitously, at great expense of time and money, performed this onerous service, the soldiers and the State owe a debt of gratitude. The letters written by the Governor, during the year, relate chiefly to military matters, many, in the early part of the year, to the appointment of regimental and company officers. Governor Andrew had established a rule for making appoint ments, from which he seldom departed during the Kebellion. This rule was based upon the principle of selecting the best men he could find, without regard to personal or political affini ties. Whenever he could obtain the services of an experienced and educated officer to command a Massachusetts regiment, he commissioned him. The selection of officers for commands he APPOINTMENTS BY THE GOVERNOR. 319 regarded as the most solemn duty which the war imposed on him. We have often heard him say, when asked to appoint persons whose claims upon his favor were based upon the fact that the candidate and his family exercised a local, political in fluence, " Such considerations impress me with no force. The appoint ment is in no manner a political one. The man I shall commission is he who can best command his men, care for their health, lead them bravest in battle, and, by his intelligence and capacity, save life and limb from needless sacrifice. This I owe alike to the men themselves, to their families they leave behind, and to common humanity." Of course, he did not, at all times, make the best choice ; but he endeavored to, and thought he had succeeded. We remem ber one rather remarkable case, where the Governor erred in making selection of a captain in the Twenty-second Regiment. The Governor believed the person whom he selected to be best fitted for the command. The Adjutant-General believed, and so reported, that the gentleman who was to be a lieutenant in the company should be made captain. The Governor, how ever, did not change from his original purpose ; and the commis sions were made out as originally determined upon. The person commissioned captain never attained higher rank : the one commissioned lieutenant rose to be a major-general of vol unteers, and gained a reputation second to none, as an able and accomplished volunteer commander, in the Army of the Poto mac, we refer to Major-General Nelson A. Miles, now colo nel of infantry in the United-States army, who began his military career as first lieutenant in the Massachusetts Twenty-second Regiment, and whose military record reflects great honor upon his native State. Governor Andrew, however, seldom erred in his judgment of men ; and we have no question that the officers selected by him will bear a favorable comparison with those of any other State. When a vacancy occurred after the regiment left the State, his rule was to wait until a recommendation of a person to fill the vacancy was received from the officer in command of the regiment, which recommendation required the approval and 320 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. indorsement of the officer in command of the brigade. If the O person recommended appeared, by the roster, to be junior to others of the same rank, the colonel was written to for his reasons for deviating from the military rule of seniority : if the reasons returned were satisfactory and properly indorsed, the promotion was made, and the commission issued ; but, if the reasons given were not satisfactory, if they disclosed favor itism, family influence, or unjust prejudice, the appointment was not made, but the officer properly in the line of promotion was commissioned. The Governor s mind was eminently just ; he despised trickery and treachery, and all the small devices to which mean natures resort to gain their ends. On the llth of January, the Governor writes to Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General, calling his attention to a bill re ported in the United - States Senate by Senator Wilson, "providing, among other things, that vacancies occurring in regiments of volunteers mustered into the United-States service shall be filled by presidential appointment," and gives strong reasons why it should not become a law. He concludes by say- " It is simply impossible that the volunteer officers can be well se lected at Washington. I make mistakes, make some exceptionable appointments, find it out, and try to avoid similar errors again ; and I know how difficult is the task. Knowing its difficulty, I write you this note, though the passage of the bill would relieve me personally from much irksome and anxious duty." The bill here referred to never became a law ; and appointments continued to be made by the Governors of States, until the end of the war. On the same day, he writes a long and interesting letter to Major-General McClellan, thanking him for the " as surance of your valuable aid in establishing our coast defences, furnishing instructors for our volunteer artillerists," and asking his influence to have a company accepted, "the rank and file of which will be mechanics, riggers, carpenters, smiths, c., for the special duty of garrisoning Fort Independence, putting the fort in order, mounting and serving the guns." This com pany was, long afterwards, raised and accepted, of which Ste- CORRESPONDENCE OF THE GOVERNOR. 321 phen Cabot was commissioned captain, and became the nucleus of the Fort Warren Battalion. On the 13th of January, the Governor writes three letters, in regard to our coast defences, one to the President, one to our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and one to Secre tary Seward, in which he argued the importance of the subject, and that the General Government authorize it to be done by the State, as " the State can do it with more expedition and economy than it can be done otherwise." These letters were taken to Washington by Colonel Charles Amory, master of ordnance of Massachusetts. Jan. 18. Colonel Browne, by direction of the Governor, writes to Henry N. Hooper, of Boston, respecting an exchange of prisoners : " Every thing that the Governor can do by prayers, entreaties, argu ments, and remonstrances, to induce the Federal Government to do justice to our prisoners by instituting a proper system of regular ex changes, has been done in vain. The Federal Administration have obstinately refused to institute such a system ; and it is only by indi vidual effort that our fellow-citizens can extricate their fathers, brothers, and sons from that Southern captivity." Jan. 22. Governor writes to Hon. Roscoe Conkling, United-States House of Representatives, and now United- States Senator : " I have received, and perused with lively gratification, your speech, delivered on the 6th inst. For its lofty eloquence, and its tribute to the valor and devotedness of our soldiers, particularly of the men of the Fifteenth and Twentieth Regiments, I beg to tender you the homage of respectful and hearty gratitude." Jan. 27. Governor writes to Edwin M. Stanton, who was recently appointed Secretary of War, in place of Mr. Cam eron, " I have the honor to introduce John M. Forbes, Esq., of Boston, one of the most eminent citizens and business men of Massachusetts. He takes great interest in the subject of coast defences, of which Mr. Seward wrote me, last October, but which, I believe, is now in the care of your department. It is very desirable that Massachusetts should act 21 322 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. promptly in every way in which her action is needful ; and I desire not to be remiss in any duty, but rather to anticipate than delay. Any views imparted to Mr. Forbes would be received for the common good." Same day, to Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treas ury : " I have the honor to give notice, that Massachusetts assumes, and will pay, her quota of the direct national tax ; and I inclose you a copy of the resolve of the General Court, giving me authority to that end." Keference having been made, in the newspapers, to the letter written by General Butler, reflecting upon the personal charac ter of Colonel Powell T. Wyman, of the Sixteenth Regiment, and the answer which the Governor made to it, it would ap pear that Colonel Wyman, on the 24th of January, wrote to the Governor, as we find a letter written by the Governor, Jan. 27, to Colonel Wyman, from which we extract the essen tial part : " Nothing contained in General Butler s letter lessens my estima tion of your qualities as a soldier and a gentleman ; nor, to my knowl edge, is there any officer connected with my staff who entertains any other feeling towards you than such as was manifested continually dur ing your intercourse with us, while organizing your regiment. I have heard but one expression of sentiment with regard to the affair ; and that has been of very cordial sympathy with you, under the infliction of so wanton, unprovoked, and unmerited an attack." On the 30th of January, the Governor was suddenly called to Washington, and was absent about ten days. It was while in Washington at this time that the troops raised by General Butler in Massachusetts were placed in the charge of the Gov ernor, and the irregular and illegal manner of raising regiments ended ; and the " Department of New England " was discon tinued. In January and February, persons representing themselves recruiting officers for a Maryland regiment came to Boston, and, by their misrepresentations of large pay and little service, in duced some thirty or forty men to enlist, and go with them to LETTER OF COLONEL DUDLEY. 323 Baltimore. Upon arriving there, they found how miserably they had been imposed upon. The promises held out were de lusive, and the men whom they had trusted were cheats. They were left without money to support themselves ; and many letters were received by the Governor and the Adjutant-General, asking that transportation be furnished to return to Massachusetts. Strenuous efforts were made by the Governor to have the men released from the trap in which they had been caught. We find among his letters, at this time, many relating to this unfor tunate occurrence. He wrote to General Dix, then command ing at Baltimore ; to the Secretary of War ; to our members of Congress ; to the Governor of Maryland ; and to the men them selves. In a letter to one of our members of Congress, he thus describes the transaction : " It has been done by the most dishonorable and outrageous fraud ; and my efforts have been baffled, and these men and others have been entrapped into organizations in which they find only discomfort and misery ; and I think that their condition appeals strongly to the sym pathy, as well as to the sense of justice, of the War Department." He had the satisfaction in a few weeks to know that his efforts had been successful. The men were released, and after wards enlisted in Massachusetts regiments. Feb. 18. The Governor writes to the Secretary of War, "I am informed by Colonel Dudley, that, from conversations he has had with Major-General Butler, he is satisfied, and feels it his duty to report to me, that, if I commission any other person than Mr. Jonas H. French as lieutenant-colonel, he will compel him (Colonel Dud ley) to recognize Mr. French as such, and to repudiate the gentleman I appoint, notwithstanding the commission. Colonel Dudley states, that, as a pretence for this action, General Butler states to him that he proposes to rely on Special Order No. 11, of the current series of your department, which is of course inoperative, so far as it under takes to designate officers over a body of men which it rests with me alone to organize by the appointment of commissioned officers, but which, nevertheless, Major-General Butler cites, in opposition to the law. I respectfully suggest to you, that that order should be annulled, and that General Butler should receive, from his commander-in-chief, directions suitable to the occasion, and to the demeanor thus assumed by him." 324 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Colonel Dudley, who is here mentioned, was a captain in the United-States army, a Massachusetts man, and had been commissioned by the Governor colonel of the Thirtieth Regi ment. At this time, the Governor had offered the lieutenant-col onelcy of the regiment to William S. Lincoln, of Worcester ; but, from some cause, a change was made, and William W. Bullock, of Boston, received the appointment, and served with the regiment until ill health compelled him to resign, Nov. 25, 1863. The following is the answer of the Secretary of War to the letter above quoted : " This Department recognizes the right of a Governor to commis sion volunteer officers. If General Butler assumes to control your appointment, or interfere with it, he will transcend his authority, and be dealt with accordingly. The Adjutant- General will transmit to General Butler an order that will prevent his improper interference with your legitimate authority." Feb. 19. The Governor telegraphed Hon. John B. Al ley, member of Congress, " The gentlemen said to have been designated by the President, as allotment-commissioners for Massachusetts troops, have received no notice of their appointment. Will you ascertain why, and see that notice is immediately forwarded ? Telegraph, if you succeed." Feb. 20. The Governor s private secretary, Colonel Browne, writes to Colonel Dudley, " Governor Andrew directs me to inclose to you the within photo graphic likeness of the young gentleman, Mr. Joseph W. Morton, of Quincy, of whom he spoke to you, and who is acting as a non-com missioned officer in the Thirtieth Regiment. He hopes you may find him qualified to be recommended for appointment to a first or second lieutenancy. He is represented to be a person of careful education, extensive travel, and general capacity." It is proper to state here, that the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Regiments of Infantry, recruited by General Butler in this FORT WARREN BATTALION. 325 Commonwealth, and originally designated by him as the East ern and Western Bay-State Eegiments, were sent from the State to Louisiana without a single commissioned officer. Per sons selected by General Butler had been designated by him to act as officers. As many of these persons acted in good faith, and were believed to be competent to command men, Colonel Dudley, of the Thirtieth, and Colonel Gooding, also an army officer, who was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-first, were directed by the Governor, upon joining their regiments in Louisiana, to make a careful examination of the qualifications of the gentlemen acting as officers, and to report to him the names of those who were qualified, that they might receive their commissions. This duty was performed, and, in due time, the officers were properly commissioned. The young gentleman, Mr. Morton, referred to in the above letter, was afterwards commissioned by the Governor in one of the cavalry companies raised by General Butler, and serving in the Department of the Gulf. He was a good officer, and died at his home in Quincy, before the end of the war, from disease contracted in the service. Feb. 20. The Governor writes to Mr. Stanton, - " I earnestly desire authority to change the battalion at Fort War ren to a regiment. It consists of six companies, and needs the staff officers pertaining to a regiment. Major Parker has repeatedly urged this, and is by my side while now writing." The battalion here spoken of was raised by Francis J. Parker, of Boston, for garrison duty at Fort Warren, and remained there until the retreat of General McClellan, in the summer of 1862, from before Richmond, when it was sent forward to the front, at a day s notice, to meet the pressing exi gency, which then existed, for additional forces. Previous to this time, Mr. Stanton persistently refused to allow the bat talion to be recruited to a regiment. After it had left the State for the seat of war, permission was given, and four new com panies were added to it, and it was designated and known, to the end of the war, as the Thirty-second Regiment, Massachu setts Volunteers. 326 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Feb. 27. The Governor writes to Colonel Tompkins, United- States Quartermaster at New York, " The Rev. A. L. Stone, pastor of the Park-street Church in this city, desires to visit Port Royal for the purpose of gathering informa tion concerning the moral and spiritual condition of the * contrabands in that quarter. He is a suitable person to accomplish such a mis sion. May I hope that you will do what you can to facilitate Mr. Stone s transit to and from Port Royal ? " Feb. 28. The Governor writes to the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, " I have just, this afternoon, had time to read your interesting report, and I beg you would do what it reminds me of; namely, send to Captain Davis, at Fortress Monroe, and learn what is the present state of his company. General McClellan agreed to change it to artillery ; but as yet I have received no orders about it." This letter refers to the report made by the Adjutant-General of his visit to the front, of which an abstract is given in pre ceding pages in this chapter. March 3. The Governor addressed a letter to Hon. A. H. Bullock, Speaker of the House of Representatives, calling his attention to a general order issued that day by the Adjutant General of the State, concerning three rebel flags taken at the battle of Roanoke Island by the Massachusetts regiments, and says, " Such trophies are always prized by the soldier. They are earnest proofs of his efforts and achievements in the performance of his peril ous duties. I confess that I received these with the utmost sympathy ; and I can but pay to the men who won that day my humble but hearty and admiring gratitude." The Governor then states that the House of Representatives would probably like to pay to our soldiers the honor of having the flags displayed for a time in their hall, and that any direc tion as would enable this to be done he would gladly concur in. The flags were subsequently presented to the House, and were displayed there until the end of the session. March 3. The Governor writes to Right Rev. Bishop Fitz- patrick that he had no power "to order private McDonald s , FUNERAL OF GENERAL LANDER. 327 discharge : that rests alone with the Federal authorities. I will, however, be happy to unite with you in presenting to the Secretary of War, or the General-in-chief of the army, any statement of reasons for requesting the discharge which is desired." March 4. The Governor writes to Colonel Kurtz, Twenty- third Regiment, at Newbern, N.C., "I wish to learn the place of burial of James H. Boutell, late private in Co. K, Twenty-third Regiment. He died in the service, and is supposed to have been buried at Hatteras ; also, the best means for his friends to get his remains to Massachusetts. His wife, Mrs. Abbie P. Boutell, resides in Wrentham." March 9. The Governor writes to Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, - "I beg leave to report to you, that the honor you paid to the memory of General Lander, by causing his remains to be returned, under a suitable escort, to his native State, was rendered complete by the faithful and decorous manner in which the sad duty was fulfilled by Captain Barstow, and the officers and soldiers accompanying him. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the city of Salem, the place of General Lander s nativity, have received with much sensi bility the manifestation of grateful respect, on the part of the War Department, toward a soldier and gentleman whose fame, now a part of his country s history, is one of the precious possessions of those from whom he went forth to her service and defence. His body now rests in silence beneath the soil on which his youth was spent, and to which it was committed with every demonstration of regard on the part of the executive and legislative branches of the government of the Commonwealth, and on the part of the municipality of Salem, in the presence of many thousands of his fellow-citizens, and with appropriate military honors. With the fervent hope that we who survive him, and are charged with leadership in our patriotic army, will vindicate on the field an equal title with his to gratitude and admiration, and with sentiments of the utmost regard, I am, sir, ever " Your obedient and humble servant, " JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor of Massachusetts" No words of ours can add to the respect and esteem with which General Lander was held by the people of this Common- 328 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. wealth ; and no words of eulogy can be added which would give significance and strength to the letter we have just quoted. March 28. The Governor wrote to Mr. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, by which it appears that Mr. Fox had sent to the Governor a copy of a letter " taken out of a pocket of a secesh pea-jacket" by Commodore D. D. Porter, commanding the fleet at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and which related to a Mrs. Sarah A. Blich, of Holmes Hole, who, it appeared, had been giving information to the rebels at New Orleans. Inquiry was made by the Governor, and it was ascertained that a person of that name resided there. He writes, " Sfye is a native of New Orleans, and was married to Blich last spring. Her maiden name was Sarah A. Stickney. She has a brother in the South, named William Stickney, who is undoubtedly the writer of the letter in question. Her husband, Blich, is a sea faring man, and sailed recently on a voyage to Rio Janeiro ; he has a brother who keeps a jewelry shop at Holmes Hole, and is now there. Mrs. Blich is known to have used very violent language of a treasona ble character during the progress of the rebellion, and is believed by my informants to be disposed to aid the rebels by information or other wise. My informants think it more than probable that she has been a medium of communication with the rebels as intimated in her brother s letter. I have not been able to ascertain who is the per son named f Dora, to whom the letter is addressed ; but I expect within a few days to obtain information on that point also." Nothing further in relation to this matter appears in the Gov ernor s correspondence. On the ninth day of April, the Governor writes to Colonel Frank E. Howe, New York, that Surgeon-General Dale had made arrangements by which to have an ambulance kept at the city stables, and that city horses would be furnished, without expense, to be used for our wounded soldiers, whenever required. An ambulance, therefore, was purchased ; and Colo nel Howe was authorized to purchase one, to be used for our wounded in New York. April 8. The Governor writes to the President of the United States : LETTER TO PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 329 " I have the honor, by the hand of Hon. Francis W. Bird, who is specially deputed therefor, to place in your hands an engrossed copy of the resolves of the General Court of Massachusetts, in approval of your recent message to the Congress of the United States, in favor of national co-operation with any State of this Union, in the abolishment of slavery. I deem it due to the solemnity, interest, and importance of the occasion, and to the earnest devotion of this ancient Common wealth, alike to the Union, the fame, and the happiness of these States and people, as well as to her hereditary love of liberty, that this ex pression of her hearty concurrence with your great act, should receive the most formal and cordial utterance. ... I devoutly pray that the good providence of God will conduct your administration and this nation through all the perils they encounter, and establish our country on eternal foundations of impartial justice to all her people." April 9. The Governor telegraphs to the Secretary of War, " Accept my congratulations on victories at Corinth, and the Mis sissippi. Do you desire extra surgeons from Massachusetts for the care of wounded, there or elsewhere ? If so, there are several here, of professional eminence, who, under the direction of our State Sur geon-General, are prepared to start immediately to any point of active operations, giving their professional services gratuitously, from motives of patriotism." April 12. The Governor writes to General Burnside, at North Carolina, congratulating him upon his well-deserved pro motion, which has given " sincere as well as universal pleasure." He then refers to a letter which he had received from Brigadier- General Foster, that seven hundred and fifty recruits were needed to supply the losses in the four Massachusetts regiments in his brigade. But just at this time, an order had been issued from the War Department, discontinuing recruiting in every State, and requiring recruiting parties to close their offices, and join their regiments. The Governor telegraphed to Mr. Stanton for permission to recruit for the Massachusetts regiments under General Foster, and leave was granted. At this time, the gen eral superintendence of recruiting, in the different States, had passed into the hands of the War Department ; and army offi cers were detailed, in various States, as military commanders, who assumed control of all enlistments, mustering, subsistence, 330 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. and transportation of men. The military commander in Massa chusetts, in April, 1862, was Colonel Hannibal Day, U.S.A. This change in mode of recruiting was not satisfactory at first; but, after it was in operation some time, certain modifi cations were made by the War Department, and the State and United-States authorities worked in harmony together. The men asked for by General Foster were soon recruited, and forwarded to North Carolina. April 19. The Governor writes to Mr. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, calling his attention to a communication of the Treasurer of Massachusetts, which he inclosed to him, and says, " The prominent fact to which I beg to allude with emphasis is, that, after the passage of the tax act, we very much more than paid our share of it by heavy expenditures, made at Mr. Cameron s request, and on which we are losing the interest. I ask, therefore, that at least as much as the amount of the tax assessed on Massachusetts should be paid to us before we pay this tax. This is safe for the United States, and only just to Massachusetts." On the same day, the Governor wrote to the Secretary of the N"avy, introducing Hon. Joel Hayden, of the Executive Coun cil, and Edward S. Tobey, President of the Boston Board of Trade, who were deputed to confer with him in relation to iron-clad ships. These gentlemen had a plan for iron-plating four steamers, belonging to the Government, at Charlestown and the Kittery Navy Yards, which, the Governor said, "would render them invulnerable, and present them ready for action and in sea-going trim in fifty days. If those vessels be longed to us," he continues, "we would undertake to prepare some of them for service in this way ; but they belong to the United States. If you will turn over to us one or two of them, we will be glad to take them, and have the work done ; and we desire that the four should be thus treated." The proposi tion here made was not complied with. As one of the many evidences of the firmness of purpose and justness of decision of Governor Andrew, we give an extract from a letter, dated April 29, to Brigadier-General Doubleday, then on duty at Washington. A lieutenant-colonel of one of CASE OF COLONEL OLIVER. 331 our regiments had been accused, by the colonel, of certain de linquencies ; and charges were preferred to bring the case before a court-martial. In a hasty and inconsiderate moment, the lieutenant-colonel resigned, rather than stand trial. After the resignation was accepted, the officer repented of his hasty act, and sought to be restored by the Governor. Before acting upon this request, he wrote to General Doubleday, to make inquiry into the charges, and inform him what he thought of them. From this letter we quote : "While I feel kindly towards Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver, I wish only for exact justice, and would not restore him to the regiment, unless he was unjustly accused. I am jealous of the honor of the Massachusetts corps, sensitive to every thing which affects them, desirous of doing exactly right, hit where it will. The matter lies in a narrow compass ; and I wish to reach a speedy conclusion, founded upon a basis of es tablished proofs, which shall satisfy the demands of justice, truth, and honor." Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver was not restored to the regiment from which he resigned, but was afterwards commissioned ma jor in the Second Regiment Heavy Artillery, which shows that the Governor had been satisfied that the charges against him did not affect his standing as an officer and gentleman. April 30. The Governor received the following despatch from Major-General Wool, dated "HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF VIRGINIA, FORTRESS MONROE, April 29. "I have just received your communication of the 26th inst. The Government have made arrangements to send the sick and wounded of the Army of the Potomac to Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Agents have been detailed to superintend for warding them." This is the first despatch received at the State House in rela tion to the sick and wounded of General McClellan s army, from which, for months following, the brave and ghastly suffer ers of that memorable campaign returned, to fill the homes of their friends, and the hospitals of the Government, In con nection with these wounded and suffering men, we find a letter written by the Governor, May 1, addressed to all officers of 332 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Massachusetts corps volunteer officers in the field, commending to their courtesy and co-operation Dr. Alfred Hitchcock and his assistant, Mr. J. W. Wellman, who were detailed to visit the Massachusetts troops at Yorktown, Newbern, or elsewhere, and to render such aid as might be practicable to the sick and wounded in the field or hospitals, and transporting them to their homes. Of Dr. Hitchcock s services, while thus detailed, we have already spoken, but shall have reason to speak of them again, when he visited, by direction of the Governor, the san guinary but victorious field of Antietam. The first mention we find, in the Governor s letters, of raising colored troops, is in a letter addressed by him to Mr. Francis H. Fletcher, Pratt Street, Salem, in which he says, "No official information has been received at this department from the United-States Government, concerning the plan, which is now men tioned with favor, of raising colored regiments for garrison duty in the Gulf and cotton States ; nor is any thing known at this department of the intentions of the United-States Government in that regard, beyond what is published in the public prints. General Saxton, who is men tioned in the newspapers as being detailed to organize such a force, is a native of Massachusetts, and a most worthy and humane gentleman, as well as a skilful officer; and, if the report is correct, it is a very judicious selection for such a duty and command." It appears that Mr. Fletcher was a candidate for a commis sion in such regiments ; and the Governor offered him a letter to General Saxton, and such other assistance as was in his power, to obtain what he desired. Dr. Le Baron Russell, of Boston, at the request of a com mittee of teachers and other friends of education in Massachu setts, visited Washington, for the purpose of arranging some plan, under the sanction of the Federal authority, to enable Massachusetts teachers and agents to participate in the humane and benevolent work of improving the intellectual and moral condition of the emancipated slaves within certain of our mili tary posts. He carried letters from the Governor to the Secre tary of War and other official persons, highly approving the purpose of his mission. This appears to have been the com- LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT. 333 mencement of the educational labors among the liberated slaves, which has been attended with so much good. On the 19th of May, the Secretary of War telegraphed to the Governor to know if he could raise four more new regiments at short notice, to which he replied affirmatively ; but, in the letter expressing his readiness to comply with the Secretary s demand, he says, " If our people feel that they are going into the South to help fight rebels, who will kill and destroy them by all the means known to sav ages, as well as civilized man, will deceive them by fraudulent flags of truce and lying pretences, will use their negro slaves against them both as laborers and as fighting men, while they themselves must never fire at the enemy s magazine, I think that they will feel that the draft is heavy on their patriotism. But, if the President will sustain General Hunter, recognize all men, even black men, as legally capa ble of that loyalty the blacks are waiting to manifest, and let them fight with God and human nature on their side, the roads will swarm, if need be, with multitudes whom New England would pour out to obey your call." A copy of this letter was sent to the Governors of the New- England States, in the thought that mutual conference might be useful, and tend to unite and concentrate opinion in New England upon the subject to which it relates. On the 25th of May, received from Mr. Stanton the follow ing telegrams : " Send all the troops forward that you can, immediately. Banks is completely routed. The enemy are, in large force, advancing on Har per s Ferry." " Intelligence from various quarters leaves no doubt that the enemy, in great force, are advancing on Washington. You will please organ ize and forward immediately all the volunteer and militia force in your State." Upon the receipt of these telegrams, orders were immediately issued by the Adjutant-General for the militia of the Common wealth to report at once for duty on Boston Common, to pro ceed to Washington ; and four thousand men were in Boston, and ready to start, on the 27th. But, on the morning of the 334 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. 27th, the Governor received the following, dated midnight, May 26, from the Secretary of War : " Two despatches have been received from General Banks, one dated at Martinsburg, the other between Martinsburg and Williamsport, which state that he has saved his trains, and the chief part of his command, and expected to cross the Potomac at Williamsburg in safety. We hope he may accomplish his purpose." In consequence of the favorable change of affairs in General Banks s command, the order to send forward the militia was countermanded, and the men returned to their homes, most of them disappointed that they were not to go forward. The battalion raised for garrison duty at Fort Warren, com posed of six companies of three years men, left, on the 27th, for the front, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis J. Parker ; and orders were received to recruit four new companies, and make it a regiment, which was speedily done. This was what was called afterwards "the great scare," and many people blamed Mr. Stanton for the semi-sensational char acter of his telegraph messages. They certainly created the wildest excitement throughout the Commonwealth ; and Boston, in a degree, resembled Edinburgh on receipt of the fatal news of Flodden Field. June 2. Governor telegraphs General Banks, Williams- port, Md. : "Telegram received yesterday. Surgeon- General Dale has arranged to supply your requisition immediately. I greet you cordially. All honor to our brave Massachusetts men ! " This was a request to send forward additional surgeons to take care of the wounded in General Banks s command. On the 4th of June, the Governor wrote Colonel George H. Gordon, Second Massachusetts Volunteers, who had command of a brigade under General Banks, " Permit me, in closing, to congratulate you upon your nomination to the rank of brigadier-general, and also upon the brilliant success achieved by the withdrawal of our forces, with so little loss, from the heart of the enemy s country, and against a force so completely over whelming." DEPARTURE OF REGIMENTS. 335 The Governor had written, the clay before, to Senator Sum- ner, in favor of the confirmation, by the Senate, of Colonel Gordon s nomination, and hoped "it would be unanimous." The letters written by the Governor from the first of Janu ary to the first of July, 1862, fill five volumes, of five hundred pages each : from these volumes we have made the extracts imme diately preceding. The letters in these volumes relate to every matter of detail connected with our regiments in the field, the proceedings of the Legislature, recruiting at home, coast de fences, building monitors, the sick and wounded, the State aid to soldiers families, the selection of officers, the discipline of the army, the delay of the Government to hasten warlike meas ures, all which, though of great and lasting interest, are too voluminous even to name by their titles and dates, in a work like this. This herculean labor of correspondence was con tinued by the Governor until the end of the war ; and he re tired from the gubernatorial chair, after five years of official service, which required more active thought and exertion, and was freighted with higher duties and responsibilities, than had been imposed upon all the Governors of the Commonwealth in the preceding fifty years. In the first six months of 1862, four thousand five hundred and eighty-seven men had been recruited for three years ser vice, and sent to the front ; also, a company of light artillery, known as Cook s Battery, which was mustered in for six months service, these men were in the Thirtieth Regiment ; three companies of unattached cavalry, which left the State by trans ports for the Department of the Gulf, Jan. 3, 1862 ; three companies of infantry, to complete the organization of the Twenty-ninth Regiment, which was sent forward, Jan. 7, to Fortress Monroe ; the Twenty-eighth Regiment, which left the State for South Carolina vid New York, Jan. 8 ; the Sixth Bat tery, which sailed from Boston for Ship Island, Department of the Gulf, Feb. T^the Thirty-first Regiment, which sailed in transport for Fortress Monroe, Feb. 21, and from Fortress Monroe to Ship Island, Department of the Gulf; seven com panies, comprising what was known as the Fort Warren Battal ion, and afterwards as the Thirty-second Regiment, which were 336 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. sent forward to the Army of the Potomac, May 26 ; two com panies for the Fourteenth Regiment, shortly afterwards changed to the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, which were sent to join the regiment in Virginia, March 1, 1862. One company, designated the First Unattached Company of Heavy Artillery, was enlisted for three years, for service in the forts in Boston Harbor, of which Stephen Cabot was commis sioned captain. On the twenty-sixth day of May, the First Company of Cadets, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. Holmes, was mustered into the service to take the place of the Fort Warren Battalion, which was ordered to the front on that day. The Cadets remained on duty until July 1. The Second Company of Cadets, of Salem, commanded by Captain John L. Marks, was mustered in May 26, for garrison duty in the forts at Boston Harbor, and was mustered out Oct. 11. The company raised by Captain E. H. Staten, of Salem, was also mustered in for garrison duty, and remained on duty until Jan. 1, 1863. In addition to these new organizations, which were mustered into the service in the first six months of 1862, upwards of three thousand volunteers were recruited, and sent forward to fill the ranks of the Massachusetts regiments in the field. It was the policy of Governor Andrew to keep the regiments in the service full, rather than to organize new regiments while the old regiments were wanting men. In pursuance of this policy, seven thousand men were enlisted during the year 1862, as signed to regiments in the field, and forwarded to their several destinations. On the 28th day of May, an order was received from the President of the United States for thirty companies of infantry, twenty of which were to compose two regiments, the Thirty- third and Thirty-fourth, six for a battalion to garrison Fort Warren, and four to complete the organization of the Thirty- second Regiment. The Thirty-third regiment was recruited at Lynnfield, and left the State to join the Army of the Poto mac, Aug. 14, 1862. The Thirty-fourth Regiment was re cruited at " Camp John E. Wool," on the Agricultural Fail- Grounds in Worcester. It left the State for Washington, Aug. 15, 1862. The other ten companies were recruited in a few weeks, and assigned to duty. THE POSITION OF REGIMENTS. 337 The Massachusetts regiments and batteries in the spring of 1862, and previous to the commencement of the campaign in North Carolina under Burnside, and in Virginia under Gen eral McClellan, were stationed as follows : The First, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-second, Twenty-ninth, and Thirty-second Regiments of Infantry, the First, Third, and Fifth Batteries, and the two companies of Sharpshooters, were in the Army of the Potomac. The Second, Twelfth, and Thir teenth Regiments of Infantry were in the Army of Virginia, in the upper waters of the Potomac. The Seventeenth, Twenty- first, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty- seventh Regiments of Infantry were in General Burnside s army, in North Carolina. The Twenty -sixth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Regiments of Infantry, three unattached com panies of cavalry, the Second and Sixth Companies of Light Artillery, were in the Department of the Gulf in Louisiana. The Twenty-eighth Regiment of Infantry and the First Regiment of Cavalry were in the Army of the South, in South Carolina. The First Regiment of Heavy Artillery was stationed in forts near Washington, on the Virginia side of the Potomac. The Seventh Company of Light Artillery was stationed at Fortress Monroe ; and the Eighth Company of Light Artillery (Cook s), was stationed near Washington. Thus the soldiers of Massachusetts were stationed in array of battle, at the beginning of this eventful year, at different points, from the valley of the Shenandoah to the lowlands of Louisiana. In the year before, they had been the first to reach Washington, and to plant the colors of the Commonwealth upon the soil of Virginia. So they were the first, in 1862, to land in North Carolina, and " carry the flag, and keep step to the music of the Union," in the far-off plains of Mississippi and Louisiana. Before the end of the year, as we shall pro ceed to show, Massachusetts soldiers were the first to land on the soil of Texas, and display the ensign of the republic in the city of Galveston. 22 CHAPTER VII. Recruiting for the New Regiments The Position of the Armies in the Field Letters from the Adjutant-General to Different Persons Establishment of Camps Departure of New Regiments Recruits for Old Regiments Let ter to Secretary Seward Suggestions adopted Foreign Recruits Letter to General Couch Deserters Want of Mustering Officers Letter from General Hooker Our Sick and Wounded Letter to General McClellan General Fitz-John Porter Call for Nineteen Thousand Soldiers for Nine Months Appointment of Major Rogers Preparing for a Draft Militia Volunteers Letter to the President Great Activity in Recruiting Liber ality of John M. Forbes Colonel Maggi Town Authorities ask Civilians to be commissioned First Attempt to raise Colored Troops Letter to Hon. J. G. Abbott Recommends Merchants and Others to devote Half of each Day to Recruiting Hardship to Seaboard Towns Attempt to have Credits allowed for Men in the Navy Difficulties Earnest Letter Sur geons sent forward Several Recommendations Battle of Antietam Dr. Hitchcock sent forward His Report Affairs at the Front Recruiting Brisk Republican Convention Sharp Debate Nominations People s Convention General Devens nominated for Governor Speeches Letter to General Dix Contrabands Complaints Quotas filled Departure of Regiments Invasion of Texas Major Burt State Appointments, &c. ON the fourth day of July, 1862, the President of the United States issued a call for three hundred thousand men, to serve for three years or to the end of the war. Three days after, on the seventh day of July, General Order No. 26 was issued, by order of Governor Andrew, in which it was stated, that "a call has been made upon the Governor of this Common wealth, by the President of the United States, for fifteen thousand volun teers, to form new regiments, and to fill the ranks of those of this Commonwealth now at the seat of war." At that time, the Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, and Thirty-fifth Regiments were being recruited in the State. To bring the matter of recruiting more nearly home to each city and town, and to invest it with a peculiar and local interest, the Adjutant- General suggested to the Governor, that it would be well to THE POSITION OF AFFAIRS. 339 show the number which each city and town should furnish as its proportion of the number called for, not taking into account the number which they had already furnished. This could be done by assuming, as a basis, the men enrolled liable to do military duty, as exhibited by the annual returns made to the Adjutant- General by the assessors of the cities and towns, as required by law. This suggestion met with the approval of the Gov ernor ; and therefore the number each city and town was to furnish was embodied in the general order. This had a beneficial effect. The municipal authorities, knowing what they had to do, entered upon the work of recruit ing with patriotic zeal. Town meetings were held, money appropriated, and committees appointed to assist in recruiting, and to carry into practical effect the call of the President. Many of our regiments at the seat of war had been decimated by losses in battle, and by sickness occasioned by exposure, a Southern climate, and the hardships of a great campaign. The Army of the Potomac at this time, failing in its object, the capture of Richmond, was falling back on Harrison s Landing, on the James River. The command of General Banks occupied the upper waters of the Potomac. The army under General Burnside had captured Newbern, and other important places in North Carolina, and was holding its position. The command of General Butler occupied New Orleans, and other important posts in Louisiana. The Thirty-first Regiment, under Butler s command, on the first day of May, was the first to land, and take possession of the city. The landing was effected without difficulty, though threats and insults met them as they put their feet on the soil of Louisiana. Our great admiral, Farragut, had silenced Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and opened the Mississippi for the advance of the army. The Thirtieth Regiment had proceeded up the river to Baton Rouge, disembarked on the morning of June 2, and quartered in the State Capitol, and from its dome raised the stars and stripes, from which they were never struck. In these commands were centred all the regiments and batteries which Massachusetts had sent to the war. Success had crowned the efforts of the Union arms, except 340 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. before Richmond. The losses in the Army of the Potomac were fearfully great. The newspapers, for weeks, had daily published the long lists of dead and wounded ; many of our bravest and best had fallen. Homes had been made desolate ; the maimed, with their ghastly wounds, crying for help, reached us daily. But never was the war spirit more determined and buoyant than at this time. Never was recruiting more active ; never did men flock to our camps to enlist more eagerly. In Boston, many of our merchants closed their places of business at two o clock in the afternoon, that they might devote the re mainder of the day to recruiting. Meetings were held, and addresses made, on the Common and in Roxbury ; recruiting- tents were erected in Hay market Square, Court Square, and on the Common. Meetings were held, and speeches made, in front of the Old South ; and men, unused to public speech, were fired with eloquence. A general camp of rendezvous was established in the city of Worcester, and named " Camp Wool," in honor of the veteran, Major-General Wool. To this camp all recruits from the counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester, were sent. The old camp at Lynn- field was continued, and designated "Camp Stanton," which served as the general rendezvous of recruits from the counties of Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Nan- tucket, Plymouth, and Suffolk. Until further orders, Lieuten ant-Colonel Lincoln, of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, which was then being recruited, was placed in command of " Camp Wool ; " and Colonel Maggi, of the Thirty-third Regiment, which was also being recruited, was placed in command of " Camp Stan- ton." Surgeon-General Dale was instructed to have a surgeon at each of the camps, to examine recruits. These camps were intended for recruits who were to form new regiments ; and " Camp Cameron," at North Cambridge, under the command of the United States military commander, Colonel H. Day, was the general rendezvous for recruits in tended for regiments already in the field. The necessity of filling the quota of Massachusetts in the shortest possible time was strongly pressed upon the Governor by the President and the Secretary of War, and by him urged ACTIVITY IN RECRUITING. 341 upon the people with all his power of eloquence and enthu siasm for the cause. We cannot better illustrate the interest felt, and the activity exercised, by the people of the State to recruit and send forward men, than by making a few extracts from letters written by the Adjutant-General in answer to others received by him from gentlemen in all parts of the Common wealth, asking for recruiting papers and information to guide them in their patriotic work. From the eighth day of July to the first day of August, upwards of five hundred letters were written by him upon this and kindred subjects. July 8. He writes to J. N. Dunham, Adams, " Thanks for your patriotic letter. You will see, by General Or der No. 26, in this morning s papers, that your quota is sixty-eight men. Get them as speedily as possible, and I will furnish transporta tion as soon as notified. Why cannot Berkshire raise a regiment ? We must have men at once. Let every good citizen take hold, and give his influence and money to the cause." To P. W. Morgan, Lee, " The quota of Lee is thirty -seven men. Raise them ; and if you are qualified, and I doubt not you are. a lieutenancy will doubtless be given you ; but we must have the men. The influential citizens of the town should take hold with heart and will. You will receive two dollars for every man you recruit. This letter is all the authority you require." To Moody D. Cook, Newburyport, " Recruit every man you can ; take him to the mustering officer in Salem, and take a receipt for him. After he is mustered into the United States service, you shall receive two dollars for each man. The officer will furnish transportation to Lynnfield. Work, work; for we want men badly." To Moses P. Towne, Topsfield, " We require the aid of every man in the State to forward recruit ing. You will not need any papers. If you can enlist a man in Topsfield, do it, and I will immediately furnish transportation to Lynn- field. The necessity is urgent. The quota for Topsfield, nineteen men." To A. Potter, Pittsficld, 342 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE HEBELLION. " The terrible pressure of business upon me has prevented my answering your favor of the 4th inst. before. I inclose you the blanks you ask for. Pittsfield must furnish one hundred and two men. Why can t you raise a regiment in Berkshire ? If we cannot get the men in this way, we must draft ; for the men must be had at once. Let a meeting be called ; and let those who have monev in their O * pockets, and patriotism in their hearts, step forth, and give to the cause. We must have the men." To E. W. Norton, North Blandford,- " In answer to your patriotic and excellent letter of the 4th inst., I would say that we want all the men asked for at once. Please see General Order No. 26 in the papers of to-day. Each town s quota is set down, and they must respond. Let influential and patriotic men take hold at once, and put the thing through. The order contains all the necessary information. A copy will be sent to every town in the State. Any thing you can do to forward the cause will be gratefully remembered." To Charles F. Crocker, Cotuit Port, - " You will see, by General Order No. 26 in to-day s papers, that the quota for Barnstable County is two hundred and eighty-five men. I care not how they are raised ; only raise them, as we want men very much. I hope the selectmen and prominent citizens will act together, and raise the men, each town its own share. I want the towns to take hold systematically." To H. W. Pratt, Worcester, " Give Mr. Brewer the authority he requires. Let him recruit men for you, and take receipts for the same, and I will see that he gets his two dollars. We must have the men at once. Let meetings be called, and the influential men, and the city and town authorities, take hold with a will." To Joshua Tarr, Rockport, " The quota of Rockport is twenty-nine men. We want these men very much indeed ; and any means you may adopt to recruit them will be satisfactory. If Mr. Thurston is the man, then you may employ him. This letter will be his authority. The men are entitled to one month s pay (thirteen dollars), arid a bounty of twenty-live dollars in addition, as soon as the company is full to which they may be attached. How long will it take to recruit these men ? I will furnish transporta tion to the camp. Let me hear from you again." LETTERS OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 343 To Frank J. Crosby, Nantucket, " In answer to yours of July 3, I would say, that we are very much in want of recruits. The quota of Nantucket is eighty -two men. I hope they will be got as soon as possible. If you can raise a full company there, so much the better. I inclose you the proper papers. They may be sent to Fort Warren ; but no positive assurance can be given, for, as soon as they are mustered in, they are under orders. The company that went to Fort Warren, of which you speak, was a militia company, and is only there for six months. We can garrison the fort all the time with militia companies. What is wanted now is men for the front, as stated in General Order No. 26. Consult with the selectmen and influential citizens, and get the eighty-two men as quick as possible. I will furnish the transportation." To Henry D. Capen, North Hadley, " In answer to yours of the 7th inst., I would say that General Order 26 calls upon the towns, and every citizen in them, to get re cruits ; and, if we cannot get them this way, I fear the next step will be a draft." To W. W. S. Oleton, Haverhill, - " We want all the men for Massachusetts quota at once. The quota of Haverhill is two hundred and twelve men. I hope you will do what you can to aid the recruiting ; and, if you do, I think you will get a com mission. But that lies with the Governor. If qualified, I will do my best for you. I hope the people of the town will take hold, and at once see if they cannot get their quota enlisted. Let me hear from you again." July 9. To Thomas Allen, Pittsfield, " Nothing can exceed the patriotic spirit of the people of Pittsfield. The town has already most nobly connected its name with the bright est pa^es of this war, and now it is the first to take hold in the right wav to raise its quota for the new demand. I find that the cities and towns are taking hold with a good will ; and I feel very much en couraged that we shall get our quota, not only without drafting, but before any other State has got half its share. Of course, the towns which raise their quota under General Order No. 26 will be exempt from draft, should one be made, which I now believe will not be neces sary. The quota of Pittsfield is one hundred and two men, just a company." 344 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. To Malcolm Ammidown, Southbridge, " The towns which furnish their quota promptly will, of course, be exempt from a draft for the 300,000 men. I do hope that South- bridge, and every town in Massachusetts, will furnish its quota at once, so that the old Commonwealth whose blood has drenched to a mire the soil of Virginia, will have her quota ready in advance of all other States, as in the beginning. Do put your shoulder to the wheel, and help the great cause in which we all feel so deep an interest." To Charles G. Potter, North Adams, " The quota of your town is sixty-eight men. If you can raise a full company, so much the better. We are sadly in want of men to fill up our regiments at the seat of war, as well as to fill up the new regi ments. I find, however, that the towns and cities are taking hold nobly, each to get its quota ; and I feel confident that Massachusetts will have her contingent filled in advance of any other State. Should a company be raised in Adams, I have no doubt His Excellency would commission officers from that town, if they are qualified for the positions. Let every man take hold and recruit." To G. B. Weston, Duxbury, - " I send, as you requested, an enlistment-roll ; also, a copy of Gene ral Order No. 26. I sincerely hope that no town will cease its efforts until it has its quota enlisted. I feel greatly encouraged to-day. The towns have taken hold of the matter with spirit and liberality ; and I feel, that, before the end of the month, we shall have sent forward a large share of the men. When you have yours ready, inform me, and I will send you transportation for them to camp." July 10. To Artemas Hale, Bridge water, " The term of enlistment is for three years, or to the end of the war, which, I think, we may see before winter comes in, if we are only pre pared now to send on our quota. I have great encouragement ; the towns are taking hold with great spirit ; some of them have already furnished their quotas. The President is extremely anxious to have the Governor forward our Massachusetts men. We want to be first in this, as we were in the beginning." Hon. H. Hosford, Mayor of Lowell, " We are not expecting a requisition to draft troops, as we expect to get the quota of the State without a draft ; and I think there is no doubt of it, if the large towns do as well as the small ones are doing, LETTERS OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 345 and promise to do. I beg of you, Mr. Mayor, to exert all your influ ence to have Lowell furnish its quota. The demand is urgent and imperative. The President and Cabinet are all anxious that Massachu setts should lead in this, the second campaign of the war, as she did in the first. Should Lowell furnish its quota, arid other towns should fail, to Lowell will be the honor." To J. E. Gomstock, Blackstone, " Make such arrangements for getting your quota as may to you seem best. We want the men ; and as soon as your forty-two are re cruited, or any portion of them, notify me, or Colonel Lincoln, in com mand of Camp Wool, who will furnish transportation. Any person you will name to assist you recruit I will appoint, and give him papers. Do hurry on the men : we want them sadly." To N. S. Kimball, Haverhill, " The towns that raise their quotas will be exempt from any draft, under the present requisition for fifteen thousand men. I hope you will do every thing in your power to hurry the men along : we are very much in need of them, and must have them." To John A. Goodwin, Lowell, " Before a captain and second lieutenant can be commissioned and mustered in, the company must be full. The first lieutenant can be mustered when the company is half full. This will explain why Mr. Thompson is not commissioned. I do not say the rules of the service are wise ; indeed, I think they are unwise. Let Lowell fill up the com panies, and then the commissions will come." To James T. Sumner, Canton, " You can enlist persons under twenty-one years, if their parents or guardians give their consent. As to enlisting under eighteen years of age, I doubt the expediency of it, unless they have an extraordinary physi cal development. You may enlist men over forty -five, if they are hale, vigorous, and free from physical defect. I beg of you to hurry on the work : you have little idea of the terrible pressure upon us for men from Washington." To Edwin F. Whitney, Holliston, " The proportion for each town, under General Order No. 26, was based upon the returns received at this office from the several cities and towns of the Commonwealth. They were presumed to be correct. 346 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. I do not see how a change can now be made. We are sadly in want of men ; and I sincerely hope that there will be no delay in getting your quota : you have no idea of the great and important demand there is for them." We have quoted from letters written by the Adjutant-General, in the three days immediately succeeding the issuing of General Order No. 26, to show the activity which prevailed in his de partment, and in the cities and towns of the Common wealth, to obtain recruits, and fill the contingent of fifteen thousand men, assigned to this State. This activity increased, and the feelings of the people intensified, until the men were recruited. To facilitate recruiting, and accommodate the people in the extreme western part of the State, a camp of rendezvous was established in Pittsfield, which was named "Camp Briggs," in honor of Colonel Briggs, of the Tenth Regiment, a native of Berk shire, and a citizen of Pittsfield, who had distinguished himself in the battles before Richmond, in one of which he was severely wounded. He was appointed by the President a brigadier- general of volunteers; and, after recovering from his wounds, served to the end of the war. As evidence of the activity with which the people entered into the business of recruiting, and the success which attended it, it may be noted that, within two months from the day General Order No. 26 was issued, upwards of four thousand men had been recruited for the old regiments at the seat of war, and sent forward to the front. Four new companies to complete the Thirty-second Regiment, and nine new regiments, had been filled to the maximum, and completely organized, and fully equipped ; and eight of them had left the State, and entered upon active duty. The three companies for the Thirty-second Regiment left the State Aug. 20 ; the Thirty-third Regiment, Colonel Maggi, Aug. 11; the Thirty-fourth, Colonel Wells, Aug. 12; the Thirty-fifth, Colonel Wild, Aug. 22 ; The Thirty-sixth, Colo nel Bowman, Aug. 31 ; the Thirty-seventh, Colonel Edwards, Sept. 5; the Thirty-eighth, Colonel Ingraham, Aug. 24; the Thirty-ninth, Colonel Davis, Sept. 6 ; the Fortieth, Lieutenant- Colonel Dsil ton, Sept. 8. All of these regiments were ordered to report to the Adjutant-General of the army, at Washing- VISIT OF SECRETARY SEWARD. 347 ton. The Forty-first Regiment, Colonel Chickering, left the State Nov. 5, and was ordered to report to Major-General Banks, at New York, who had superseded Major-General But ler in command of the Department of the Gulf, and who was then in New York, superintending the embarkation of troops destined for his command. The Forty-first Regiment sailed from New York, direct for New Orleans. In addition to the nine new regiments, and the four thousand men recruited for the regiments in the field, two new batteries the Ninth and Tenth were recruited and organized within the same period. The Ninth Battery, Captain De Vecchi, left the State Aug. 21 ; and the Tenth, Captain Sleeper, Oct. 6, with orders to report to the Adjutant-General of the army, at Washington. Thus, within three months from the date of the receipt of orders from Washington, Massachusetts had furnished her contingent of fifteen thousand men ; had sent forward nine new regiments and two light batteries, completely armed, clothed, and equipped, to swell the number of those already in the field, and more than four thousand men to fill the gaps in the old regiments, which the waste of war had caused. To these noble men, and to those who preceded them, not a dollar of bounty was paid by the Commonwealth. Rapidly as this contingent of fifteen thousand men had been recruited, it was but half filled, when President Lincoln, on the 4th of August, issued another call, for three hundred thousand more men, to serve for nine months, of which, by some process of arithmetic known only to the authorities in Washington, the proportion assigned to Massachusetts was nineteen thousand and ninety men. These men were to be raised by "draft, in accord ance with orders from the War Department, and the laws of the several States." Early in July, Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, and General Buckingham, of the War Department, visited Massachusetts to ascertain, by personal examination and conference, the means best calculated to encourage enlistments and raise volunteers. The Adjutant-General had a long and satisfactory interview with these gentlemen, and gave them his views at length, which he was requested to put in writing, and forward to Washington. 348 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. In accordance with which request, on the 7th of July, he wrote a letter to Secretary Seward, giving his thoughts upon recruiting, from which we make a few extracts : "1st, We should be allowed a band of ten musicians for each camp, to enliven the men and cause attraction. This proposition I made when you were here, and I understood you and General Buck ingham to accede to it ; but I wish to have the authority in writing, so it may go on file. The cost for each camp will be about four hun dred dollars a month. " 2d, There should be a commissioned officer in each of the camps to muster in recruits as soon as they arrive in camp. We now have to depend upon Captain Goodhue, who is stationed in Boston ; but his time is so taken up that he can but seldom go to the camp at Worcester. The senior officer in command of any camp ought to have authority to muster recruits. " 3d, Officers authorized to raise companies should be commis sioned, and draw pay, from the time they begin recruiting, with the understanding, that, unless the company is raised in a reasonable time, the commissions shall be cancelled. As it now is, the men who recruit spend their time and money without receiving any pay for their ser vices. Why should not their pay begin when their labors begin ? " 4th, W r e are too much hedged in with army regulations and army officers. Our tents should be floored ; but the United States officers won t pay the bills, because the regulations don t allow it. In order to get recruits, the camps should be made comfortable and at tractive. It is the denial of these little things which annoys officers and men. It was a great mistake when the recruiting was taken from the State authorities, and put in charge of army officers : they move slowly, arid appear to have no enthusiasm. " Please have this letter given to General Buckingham, and request him to let me know what we may be authorized to do. I think he can have the fifteen thousand men in the time you stated : only give us a little margin, and keep us as much as possible under State au thority." The suggestions made by the Adjutant-General were sub stantially complied with : a band was engaged for each camp ; a lieutenant for each company was commissioned ; flooring was allowed for camp-tents, and the recruiting was put under the control of the State authorities, the army officers audit ing and paying the bills, and mustering in the recruits. FOREIGN ENLISTMENTS. 349 On the 27th of July, the Governor received a telegram from President Lincoln, making inquiry as to the condition of the new Massachusetts regiments, which the Governor answered by letter on the 28th. He spoke encouragingly, and said, " Our main effort is to fill up our regiments already in the field. The small towns are doing well towards furnishing their quotas, and are sending large numbers of recruits to old regiments. I wish it were possible that all our recruits could go to them. But some have an invincible prejudice for new organizations. If I could but have power to do what needs to be done, without waiting for others to move until people are angry and disgusted, we could make much faster progress in filling the old regiments." Having been advised that informal representations had been made to Secretary Seward by the British consul in Boston, that " he had received many complaints from poor British subjects, who are made intoxicated, and then enlisted as volun teers, that the protests which they had made on recovering their senses are not listened to, and that the interference of the consul had hitherto been fruitless," the Governor addressed a letter to Marquis Lousada, Her Majesty s consul in Boston, in which he said the recruitment of all volunteer regiments, until they are organized and their muster-rolls completed, was under his exclusive control ; but in no instance had any complaints of the nature described, from any source, been made; nor had he been advised, in any instance, of an interference by the British consul. He would be obliged, therefore, if the consul would make known to him all cases of enlistments such as described, that the wrong done to the parties might be repaired ; and if any future cases should occur, when brought to his notice, they would receive immediate attention. We are disposed to believe that comparatively few cases of this nature occurred. Those of which complaint was made were referred to the Adjutant-General to investigate, with directions to report the facts to the Governor. We cannot call to mind a dozen cases during the entire period of the war. The Governor having heard a report that Brigadier-Gen eral Couch intended to resign his commission in the army in consequence of injustice done him, wrote a strong, friendly 350 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. letter, dissuading him from his purpose. The letter was sent to Harrison s Landing, Ya., and did not reach General Couch, as he had come home to Massachusetts on short leave, to regain his health and strength. The Governor therefore wrote him again, on the 28th of July, representing to him " the great need our country has of all good officers and patriots," and assuring him that his fame as a soldier was not to be tarnished by official neglect or oversight, however hard to bear. " It would give me," the Governor says, " and all my staff, great pleasure to be assured you have no intention of leaving the army till this war is ended." General Coucli had raised the Seventh Regiment of Massa chusetts Volunteers, and was commissioned the colonel of it. Whether he intended, at this time, to tender his resignation as brigadier-general, and retire from the service, we have no posi tive knowledge. We know, however, that he did not resign, but served, like a gallant soldier and gentleman, until the end of the war ; and rose, by his bravery and merit, to the rank of major-general and corps commander. On the 23d of July, Brigadier-General Buckingham, of the War Department, addressed a circular letter to the Governors of States, calling their attention to the great number of officers and soldiers in their respective States who had obtained fur loughs on account of wounds and sickness, but who had recov ered, and were overstaying their time. On the receipt of this, the Governor prepared a circular, calling the attention of the public to the matters complained of, in which he said, " Except cowardice in the field, there is no baser offence than ab sence, from their regiments, of officers and men who ought to be back to their posts. In some cases, these soldiers delay here from ignorance how to return to their regiments ; all such should be instructed by their more intelligent neighbors. Let all who are guilty be shamed into an immediate return to their regiments : if they will not voluntarily return, they are deserters, and should be arrested, and sent back." The evils complained of existed in all the States, to a very great extent, and could only be eradicated by organized effort on the part of the States and the nation. THE TOWN OF MARBLEHEAD. 351 On the 1st of August, the Governor wrote a long letter to Secretary Stanton, complaining of the want of officers to mus ter in recruits at the several camps ; the only one detailed on that duty in the State being Captain Goodhue, of the regular service. " Why not," the Governor asks, " appoint Colonel William Raymond Lee, and Captains Putnam and Bartlett, of the Massachusetts Twen tieth ; Major Robert H. Stevenson, of the Twenty-fourth, mustering officers ? all of them now at home, wounded, and unfit to return to the field, but anxious and eager to work. The want of mustering offi cers has cost us hundreds of men, infinite trouble, and sometimes insubordination in camps where the men have not yet been mus tered." This request was, in part, complied with, and more army officers were detailed to attend the camps, and muster in men. The following permission to recruit we find on the Govern or s files, in his own handwriting, dated Aug. 1 : " In consequence of the request of the town of Marblehead, made by a legal town meeting, held yesterday, a copy of the record which is handed me, attested b}^ the town clerk, I appoint, at the nomina tion of the other gentlemen who came to represent the town, SAMUEL ROADS, Esq., additional recruiting agent for Marblehead. He will co-operate with the town s committee, and use his influence to forward the enlistment ; and I ask the good people of Marblehead to support and help him with all their hearts and hands." As the town authorities throughout the State were authorized, under general orders, to recruit the quotas of their towns, we suspect that the people of the good town of Marblehead thought their selectmen were not as active in the discharge of this pecu liar duty as they wished to have them, and therefore held a town meeting on the subject. On the 1st of August, the Governor detailed Colonel William R. Lee, Twentieth Regiment, "to establish a camp of rendezvous at Pittsfield, for all recruits who may offer, and be found com petent." The United States mustering and disbursing officers in Boston were to furnish such material from their departments as might be necessary. 352 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. On the 2d of August, the Governor received from Major- General Hooker the following letter, dated Harrison s Landing, James River, Va., July 29 ; the same being in answer to one written on the 24th, by Governor Andrew : " The fate of Major Chandler is still involved in mystery. I have heard of his having been in Richmond, and also of his having been seen on his way to Boston ; but, in tracing up these reports, I regret to say, that I have not been able to satisfy myself that he is still num bered with the living. I may also add, that this is the opinion of his regiment." Major Chandler was a young gentleman of much promise. He was major of the First Regiment, and was killed at one of the battles before Richmond. His body never was found, nor was any information ever received concerning him after it was ascertained he was missing. He went into battle with his regi ment, and never returned. His simple epitaph might be, "He lived and died for his country." Some time in June or July, the Surgeon-General of the army established military hospitals at different posts for the accommodation of the sick and \vounded, and issued rigid orders against their removal to their homes. These orders caused great dissatisfaction among the families of the sick and wounded soldiers, who asked that their suffering sons, husbands, and brothers might be released from army hospitals, and cared for at their homes. These orders, for a time, were very unpopu lar, and had a prejudicial effect upon recruiting. We find, on the files of the Governor, the Adjutant-General, and Surgeon- General, a great many letters, complaining of these arbitrary and "cruel orders," from persons whose relatives, wounded and sick, were retained in the hospitals, and refused transportation to their homes. Many letters were written the State officials ; and the Governor sent Colonel Frank E. Howe to Washington, "" for the purpose of attempting to procure some mitigation of the rigor of the present system." The system, however, re mained in force ; and, like other usages of war, the people acquiesced in them as among the severities required for the good of the cause. GOVERNOR TO GENERAL M C CLELLAN. 353 Of Joseph W. Wheelwright, who had raised a number of men, and who had reason to expect a command, but, for mili tary reasons, the men whom he had recruited had been placed in other regiments to complete their organizations, thus leaving him without a command or a commission, the Governor wrote to the Adjutant-General, Aug. 8, "Mr. Wheelwright is very deserving. There are circumstances connected with his domestic life which entitle his case to especial con sideration. I rely on you, by hook or by crook, in working over the Thirty-fifth, to find a place for a lieutenancy for him ; and I am de sirous that this shall be effected, if, by any possibility, it can be done." The request is another evidence of the kind and considerate regard which the Governor always evinced for deserving and patriotic men. Mr. Wheelwright, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Thirty-second Regiment, and died in the ser vice, Jan. 18, 1863. Meanwhile, the recruiting was going on, and with success greater than was at first believed could be attained. The oreat d? O desire of the Governor was to fill up our regiments in the field, rather than to recruit new ones. The generals in the army had written to him, urging the importance of this duty ; among whom was Major-General McClellan, whose letter, dated July 15, was answered by the Governor on the 21st, in which he said he should " zealously and studiously seek to promote the measures and methods touching the new enlistments which you have ad vised." They fully accorded with his own views, had been expressed in his general orders in regard to recruiting. " It is much more difficult to induce men to go into old corps than to join new ones. For this there are general reasons, some specious, but all of them superficial. . . . You may depend upon it, I shall turn a deaf ear to every resigning officer, unless I have the amplest proofs of his ability, gallantry, and innocence of any offending cause for resignation. I deeply regret that so many officers of the volunteer army have disappointed the expectations formed of them." The Governor adds, that he had appointed Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, to visit all the Massachusetts regiments 23 354 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. in the Army of the Potomac, and to report to him their con dition, and the names of the proper persons to be commis sioned to fill existing vacancies of field and line officers. Of Colonel Ritchie s report to the Governor we have spoken in the preceding chapter, and from it made several extracts. On the 26th of July, Major-General Fitz-John Porter wrote to the Governor a letter, from Harrison s Landing, Va., which was promulgated in special orders July 30, in which he said, " It affords me great gratification to express to you my admiration for the noble conduct of the troops from your State, under my com mand, in the late actions before Richmond. No troops could have behaved better than did the Ninth and Twenty-second Regiments and Martin s Battery (the Third), and portions of Allen s (the Fifth), or done more to add to our success. Their thinned ranks tell of their trials ; the brave men lost, their heroic dead, and gallant conduct, and devotion to their country. Their discipline was never excelled ; and now, with undaunted hearts, they await, with confidence of success, the order to advance. I hope you will be able to send on men to fill their depleted ranks, even in parties of ten, as fast as recruited. A few men joining us now gives great heart to all men, and adds to our strength nearly five times the same number in new regiments." The call issued on the 4th of August, by the President of the United States, for three hundred thousand men for nine months service, added materially to the labors of the Governor and the different departments of the State. These men were to be drafted. The number which Massachusetts was called upon to furnish was nineteen thousand and ninety. Regulations for the enrolment and draft were issued from the War Department Au<r. 9, and additional regulations were issued on the 14th of O O August, directing that the quotas should be apportioned by the Governors of States among the several counties and subdivisions of counties, so that allowances should be made for all volunteers previously furnished and mustered into the United States service, whose stipulated terms of service had not expired. To make this new enrolment, and establish the number of men which each town and city must furnish to complete its proportion of the nineteen thousand and ninety men subject to draft, required great labor and accuracy of statement. It threw an immense weight THE ENROLMENT OF THE STATE. 355 of responsibility upon the Adjutant-General, whose duties were already extremely arduous, and increased in a great degree the labors of the office. This was so apparent to the Governor, that he appointed, on the 23d of August, William Rogers, Esq., of Boston, second Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of major, who was specially intrusted with the superin tendence of all matters connected with the enrolment and allotment of the quotas which each city and town was required to furnish ; a duty which he discharged with scrupulous fidelity and unquestioned accuracy. But, as Massachusetts furnished her contingent within a reasonable time by voluntary enlist ments, a draft was avoided. The enrolment, however, which was made at this time, the credits which were allowed to the several municipalities of the Commonwealth for men already furnished by them, and the proportion which they were required to furnish under this call, remained as a basis upon which the quotas of the cities and towns were apportioned, from that time until the end of the w r ar ; the particulars and details of which can be found in the Annual Report of the Adjutant-General for the year 1862, but need not be enlarged upon in these pages. From the beginning to the end of the Rebellion, the Gov ernor, the city and town authorities, and the people of the Com monwealth, were opposed to a draft, and labored to avoid it. Upon these, and kindred matters, Governor Andrew, on the 8th of August, sent a letter to President Lincoln, from which we make the following extracts : " I sent by mail, last night, to General Buckingham, a copy of Mas sachusetts Militia Laws, and remarks. If you will call on me, by requisition, for our quota of militia for nine months duty immediately, asking for so many regiments, we can answer the call, in great part, without a draft, by sending our militia regiments already organized, and being filled up, and by recruiting new ones. The iron is hot : strike quick. Drafting is mechanical : the impulse of patriotism is vital and dynamic. " Call for our militia brigade, under General Davis, a competent officer, as part of Massachusetts militia quota, communicating to us, at same time, number of militia regiments required for our whole quota. MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLIOX. His brigade includes four regiments of infantry, all of which, if called for now for nine months, can be filled to maximum, and march by first of September. Exclude the artillery and cavalry of brigade, if you desire only infantry. It will begin a three days encampment, under State laws, next Wednesday. If requisition is made for brigade, this encampment can be continued right on till brigade is ready to march to war. Davis s military capacity is unquestioned. I have thrice offered him colonelcies of volunteers. " All leading merchants here have signed agreement, that their em ployes who enlist shall resume their employment when returned. I am confident of getting more volunteers and militia this month by enlistments, and by wheeling militia men into line, than conscription could bring in same time. Meanwhile, will be preparing machinery for draft. " Our people want nothing to spur them, but assurance from Wash ington that the enemy shall be conquered, and right vindicated at- all hazards by our arms. They will go, if the flag may but advance with all the principles it symbolizes. The enemy has spurned constitutional rights, and chosen belligerent rights. Let them have one or the other, but not both. They having elected the latter, let us give them full measure. Give us the grand inspiration of duty to country, human nature, and God, and the people are heroic, invincible, and always ready." The Governor had written a few days before to the Secretary of War, complaining of the delay practised by the United-States officers stationed here in paying the bounties and month s pay to recruits after being mustered in. On the llth of August, Secretary Stanton telegraphs a reply to this letter, and also to the telegram sent to the President, from which we have quoted, - " Answer to your telegram of the 8th, to the President, has been de layed, in order to obtain information from some other States as to the condition of enlistments. Requisitions for enlistments and bounty funds were delayed some days in the Treasury unavoidably ; but I am informed that the amount required for your State has gone forward. I see no objection to making the call upon your State for militia in the manner indicated by you, especially if it will hasten the arrival of troops ; but I do not see how we can call for any specific brigade. You can turn over the regiments constituting Davis s brigade as a part of the call. Time is of the utmost importance in the organization." THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 357 The brigade of nine months men was never accepted, although the regiments which composed General Davis s com mand were recruited to the maximum, mustered in, and sent to the front. What the Governor said of General Davis was just and true. He was commissioned colonel of the Thirty- ninth Regiment, three years volunteers, Aug. 29, 1862, which joined the Army of the Potomac ; and was killed in action, July 11, 1864. On the llth of August, after receiving the telegram above quoted, the Governor wrote to President Lincoln, " I can t get these regiments off, because I can t get quick, ener getic work out of the United States disbursing officer and the pay master. I cannot start our men in violation of my authorized pro clamation and promises. Everybody here is alive ; men swarm our camps ; we will raise regiments, until you cry hold. But why not turn over the funds to me, and we will disburse and account for them and stop delays." On the 12th of August, the Governor telegraphs the Secre tary of War, " The nine months regiments, which are organizing, will be put into camp at once, and under strict discipline. May I go on, and make requisitions for quartermaster s and commissary s supplies, as for three years men ? " Authority was given. On the same, he writes to Brigadier- General Briggs, who was in Boston on wounded furlough, "As you have expressed a wish to do some service for the State while waiting here, I ask you, as a great favor, to repair to Worcester to-morrow, to inspect the condition of the Thirty-sixth Regiment, and make a report to me as to its organization, conferring with me and with the Adjutant-General before leaving." Aug. 13. Governor telegraphs Adjutant-General Thomas, Washington, " Can the nine months militia of Massachusetts be mustered in now, and as fast as they present them selves? Please answer at once." Leave was only given to have them mustered in by full companies. On the same day, he telegraphed to Assistant Adjutant - General Towusend, "Please telegraph whether furloughs granted between July 31 358 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLIOX. and Aug. 11 are revoked by General Order 92 of July 31." On the same day, Colonel Browne, by direction of the Governor, forwards to John M. Forbes copies of certain papers in relation to supplies furnished by Mr. Forbes to our prisoners of war in Richmond, Va., with information that "the Quartermaster-General of the Commonwealth will have pleas ure in adjusting with you your account against the State for funds advanced by you for the supplies mentioned ; and the Governor directs me to renew to you, officially and personally, the expression of his thanks for your generous kindness in this transaction." Among the letters and papers transmitted to Mr. Forbes by Colonel Browne was the following by Adjutant Peirson of the Twentieth Regiment, dated Camp Lee, Poolesville, Md., March 8, 1862, and addressed to Colonel Browne : " By special request of His Excellency Governor Andrew, I have the honor to report, that while a prisoner of war in Richmond, Va., I received a letter of credit from John M. Forbes, Esq., for $1,000. A portion of this money, $475, I expended for the benefit of enlisted men belonging to various Massachusetts regiments, and confined in Richmond and other places in Southern States. On being released and sent home, I left the balance subject to the draft of Assistant-Sur geon E. H. R. Revere, Twentieth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, with instructions to expend it, as I had already done, for luxuries for the sick and necessities for the well. He will report to you for the balance in his hands. You will pardon my omitting to make a more detailed report, as I write while in the field and under marching orders." Another letter is from Assistant-Surgeon Revere, in which he states, that, after the departure from Richmond of Lieutenant Peirson, he had no occasion to draw on the letter of credit fur nished by Mr. Forbes. He inclosed a copy of the account of Messrs. Enders, Sutton, & Co., with Lieutenant Peirson, which statement merely shows that the amount drawn by Lieu tenant Peirson was $475. The whole matter had been laid before the Executive Council by the Governor, and by them it was voted that the sum ex pended should be reimbursed to Mr. Forbes, principal and LETTERS OF THE GOVERNOR. 359 interest. This transaction, although not of a great pecuniary amount, is interesting, as showing the warm sympathy which Mr. Forbes felt in the welfare of our prisoners, the scrupulous honesty of the officers intrusted to disburse the money, and the determination of the Governor and Council that the sum thus expended should be assumed by the State. On the fourteenth day of August, the Governor writes to Joseph F. Hitchcock, Warren, " It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated this day, which makes known to me the patriotic action of the citizens of Warren at the meeting held last evening, at which, you inform me, thirty persons volunteered to make up the quota of your town under the draft ordered by the President of the United States. I am pleased, also, to learn of the prompt zeal with which the quota of the town of Warren, under the first call, has been brought into camp ; it reflects great honor upon the town. In reply to the question contained in your letter, I would cordially recommend that the people of Warren unite with some of the neighboring towns, and present a full company, as suggested by you." On the same day, he wrote to Captain Lucius Slade, of Bos ton, commanding the Boston Lancers, " I assure you that it is quite impossible for any one who is not with me to understand how hard I work to put into the new regiments as commissioned officers our fine young fellows who are now in service, and how consistently and unanimously I am opposed in this policy by city and town officers, and committees claiming to represent the wishes of their vicinities, who all demand that their own townspeople shall be appointed as officers of the companies they have raised. I work in all the soldiers that I can, but still must usually give men belonging to their own towns." Aug. 15. The Governor sends telegram to Secretary Stanton, that the Thirty-third Regiment, Colonel Maggi, left for Washington the day before, and that the Thirty-fourth, Colonel Wells, would leave that day. The Governor then says, " In the material of their men, these regiments are excelled by no others Massachusetts has sent. If it shall be necessary to send them immediately into the field, it is the desire of Maggi to be assigned to 360 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Sigel, and of Wells to Banks ; and I should like to have their wishes gratified. Both these regiments would have gone a week ago, but for the delay in giving them their bounty and advance pay." These regiments were assigned as desired. Colonel Maggi, of the Thirty- third, resigned his commission April 1, 1863. Colonel George D. Wells, of the Thirty-fourth, a judge of the Police Court of Boston when the war broke out, who accepted the commission of lieutenant-colonel in the First Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry, three years volunteers, and who had signalized himself for bravery and military ability in the campaign on Richmond, was killed in action, Oct. 13, 1864, and was bre vetted brigadier-general of volunteers by the President of the United States for brave and meritorious services. The same day (Aug. 15), the Governor writes to Hon. Car ver Hotchkiss, Shelburne Falls : " For more than a month I have been engaged in a constant strug gle with town officers to get deserving men from the field appointed to lieutenancies and captaincies in the new regiments, in preference to ignorant civilians, who have every thing military yet to learn. In most instances, I have failed, owing to the necessity I am under of hastening enlistments as much as possible, and to the town authorities declaring, officially and individually, that they cannot raise men unless men at home, and from civil life, are appointed officers ; and owing also to the fact that the Administration will allow no man to be ap pointed from the field, until all the men are raised whom he is to com mand. The result is, that I have on my files several hundred of applications from prominent officers of Burnside s army and of the Army of the Potomac and of Virginia, recommending the promotion, into new regiments, of men who have distinguished themselves in the field for uniform good conduct and great bravery. Your son s name is among the number, and, as with the rest, I should be glad to put him anywhere that a place could be found for him ; but, as with the rest, I seek in vain for such a place. If a new company of three years men is being raised by your town and its neighbors, and you can connect your son with its organization instead of some inexperienced man, who in the natural course of affairs might otherwise be injected there, that would afford me the opportunity." It is proper to state here that the evil complained of in the LETTERS OF THE GOVERNOR. 361 above letter naturally grew out of the system adhered to by the War Department, by not allowing men who had distin guished themselves in service to come home and recruit men for the new regiments, so as to be commissioned officers when the regiment was raised. The town authorities were anxious to fill their quotas ; and in every town there were young men in every way qualified, except by practical experience in war, to have commissions. They exerted themselves to raise men, and many enlisted because of their exertion, who preferred that these men whom they knew should be their officers. Hence it was, that, while the Governor wished to appoint officers from the regiments in the field, the town authorities, and the recruits themselves, wished to have men commissioned who had aided in recruiting, and who were personally known to the recruits them selves. Many letters were written by the Governor in regard to this matter ; but the evil being chronic, and beyond his power to cure, it continued until the end of the war. It would appear by the following letter, written by Colonel Browne, to Cyrus W. Francis, Yale College, New Haven, Ct., that the first attempt to enlist colored volunteers was by Gov ernor Sprague, of Rhode Island, " By direction of Governor Andrew, I beg to acknowledge the re ceipt of your letter, and to reply, advising you to place yourself in communication and co-operation with the Governor of Rhode Island, on the subject of the enlistment of the company of colored men as volunteers. It will be essential to the recruitment of the colored regiment commenced by Governor Sprague, that the colored population of other States shall contribute towards it, the number of persons of African descent in the State of Rhode Island alone being insufficient for the purpose." It is proper and just, however, to say that the first regiment of colored troops, of which we shall have more to say hereafter, was raised in Massachusetts. On the twenty-fourth day of August, the Governor addressed the following letter to Hon. J. G. Abbott, Boston : - " MY DEAR SIR, Not merely a certain official relation towards a brave young man, a citizen of Massachusetts and a soldier of the Union lately sustained and now severed, but a sincere sympathy with 362 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. his father, whom, after all, I can scarcely call bereaved, invites me, after a brief space of respectful silence, to offer my humble word of friend ship and consolation. An acquaintance of many years, less familiar perhaps than it had been useful to me had the opportunity existed, assures me that the resources of the mind of the man will do much to alleviate the grief and desolation which must depress the heart of the father. And, while I know that nothing I can suggest will not have been anticipated, I venture to hope, that a simple and earnest expres sion of natural and human sympathy will be received and valued, if only for the sake of the kindness with which it is meant. I have fre quently been impressed, my dear sir, with the manly spirit with which you have repeatedly arid freely offered your sons to your country ; and now that, in the providence of God, one of them has been verily taken, I would that it were in my power, by a feather s weight even, to soften the blow. But I rejoice to bear my hearty testimony, which is all that I can do, to the constant, uniform, and conspicuous merit, as a soldier and a gentleman, of the son you have given. I think you will always have a right to remember, with the pride equalled only by parental love, that our inheritance in a Commonwealth is made richer and nobler by the memories of such dear and brave boys of Massachusetts, whose young lives, consecrated even to death, were beautiful testi monies of the preciousness of our birthright and the worth of liberty. I pray leave, my dear sir, to offer, through yourself, to your family my respectful sympathy and respect." This beautiful and touching letter was written to Mr. Abbott on the death of his son, Edward Gr. Abbott, who was killed in action, Aug. 9, 1862. He was a captain in the Second Regiment Massachusetts Infantry. Mr. Abbott had two sons in the war, one in the Second, and one in the Twentieth Regiment. His other son, Henry L. Abbott, went out a cap tain in the Twentieth Regiment, rose to the rank of major, and was killed in the Wilderness, May 6, 1864. They were young men of great promise, born and reared in the city of Lowell, graduates of Harvard College, and both now lie beneath a sol diers monument in the cemetery of their native city. These were all the sons of the family. On the twenty-third day of August, an executive order was issued, of which the following is a copy : " In order to promote the recruitment of the Massachusetts quotas, THE APPOINTMENT OF OFFICEPtS. 363 both of volunteers and militia, I respectfully recommend that throuo-h- out the Commonwealth, and especially in the cities and larger towns, business generally be suspended during the afternoons of the coining week, and that the time and influence of every citizen be Driven to en- v couraging enlistments, by the example of his own enrolment, if he is within the prescribed limits of age and health, and, if not, by stimulat ing the patriotism of his neighbors. " JOHN A. ANDREW. " By His Excellency the Governor. " OLIVER WARNER, Secretary of the Commonwealth" This order was very generally observed throughout the Com monwealth, until the thirty-four thousand men which we were to raise were organized into regiments, and sent forward to the war. In the appointment of field officers for the new three years regiments, the Governor determined to appoint men who had seen service, and who had given unquestionable evidence of bravery and military capacity. Accordingly, he wrote to Mr. Stanton, at different times, for the discharge of Captain Bates, of the Twelfth Regiment, to be commissioned major of the Thirty-third ; Lieutenant-Colonel Batchelder, of the Thirteenth, and others, that they might be promoted to higher commands in new regiments. It appears that these applications met with serious opposition from army officers, as we find on the Gov ernor s files a letter, dated Aug. 24, addressed to Mr. Stanton, in which he says, u I am right, no matter what the army officers think or say, in ask ing you for some officers to be promoted in the new regiments. Our old ones have plenty of men well worthy of promotion ; and, when I take out an officer, I merely make it weaker by one man : a good man below him stands ready to make good the place vacated. In a new regiment just marching to the field, a few good fellows, who know what camp life and battles are, are valuable beyond price to all the rest of the command. Batchelder, of the Thirteenth, is not needed there. That regiment could furnish officers for a whole regiment outside of itself, and be no more weakened than is a bird by laying its eggs. It is remarkable for its excellence of material. ... I beg you, my dear sir, to forgive my explicitness ; for I know that if here, where you could cross-examine me, you would be satisfied I am right." 364 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. Aug. 25. Governor telegraphs Mr. Stanton, " We have now recruited thirteen thousand eight hundred and one men for three years, under July requisition. Nothing done afternoons in Massachusetts but recruiting. Balance of quota sure. So will be militia quota. If supplies are ready, I mean the old Sixth Regiment, of Baltimore memory, to march the first day of September. No draft can be useful or expedient here." One of the greatest hardships which Massachusetts and other maritime States had to bear in furnishing their quotas of the several calls for troops made by the President, was the. refusal of Congress to allow credits for men serving in the navy. It bore with peculiar weight upon the towns in Barnstable, Nan- tucket, Essex, Suffolk, Plymouth, and Norfolk Counties, which had sent many thousand men into the navy, but had received no credit for them, and no reduction of their contingent for the army. It was not until 1864, after Massachusetts had sent upwards of twenty-three thousand men into the navy, that credits were allowed by Congress for the men who manned our frigates, under Porter and Farragut, watched blockade-runners, and sealed the Southern ports. Governor Andrew had frequently spoken of the injustice of Congress in refusing to allow these credits, and had exerted himself to the utmost to effect a change. On the 27th of August, he telegraphed to Governor Washburn, of Maine, " Has Maine succeeded in obtaining an allowance on her men in the navy towards the army draft ? If not, does she propose to be content without such an allowance ? How can some towns possibly fill their quotas without it ? " On the same day in which the above was written, Governor Andrew drew up a form of a letter, addressed to President Lincoln, which was sent to the Governors of the New-England States, which, if approved, they were requested to sign. The letter received their sanction and their signatures, and was for warded to the President of the United States. It read as follows : "We unite in respectfully but most urgently presenting to your attention the inequality of the militia draft among the States, caused IMPEDIMENTS TO ENLISTMENTS. 365 by withholding every allowance for men sent into the naval service. The New-England States have many thousands of volunteers in the national navy, belonging chiefly to the sea-coast counties, which are nevertheless to be subject to the same draft as the counties in the in land States. So great is this inequality, that, if the draft is to be vigorously imposed on some of our seaports without making this allow ance, it will absorb the whole male population of those towns within the limits of the military age." The letter produced no change ; and the towns referred to succeeded in filling their quotas by inducing persons to enlist from other places to their credit. On the 28th of August, the Adjutant-General reported to the Governor thus : " In recruiting the nine months men, we meet with obstacles at every step. The mustering officer refuses to muster them in until a regiment is full. Now he also refuses to furnish transportation for the recruits to camp, and there is no way to get them to camp unless the State assumes the responsibility, or the officers and men pay their fares from their own means. As this is a matter of serious importance, I ask your Excellency s orders what to do." The same day, the Governor telegraphed these facts to Mr. Stanton, and added, " We have more than five thousand nine months men ready to go into service immediately, who have abandoned their avocations, and ask only to be received at once, but are repressed and discouraged by these repulses. If I were capable of discouragement, I should be almost discouraged by the obstacles which block my efforts at every turn. If the whole recruitment, transportation, and equipment were left to the State as last year, we should be a month ahead of our present position." Mr. Stanton telegraphed, that it was by law impossible for him to put the recruitment of the militia, and the disbursement of the funds, into the hands of the Governor; to which he wrote a long and able reply, showing that all reason and expe rience proves the absolute necessity that human affairs should be controlled from the centre, and not from the circumference. He says, 366 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. " Perhaps we are doing as well as other States ; but it nearly drives me mad when I see the American armies running before a generation of scoundrels, and American liberty almost prostrate before a power which challenges government itself, outrages humanity, and defies God ; and when I know the full strength and power of our Massachusetts people is unused, and incapable of being fully used, by reason simply of formal and mechanical defects of system and method, I feel as if we absolutely did nothing. Our State is one vast camp ; the people, from midday until midnight, close their shops and stores, and work for the recruitment. God only knows whether the President will ever burst his bonds of Border-Stateism and McClellan : but the people somehow are blessed with an instinct of faith, before which, I believe, mountains themselves will move ; and I work with the same confi dence and zeal as if I knew that they had moved already. 1 believe that Providence has made too great an investment, alike in the history and in the capacity of this people, to permit their ruin. I am sure you feel as I do ; and if I had a power of speech which could raise the dead, like the trumpet of an archangel, or if words could blister the granite rocks of Mount Washington, still, no voice nor language could ex press the sentiments of emotion which befit the occasion and the hour." An arrangement was made, at this time, for the Governors of the New-England States to meet, as if accidentally, at the Commencement of Brown University, in Providence, on the 3d of September, " for an hour of frank and uninterrupted conver sation." The meeting was held ; but no intimation of what was discussed, or what was done, appears upon the Executive files. In the latter part of August, trie scene of active war was changed from before Richmond, to the army under General Pope, before Washington. The losses in the Union army were very great. The Secretary of War telegraphed the Governor to send forward additional surgeons to take charge of the sick and wounded. Surgeon-General Dale was directed to make arrangements to comply with the request, and to send forward hospital stores. On the 1st of September, the Governor tele graphed to Mr. Stanton, " In obedience to your telegram received at five o clock, Saturday afternoon, eleven first-rate surgeons started immediately ; thirty more MEMORIAL OF PHYSICIANS. 367 left Massachusetts yesterday, all regularly detailed by our Surgeon- General, under your order, and all surgeons of high character and ability : also, nine car-loads of hospital stores left Boston last night." On the fifteenth day of September, the Governor wrote to the Secretary of War, recommending the appointment of Gen eral Strong to the command of the post of New York, in place of the officer then there. He preferred to have one selected from civil life, rather than one whose experience and education was only military. New York is the gate through which our regiments advance to the war, and through which also "our poor and wounded men, brave in their patience, and more than heroic in their sufferings, are obliged to return, as they wearily and sadly are borne home to die." General Strong, here spoken of, probably was the gentleman who was chief-of-staff to General Butler while in command of the Department of New England, and who was afterwards killed at Fort Wagner. But of this we are not certain. On the first day of October, the Governor forwarded to the Secretary of War a memorial signed by about seventy-five phy sicians of Massachusetts, among whom were many of the most distinguished in the State, setting forth that the ambulance arrangements of the United-States army were extremely de fective, and caused great suffering to our sick and wounded soldiers ; and suggesting that the cause of humanity and the real welfare of the soldiers would be promoted by placing the control of this part of the service more immediately under the supervision of the Medical Department of the United States, with authority to authorize a distinct ambulance corps. On the same day, he wrote to the President, bringing to his attention a certain injustice done our soldiers, in keeping them imprisoned without trial by court-martial ; and suggesting, that a board be convened by the Governors of States for such duty, the following names to constitute the board for Massachusetts : Major-General William Sutton, Brigadier-Gen eral Richard A. Peirce, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. Holmes, Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Wetherell, Major Charles W. Wilder, Major Thornton K. Lothrop, Captain George H. Shaw, Lieutenant Curtis B. Raymond, and, for Judge-Advo- 3G8 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. cate, Mjijor William L. Burt, all of whom held commissions under the Governor in the Massachusetts militia. The Gov ernor draws the attention of the President to chapter 201 of the Acts of Congress of 1862, which gives him power for the ap pointment of such a board. The suggestion of the Governor \vas not approved ; at least, the board recommended was never convened. The battle of Antietam, in which many of the Massachu setts officers and men were killed and wounded, was fought Sept. 15, 1862. Dr. Hitchcock, of Fitchburg, a member of the Executive Council, was requested by the Governor to obtain, if possible, from General McClellan, the transfer of the Massa chusetts soldiers to our own State hospitals for treatment. Dr. Hitchcock says, " I called at General McClellan s headquarters, and delivered the Governor s written request, which he immediately telegraphed to the Secretary of War, to which a favorable reply was returned. This interview, which lasted but a few minutes, was remarkable for polite ness and deliberation on his part. He sat cross-legged, and puffed away at a fragrant Havana, and, at the interval of each clearly expressed sentence, would gently snap the ashes from the end of the cigar. During this interview, with the most perfect nonchalance, he made known the fact that eleven thousand wounded men were lying near his tent, and that the headquarters of General Lee, with his rebel army ? was only three miles distant, across the Potomac. It is needless, per haps, to add, that the consent of the Secretary of War, and the willing word, but non-action, of General McClellan, failed in the fullest sense to realize the urgent request of Governor Andrew in reference to our men. Many of our soldiers were, however, brought home from that bloody field, and tenderly cared for in the hospitals of the State, and at the homes of the men." It would be difficult to describe accurately the excitement and interest which the great battle of Antietam created in Massa chusetts. The great majority of our regiments and batteries were engaged in it. Several of our best officers were killed ; many were wounded ; and the fatality which attended the rank and file was terrible. It was a victory, however, a victory for the Union, a triumph for the Army of the Potomac over the RETURN OF THE SICK AND WOUNDED. 369 rebel army under Lee. From early spring these two armies had been face to face ; from Yorktown to within the sight of the spires of Richmond, they had fought almost daily for months. The advance on Richmond, however, was not successful. The retreat to Harrison s Landing, of General McClellan s army, gave the rebels an opportunity to attack Pope, and defeat him. Then we had the second Bull Run battle. Lee then advanced with his entire command, crossed the Potomac, and entered Maryland. McClellan s army was brought up from the Penin sula, and advanced to meet him. On the fourteenth day of Sep tember, Hooker s corps took Maryland Heights by storm ; General Reno and General Mansfield killed, Hooker wounded. On the 17th, the battle of Antietam was fought. Lee retreated, with what remained of his army, across the Potomac. He was not pursued, as many thought he should have been. General McClellan was deposed from the command of the army. The pursuit of Lee commenced ; but it was too late. This great year of war was practically finished. The army went into winter quarters, taking position in Virginia to shield the capital from attack. Recruiting for the army continued briskly through the year ; the losses in battle, the disasters on the Peninsula and under General Pope, stimulated rather than depressed enlistments. Successes, had crowned our arms in the Southwest and in North and South Carolina ; and hope grew strong, that, in the end, the Union arms would be victorious everywhere. The wounded and sick who came home spoke in cheering words. They claimed that the Union army had been victorious every time and everywhere. This buoyant and gallant spirit, expressed by those who had seen the most and suffered the most, was remark able. We cannot call to mind an instance where these wounded veterans ever spoke despondingly ; and we saw many of them every day. Their wives and mothers felt proud of them, and the men felt proud of themselves. They had stories to tell which they had learned around the camp-fires, and incidents to relate which happened on the advance and on the retreat. They had learned new phrases, and coined new words, about the "Johnnies" and the "Butternuts," terms used to designate the 24 370 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. rebel soldiers. Jests and banters had been exchanged across the picket lines. Some of them made jokes about losing their legs, and "how funny they felt" after recovering from the effects of chloroform, and found that a limb had been taken off; and every one knew, that, " with fair play, the Army of the Potomac could whip the world." Such was the spirit of our wounded men. There was no grumbling, no fault-finding ; nor was there any appearance of personal hatred towards the sol diers in the rebel army. General McClellan was their idol ; they believed in him, and trusted him, and wished for no other commander. The unfavorable criticisms which had been made upon him found no response in their bosoms. What qualities of mind or of personal address there were in General McClellan to inspire love and confidence in the breasts of his soldiers we know not, as he, of all the great army commanders, is the only one whom we never saw ; but that he possessed this power, which is one of the greatest and most necessary in a great offi cer, we have no doubt. The evidence of it was presented to us every day. Next to McClellan, in the popular affection of the soldiers, was General Hooker. They loved to call him "Fight ing Joe ; " and men who served in his corps felt themselves as especially honored, and many, we doubt not, would freely have sacrificed their lives for him personally. It was curious and interesting to hear these men converse about their officers, many of whom they freely criticised in a manner not at all com plimentary ; but those whom they believed in, whom they knew to be brave, and who took good care of their men, they spoke of in words of warm affection. The men who served in North Carolina under Burnside and Foster were equally warm in their attachment to these officers. They had led them to victory ; and, whatever was said in their praise, they felt they were entitled to a share of it. They called General Burnside " Old Burnsie ; " and many were the stories of his kindness when he visited them in their hospitals, or received returned prisoners in a flag-of-truce boat, and shook them by the hands, and inquired after their health, and saw that they had good quarters, and were properly cared for. Many anecdotes are told by the winter firesides about these officers by the sol- REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. 371 diers who fought under them ; forgetting for the moment their trials and sufferings, to say kind words of the officers who had led them into so many fatal fields. These are among the com pensations which true merit receives, and are the highest honors and rewards which true valor and high soldierly qualities com mand. We now return to the political aspect of the Commonwealth. The Eepublican State Convention met in Worcester on the 10th of September. The call issued by the State Central Com mittee for the election of delegates invited the attendance and co-operation of all " who will support the present national and State Governments, and in favor of all means necessary for the effectual suppression of the Rebellion." It does not appear, however, that any but members of the Republican party took part in the Convention. Hon. A. H. Bullock, of Worcester, was chosen president ; and, on taking the chair, he made a brief patriotic address, in which he said, that since, upon the absorbing question of prose cuting the war, we all are substantially agreed, he "could not see why there should be any occasion, for partisan spirit within the assembly, or cause for disapproval without." He said he had learned many things during the past year ; one of which was, " that African slavery on this continent is so intimately connected with the war, that the two things can no longer be considered apart. It had been a source of strength to the Re bellion ; " and asked, "If this be so, why is it not the duty of the Administration to deal with the subject precisely as all the poli cies of war suggest, and all the necessities of our case demand." Further on, he said, "At all events, let Massachusetts, while abiding in her holy and traditional faith, hold herself in har mony with her sister States in constancy and in sacrifice to the last." Colonel Bullock closed his address by an eloquent quotation from Mr. Webster to avoid disunion, and abide by the Constitution. J. Q. A. Griffin, of Charlestown, moved that a committee be appointed " to draft the customary resolutions." This motion was opposed by R. H. Dana, Jr., of Cambridge, who said this was not a day for long resolutions. If any were necessary, he 372 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. hoped they would be short, declaring a hearty support of the State and national Governments for the suppression of the Re bellion ; and concluded by offering the following, which some one had handed him : " Resolved, That Massachusetts, with all her heart and soul and mind and strength, will support the President of the United States in the prosecution of this war to the entire and final suppression of this Rebellion." Mr. Griffin replied ; and, although he should vote for the reso lution just read, yet he wished the position of Massachusetts to be more broadly expressed. He concluded with offering a reso lution, the substance of which was, thanking Senators Sum- ner and Wilson for the faithful manner in which they had discharged their duties, and recommending Mr. Surnner for re election to the Senate. Mr. Davis, of Plymouth, said that this was a war of ideas, of barbarism against civilization, involving the principles of civil liberty on one hand, and the principles of damnation on the other. He wanted an expression of opinion on the general policy of the war. " We haven t," he said, " a press in Boston to speak for us. There are some country papers which speak for us, but they are kept down by the subscription-lists of Bos ton." He favored the appointment of a Committee on Resolu tions, w r hich, after some further discussion, was carried ; and the resolutions offered by Mr. Dana and Mr. Griffin were referred to the committee. A letter from Mr. Sumner was read, regretting his inability to accept an invitation to be present at the convention. He said he should show plainly how to hamstring this Rebellion, and to conquer a peace. To this single practical purpose all theories, prepossessions, and aims should yield. So absorbing at this moment is this question, that nothing is practical which does not directly tend to its final settlement." We infer that Mr. Sumner s mode of hamstringing the Rebellion was to declare freedom to the slaves, and to put arms in the hands of colored soldiers. "All else is blood-stained vanity." He referred to the action of General Butler in Louisiana, in organizing a negro DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. 373 regiment, and to General Banks, " when, overtaking the little slave girl on her way to freedom, he lifted her upon the na tional cannon. In this act, the brightest, most touching, and most suggestive of the whole war, which art will hereafter rejoice to commemorate, our Massachusetts General gave a lesson to the country." The Committee on Resolutions reported five in number : First, That Massachusetts would support the Government in the prosecution of the war. Second, That, as slavery was a princi pal support of the rebellion, slavery should be exterminated. Third was complimentary to the valor of our soldiers, and ex pressed sympathy for those who had fallen. The fourth was the same which had been introduced by Mr. Griffin, complimen tary to our Senators in Congress, and favoring the re-election of Mr. Sumner to the Senate by the Legislature to be elected in November. The fifth indorsed in strong terms the State Administration . These resolutions were adopted, although considerable oppo sition was made to the one recommending Senator Sumner s re-election. The convention nominated Governor Andrew and the old State officers for re-election by acclamation, with the exception of the Lieutenant-Governor. Hon. John Nesmith had de clined to be again a candidate ; and Joel Hayden, of Williams- burg, was nominated Lieutenant-Governor in his stead, on the first ballot. This completed the ticket, which was as follows : For Governor, John A. Andrew, of Boston ; Lieutenant- Governor, Joel Hayden, of Williamsburg ; Secretary of State, Oliver Warner, of Northampton ; Treasurer, Henry K. Oliver, of Salem ; Auditor, Levi Reed, of Abington ; Attorney-Gen eral, D wight Foster, of Worcester. The Democratic party proper did not hold a convention to nominate candidates for State officers this year ; but a conven tion was held in Faneuil Hall on the 7th of October, composed of Democrats and conservative Republicans, at which Brigadier- General Charles Devens, Jr., was nominated for Governor; Thomas F. Plunket, of Adams, for Lieutenant-Governor ; and Henry W. Paine, of Cambridge, for Attorney-General. The 374 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. other State officers nominated by the Republicans were adopted by the " People s Convention." The call for this convention was very numerously signed by gentlemen living in different parts of the Commonwealth. The resolutions which were adopted favored a vigorous prose cution of the war. Perhaps the last one of the series explains the motives which induced the call better than any remarks of our own : " Resolved, That Massachusetts responds with full heart to the ac claim with which the Army of Virginia greeted the appointment to its command of Major- General George B. McClellan. We put trust in him whom brave men desire, to do battle for our cause. Let all irregu lar and irresponsible intermeddling with his command of the army, whether in high places or low, by letter-writers in camp or Governors in convention, anywhere and everywhere, henceforth cease." The president of the convention was Hon. Linus Child, who described the action of the Republican Convention as " of a char acter to disturb that union, and that unity of action and of government, which alone can render our efforts successful in the great work we have in hand." Judge Abbott spoke in favor of every patriot coming forward to sustain the Government, " and consult for the best interests of a tottering nation. We must have the abandonment of all parties. The only question now is, Shall the glorious old flag wave over the whole land, or only a part of it? " In conclusion, he said, "Let us pledge ourselves anew to defend the Constitu tion, and, in the presence of the great Webster, swear that we will give life, honor, and every thing else, in support of it, till it shall float in undimmed splendor over the whole country in peace and in honor." Judge Parker, of Cambridge, was the next speaker; and, in the course of his remarks, he took up the address drawn up and signed by the Governors of the loyal States, as agreed upon at Altoona, Pa. , a few days preceding. He considered it a treasona ble plotting of the Governors, and added, that, if they sought the removal of General McClellan, they met too late to dare to do this, as he was the commander of a victorious army, and it was too dangerous. 375 At this point, Mr. Saltonstall, of Newton, stepped on the platform, and said, he held a letter in his hand from a friend in Baltimore, which stated that a formal proposition was made at Altoona to remove General McClellan from the command of the Army of Virginia. On being asked which of the Governors it was who had made the proposition, Mr. Saltonstall said that the letter was of a private nature, and he was not permitted to give all its contents ; " but the convention could well imagine who made the proposition." The meeting understood him to mean Governor Andrew. Two days after the convention was held, Mr. Saltonstall ad dressed a letter to the editor of the Boston Journal to correct an error he had made ; by which it appeared that Mr. Salton- stall s statement had, for its basis, the following paragraph, which was in a letter addressed to him by a friend in Balti more : "I learn from Governor B. [meaning Governor Bradford, of Mary land], that there was a formal proposition made to remove the Com manding General. He does not feel at liberty to say more." Mr. Saltonstall s explanation was, that he had mistaken the word no for the letter a; and, instead of saying a formal proposition had been made, &c., the letter really said that no formal proposition had been made. No gentleman supposed Mr. Saltonstall was intentionally guilty of misrepresentation. The explanation, therefore, was satisfactory to the public, though the mistake, necessarily, was very annoying to the gentleman who made it. When Governor Bradford was informed of Mr. Saltonstall s statement, he immediately telegraphed to Governor Andrew, disavowing having made it, to which Governor Andrew replied that " No explanation was needed between us on the matter in question ; for of course I knew that any declaration that such a statement had been made by or from you must be mistaken. . . . The truth is, that I made no proposition, formal, informal, direct, indirect, near, or re mote, for the appointment, promotion, or displacement, or for any other dealing, with any officer, high or low, in our military service." 376 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The Faneuil-Hall Convention was a highly respectable body of men, and the nominations were very proper to be made. General Devens, who was put forward for Governor, had ren dered efficient service by his bravery and capacity in the field, and was well and favorably known throughout the Commonwealth ; but nothing could shake the confidence of the people in Gov ernor Andrew, or cause a change in the State Administration. Governor Andrew was triumphantly re-elected ; the vote for Governor being, Andrew, 79,835; Devens, 52,587; all others, 1,733. On the thirtieth day of September, the Governor received a letter from Major John A. Bolles, a gentleman formerly well known in Boston, but who at this time was serving on the staff of Major-General Dix at Fortress Monroe. Major Bolles s letter was accompanied by one from General Dix ; also, one addressed to him from the Secretary of War. In these communications, it was proposed that the Governor should take some active measures for the reception in Massachusetts of a portion of the escaped slaves then within our lines near Fortress Monroe. This plan was represented as very desirable, for reasons both military and humane. It was also urged that the fortress might be attacked by the rebels, and these people swept back into slavery. To this invitation the Governor replied, that, though he sympathized deeply with the humane motives upon which General Dix was seeking to act, he did not assent, in any way or in any degree, to the plan proposed ; but that these motives of humanity led him in a different direction, which sound reasoning made manifest. He said that the true interest of the African and Saxon were interwoven, and their rights identical ; so that the maintenance of the one became the salva tion of the other. If it were true, as stated, that "rebel hordes were coiling their traitorous length for a deadly spring upon Fortress Monroe, and that rebel iron-clads were coming down the river," and that " the Union force who opposed the threat ened assault was inferior to the force that menaced them," then, by listening to the proposals made, he should deprive " the band of heroes now under command of General Dix, and steadily awaiting the storm," of the strength of hundreds of stout arms COLORED FREEDMEN. 377 which would be nerved with the desperation of men fighting for liberty, and would deprive this slandered race of the praise to be acquired in a bold struggle for their dearest rights. Here Providence had given to them a chance to complete their emanci pation from slavery ; and, if he should do any thing to deny them that chance, he would be injuring the cause of the Union arms. He would not, therefore, do any thing to take away from General Dix this great reserved force, as he had no doubt it would prove, if the General would but use it. If the fortress was attacked, the blacks w r ould fight to preserve their freedom, and they are needed. If any thing could strengthen his previous opinions on this point, it would be just such facts as were nar rated in the letters he had received. If the negroes had wives and children to fight for, in addition to their freedom, they would not show themselves insensible to the motives which have inspired all other races. He would welcome every blow of theirs which might at once carry succor to a patriot, death to a traitor, renewed life to their own veins, and victory to our flag. Contemplating, however, the probability of their removal, the Northern States were of all places the worst possi ble to select for an asylum. These poor people were inhabi tants of a Southern climate, and were subject to needs and to peculiarities of physical constitution accordingly. Where, then, was the prudence or humanity of subjecting them to the rigors of a Northern sky in the winter season,. with the moral cer tainty of inflicting extreme suffering, resulting probably in dis ease and death. If their removal were definitely determined upon, he would suggest for the asylum some Union foothold in the South, as Hilton Head, where they could retain their health, be trained as soldiers, and their labor made available. For them to come North would be for them to come as paupers and sufferers to a strange land, as a swarm of houseless wan derers migrating without a purpose to a busy community, where they would be incapable of self-help ; a course certain to demoralize themselves and endanger others. Such a course would be a handle to all traitors, and to all persons evilly dis posed : we should be told that the experiment had been tried, and failed ; that the negroes had proved worthless, and incapable 378 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. of taking care of themselves, when the truth would be that we had pursued the plan most calculated to disable and corrupt them. He met with pleasure the motive of humanity which had dictated the proposed plan ; but, from the very same feelings, he considered the plan a mistaken one. It was because he did not wish the negroes to suffer, because he wished to save their wives and children from perishing, and to prevent their new freedom from becoming license, corruption, and infamy, that he declined to aid or countenance this plan for their transportation to the North. The Governor presented the same views to the Secretary of War, who acceded to them ; and the plan was abandoned. We find in the Governor s files a large number of letters in regard to the freedmen ; among others, a long and interesting report from C. B. Wilder, " superintendent of contrabands" at Fortress Monroe, showing how the colored laborers at that point were denied their hard-earned wages through the neglect and dishonest practices of officers of the Government. We also find the draft of a memorial to Congress, written by the Governor Dec. 10, 1862, in which the claims of the freedmen to the protection of the Government are very strongly set forth, and which says, that, without a system for the speedy organiza tion of the emancipated, the proclamation of the President, of Sept. 22, 1862, would prove either fruitless, or only a proclama tion of anarchy. With a proper system wisely administered, emancipation would be "prosperity to the South, progress to the African race, and peace to the republic." The great number of men which Massachusetts was called upon in 1862 to furnish for the military service of the country rendered this year one of the most busy and anxious of the war. To this we may add the fearful losses which had been sustained in the battles before Richmond, at Antietam, and before Wash ington under General Pope, which multiplied greatly the labors of all the military departments of the Commonwealth, and espe cially those of the Surgeon-General. The towns were anxious to fill their quotas on the one hand, and on the other to receive back the sick and wounded from the regiments in the field. Every thing was done which human agency could do to accomplish LETTER OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 379 both of these objects. What gave an impetus to recruiting was the fear of a draft, which the Government was determined to enforce unless the men called for were furnished by voluntary enlistments within a reasonable time. A new enrolment had been made, under the superintendence of Major Rogers, assist ant Adjutant-General, and the United-States military com mander. Assistant provost-marshals had been appointed in the several Congressional districts to carry out the machinery of the draft ; but, thanks to the patriotism of the people and the activity of the city and town authorities, and the officers of the State, the contingent was raised before the end of the year by volunteers. Yet all that was done by the State authorities to aid recruiting, and organize and send forward regiments, did not shield them from complaints by selectmen and others, whose own labors in the work of recruiting left them no time to reflect upon the labors of others. Many letters are upon the files in the State House, filled with complaints of this character. We will quote the answer made by the Adjutant-General to one of these complaints, which will serve to illustrate the whole : " Your favor has been received ; and I wish you would say to the selectmen and others who scold the Governor and me for not sending a mustering officer to Pittsfield whenever they feel like having one, that they had better come here, and try half as hard as I do to have officers sent there, and I think afterwards they would grumble no more at the Governor and the Adjutant-General. Last week I sent a mustering officer to Pittsfield, through the kindness of Captain Collins, United-States chief mustering officer. I told him how much one was needed ; and, although the officer sent was needed at Camp Stan ton,* I arranged that he should go to Pittsfield instead. Well, he went there. The next day, he telegraphed Captain Collins that there was no one in camp ready to be mustered in, and requested to know how long he must stay there. This telegram Captain Collins sent up to me, with a little note blaming me for sending his officer two hun dred miles off on a sort of tomfool s errand. I advised him, however, to hold on a day or two, and finish up Berkshire if possible ; that I had no doubt you would have the recruits ready for him by that time. So I supposed the thing was finished, and that I should have the thanks of the selectmen, instead of their sweet little curses. Now, then, I wish you would say to the town authorities who swear at us, 380 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. that we have nine camps of rendezvous in the State, in two of which there are three regiments each ; in three, two regiments each ; and, in the others, one each. There are but two mustering officers in the State ; so you will see that it is not such an easy thing to get a mus- terino- officer to go to Pittsfield every day. We have no command over these officers, and cannot say to them, Go, and he goeth, or Come, and he cometh ; but, like the voters for the People s party, we Ijave to get them when and how we can. I have just heard that Captain Arnold is at Pittsfield, and will muster in the two remaining companies of the Berkshire regiment ; so you see you have been treated as you ought to be, with marked liberality in regard to mustering officers. I hope I have satisfied you. With any shortcomings, no blame can properly attach to the State authorities." At length the quota of the State was filled. Upwards of thirty-three thousand men had been recruited in less than five months, regiments formed, thoroughly organized and equipped, and sent to the war. We have already given the names of the three months regiments and batteries, dates of their departure from the State, and the names of the commanding officers. We now proceed with the nine months regiments. The Third Regiment served in the three months term in the beginning of the war. It was recruited to the full standard for the nine months service at " Camp Joe Hooker," at Lakeville. On the twenty-second day of October, the regiment embarked at Boston, in steamers " Merrimack " and "Mississippi," under command of Colonel Silas P. Richmond, and arrived at Beau fort, N.C., Oct. 26, and reached Newbern the same evening. The Fourth Regiment, which had also served in the three months campaign in 1861, was recruited to the full standard at " Camp Joe Hooker " for the nine months service. On the seventeenth day of December, it was ordered to join General Banks s command at New Orleans. It left the State on that day for New York, under the command of Colonel Henry Walker. From New York it went by transport to New Orleans. The Fifth Regiment, which had also served in the three months campaign, was recruited for nine months service at " Camp Lander," at Wenham. It sailed from Boston in trans- DEPARTURE OF NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 381 ports, under command of Colonel George H. Peirson, for New- bern, N.C., with orders to report for duty to Major-General Foster. The Sixth Regiment, the same which had fought its way through Baltimore, April 19, 1861, was recruited and or ganized for the nine months service at " Camp Henry Wilson," at Lowell. It was the determination of the Governor to have the Sixth Regiment the first to leave the State for the nine months service. It received orders to report at Washington, and left Massachusetts under command of Colonel Albert S. Follansbee about Sept. 1. It remained in Washington until the 13th, when it was ordered to Suffolk, Ya. The Eighth Regiment served with distinction in the three O o months service. It opened the route by Annapolis to Wash- inoton. It was recruited to the maximum for the nine months O service at " Camp Lander," at Wenham. It sailed from Boston on the seventh day of November, under the command of Colo nel Frederick J. Coffin, for Newbern, N.C., with orders to report for duty to Major-General Foster. The Forty-second Regiment was .recruited for nine months service at " Camp Meigs," at Readville. The nucleus of this regiment was the Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. It was assigned to the Department of the Gulf, and left Massachusetts Nov. 19, with orders to report to General Banks in New York. It remained in camp at Long Island until about the first day of December, when it sailed from New York for New Orleans under command of Colonel Isaac S. Burrill. The Forty-third Regiment was recruited at " Camp Meigs," at Readville. It was recruited chiefly through the Second Battalion, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, with which organ ization a portion of the officers had been connected. On the twenty-fourth day of October, it went on board transports, together with the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Regiments, with orders to report to Major-General Foster at Newbern, N.C. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Charles L. Holbrook. While these three regiments were on the transports in Boston Harbor, a very severe easterly storm came on, which detained 382 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. them several days, and caused much suffering among the troops. The Forty-fourth Regiment was recruited at " Camp Meigs," at Readville. The Fourth Battalion, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, under Major Francis L. Lee, was the nucleus of this regiment. Nearly the whole battalion volunteered, officers and men. It left Boston, Oct. 22, by transport, under command of Colonel Francis L. Lee, with orders to report to Major- General Foster at Newbern, N.C. The Forty-fifth Regiment was recruited at " Camp Meigs," at Readville. The Forty-fifth was known as the " Cadet Regi ment," from the fact that most of its officers were or had been officers of the First Corps of Cadets. The regiment went on board transport on the twenty-fourth day of October, under com mand of Colonel Charles R. Codman, with orders to proceed to Newbern, N.C. This is one of the regiments that were de tained in Boston Harbor by the storm. The Forty-sixth Regiment was recruited chiefly in Hampden County, at " Camp N. P. Banks," in the vicinity of Springfield. It sailed from Boston, under command of Colonel George Bowler, for Newbern, N.C. This was one of the three regi ments detained in Boston Harbor by the storm before referred to. The Forty-seventh Regiment was recruited at " Camp Edwin M. Stanton," at Boxford, where it remained to within a few weeks of its departure from the State, when it was ordered to " Camp Meigs," Readville. This regiment was recruited in a great degree by Lucius B. Marsh, Esq., who afterwards became its colonel. It broke camp on the twenty-ninth day of No vember, and proceeded to New York, under command of Colonel Marsh, with orders to report to Major-General Banks. It remained on Long Island for two or three weeks, awaiting trans portation to New Orleans, where it arrived in safety in the latter part of December. The Forty-eighth Regiment was recruited at " Camp Lander," at Wenham, by Hon. Eben F. Stone, of Newburyport. Before its organization was completed, it was ordered to "Camp Meigs," at Readville. Mr. Stone was elected colonel. The NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 383 latter part of December, it received orders to report to Brigadier-General Andrews at New York, who had been left in command by General Banks, to take charge of the transpor tation for the remaining Massachusetts regiments destined for the Department of the Gulf. The Forty-ninth Regiment was raised in Berkshire County, and organized at " Camp Briggs," at Pittsfield. Captain William F. Bartlett, a young and gallant officer, who had lost a leg at the battle of Fair Oaks, Ya., was elected colonel. It received marching orders on the twenty- first day of Novem ber, to report to Brigadier-General Andrews at New York. It remained in camp at Long Island several days, awaiting transportation to New Orleans. The Fiftieth Regiment was recruited and organized at " Camp Edwin M. Stanton," at Boxford. The nucleus of the Fiftieth was the old Seventh Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. It left Massachusetts on the nineteenth day of No vember, with orders to report to Major- General Banks, at New York. The transports furnished for this regiment were three small vessels, two of which were nearly foundered at sea. One put in at Philadelphia, and another at Hilton Head. Both were pronounced unseaworthy, and new transports w r ere obtained. No lives were lost, and the regiment eventually safely arrived at New Orleans. This regiment was commanded by Colonel Carlos P. Messer, who had commanded a company in the Fifth Regiment, in the three months service. The Fifty-first Regiment was recruited at " Camp John E. Wool," in the city of Worcester. On the eleventh day of November, the regiment was ordered to Newbern, N.C. A few days afterwards, it came to Boston, and entered on board trans port, and proceeded at once to its destination. Augustus B. R. Sprague, who had served as captain in the Rifle Battalion, in the three months service, was colonel of this regiment. The Fifty-second Regiment was recruited at " Camp Miller," at Greenfield. Henry S. Greenleaf, was commissioned colonel. It left Massachusetts on the nineteenth day of November, for New York, where it embarked for New Orleans, with orders to report to Major-General Banks, commanding the Department of the Gulf. 384 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The Fifty-third Regiment was recruited at " Camp Stevens," at Groton. It left Massachusetts on the eighteenth day of November, for New York, under command of Lieutenant-Colo nel Barrett, with orders to report to Major-General Banks at New Orleans. John "W. Kimball, who had served with dis tinction as major of the Fifteenth Regiment, three years service, was commissioned colonel of the Fifty-third. Before he could get home from the front, and take command, the regiment had left the State. He joined it, however, at New York, and went with it to Louisiana. The Eleventh Light Battery, to serve for nine months, was recruited by Captain Edward J. Jones, at " Camp Meigs," at Readville. It left Massachusetts on the third day of October, under command of Captain Jones, with orders to report for duty to the Adjutant-General of the army at Washington. This was the only nine months battery raised in the State. Thus, in December, 1862, Massachusetts had in active ser vice fifty-three regiments of infantry, one regiment and three unattached companies of cavalry, twelve companies of light artillery, two companies of sharpshooters, and three companies of heavy artillery, which were distributed as follows : Twenty- seven regiments of infantry, seven companies of light artillery, two battalions of cavalry, and two companies of sharpshooters, in the Army of the Potomac, and in Virginia and Maryland ; thirteen regiments of infantry in North Carolina ; thirteen regiments of infantry, five companies of light artillery, and three unattached companies of cavalry, in the Department of the Gulf; one battalion of cavalry at Hilton Head, S.C. ; and three companies of heavy artillery doing garrison duty in the forts in Boston Harbor. The number of three years volun teers who had entered the service from Massachusetts from the commencement of the war to Dec. 31, 1862, was 46,920; number of nine months men, 19,080; number of three months men, 3,736, making a total of 69,736 men. During the year 1862, the number of men who entered the navy in Massachu setts was 5,960, which, added to the number who shipped from April 15 to Dec. 31, 1861 (7,658), makes a total of 13JU8 men for whom Massachusetts received no credit, and who were not THE TEXAS EXPEDITION. 385 taken into consideration in fixing the contingent which Massa chusetts was to furnish for the military arm of the service ; an injustice which bore with crushing weight upon the fishing and maritime towns and cities of the Commonwealth, and which was not removed until 1864, when Congress passed an act allowing credits for men serving in the navy. The regiments sent from Massachusetts to the Department of the Gulf were intended as an expeditionary corps, to invade and hold Texas. The purpose of the expedition was kept a pro found secret ; and neither the officers nor the enlisted men of the regiments, nor the public, were advised of it. This was one of the well-kept secrets of the war ; and, although the expedi tion failed of its object, the fault, if one, did not attach to Massachusetts, nor to the splendid array of troops which she fur nished for it. A portion of the Forty-second Regiment reached Galveston, and has the honor of being the first detachment of the loyal army that landed in that far-off State. They were attacked by overwhelming numbers. The war vessels in the harbor, which were to co-operate with them, were beaten off or captured by the rebels ; and the detachment of the Forty-second, after fighting gallantly, was obliged to surrender. Governor Andrew detailed Major William L. Burt, of his staff, to accompany the expedition. He was to look out for the welfare of the troops, and report from time to time the exact condition of affairs. On reaching New Orleans, he was to re port to General Hamilton, who had been appointed by the President military Governor of Texas. The Governor, in his written instructions to Major Burt, said, " In selecting you for this position, I have in mind your experience, tact, and energy as a man of business as well as of education. It be ing my desire, since so many Massachusetts soldiers are bound to a very remote field of military service, that some staff officer of ample capacity, zeal, and position should represent the Commonwealth in her rightful relation of a careful guardian and watchful parent towards these brave and precious sons, I have been accustomed to detail gen tlemen of my staff for occasional duties of this description in Virginia and elsewhere, not too far from home. In this instance, the number of our troops, and their remoteness from home, justifies a more perma- 25 386 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. He was also charged to exercise a friendly oversight of the men, to use his influence to accommodate inconveniences, alle viate suffering, and prevent grievances, and, by his advice and interposition, to " promote the efficiency, fidelity, patriotic devo tion, zeal, happiness, and welfare of our troops." The Governor furnished Major Burt with letters of introduction to General Hamilton, whom he afterwards met in New Orleans, and formed his acquaintance. We shall in the next chapter refer to this expedition again, and quote from the interesting reports made by Major Burt to the Governor. Massachusetts having sent forward her regiments, Governor Andrew wrote to the Secretary of War, " To say one word about brigadiers " (after speaking about having sent forward ten new regiments for three years service, saying nothing about the men sent forward to fill up the old regiments), " we claim that we are entitled to two brigadier-generals on that score ; and, for the seventeen regiments of nine months men, we are entitled to four more. We therefore recommend, first of all, Colonel James Barnes, of the Eighteenth," whom he describes as a " long-headed, able man, of thorough military education, over fifty years old, served all last fall, winter, and spring, in Martindale s brigade, now an acting brigadier with McClellan ; the most constant, unremitting, and careful of men. He deserved the first promotion, and would have got it, probably, but that his regiment happened not to be in battle, for which he was not to blame. His lieutentant-colonel (Hayes) is able to lead the regi ment, if promoted to its command, with the highest honor. He de serves promotion." Colonel Barnes was made a brigadier-general Nov. 29, 1862, a few days after this letter was written. " Second, William Raymond Lee, of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, now acting as brigadier, under McClellan, in Sedgwick s division. He fought at Ball s Bluff; and, in the first and last battles before Richmond, was the bravest and most chivalrous gentleman in all our commands, or in any army ; educated, too, at the Military Academy, but, like Barnes, for many years in civil life. Both these gentlemen, at my request, took regiments, not for glory or money, but because they felt, that, having been educated by the country, they were bound to appear at the first call of- danger. They have patriotic hearts, fully devoted to the manliest views of carrying on the war. Colonels Lee BRIGADIER GENERALS. 387 and Barnes are too proud and too modest to ask : I speak wholly self- moved." Colonel Lee resigned, on account of severe illness, Dec. 17, 1862, and was bre vetted brigadier-general for brave and meritorious services in the field. "Third, Colonel Edward F. Jones commanded the "old Sixth," of Baltimore memory ; more recently, of the Twenty-sixth, under Butler. Returning from New Orleans very ill, recovered of ty phoid, resigning his command, finding that his wife was also very ill, now, after her death, which happened a week or so ago, he is ready for a brigade. He is a true, good, intelligent, capable, business like officer. He is a sagacious, determined man. I wish he might be appointed, and go to Banks to Texas." Colonel Jones, although worthy of it, never received the appointment to which be was recommended. " Fourth, Colonel Edward W. Hinks, of the Nineteenth, formerly of the * old Eighth, which repaired the railroad to Annapolis Junc tion in the spring of 1861, saved the Constitution frigate at Annapo lis, and is now recovering from his wounds at Antietam, having been wounded, too, before Richmond. He is a young, brave, ardent, very devoted, natural soldier. He, too, ought to be promoted." Colonel Hinks was appointed brigadier-general Nov. 29, 1862. Pie was afterwards brevetted major-general, and is now a lieutenant-colonel in the regular army. " Fifth, Albert C. Maggi, an Italian, about forty years old, now with General Sigel, saw fourteen years service abroad ; was a major in Italy ; fought under Garibaldi in South America, as well as in Italy ; enlisted in the spring of 1861, at New Bedford (where he was teaching the classics, modern languages, and gymnastics), in our Third Regi ment ; went to Fortress Monroe ; was, in succession, sergeant-major, adjutant of the Third, and acting brigade-major; when, after the three months expired, he, as lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-first, led it in the battle of Roanoke Island, and, resigning, took the Thirty- third Regiment. " If General Sigel should require any additional brigadier, I can not imagine a better one for foreign troops, or, since he speaks good English, even for native troops ; and his lieutenant-colonel, Adin B. 388 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. Underwood, is perfectly fit to command his regiment. He has been in service as captain in our Second, until he reached this lieutenant- colonelcy." Colonel Maggi was not promoted ; and he resigned the colo nelcy of the Thirty-third Regiment April 1, 1863, and was not again in service. " Sixth, Colonel Burr Porter, of our Fortieth. He is a splendid soldier. I appointed him, as I have several others, though not from Massachusetts, because so able. He is recommended, I learn, by Governor Olden, with the understanding that he be changed to New Jersey, his own State. I wish he might be appointed, and, with his regiment, be sent to Texas. He would make a great fighting brigadier. He is magnetic, like Maggi. He was educated at a French military academy ; was on Omar Pasha s staff in the Crimea, and served under Fremont in Virginia." Colonel Porter was not appointed brigadier, and resigned as colonel of the Fortieth, July 21, 1863. He was afterwards appointed major in the First Battalion Frontier Cavalry, Jan. 1, 1865, and colonel Third Cavalry March 21, 1865, and dis charged at expiration of service, July 21, 1865. " Seventh, Colonel, formerly Lieutenant-Colonel, George L. An drews, of the Second Regiment. Educated at West Point ; modest, firm, and methodical ; a scholarly soldier, and an honest, faithful man. He is recommended by divers Boston gentlemen for a brigade, and he would be an excellent chief-of-staff for a major-general commanding an army corps." Colonel Andrews was appointed brigadier before this letter was written ; the date of his commission being Nov. 9, 1862. " Eighth, Colonel Timothy Ingraham, of the Thirty-eighth Regi ment, would be an excellent brigadier. He is now acting as such. He is a most constant, trustworthy, and reliable man, conscientious, and sure fire. " Colonel Ingraham was detailed for a long time as provost- marshal at Washington, and brevetted brigadier-general Oct. 2, 1865. " Ninth, I wish Major-General Hooker might be appealed to for his opinion of the propriety of nominating Colonel George D. Wells, STAFF APPOINTMENTS. 389 of the Thirty-fourth, until lately lieutenant-colonel of the First, for brigadier. I have heard General Hooker call Wells a remarkable soldier. Nor can I doubt that General Hooker, under whom, first as brigadier, and afterwards general of a division, the First Massachu setts served for nearly one year ; and General Grover, who succeeded to the command of Hooker s brigade, would unite in emphasizing my suggestion. I would also refer to Colonel Blaisdell of our Eleventh, Colonel Wilde, and Lieutenant-Colonel Carruth of our Thirty-fifth, who served in the First Brigade, with and under Colonel Wells." Colonel Wells was killed in action, Oct. 13, 1864, and was bre vetted brigadier-general after his death. He was one of the best and bravest officers that went from Massachusetts into the " Tenth, We have five three years regiments at Newbern. They went out with Burnside ; all but one was in his three battles there. Captain T. J. C. Amory, United-States Tenth Infantry, is colonel of our Seventeenth Volunteers. He has acted as general of brigade, and even of division, while there, much of the time. If any one is pro moted there, I suggest Colonel Amory. He is an accomplished offi cer. Now, 1 do not ask the creation of new generals : of that let me not presume to judge. I only ask, that, if any are made, Massachusetts troops may be put under such men as I have named." Colonel Amory died of yellow fever at Newbern, N.C., Oct. 7, 1864, after having been brevetted brigadier-general. This remarkable letter concludes as follows : " I beg leave to add that all these views are my own, unsuggested save by the accumulated knowledge of careful pains taken in appoint ing, and keeping up my acquaintance with our officers, and impelled by my zeal for the cause, and the honor of my State. I trust my fulness and freedom may receive your pardon." The changes and additions to the Governor s staff in the year 1862 were as follows : John Quincy Adams, of Quincy, was appointed aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, Jan. 4, 1862, to supply the vacancy occasioned by the appointment of Horace Binney Sar gent as lieutenant-colonel of the First Regiment Massachusetts Cavalry. Harrison Ritchie became senior aide, with rank of colonel. 390 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. Charles F. Blake, of Boston, was appointed assistant quarter master-general, with the rank of major, Aug. 7, 1862. The duty of Major Blake was to return to their regiments the men who were reported deserters. Charles N. Emerson, of Pittsfield, was appointed assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of major, Aug. 20, 1862, with special reference to raising troops. William Rogers, of Boston, was appointed assistant adjutant- general Aug. 23, 1862, with special reference to preparing the State for a draft. Charles J. Higginson, of Boston, was appointed assistant ad jutant-general, with the rank of major, Sept. 9, 1862. William L. Burt, of Boston, was appointed judge-advocate- general, Oct. 1, 1862, and was promoted to the rank of briga dier-general, Feb. 9, 1865. Charles Sprague Sargent, of Brookline, was appointed assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of first lieutenant, Nov. 3, 1862. William Sturgis Hooper, of Boston, was appointed assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain, Nov. 19, 1862. Captain Hooper served with this rank at New Orleans as staff officer under General Banks, and died July 1, 1863. The foregoing pages bring the history of Massachusetts in the war to the close of the year 1862, at which time Massachusetts was represented by her brave men in nearly every field of ser vice, and upon the decks of every ship in the American navy. She had given martyrs to the great cause on nearly every battle field, and in every naval engagement, in the war. Many had died ; many had their limbs severed from their bodies ; many households had been made desolate ; many stood by the buts of their muskets, keeping watch and ward, facing the enemy, from the falls of the Potomac to the delta of the Mississippi. Some were in prison, some were in hospitals, some were in tents, some swinging in their hammocks at the mouths of rivers to prevent blockade-runners from supplying the enemy. Thus sixty thousand men of Massachusetts were engaged when the course of time brought in the year 1863. CHAPTER VIII. The Proclamation of Freedom Colored Regiments Letter to Samuel Hooper The California Battalion Meeting of the Legislature, January, 1863 Organization Address of the Governor Delay of the Government in pay ing the Soldiers The Commission of Mr. Crowninshield His Claim not allowed Reports of the Adjutant, Surgeon, and Quartermaster Generals Abstract of Military Laws Letter to Hon. Thomas D. Eliot Western Sanitary Commission Confidential Letter to General Hooker Efforts to reinstate Major Copeland The Pirate " Alabama " Curious Coinci dence Authority to recruit a Colored Regiment The Governor s Policy in the Selection of Officers Colonel Shaw The Passage of the Fifty- fourth (colored) Regiment through Boston Departure for South Carolina Death of Colonel Shaw at Fort Wagner Letter of the Governor to Cap tain Sherman Letter to General Hamilton, of Texas Major Burt Plan to invade Texas Mortality of Massachusetts Regiments in Louisiana War Steamers Rights of Colored Soldiers Temperance General "Oilman s Expedition Coast Defences General Wilde John M. Forbes writes from London Colonel Ritchie A Rebel Letter Robert C. Win- throp Letter to Mr. Gooch, M.C. Army Officers in Boston Cases of Suffering Useless Detail of Volunteer Officers Letter to General Wool Suggestions about Recruiting About Deserters Staff Appointments Complaints Nine Months Men Letter to J. H. Mitchell, Massachusetts Senate Claims for Money in the Legislature Case of Mr. Maxwell, of Charlemont Sergeant Plunkett, of the Twenty -first Regiment Soldiers to be shot Troubles in the Department of the Gulf, &c. THE battle for the Union had now lasted two years without decisive results. The Union armies had met the enemy on many battle-fields ; alternate victory and defeat had marked the con test. The Union forces had stretched from the lines of Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Mississippi to the Tennessee ; gradually bringing within their folds the enemies of the nation. The loyal people had learned much in those two years. The Administration had been educated to an anti-slavery point. On the 22d of September, 1862, the President had issued his Proclamation of Freedom to the enslaved ; and, be fore the end of the year 1863, what had been predicted by ear- 392 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. nest men at the commencement of the war, became a truth. " Africa was carried into the war ; " the black man made a soldier, with a musket in his hand, and on his body the uniform of a loyal volunteer. The colored men were to fight side by side with the whites for the unity of the nation, and the flag, which for the first time, but now for all time, symbolized liberty for all men. The proclamation of liberty, and the employment of freedmen as soldiers in the Union army, were the practical embodiment of intelligent Massachusetts thought. The plan was favored from the beginning, and looked forward to with fond hopes, by Gov ernor Andrew and prominent public men in the Commonwealth. They saw in this the certainty of a successful issue of the war. Upon the appearance of the President s proclamation, the Gov ernor caused a hundred thousand copies of it to be printed, which, together with a circular addressed to the commanding officers of Massachusetts regiments, he forwarded to the front, with the expectation and hope that opportunities would occur to have them distributed within the enemy s lines ; a thousand copies he also forwarded to General Rufus Saxton, commanding the Union forces in South Carolina. The proclamation was to take effect on the 1st of January, 1863. On the 2d, General Order No. 1 was issued by the Governor, which had reference to the proc lamation ; the opening paragraph of which was in these words : " With the new year, America commences a new era of national life, in which we invoke the blessing of Heaven upon our country and its armies with renewed faith in the favor of Almighty God." The order recapitulated the substance of the proclamation, and presented an argument for the blessings expected to flow from it, and concluded in these words : " In honor of the proclamation, and as an official recognition of its justice and necessity by Massachusetts, which was the first of the United States to secure equal rights to all its citizens, it is ordered that a salute of one hundred guns be fired on Boston Common at noon the next day, Jan. 3." Before the end of the year, Massachusetts had recruited two ARRIVAL OF THE CALIFORNIA COMPANY. 393 regiments of colored troops, the first that were organized in any of the loyal States, and sent them forth into the war, armed and equipped in the best manner, and officered by the best men who had served in the volunteer army. On the twenty-seventh day of December, 1862, Hon. Samuel Hooper, a member of Congress from this State, wrote to the Governor for his opinion in regard to the national finances : to which he replied, Jan. 5, that he did not consider himself qualified to express a definite opinion on the subject. On the contrary, " I feel," he says, " a degree of happiness in being in a position similar to that of the judge who congratu lated himself that it was his privilege not to have any opinion on a complicated question of fact, on which it was the duty of the jury to make up their minds." The Governor said, how ever, that he should not run counter to Mr. Chase s system in regard to our national currency, but should decidedly favor it ; that he had seen, a few days before, a letter, written to a friend in Boston by Joshua Bates, of London, concerning the conduct of our finances during the war, which he deemed to have been on the whole to our credit, although he criticised the issue of legal-tender notes, thinking we should have first resorted to bor rowing on long loans ; yet it was his opinion that it would have been absolutely impossible for us ultimately to avoid resorting to them. We have already spoken of a sum of money collected in San Francisco, Cal., by citizens of that place, and forwarded to Governor Andrew, to be distributed among the families of Massachusetts volunteers in the war. When it was proposed in November, 1862, to raise the Second Kegiment of Cavalry, men of Massachusetts birth, living in California, proposed to raise a company for the regiment ; and a correspondence was opened through Mr. Rankin, Collector of the port of San Fran cisco, with the Governor, in regard to accepting it. Permission was given by Secretary Stanton to accept it, and the men were to be credited to the quota of Massachusetts. The company was raised by Captain J. Sewall Reed, of San Francisco. The pas- sa^es of the officers and men were paid by this State ; and the company arrived at "Camp Meigs," Readville, Jan. 4, 1863. 394 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The Adjutant-General of the State was detailed to receive the company, in behalf of the Governor, at the camp, and to thank them in his name for the honor they had conferred on the State by coming so many miles to enter a Massachusetts regiment, and carry its flag in the war for liberty and Union. It was five o clock in the morning when the company arrived. Colonel Charles li. Lowell, Jr., who was to command the regi ment, Brigadier-General Peirce, Major Crowninshield, and a number of the line officers, were present to receive them. On the arrival of the company, a salute was fired, and an escort of the cavalry conducted the company to their quarters, where a good warm breakfast had been prepared, and was ready for the men. The officers were taken to Colonel Lowell s quar ters, where they were welcomed to Massachusetts by the Adju tant-General, whose speech, in behalf and in the name of the Governor, was responded to by Captain Reed ; and in this way, on a cold January morning, were the Californians received, and took their places in the Union army on the Massachusetts line. In a report made by the Adjutant-General to the Governor on the same day, he says, " To-morrow, at eleven o clock. General Peirce, Colonel Lowell, and the officers of the California company, will pay their respects to your Excellency at the State House. The Californians are mostly Massa chusetts men, though not exclusively so ; some are from New York and New Hampshire ; one is a native of California, a celebrated thrower of the lasso. The captain told me that five hundred men applied to go with him to Massachusetts. He selected his men with great cure, and came with a full and complete company. I never saw a finer body of men ; Colonel Lowell is delighted with them. If your engagements are such that you cannot receive the officers at eleven, to-morrow, please appoint a time when they can be received." The engagement was kept, and Governor Andrew gave the officers a hearty welcome. So great was the success of the arrangement, and so well satisfied were the California men, that three other companies, making a battalion, were raised in California, and joined the regiment; Massachusetts paying expense of transportation, and allowing the bounty to the volunteers which the Legislature ORGANIZATION OF THE LEGISLATURE. 395 had authorized. Of this battalion, DeWitt C. Thompson, for merly of Major-General Halleck s staff, was appointed major. ^No better officers or men than these volunteers from California served in the Union army. Many of them were killed in battle, and never returned again to the shores of the Pacific ; among whom was the first captain, J. Sewall Reed, who was killed in action Feb. 22, 1864. The Legislature for 1863 met at the State House on Wed nesday, Jan. 7. Jonathan E. Field, of Berkshire County, was elected President of the Senate, having received all the votes but four, which were cast for Peter Harvey, of Suffolk. On taking the chair, Mr. Field made a short address, the only part of which relating to national affairs was the fol lowing reference to the Proclamation of Freedom issued by the President, which went into effect on the first of January. Mr. Field said, " The year was inaugurated by an event claimed by its friends to be second in importance only to that which relieved us from colonial de pendence. Whatever may be its influences upon the war and upon the disloyal States, the loyal are made truly free. In this, as in every other measure intended to suppress the Rebellion, and uproot its causes, Massachusetts will yield to the Government no qualified support. In the complete performance of her whole duty to the Union, she will neither falter nor fail." Stephen N. Gifford, of Duxbury, was re-elected clerk, hav ing received every vote. The House organized by the choice of Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, for Speaker, who received every vote but three, which were cast for Caleb Gushing, of Newburyport. Mr. Bullock spoke at considerable length. In the course of his speech, he was eloquent in his praise of the services of Massachusetts soldiers in the war. He said, " They have fought, many have fallen, under McClellan and Burn- side, both dear to them ; under Butler and Banks, both soldiers of Massachusetts, bringing laurels to her brow. They have stood, and they have fallen, wheresoever and under whomsoever it has pleased the Government to appoint their lot." 396 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. William S. Robinson, of Maiden, was re-elected clerk of the House by a unanimous vote. The address of the Governor was delivered before the two branches of the Legislature, on Friday, Jan. 9. It was a document of remarkable force and eloquence. It not only dis cussed the position of Massachusetts in the war, but also a variety of topics relating to the social, physical, financial, agri cultural, and educational condition of the State. The receipts in the treasury from the ordinary sources of revenue, for the year 1862, were $2,947,732.48, of which $1,763,108.62 were raised by direct taxation upon the property of the Common wealth. The disbursements for the year amounted to $1,683, 390.93, of which $435,251.77, was for State aid to the families of soldiers. The Governor then presented in concise form the labors performed during the year in raising and equipping troops for the general service, and the number of men sent to the front, which has been stated in preceding pages. The Governor said, " I have always insisted, that, so far as possible, every corps should receive a full outfit and equipment before leaving the Commonwealth. This much I have felt was demanded by my duty to the soldiers and the people." He deeply regretted that his request to have the troops des tined for the expeditions to Louisiana and Texas embark from our own ports, where they could have been protected from need less hardships and perils, encountered by some of them in their embarkation from New York, had been refused. " The conduct of the troops of this Commonwealth," he said, " whether in camp or on the march or under fire, has won the un qualified commendation of all the generals under whom they have served. They are universal favorites, sought for by commanders for their intelligence, obedience, and valor." In speaking of the draft by which it was proposed to raise the nine months troops, he says, " Questions of grave, practical importance, affecting the interest and feelings of large masses of the people, sometimes involving local and geo graphical considerations ; points of honor, on which whole communities ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR ANDREW. 397 were sensitive ; points of right even, touching which all men are jealous ; many of them difficult, all of them new and without a precedent, have crowded upon the Executive for decision. For a correct decision, he alone was responsible." He then expresses his thanks for the cordial, intelligent, and constant assistance he had received from the other officers, military and civil, and the different municipal authorities of the cities and towns. The bounties paid by the different municipalities to obtain men, and avoid a draft, he recommended should be equalized, and assumed by the State, to be paid by tax upon the property and polls of the whole people. He also referred to the cases of deserters, which he said were rare ; and, so far as want and flight from duty was concerned, many men who had come home on furloughs either sick or wounded had not returned to their regiments after recovering their health, because of the difficulties attendant on finding their regiments, and their dread of the convalescent and stragglers camp at Alexandria. Many con valescent soldiers have been returned as deserters who had been detained as nurses in hospitals, sent on detached duty of every sort, and detailed to assist quartermasters and commissaries. Of the twelve hundred Massachusetts soldiers who had been reported absent without leave, only about twenty had manifestly deserted. This did not include persons attracted by recent bounties, of whom there had been too many striving to enlist without the purpose of serving. The Governor devoted considerable space to the consideration of the fortifications and coast defences of the State. He referred to a circular letter issued by Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, Oct. 14, 1861, calling the attention of the Governors of the seaboard and lake States, and urging that such defences should be perfected by the States themselves, with the assurance of the reimbursements from the Federal treasury. This State at once acted upon the suggestion : information and estimates were asked from the War Department in regard to the cost. In February, 1862, the Legislature authorized the Governor to enter into contracts to the amount of $500,000 for the manu facture of ordnance suitable for the defence of our coast. But it 398 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. was ascertained, by consultation with Federal ordnance officers, that the cost of completing the armament of the Massachusetts coast would amount to 150,000. This delayed matters. In the mean time, the conflict between the "Merrimack" and the " Monitor," in Hampton Roads, cast a serious doubt upon the stability of any projects of fortification or armament of our har bor ; and the Governor was requested by the War Department to expend the money appropriated upon the immediate construc tion of iron-clad vessels. He appointed a committee two members of the Executive Council, the President of the Boston Board of Trade, and an eminent civil engineer to consider the subject. The Legislature had passed a resolve Feb. 14, 1862, and appropriated a sum of money to build one or more iron-clad steamers for the protection of the coast. Parties stood ready to build such a vessel, when a protest was received from the Naval Department against it, alleging that that department was will ing to put " under construction, in every part of the country, all that the utmost resources of the people could accomplish," and it was " sorry to find a State entering the market in competition with Government, the result of which could only injure both parties." To this the Governor answered that there were at least two establishments in Massachusetts capable of building such vessels, whose services had not been required by the Gov ernment. The reply of the Navy Department was an offer, to each of these establishments, of a contract for building an iron clad steamer. A like difficulty prevented the State from pro curing the manufacture of heavy ordnance. The War Depart ment had engaged, to the full extent of their capacity, all the founderies which were known to be prepared to cast suitable and heavy cannon for arming the fortifications on the coast ; and no aid from the State, therefore, had been necessary to expedite the work. The result was, that nothing was done by the State at this time, either to build iron-clads or manufacture heavy guns ; and the coast remained for some time longer without any adequate means of defence. Towards the close of the address, the Governor spoke in fit ting language of our heroic dead, and of the soldiers in the war : ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR ANDREW. 399 " Peaceful, rural, and simple in their tastes, her people, never for getting the lessons learned by their fathers, not less of War than of Religion, are found in arms for their fathers flag wherever it waves, from Boston to Galveston. The troops of Massachusetts in Maryland, in Virginia, in the Carolinas, in Louisiana, in Texas ; the details from her regiments for gunboat service on the Southern arid Western rivers ; her seamen in the navy, assisting at the reduction of the forts, from Hatteras Inlet to the city of New Orleans, or going down to that silence deeper than the sea, in the Monitor or the Cumberland, all remember their native State as a single star of a brilliant con stellation, the many in one they call their country. By the facts of our history, the very character of our people, and the tendencies of their education, industry, and training, Massachusetts is independ ent in her opinions, loyal to the Union, and the uncompromising foe of treason." After recapitulating the many battle-fields, from Big Bethel and Cedar Mountain to Baton Eouge and Antietam, in which Massachusetts soldiers had borne a brave and gallant part, he says, " How can fleeting words of human praise give the record of their glory ? Our eyes suffused with tears, and blood retreating to the heart stirred with unwonted thrill, speak with the eloquence of nature uttered but unexpressed. From the din of the battle they have passed to the peace of eternity. Farewell ! Warrior, citizen, patriot, lover, friend ; whether in the humbler ranks, or bearing the sword of offi cial power; whether private, captain, surgeon, or chaplain, for all these in the heady fight have passed away, Hail ! and Farewell ! Each hero must sleep serenely on the field where he fell in a cause sacred to liberty and the rights of mankind." On the twentieth day of January, the Governor sent in a special message to the Legislature, calling their attention to the vexatious delays of the General Government in the payment of the soldiers, which occasioned suffering both in the army and to the families of the soldiers at home. He therefore recommended to the Legislature to assume the payment of the Massachusetts soldiers, or such of them as would consent to allot a portion of their monthly pay for the support of their families at home, or to deposit on interest in the State treasury subject to their order. 400 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. On the sixth day of February, in reply to an order of the House, requesting a report of the amount claimed or paid as commissions, compensation, expenses, or profits by persons who went to foreign countries to purchase arms on account of the State, the Governor submitted a brief statement, by which it appears that Mr. Crowninshield, and Mr. McFarland, who ac companied him to Europe to purchase arms and equipments, were the only persons that had been employed on that business up that time. Mr. Crowninshield returned home in August, 1861. Mr. McFarland was left in England to superintend the execution of uncompleted contracts, and to inspect the arms as manufactured. He remained on this business until the spring of 1862. For his entire services Mr. McFarland was paid the sum of $3,527.96. "In the final settlement of accounts," the Governor says, " the claim of two and a half per cent on all the disbursements was made by Mr. Crowninshield for compen sation for himself." The disbursements were $351,347.48. This claim was not allowed by the Governor and Council. An order was passed by the Executive Council, allowing Mr. Crown inshield $2,500 for his expenses in purchasing arms in England on condition that he settle the account as rendered by him of Mr. McFarland as inspector of said arms, and return to the Treasurer proper vouchers for the same ; and James M. Shute, James Ritchie, and Gerry W. Cochrane, members of the Coun cil, were appointed a committee, with authority to settle with Mr. Crowninshield on the above conditions. The Governor then states, " The proposition made by this order, being communicated by the committee to Mr. Crowninshield, was declined by him in writing, Sept. 20 ; and his account remains unadjusted. He retains in his hands a balance of 512. 10s. 5e?., or $2,482.87, of funds belonging to the Com monwealth, and claims for his compensation an additional amount of 1,276. 14s., or $6,184.90, or, in all, 1,789. 4s. 5d., or $8,667.77." The Governor further adds, " The instructions addressed to Mr. Crowninshield are silent on the subject of compensation for his agency. At the time he sailed for THE PURCHASE OF ARMS IN ENGLAND. 401 Europe, in April, 1861, an advance of $1,000 was made to him from the treasury of the Commonwealth for his personal expenses, which amount is included in the $2,500 allowed to him by the order of the Governor and Council of Sept. 17, 1862; and it is not intended on the part of the Governor to admit, by any thing herein contained, that any valid claim existed against the Commonwealth in favor of the agent for time and services. On that point, for the purpose of the in quiries of the honorable House, it is not necessary here to express an opinion." On the twenty-fourth day of February, the Governor trans mitted with a message to the House the Annual Report of the Adjutant-General, Quartermaster-General, Master of Ordnance, and the Surgeon-General. Of these reports he says, " It has been the aim of the Adjutant- General to present in full detail, not only the formal returns, but, so far as possible, the main fea tures, of the military history of each of the Massachusetts volunteer and militia corps organized and serving during the past year." He speaks of it as forming an interesting and honorable record. Of the Surgeon-General s report he says, " I venture to mention, as of special interest, the wise and suggestive report of the Surgeon-General, to whose intelligent and humane ad ministration of his bureau I confess a constant obligation." He also speaks in terms of praise of our agents, Robert R. Corson, of Philadelphia, and William Robinson, of Baltimore, gentlemen who have rendered good service in the care of sick and wounded soldiers in hospitals, and soldiers falling into dis tress or want. These gentlemen s names had been inadvertently omitted in the Adjutant-General s report. He also refers to the services rendered by Colonels Howe and Tufts, Massachusetts agents at New York and Washington, of whom we have spoken in preceding pages, and whose services will ever be remembered with gratitude by a humane and Christian people. The Legislature remained in session until the 30th of April. We omit giving an abstract of its proceedings, as the greater portion of the time was occupied with State matters not relat ing to military affairs. It, however, passed a number of excellent 26 402 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. laws respecting our soldiers and their families, an abstract of which we here present. The resolve passed March 10, empowered the Governor to purchase or have manufactured fifteen thousand stand of muskets ; also, arms and equipments for one regiment of cavalry ; also, guns and equipments for five batteries. An act passed April 29, authorized the re-imbursement to the cities and towns for the bounties paid by them to volun teers, in sums not exceeding one hundred dollars to each volun teer. An act passed April 17, authorized sheriffs and deputy- sheriffs, police of cities, and constables of towns, to arrest persons charged with desertion, upon the written order of the provost-marshals of the different districts within the Common wealth. An act approved April 17, provided that no person, en listed or drafted, who had received bounty money or advance pay, should be discharged from the service upon a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that he was a minor, or on any other ground, until he had paid over the bounty money or ad vance pay, and turned in the clothing and arms and military accoutrements, which he might have received. The resolve approved April 14, appropriated the sum of ten thousand dollars for the benefit of the Discharged Soldiers Home, on Springfield Street, Boston, on condition that an equal amount be raised by private subscription, and used for the same purpose. An act approved April 27, legalized the acts and doings of cities and towns in paying bounties to volunteers, and taxes assessed to pay the same. An act approved April 23, authorized the State aid to be paid to families of drafted men the same as to families of volunteers. An act approved March 1 rendered null and void any tax levied upon a city or town to relieve or discharge from the mili tary service any person who shall be called or drafted into such service. The resolves approved April 6, were in grateful acknowl- ACTS PASSED BY THE LEGISLATURE. 403 edgment of the services rendered by our soldiers in the war ; and the Governor was authorized to forward copies of the same to the different regiments. The resolve approved April 28, authorized the Governor to appoint three persons to be commissioners to inquire into the expediency of establishing a State military academy. An act passed March 3, provided for the payment, by the State, of the pay due to soldiers by the Federal Government, and for the encouragement of the allotment of pay by the soldiers. An act approved March 7, provided that each city and town shall keep a complete record of the soldiers belonging thereto in the United States service ; the book to be furnished by the Adjutant-General. An act approved March 17, authorized the Governor to pay bounties, not to exceed fifty dollars each, to volunteers. The resolve approved March 30, appropriated twenty thou sand dollars for the maintenance of agencies out of the Com monwealth, as the Governor may find needful, for the aid of sick and wounded or distressed Massachusetts soldiers. An act approved March 12, authorized cities and towns to raise money by taxation for the support of the families of deceased soldiers ; also, families of soldiers discharged for disability. An act approved April 21, authorized the formation of vol unteer companies for military service, to be composed of men over forty-five years of age, who were to be called the State Guard, and be uniformed, armed, and equipped as a majority of each company might decide. On the fourteenth day of January, the Governor wrote to Thomas D. Eliot, requesting him to forward a copy of the President s message, with the accompanying reports of the Sec retaries, and adds, " When you see or write to your brother, the Rev. Dr. Eliot, of St. Louis, pray give him my respects, and tell him that the subscription for the Western Sanitary Commission is doing quite well. 1 saw the book a few days ago, when our Lieu tenant- Governor, two Councillors, and a member of my staff, who were present, put down an aggregate 404 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. of seven hundred dollars ($700). Having recently received three thousand dollars ($3,000) from an American citizen abroad, to use for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers and their families at my dis cretion, I devoted one thousand dollars ($1,000) of it to this purpose, and gave our friend, Mr. Forbes, a check for that amount. I knew but little of the subject, save that I knew your brother was interested in the matter. His name is good evidence always in Massachusetts." Among the gentlemen of Boston who took an early and earnest interest in furnishing the military contingent of Massa chusetts, in their donations for the maintenance and support of soldiers families, was Amos A. Lawrence, a well-known and distinguished merchant. He was particularly active and effi cient in raising the Second Regiment of Cavalry, and received from the Governor, Jan. 19, a letter of acknowledgment for his generous and efficient services, in which appears the follow ing paragraph : " And in respect to the project for confirming the intellectual ascend ency of Massachusetts by inaugurating a system of university educa tion in advance of the other States, and which shall be to them a model, I learn with pleasure that the views I had the honor to express in my late address to the Legislature are confirmed by your respected judgment and extensive experience." On the 1st of January, 1863, our regiments and batteries in the Army of the Potomac were, after a year s hard fighting in winter quarters, divided only by the Rappahannock from the rebel forces. Major-General Joseph Hooker had succeeded Generals McClellan and Burnside in command. For his quali ties as a strategetical and brave general, great hopes of success were entertained. He was popular with the army, and had in a remarkable degree the confidence of the people. He was an especial favorite of Governor Andrew, and of the soldiers of Massachusetts. He had succeeded in having the army newly clothed and armed ; he had improved the com missariat ; and, by his efforts, the soldiers had received their back pay. On the 26th of January, Governor Andrew wrote General Hooker a confidential letter, in which he congratulated him upon his appointment to the command of the Army of the LETTER TO MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER. 405 Potomac, and suggested to him to use a "little military eloquence in his first order," in which he should especially com mend, encourage, and cheer the " brave good fellows, who have borne the brunt already, some of them in three campaigns." The general orders heretofore issued "have looked to the future only, and have reflected more or less merely on the com mander." A few words of praise and of gratitude, "suggesting nothing but hopefulness, thankfulness, and good-will, would be worth a victory." He then advised him to go around and speak a few pleasant and kind words to "every single regiment, > EVERY ONE. Tell the boys that all have a country ; all will hereafter have a history ; and that, a hundred years hence, the children by the firesides will be charmed by the stories their mothers will tell them of the valor and manliness of the humblest private who served well or died bravely." This letter concludes as follows : " I am anti-slavery ; but may I say that at first I would not allude to the proclamation. When the Secretary of War shall, by general order, promulgate it, which will be done shortly, let it be read at the head of every regiment ; and I would then, by word and deed, make it as effi cient and vital as the bayonet of the soldier, and the voice of the com mander. You can immediately and strongly commit every officer to the policy and orders of his Government ; and the men will easily see that while their wives give up their husbands, their fathers give up their sons, to the hazards of war, it is only the merest justice that rebel masters should yield up their slaves, and not compel them to be rebels too. You will, I know, general, pardon, and ascribe to my friendly interest and my confidence in your chivalrous character, the apparent freedom of this note and its suggestions." An officer w r ho had held rank on the staff of Major-General Banks, had been summarily dismissed the service by Mr. Stanton, for what he deemed a breach of military etiquette, which was regarded by Governor Andrew as an act of in justice towards the officer ; and he exerted himself with the President and the Secretary of War, at divers times, to have him reinstated. He had great confidence in his ability, and of his soundness in regard to commanding colored troops. When General Ullman, of New York, received the appointment of 406 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. brigadier-general to raise a brigade of colored troops in the Department of the Gulf, he wrote to Governor Andrew, request- ino- him to recommend some good officers for his command. The gentleman who had been dismissed the service the Gov ernor regarded as the man for General Ullman to have ; but, unless the Secretary of War or the President would agree to overlook and forgive the offence committed, he could not be commissioned. We find on the Governor s files a number of letters written about this time to the President, Mr. Stanton, and Senator Sumner, urging the re-appointment of this officer, with especial reference to serving under General Ullman. One of these letters addressed to Mr. Sumner, dated Jan. 28, says, " Without a moment s delay, go to the President, and tell him for me that he ought to believe in the forgiveness of sins, as well as in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. This is the text : now for the sermon. You know Maurice Copelaud was struck off the rolls last summer by a presidential order." The Governor s " sermon " is a strong argument in favor of recommissioning Major Copeland. The error which he had committed, and for which he was dismissed, was a letter which he had written reflecting upon what he regarded as the delay of the War Department in the employment of colored troops. The decision originally made by Mr. Stanton could not be re versed, as he regarded the letter of Mr. Copeland as a personal insult. On the second day of February, a letter was written by Mr. George Winslow, of Boston, to the Governor,* in which he in forms him that the pirate "Alabama" was reported, Jan. 24, two hundred miles east of Hatteras, steering north; while the "Vanderbilt" sailed Jan. 30, the same day that the above news reached New York : so the " Vanderbilt " may have gone to the Gulf. Semmes was reported as having an intention of com ing into Massachusetts Bay. " Suppose he makes such an impu dent dash now, and comes into Provincetown, which he could easily do one of these moonlight nights." The writer then sug gests to the Governor to telegraph to Washington to have one THE PIRATE "ALABAMA." 407 of the men-of-war at Charlestown sent to Provincetown. The letter has this indorsement : " The within copy of a letter I have received from George Winslow, Esq., a respectable and intelligent merchant of this city. I respect fully refer it to the Secretary of the Navy in connection with the telegram I have addressed to the Navy Department to-day." The Governor had telegraphed, on the receipt of Mr. Wins- low s letter, to have a war-vessel sent to Provincetown. It may be regarded as one of the coincidences of the war, that the infor mation in the above letter should have been conveyed to the Governor by Mr. Winslow, and that the " Alabama " should have been sunk by Commodore Winslow, months afterwards, in the harbor of Cherbourg, France. Authority was received from the Secretary of War, by an order dated Jan. 26, to recruit a colored regiment in Massa chusetts. The first authority given by the Governor to any person to recruit colored men in Massachusetts, was dated Feb. 7 ; and the regiment was filled to the maximum May 14, in less than one hundred days. Before its organization was completed, there being so many colored men anxious to enlist, it was decided to raise another regiment, which was rapidly filled. These two colored regiments were designated the Fifty- fourth and Fifty-fifth. An almost impenetrable wall of prejudice had been reared against the employment of colored men in the military service. The Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, in his report for 1863, said, " It required calm foresight, thorough knowledge of our condition, earnest conviction, faith in men, faith in the cause, and undaunted courage, to stem the various currents which set in and flooded the land against employing the black man as a soldier. In the Executive of Massachusetts was found a man who possessed the qualifications necessary to stem these currents, and to wisely inaugurate, and peace fully carry out to a successful termination, the experiment of recruit ing regiments of colored men." Although the act of Congress authorizing the formation of colored regiments did not prohibit the commissioning of colored officers, the order of the Secretary of War did. On the third day of February, the Governor telegraphed to Secre-< 408 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE KEBELLION. tary Stanton, asking him to withdraw his prohibition, so far as concerns line officers, assistant surgeons, and chaplain of the colored regiment which he was about to raise. He says, " Power would not be used, except, possibly, for a few cases of plainly competent persons, recommended by the field officers, who shall be gentlemen and soldiers of highest merit and in fluence." Permission was not given. There is no part of the military history of Massachusetts of greater interest than the part which relates to the recruiting and organization of these colored regiments. It was a new thing. Few men in the State had ever seen a colored man in uniform. They were not allowed to form part of the militia, or to be en listed in the regular service. By many it was regarded as an experiment of doubtful utility ; and there were those, even here in Massachusetts, who secretly hoped the experiment would prove a failure. With the Governor and his staff, and prominent citizens who had supported him in his war policy, the employment of colored troops had been long and well con sidered and anxiously desired. No one knew better than the Governor the importance of having the experiment succeed. As one of the means to this end, he determined to select for officers the very best material that could be found in the Massa chusetts volunteer service. They should be men of acknowledged military ability and experience, of the highest social position, if possible, in the State, and men who believed in the capacity of colored men to make good soldiers. Upon receiving authority to recruit a regiment, he immediately fixed upon Robert G. Shaw, a captain in the Second Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, as the colonel ; a gentleman of education, a brave officer, and connected, by blood and marriage, with the oldest and most re spectable families in the State. Before communicating his pur pose to Captain Shaw, he wrote Jan. 30 to Francis G. Shaw, Esq., Staten Island, N.Y., father of the captain, to obtain his consent. After stating fully his purpose to have the colored regiments officered by the best men, he said, " My mind is drawn toward Captain Shaw by many considerations. I am sure he would attract the support, sympathy, and active co-operation of many among his immediate family relations. The more ORGANIZATION OF COLORED REGIMENTS. 409 ardent, faithful, and true republicans and friends of liberty would recognize in him a scion from a tree whose fruit and leaves have always contributed to the strength and healing of our generation." Mr. Shaw was willing that his son should serve ; and Captain Shaw was shortly afterwards relieved from his command, and came to Boston to superintend the recruit ment of the regiment. The Governor also fixed upon Captain Edward N. Hallowell, a captain in the Twentieth Regiment, as lieutenant-colonel. He was a son of Morris L. Hallowell, a Quaker gentleman of Philadelphia, whose house in that city had been a hospital and home for Massachusetts officers all through the war. When the organization of the Fifty-fourth was com pleted, many gentlemen in New York, who favored the enlist ment of colored troops, desired to have the regiment pass through that city on its way to the front. They wanted to have it march down Broadway, that the people might see it, and the State might imitate the example of Massachusetts in regard to colored regiments. But others, equally friendly to raising colored troops, counselled against it. They feared the regiment might be insulted by vicious men in that city, and that a tu mult might ensue. These prudent counsels prevailed. The regiment was ordered to South Carolina. It came to Boston on the twenty-eighth day of May, and embarked on board the United-States steam transport " De Molay." It was reviewed on the Common by the Governor. Thousands of citizens came in from the country to witness the march of the regiment through the streets of Boston. The sidewalks were o o crowded with people ; flags were displayed everywhere. The regiment was cheered the whole route. It was one of the most splendid ovations ever seen in Boston. The men kept close rank ; not a man left his place ; not a straggler was seen. The embarkation was orderly and complete. Two sons of Frederick Douglass, the colored orator, were in the ranks ; the father himself was present to witness the departure of his sons. About eight o clock in the evening, the transport left the wharf. The Adjutant-General, Mr. Douglass, and a few other friends of the regiment, were on board. The evening was beautiful ; the moon was at its full. A small Government steamer ac- 410 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. companied the transport a mile outside of Boston Light. On the passage down the bay, the men were addressed by Mr. Douglass, the Adjutant-General, and some of the officers. Those who were not to go w r ith the regiment returned to the city on the Government boat. It was a splendid sight to see the large vessel, with its precious freight, vanish in the distance, as it proceeded on its way to South Carolina. The regiment reached Hilton Head June 3. On the eighteenth day of July, it led the advance at Fort Wagner, in which engagement Colonel Shaw was killed. His body never was recovered ; but it was buried, as the Charleston papers said, " with his niggers." The Fifty-fifth Regiment left Boston on the twenty-first day of June, in the transport " Cahawba," for Moorehead City, N.C. The Adjutant-General, in his report for 1863, gives many details relating to the organization, departure, and services of these colored regiments. The Surgeon-General, also, in his report to the Governor for 1863, gives an interest ing and valuable record of the sanitary condition and good con duct of these two regiments while in camp at Readville. " If," says the Adjutant-General, " it be a weakness to feel a strong interest in the success of the colored men to sustain the Government, free their kindred and race from oppression, arid work out for them selves and their children, through the smoke and fire of battle, a respectable position among the peoples of the earth, I confess myself guilty of that weakness ; and if it be prudence to meet their proffered assistance, not with reciprocal kindness, but with coldness and with in sult, I choose still to follow where natural impulse leads, and to give up that false and mistaken prudence for the voluntary sentiments of my heart." Among the prominent public men who contributed to raise the colored regiments was Gerritt Smith, of New York, who, too, sent the Governor a check for five hundred dollars, which was indorsed over to the committee of citizens intrusted with the superintendence of the recruiting for these regiments. This contribution is noticeable because Mr. Smith had devoted his wealth and talents for years in the interests of the American Peace Society. LETTER TO CAPTAIN SHERMAN. 411 While our Forty-eighth Eegiment was in the Department of the Gulf, Captain Sherman, of Company F, wrote to the Gov ernor respecting certain officers in that department, whose sym pathies, if judged by their language, were on the side of the rebels. On the fourth day of March, the Governor wrote to Captain Sherman thanking him for his letter, and said, - "I well understand the cry of every honest soldier, and his scorn and disgust at the insidious croakers, in the midst of the army, who fight feebly with their hands, while they sow dissension with their mouths ; hireling parasites, feverish for the ruin of the country which pays them, and insolent in a seemingly temporary success. By and by, like the venomous reptile so appropriately the symbol of the most bitter and treasonable secession State, they will bite themselves in baffled rage, and die with their own poison. ... I have repeatedly appointed men with conservative antecedents (for I ask no question of party in military appointments), but who, being men of honest hearts and ear nest minds, exercised upon the ideas involved in a great crisis, have emancipated themselves from all bondage of old beliefs and preju dices, and have cast off the old garments which the whole age is labor ing to throw aside. Others, again, I have appointed of Republican principles, only to find them yield feebly at first trial, unworthy of the free principles and free soil which nurtured them. I believe, however, that, among Massachusetts officers, such views and remarks as you have described gain little hold, and that those holding them are in an insig nificant minority." On the tenth day of March, the Governor wrote to General Hamilton, of Texas, then at Washington, expressing his re grets that unavoidable public duties would prevent his meeting him at Washington, that he might stand by him in his earnest efforts to save Texas. " I would do so," he says, " if it was only for the satisfaction of try ing, and, if you fail, of failing with you. I pray you to give my hearty and sympathetic regards to Governor Johnson, of Tennessee, and assure him of the interest with which we of Massachusetts watch for the welfare of his Union friends, and for his own personal success in. his noble career." Major Burt visited Washington on his return from Texas, at the request of the Governor, who gave him a letter to Secre tary Stanton, dated Feb. 3, in which he urges at considerable 412 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLIOX. length the importance of invading Texas. His plan was to have Matagorda Bay as a base, and, with an army of 25,000 men, march upon Austin, " through a population two to one in favor of the Union." He believed a respectable portion of the nine months troops in the Department of the Gulf would re- enlist for three years for an expedition of this kind. He advised that General Fremont be selected to command it, who should carry with him 20,000 additional stand of arms. He could enlist more Mexicans, half-breeds, and Germans on his way through Texas (to say nothing of loyal native Texans) than any other man. The results which the Governor expected would flow from the expedition were, 1st, It would benefit the morale of our men in the Gulf De partment, by giving them active employment. 2d, " The transformation en masse of many nine months regi ments " to three years regiments. 3d, The immediate relief of all Western Texas from the Confederacy. 4th, Five thousand mounted men could be recruited on the march through Texas. 5th, On reaching Austin, we could take control of the State Government. Then Galveston could be made the base, and the whole country, including Trinity Valley, could be held. 6th, This would entirely cut off all contraband trade in arms, supplies, &c., by the Rio Grande, through Texas to the Red River and Shreveport. 7th, When wholly accomplished, the whole blockading squad ron west of the passes of the Mississippi would be relieved from that duty. These points were elaborated by the Governor, and enforced by various arguments respecting the practicability and impor tance of the enterprise. Major Burt, who was conversant with the subject, and who entered fully into the Governor s views, was to confer confidentially with Mr. Stanton, and give him all the information he possessed. The scheme, however, did not meet with the favor of the Secretary. He was opposed to it, and, it is said, treated both Major Burt and the suggestions of the Governor with a degree of rudeness altogether unexpected. THE EXPEDITION TO TEXAS. 413 This, however, did not deter the Governor from making another effort for the invasion of Texas. On the twenty-third day of March, he wrote to the President of the United States, recapitulating many of the arguments contained in the letter addressed to the Secretary of War. He said that many of the Massachusetts nine months regiments in the Department of the Gulf were induced to enter the service by an assurance given them in good faith, that they were to be led into Texas, allowed to redeem that section of the country, and then, without returning to their homes, be joined by their families and settle there. He had appointed Major Burt of his staff to go with the regiments and with General Hamilton, military Governor of Texas, to look after the interest of the troops in the expedition. To the great disappointment of officers and men, with the exception of a portion of the Forty-second Regiment, the regiments foiled to reach Texas, and were then on duty in Louisiana. Major Burt, who had returned home, was person ally acquainted with a large number of the officers and men from Massachusetts, and had reported to him, that, notwithstanding their disappointment, many of the regiments would re-enlist for three years for special service in Texas. He had the same in formation from other reliable sources ; and he therefore requested that the President would cause an order to be issued in regard to the Massachusetts nine months regiments in the Department of the Gulf, which would embrace the following points : that the re-enlistments should be immediate ; that the transportation home, to which they were entitled, should be commuted to them in money as an extra bounty ; that they should go immediately to Texas under a proper commanding general. The movement for the restoration of Texas had been consid ered by the Governor for nearly a year and a half; and in his judgment, and in that of other gentlemen who had considered the subject, it was of untold importance. He believed the expe dition, by the good which it would do and the harm which it would prevent, would be of as much value as any expedition of five times its force to any other place. It would cripple the rebels, cut off their avenue of supplies, would flank the Rebellion, in tercept the designs of foreign powers on Mexico, preserve Texas 414 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. to freedom, increase its value hereafter to the Union, and be a brilliant stroke of statesmanship, executed in the midst of war by military means and agencies. These arguments, presented with great force, failed to produce a favorable response, either from the President or the Secretary. The capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, a few months afterwards, by which the Mis sissippi River was opened, were at that time objects sought to be obtained by the Government. As the climate of Louisiana caused a great amount of sickness among the Massachusetts regiments on duty in that State, this doubtless influenced the Governor in his efforts to have them removed to Texas. The reports received from the three years regiments on duty there presented a fearful list of deaths, and of men sick in hospitals of malaria fever. So great, indeed, was the fatality from this cause, that the Governor wrote to the Secretary of War in March, asking that the regiments of Massa chusetts troops which had passed the preceding summer in the Department of the Gulf might be replaced by others, and that they be brought North, as two successive summers there might be very fatal to their unacclimated constitutions. He asked this, not as a favor to himself or State, but as a measure of humanity and common prudence. Accompanying these letters was a report which had been received by the Surgeon-General of the Commonwealth, from Captain Welles, of the Thirtieth Regiment, which contained a very full and interesting account of the sanitary condition of that regiment, and expressed fairly the condition of the others. It appears by Captain Welles s report, that at times not more than seventy men of the entire command were free from sickness, and entirely well. Feb. 15, 1863, the regiment had about four hundred men left for light duty, out of more than one thousand officers and men. From the time they had left the State, six had died in battle, about one hundred had been discharged, and " nearly all the rest have died of fever or diseases resulting from fever. Dr. Soule gives us to the first of June, before we shall again become a burden to the service. In my opinion, if we are not removed to some station free from malaria before fall, the remnant that may be left will come home utterly THE COAST DEFENCES. 415 broken down." Captain Welles also said that " a great deal of sickness might have been avoided, if negroes who had come within our lines had been employed as soldiers, as they wished to be, or in digging ditches and making roads through swamps, which the Northern soldiers had been employed to do. " " General Williams," he said, " returned these slaves to their owners, who undoubtedly used their stout arms on the defences of Vicksburg, while we are killing white men, digging canals and trenches before Vicksburg." On the eighteenth day of March, the Governor telegraphed to Senator Sumner, " I earnestly entreat your immediate attention to mine of Feb. 1 2, about war steamers. See the President and Fox, to whom I wrote same date. Nobody answered. Boston is very earnest and solicitous. Can we do any thing by visiting Washington ? " This telegram was also signed by Mr. Lincoln, Mayor of Boston. On the twentieth day of March, the Governor wrote to Edward S. Tobey and Samuel H. Walley, "I have yours of the 14th inst, and I assure you of the cordiality with which we shall endeavor to co-operate with our citizens and municipalities in defending our coast." He also refers to the bill for coast defences, then before the Legislature, which he had no doubt would pass, appropriating a million and a half of dollars for that object. On the twenty-third day of March, the Governor wrote to George T. Downing, a well-known and highly respected colored citizen of New York, who had written to him in regard to the position of colored men who might enlist in the volunteer service, and says, " Their position in respect to pay, equipments, bounty, or any aid and protection, when so mustered, will be precisely the same, in every particular, as that of any and all other volunteers. When I was in Washington upon one occasion, I had an interview with Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War ; and he stated, in the most emphatic manner, that 416 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. he would never consent that colored men should be accepted into the service, and serve as soldiers in the South, until he should be assured that the Government of the United States was prepared to guarantee and defend, to the last dollar and the last man, to these men all the rights, privileges, and immunities that are given, by the laws of civil ized warfare, to other soldiers." The promise here made by the Governor in regard to the pay of colored troops was not redeemed by the Government. For more than a year after the two colored regiments had left Massachusetts, the Government refused to pay them the same as white soldiers. The Legislature of the State, at the extra session of 1863, appropriated money to make up the deficiency, of which we shall speak hereafter. On the twenty-third day of March, the Governor detailed the Adjutant-General to visit Washington and Fortress Monroe, to inquire concerning the feasibility of procuring men of color to enlist in the colored regiments of Massachusetts. At this time, there were a great number of contrabands who were at those two points, who desired to come North and enter into the service. The Adjutant-General was directed to confer with the military authorities, and to offer to colored men wishing to enlist the State bounty of fifty dollars, if the War Department would credit the men to the contingent of the State. Upon arriving at Washington, he found plenty of men at the colored camp, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, who were willing and anxious to come North and enlist in our regiments. But the War Department at that time would not allow it to be done ; and therefore he was unsuccessful in his mission. This policy was afterwards changed, and colored men were permitted to come North and enlist in our colored regiments. Time appeared to ripen almost every scheme of policy devised by the Governor, and cause it to be adopted, to the healing of the nation. On the 23d of March, the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance forwarded a memorial to the Governor, setting forth the danger to which soldiers were exposed from the use of intoxicating drinks, and asking him to "fix his seal of condemnation upon the example of drinking officers." To APPROPRIATION OF A MILLION OF DOLLARS. 417 which the Governor replied that the memorial did not over estimate the importance of the matter to which it related ; that the consideration of it was not a new thing ; in many cases, he had gone beyond the letter of the law in his endeavors to pre vent such men from being commissioned ; that he would not knowingly commission a person so offending. It was his desire to have the soldiers of Massachusetts surrounded by the best influences in the camp and in the field ; and that he would gladly avail himself of advice given by respectable parties in the selection of officers. On the 28th of March, he wrote to Colonel Frank E. Howe, in New York, to recommend to the consideration of General Ullman, who was authorized to raise a colored brigade in the South, James Miller, of Salem, as a proper person to receive a commission. He was then serving in our Fiftieth Regiment, in the Department of the Gulf. "Mr. Miller," he says, "is the eldest grandson of General Miller, of the war of 1812, the hero of Lundy s Lane." On the 31st of March, he wrote to Colonel Maggi, command ing our Thirty-third Regiment, " You must not resign. As soon as our Legislature adjourns, I am intending to visit Washington. I shall then do my utmost for your advancement. I want you to secure the good favor of General Hooker, and see if he wants help. You must make yourself neces sary to him, by giving him to know your capacity, devotedness, and zeal." Colonel Maggi had resigned before the letter reached him. His discharge from the service was dated April 1, 1863. The Legislature having passed the bill appropriating one million of dollars to be expended, under the direction of the Governor, for coast defences, on the first of April he dis patched Colonel Browne, his military secretary, to Washington, to confer with the Secretary of War on the subject, and to obtain his opinion as to the manner in which the money could best be applied to secure the object for which it was designed. He says, " Mention to General Totten the subject of revolving turrets, men tioned by the committee of the Boston Marine Society ; and, if possi- 27 418 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ble, get some expression of the views of other gentlemen ; also, from General Meigs, if possible, touching the whole question of the best use and application of the million grant, with a view to the speediest and most efficient service to be rendered by such an expenditure." The Massachusetts Twenty-ninth Regiment, having been ordered to join the Army of the Tennessee, received a very warm and cordial reception in Cincinnati, an account of which was transmitted to the Governor by Mr. Andrews, superintend ent of the Soldiers Home in that city ; to which the Governor replied on the 1st of April, in which he says, " I trust, as you suggest, that a proper State pride might have been gratified, had I witnessed the march of the Twenty-ninth through Cincinnati. But the pride in the fact that they were Massachusetts men could have no proportion to the pride in the fact that they were United States soldiers" On the same day, the Governor wrote a long letter to the Secretary of War in regard to raising a colored brigade in North Carolina, which could be easily done if the proper man should be selected to organize and command it. " It needs a man of soul for any movement, even to trundle a wheel barrow." His own undertaking to raise a colored regiment in Massachusetts " was begun with talking with you about North Carolina." General Foster, in command in that State, regarded favorably the formation of colored troops. The Governor recommended Brigadier-General Frank Barlow, of New York, as a good officer to detail for such a command. It appears that Colonel Edward A. Wilde, of the Massachusetts Thirty-fifth Regiment, was also named for brigadier-general of colored troops ; and that the subject was brought to the attention of Secretary Stanton by Lieutenant-Colonel Browne, when in Washington, at this time ; but the former did not receive the proposition favorably, as we find by a letter written on the 16th of April by the Governor to Secretary Stanton, which com mences as follows : "I am surprised and sorry to perceive, by Lieutenant-Colonel Browne s report, that you seem to have regarded me as trying to force upon the Government a new brigadier-general, and that you refuse to commission Colonel Wilde as a brigadier-general until he shall have raised a colored brigade in North Carolina." LETTER TO PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 419 The Governor warmly disclaims any such intention. He proposed the name of Colonel Wilde in obedience to the sug gestion made to him from the War Department, to name a suitable person for such a position. He knew of no one to whom the trust could be more properly committed. He was of the right age ; a graduate of Harvard College ; a physician by profession. His first military experience was as a surgeon in the Crimea, on the staff of Omar Pacha. He raised a company in the beginning of the war, and went with it as captain, in the First Regiment of three years men from Massachusetts. He was in the first Bull-Run fight, and in all the battles before Richmond, in one of which he was severely wounded. As col onel of the Thirty-fifth Regiment, he fought at South Mountain and Antietam, where he lost his left arm. The letter of the Governor appears to have been satisfactory to Mr. Stan ton, as Colonel Wilde was commissioned brigadier- general April 24, eight days after it was written. The defenceless condition of Boston Harbor had from the first attracted the serious attention of the Governor and of the com munity generally. The seizure of our merchant vessels upon the high seas by rebel cruisers, and the frequent reports of the approach of the " Alabama " upon our coast, contributed im mensely to the question of defence. Hardly a month had elapsed since the war begun that the Governor had not pressed the sub ject upon the attention of the Government. The Legislature had appropriated a million and a half of dollars for coast defences, which were never undertaken, because of protests of the War and Navy Departments against it, claiming that it would inter fere with their arrangements, and promising to supply the needed demand from the available resources of the Government. Noth ing, however, commensurate to the necessities of the case was done. On the 27th of April, the Governor brought the matter to the personal attention of the President, in a letter of several pages, and written in his best manner. He requested the Presi dent to " consider the importance of detailing immediately an iron-clad vessel of war for the exclusive duty of protecting the harbors on the Massachusetts coast, and particularly the harbor 420 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. of Boston." Within gunshot of the State House, he said there was a population of five hundred thousand people, and an amount of private property of an assessed value of five hundred millions of dollars ; besides which, there were the Custom House, the Sub-Treasury, the Navy Yard, and the Arsenal at Watertown, belonging to the Federal Government. In the fortifications, built by the Government at immense outlay, there was less than one-fifth of proper armament. In Fort Warren and at Castle Island there was not a single gun of more than eight-inch cali bre, and those poorly mounted, and of old and abandoned pat terns. Not a single Federal war-vessel was on our coast. The officer in command at Fort Warren had no authority to detain or examine suspicious vessels. In the Vineyard Sound, where ninety thousand sail of vessels annually pass Gay-Head Light, there was no protection whatever. A swift war-steamer, like the " Alabama," might run into Boston Harbor or the Vineyard Sound, and do incalculable mischief, almost without molestation. New-York Harbor was five times as well protected as Boston. For these and other reasons, the Governor asked the President to comply with his request. He thought that he had a right to demand the protection asked for, which would have before this been furnished by the State itself, but for the protests made by the Government. A copy of this letter was sent to the Secre tary of the Navy, Postmaster-General Blair, Mr. Sumner, and others. On the second day of May, the Secretary of the Navy ac knowledged the receipt of the letter, and said he had not at his disposal a vessel of the description asked for that could be spared from present service. He thought that a vessel best adapted to the coast defences of Massachusetts and New England would be a fast cruiser stationed at Boston, and always prepared for ser vice. Such a vessel, besides affording security to Boston, could proceed to any scene of danger on the coast at short notice. An iron-clad vessel might be of more real service in the harbor of Boston ; but, as they moved slowly, would not do well to cruise in the bay or on the coast. He approved of the Gov ernor s suggestions, made through Senator Sumner, and prom ised it should have his immediate attention. It appears from a LETTER FROM LONDON. 421 letter written by Mr. Blair, the Postmaster-General, that the President referred the letter received by him to General Totten, who made a report upon it to the President, which was read to him in the presence of Mr. Blair ; the purport of which was, that big guns were too much for iron-clads, which Mr. Blair consid ered " all stuff." Mr. Blair s advice to the Governor was to spend a million dollars in obstructing the channels to Boston ; then big guns could be brought to bear on iron-clads, and could sink them. At this time, fears were entertained that matters might be come so complicated between this country and England as to bring on a war with that nation ; and John M. Forbes, who was then in London, wrote a letter April 18, upon the subject. He said it was his opinion that it would take but little to bring on another excitement similar to that about the " Trent ; " that the British Premier would be likely to act in the same way, try to get British pride up to back him, and then insist upon our fighting or backing down." He was to meet Messrs. Cob- den, Bright, and Foster at Mr. Adams s the next day, and should probably hear something more. " Cobden I saw yesterday. He is going to speak next week, and I hope will speak entirely from a British point of view, showing their interest in protecting the sea from privateers, and in showing good faith as to fitting out expeditions. What havoc another Russian war would make on British commerce from our ports ! and yet these slow coaches do not see it, or only dimly. It needs infinite caution and firm ness to avoid a war by avoiding further irritation ; and even then a spark may blow it up. I hope, upon the information before sent, you have already ordered a lot of Blakely 8^-inch rifles. I expect to meet Blakely to-morrow, and shall get some light perhaps." Mr. Forbes then expresses a hope that the American people will pursue a firm but quiet course, and also that the Governor would have two iron revolving towers across the Narrows, and a chain with hoisting machinery connecting them. " But the first great want is the guns. I feel the danger so strongly, that I may even be tempted to buy some as samples. The enemy are getting them ; and, if these iron-clads get out, nothing but these guns and obstructions in the channels will save Boston. I think you have 422 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. about three months before the iron-clads get out after this reaches you? before the danger becomes imminent ; but it may be longer. People here base great hopes on Mr. Cobden s coming speech." The letter of Mr. Forbes undoubtedly added to the anxiety of the Governor to have the Government place the harbor of Boston in a position to defend the city. Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, was sent to Washington to confer with our dele gation in Congress, and the Navy and War Departments, and endeavor to bring about the object which the Governor had so much at heart. A large portion of the letters written by the Governor at this time refer to this important matter. We are not aware, however, that any immediate steps were taken, by the Government, to place the harbor of Boston in a secure con dition, although the forts mounted more and heavier guns, and, before the close of the year, were completely armed in the best possible manner. On the fifth day of May, the Governor wrote to John M. Forbes in London, giving him a full and detailed statement of the condition of our harbor defences, the appropriation made by the Legislature, and the promises made by the Govern ment. On the subject of buying Blakely guns, the Governor says, " The prices which you send me, aggravated as they would be by the cost of exchange and insurance, are too extravagant, according to my ideas, to justify me in spending a million dollars in that way, especially when I consider the possibility of their transit to America being in terrupted by the British Government, or in some other manner. If it were ten millions I had to spend, I might willingly devote a million or two to that purpose ; but it is evident to me that a portion of the single million must be devoted to harbor obstructions, and certainly two or three hundred thousand dollars from the remainder ought to be held in reserve for the erection of field works, or any like labor which a certain exigency might require. I therefore abandon the idea of devoting any part of this million dollars to importing ordnance from abroad. In this opinion I am confirmed by every officer with whom I have consulted." It will be seen, however, that the pressure of causes forced the Governor to change his opinion. LETTER TO A REBEL CAPTAIN. 423 We find on the Governor s files a letter dated Atlanta, Ga., April 10, 1863, signed Henry Shelby, and directed to his brother, Captain William Shelby, Co. B, Second Regi ment, Georgia Infantry, C.S.A., on which is endorsed by Colonel Browne, " The within is a copy of an original letter taken in the engagement at Chancellors ville, by a sergeant in an Ohio regiment." This letter gives an account of a visit to Atlanta by Jefferson Davis, and of a conversation held by him in regard to the " Alabama " visiting Boston. A portion of the letter is too vulgar to quote. It says, "President Davis was here a few days ago, and said that the Alabama, with four others that will be dreaded as much as she has been, will make the Yankees a call some time in June, at Boston or Portland ; and won t they shell out ? Davis said the forts might try to play ball a little, but they are so fast sailers they could not hurt them much. Won t Governor Andrew look as black as some of his Southern friends, when one of our big shells just bids him good-morn ing in the State House. Then Boston people can see how good it is to have their homes destroyed ; for, before they can get out any thing at the Navy Yard, we can knock them. Any way, how I should like to see the fun ! Now, William, after you have read this, burn it up ; don t tell any one what is in it, as the visit must be kept a secret, as it would be rather tough to have them know of it. Davis said it must not be known, as they could run off in disguise, and come on in a hurry. Don t put it in your pocket, as you might forget it. Are you all right to give it to Hooker s Yankee mob ? We hope to hear a good account soon from you. Your family are all well." There can be no doubt of the genuineness of this letter, and that it was contemplated by the Confederate Government to have Semmes and his associate pirates make a dash upon Boston or Portland, and damage the "Yankees" as much as possible. But in this case, as in many others, discretion became the better part of valor. On the twenty-third day of May, Robert C. Winthrop, of Boston, inclosed a letter to the Governor, which he had re ceived from the American consul at Malta, a kinsman of his, giving information in regard to a portion of the British fleet stationed at that port, that had been ordered to Halifax ; and, should a war occur between America and England, the first 424 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. point of attack would be Portland, the second Boston, and the third Newport, so far as the Northern States were concerned, and he should be glad if the Governors of the New-England States were informed of the danger which threatened them. The letter contained much information which was of interest at the time, and would have been invaluable in case of a war between the two nations. The letter which Mr. Winthrop forwarded to the Governor was a copy of one the consul had written to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State. On the 28th of May, an order was passed by the Executive Council that the sum of $250,000 of the million appropriation for coast defences be set apart for the procurement, for the defence of the coast of Massachusetts, of as many Blakely and Whitworth guns, or others of similar capacity and quality, as could be obtained during the next four months, and that an agent be appointed to visit Europe to purchase them. The Governor requested Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, to accept the appointment of agent ; but private business en gagements would not permit of it at that time. Some con tracts were made by Mr. Forbes in London. Colonel Ritchie, having arranged his business, accepted the appointment in August, and early in September sailed for England to pur chase ordnance. His experience abroad, and the success of his mission, forms one of the most interesting episodes in the war history of Massachusetts, as we shall show hereafter, and for the present pass to other matters. In the preceding pages, we have brought the correspondence of the Governor dow r n to July 1, 1863. Not that we have given any thing approaching a full record of it : that would be im possible in a publication like this. We have given only those relating to matters of general interest, which we have abridged from seven volumes, each containing upwards of four hundred letters, and which relate to every conceivable subject connected with the war, and the civil policy of the State. In the Adju tant-General s office, an equal number were written, of which we can refer only to a few, to illustrate some of the difficulties against which the State officers had to contend. On the 12th of January, the Adjutant-General, by direction LETTER TO MR. GOOCH. 425 of the Governor, wrote to Mr. Gooch, member of Congress, calling his attention to the case of David E. Goodfellow, an enlisted man in the Twenty-first Regiment, who had served under General Burnside in the capture of Roanoke Island, Beaufort, and Newbern, N.C. In January, 1862, he had been detailed by General Burnside to help lay a railroad-track at Annapolis, Md., a business which he was acquainted with. He remained faith ful to his duty until he was prostrated with a fever, and re ceived a furlough to come home from Mr. Goddard, who had charge of the Government work. On his recovery, he at once reported at the State House, and asked for transportation back to his post. The Adjutant- General sent him to Colonel Day, U.S.A., who had authority to furnish transportation. Colonel Day refused it, on the ground that Mr. Goddard s furlough "was no sufficient authority for the man s absence." Captain McKim, the United-States Quartermaster in Boston, also declined to furnish transportation. The State had neither authority nor funds. The Adjutant- General said, " We have no means of sending him on unless we take the money out of our own pockets ; a thing we have become so used to, that it is difficult now to repeat. The man is well-behaved, intelligent, and smart, a citizen of Fitchburg, and is anxious to get back to his duty. This is only one of many cases which occur almost daily : shall it continue for ever ? The man cannot get back without transportation, is willing to Lave it deducted from his pay, and, although he has not been paid for ten months, utters no complaint." The Adjutant-General disclaimed any wish to say a word dis paragingly of Colonel Day. " He is an old officer of the army ; but he does not understand our people, and is too aged to learn. He will do nothing that is not in the * regulations. Cannot some discretionary power be given, or are we to die daily, like St. Paul, by this adherence to the old rules, made when the army of the United States did not number as many men as the county of Middlesex has sent to this war. Goodfellow is now at the Hancock House at the expense of the Commonwealth. He had either to go there or sleep all night in the Tombs or police station. It is this utter disregard of the rights and amenities of brave and patriotic men that is sapping to its roots the tree of patriotism, 426 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. and making recruiting almost an impossibility. Please show this letter to Senator Wilson and such of your colleagues as you may think best, and let me hear from you as soon as possible." Many of the authorities of the cities and towns will never forget the repulses which they met, and the vexations they un derwent in recruiting, during the time Colonel Day repre sented the military authorities of the nation at this post. And yet he was an honest and brave officer ; but he was wholly un used to transact business, except as specified in general orders and army regulations. Goodfellow finally reached his regiment by transportation furnished by orders from Washington. We give this case as one of a class. Here is another class of cases, of which there were a great number : " To His EXCELLENCY. " The case of George M. Dixon is this : He enlisted in the Tenth Battery (Captain Sleeper) on the 16th of August, and was sent to camp, where he remained until the 9th of September, when he was mustered into service. He has been paid from the time of muster in, but has received nothing for the one month (lacking five days) he was in camp previous to that time. It is for this time that he claims pay ; but as no provision of law, and no appropriation of money, has been made to meet such cases, I do not see how he can be paid. There are thousands of cases existing similar to this. I think, if a gratuity of ten or fifteen dollars was made to him, he would be satisfied. He is a painter by trade, and can get work ; but he is not well enough to work at present. While I was writing the above, Mrs. Abbott, of East Bos ton, came to see me on a case precisely similar. Her husband is in the Tenth Battery. He enlisted on the 1 6th of August, and was mus tered in on the 9th of September. Mrs. Abbott has three children, and has received no money since the battery left the State. I think her case is as deserving as the other, the facts being the same." In January, 1863, the Governor was in Washington. The following paragraph appears in a letter addressed to him on other matters : " There is nothing new here that requires mention. Every thing, I believe, is progressing in the right direction. Camp Day (North Cambridge) was broken up yesterday, and the recruits transferred to LETTER ABOUT RECRUITING OFFICERS. 427 Fort Independence, which, I understand, will hereafter be the rendez vous for recruits for old regiments. If we could only have some ener getic person appointed at the head of the recruiting service, and have two-thirds of the officers now here, ostensibly on recruiting duty, sent back to their regiments, the service would be benefited. It is a great eyesore to me to see so many young officers here on recruiting ser vice, but, in fact, doing nothing of the least use to the country or of advantage to themselves." On the 2d of February, the Adjutant-General wrote a letter to Major-General Wool, commanding the Eastern Department, with headquarters at New York, calling his attention to the matters complained of in the extract given above. The letter sets forth that there were in Boston about thirty commissioned offi cers detailed from their regiments on recruiting service here, and twice that number of enlisted men acting as orderlies ; all of whom, with the exception of half a dozen who were unfit for field service on account of wounds, he thought should be sent to their regiments. They were of no use here ; they did not, on an average, recruit one man a day. Some of them, he feared, were not anxious on the subject. " I am sure, however, that a majority of the able-bodied officers are anxious to join their commands. They are weary of staying here doing nothing. They have asked to be relieved ; but their request is denied them, and here they remain, although conscious they are doing no good whatever to their regiments or their country. I know of one first lieutenant, a smart, active, good officer, who has been here nearly six months recruiting for his regiment (the Thirtieth), stationed at New Orleans, who has not in that whole time sent a single recruit to the regiment, and has not one now to send to it. What, then, is the use of his staying here ? His regiment is in want of officers : why not send him to it ? He wants to go. His case is not an isolated one." What was wanted, he said, was a concentrated, energetic system. Recruiting for the old regiments was done chiefly in Boston. There should be one general headquarters for recruit ing in the city, and one officer at the head of it, "who knows our people, and whom our people know." He deprecated hav ing so many officers here, each having his orderlies and paying rent for thirty different offices, when one man and one office 428 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION . would be far more efficient. He presumed the same state of facts existed elsewhere ; but in this little State the evils com plained of were more early seen and deeply felt. " So many officers seen in our streets and places of public amuse ment make our people who have sons and husbands in the field, ask what are these officers doing here ? why are they not with their regi ments ? I tell you, general, that the effect is all bad, and the system is all wrong." On this letter the Governor indorsed, " Read and cordially approved by me." The system complained of was afterwards corrected ; and, in a degree, the recommendations of the Adju tant-General were adopted. We insert a letter which bears upon another class of cases. Ferdinand Fillmore, of the Eleventh Regiment, was reported a deserter. He was in Boston, and had written to his captain for a descriptive list, that he might get his monthly pay, of which he was in great need. The captain refused to send it, on the ground that the man was a deserter ; to which the Adjutant- General replied, " The man is no deserter. He was sent from Fortress Monroe to New York. You say he was to go to Alexandria ; but the poor fellow had to go on the vessel he was ordered to, and he had to go to such port as the vessel took him to, and that was to New York. He was there in hospital two months. He wanted to join his regiment when he got better ; but the officer in command would not let him, but gave him a discharge from the service on surgeon s certificate of disability, which he now has, and I have it before me as I write. The man is poor, and in feeble health. The United-States Government owes him two months pay, which he cannot get until he has his descriptive list from you ; I pray you to send it on. I am as anxious to return deserters as you can possibly be, and probably exert myself to send them back as much as any one ; but this man is not a deserter, and should not be so regarded." March 3. To William D. Northend, Salem : " You ask if an inhabitant of Salem goes directly to Virginia, and there enlists, and is mustered into the service of the United States in the Massachusetts Second Regiment, can he be considered a part of the quota of Massachusetts, so that his family can receive the State aid ? I answer, most unequivocally, yes" COMPLAINTS MADE. 429 Brigadier-General Humphries, U.S.A., Army of the Poto mac, wished Governor Andrew to commission Mr. Edward C. Rice, of Framingham, that he might appoint him on his staff. There was no place for him in the three years regiments. The Governor referred the matter to the Adjutant-General, who re plied, " I presume that a staff appointment by one of our militia brigadier- generals would answer the purpose. It did in the case of Colonel T. Bigelow Lawrence, who received an appointment upon the staff of General McDowell, upon a commission which he held as an officer on the staff of Major- General Sutton, Second Division M.V.M. There are four vacancies in the staff of Brigadier-General Peirce : if he will appoint Mr. Rice, I believe it will accomplish the purpose sought for by General Humphries." And it did. A colonel in a Massachusetts regiment having written to the Governor that "great trouble had arisen," and officers had lost their pay, because the Adjutant-General of the State delayed forwarding the commissions when made out, the letter was referred by the Governor to the Adjutant-General, who replied, that all commissions were immediately transmitted to the Adju tant-General of the army, to correct his roster by, and were by him transmitted to their proper destination. If there had been any delay, it must have been in that office, not here. The let ter concludes : " I do not suppose that any colonel of a Massachusetts regiment would state what he did not believe to be true ; and I did not suppose there was one who would make complaint against a public officer until he had ascertained that there was just cause. Now, may it please your Excellency, whoever the officer may be who has made this com plaint, I will say, without fear of contradiction, that he has spoken of what he has no knowledge of, and has made a charge which has not a shadow of foundation on which to stand." A very large number of letters were written in answer to questions put by the city and town authorities, in regard to the payment of State aid to soldiers families. The rule was almost general, on the part of those gentlemen, to construe the law liberally ; a few only interposed technical objections, and were 430 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. over-prudent in the dispensation of this wise and humane relief. One of the selectmen wrote to ascertain the town to which a soldier was credited, without giving the number of the regiment in which the soldier was serving. The Adjutant-General wrote for this information. The question at issue was, which of two towns should pay the family the State aid. The law was clear upon the point, that the town in which the family resided should pay it, if the family needed it. Another letter came, the purport of which may be learned from the concluding para graph of the Adjutant-General s answer : " Instead of answering my question, and informing me of the num ber of the regiment to which the man belongs, you write to me, under date of April 1, in terms not over-courteous, that it is my duty to decide whether this town shall look after this family. With all due respect,. permit me to say that it is no part of my duty to decide any such question. If it were, I should take good care that the wife and family of a poor soldier did not suffer from quarrels, or from an over desire to throw off the duty of paying the State aid by narrow points of dispute between town authorities." Some of the nine months regiments had been absent from the State but a few months, when some of the officers and en listed men began writing home to ascertain when their time would expire. Some of the companies had been mustered in several weeks before others ; and the question raised was, did the time begin when the first company or the last company was mustered ; or was each company to be mustered out in nine months from the date of muster-in. One of these letters came to J. H. Mitchell, a member of the Massachusetts Senate, who referred it to the Adjutant- General for his opinion, which was that the term of service began from the time that the regiment was completed and organized. This answer was sent to North Carolina ; but it was not satisfactory to the officer who made the inquiry, who wrote again to Mr. Mitchell; this letter was also referred to the Adjutant-General, who answered it at length, lie said, " The officer thinks my rule is unjust, because some companies of the regiment have been mustered in sooner than others, and therefore the term should commence by companies, and not as a regiment. Such THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 431 a rule would be an absurdity. Whoever heard of a regiment being dis charged by companies ? Toward the end of the service, if such a rule prevailed, the regiment would only have one company, and, when its term was up, the field and staff would be left alone in their glory, with out any command; and if each company were to step out by itself, and be sent home, the Government would be under the necessity of finding ten transports to send men back, or else the companies would have to remain where they were, without rations and without pay, until the entire regiment had reached its tenth death. " It is true that some companies are formed and mustered in before others ; but in making regiments, there must be a beginning and an ending, and this applies to companies as well as to regiments, for there is always a first man and a last man in a company. Why not apply the same rule to the term of service of men in a company, and let the first who enlisted be the first to be discharged ? " But to conclude : The companies which are first mustered in have their pay begin first, which should satisfy the men; and I -have no doubt that it does. " Lastly, the terms of service of the nine months men are precisely the same as fixed for the three years men. The term of service of the three years men begins when the regiment is completed ; and the propriety of it has never, to my knowledge, been questioned by either officers or men. It is only by a few gentlemen in the nine months service that the question has been raised." This question continued to be pressed ; and the Adjutant- General though satisfied that his decision was in accordance with common sense, the rules of the Department at Washing ton , and the Governor of the Commonwealth submitted the question to the Adjutant-General of the army, whose decision was, that the term of service of a regiment commenced "from date of muster-in of the last company ; " which was the same as that given by the Adjutant-General of the State, only differ ently expressed. Another class of cases upon which decisions were made by the Adjutant-General, were of men who had expended time to recruit companies for the war, expecting to obtain commis sions, but who failed to enlist a sufficient number of men to entitle them to the honor, or to enable the Governor to commis sion them. A great many of this class of persons petitioned 432 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the Legislature of 1863 for payment for the services which they had rendered. Many of these gentlemen s claims were proper : they had expended time and money to achieve their purpose, which was patriotic and honorable. There were others whose demands had no such solid base : among these was a captain in the militia service, whose company had, though small, volunteered in a body for the service. It did not ap pear that he enlisted any one. The colonel of the regiment into which this company was put reported to headquarters that this captain was not a fit person to command the company ; and another gentleman, after the company was filled, was commis sioned captain. The person holding the militia commission petitioned the Legislature for pay in recruiting the men who originally belonged to his company. This petition was referred to the Committee on Military Claims ; and that committee, as in all other cases, referred it to the Adjutant-General for his con sideration and report. The report of the Adjutant-General upon the subject stated the facts of the case as above recited, and concluded as follows : " Of the merits of this claim I have no right to express an opinion The facts are as I have stated. During these two years of war, very many cases have come under my observation of patriotic devotion to cause and country, and of sacrifices made without expectation of a money reward, of which Captain s case presents no approach. I know a respectable widow lady living in Harrison Avenue, whose five sons went out as privates in our regiments, two of whom have been killed, one severely wounded at Antietam ; and when she came to see me, shortly after the battle, for assistance and direction to visit her son in the hospital, she did it with so much modesty that a stranger would have thought she was asking a great boon. " In one-half the households in Massachusetts, more suffering and sacrifices have been made in this war than have been made by Captain , or a majority of the men who come to the Legislature to get pay for some little camp duty, or get money because they failed to ob tain a commission which they were not half as well qualified to hold as one-half the men who have been serving in the ranks of Massachu setts regiments, from Autietam to Baton Rouge, during the last twenty mouths, at thirteen dollars a month. Pardon me for entering upon a subject of which my heart is full." MILITARY CLAIMS. 433 The captain did not get what he asked for. As a contrast to the foregoing case, a petition was presented to the Legislature by Mr. Seth T. Maxwell, of Charlemont, for payment of expenses incurred by him in trying to raise a company of sharpshooters in the western part of the State, which was also referred to the Adjutant-General by the Com mittee on Military Claims, who reported, substantially, that on representations made in November, 1861, by Mr. Maxwell, of Charlemont, and Mr. Winn, of Greenfield, then acting as assistant Attorney-General of the State, authority was given by the Governor, Dec. 4, to Mr. Maxwell, F. M. Thompson, of Greenfield, and Alvin P. Nelson, of Colerain, to raise a com pany of sharpshooters in the western counties of the Common wealth for three years service. It was stated in the authority given, that " the company, if recruited to ninety-eight enlisted men on or before Dec. 20, will be accepted, and pay and rations will then commence." The company was not raised in the time named, and Mr. Maxwell asked for an extension, which was granted. It was the intention of the Governor to attach this company either to the Tenth or Twenty-seventh regiments (they being western counties regiments), as the First Company of Sharpshooters had been attached to the Fifteenth, and the Second Company to the Twenty-second Regiment. On the fourth day of January, 1862, Mr. Maxwell wrote to the Adju tant-General that he had enlisted fifty-seven men, that he did not get along with the rapidity he expected, and, as he would take only those men who were good shots, he had greater diffi culties to overcome than persons engaged in ordinary recruiting. He expected, however, " to have a full company before long." In the mean while, application had been made to the War De partment to have this company attached to the Tenth Regiment, as Colonel Briggs was very anxious to have it ; but, after a long delay, permission was refused. In the middle of February, 1862, the Adjutant-General went to Washington on business, and made a personal request to have this company accepted. " The Adjutant-General of the Army told me to put my prop osition in writing, which I did. I received no answer to it until the twenty-sixth day of February, after I had returned 28 434 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. home. The answer was, that the sharpshooters cannot be added to Colonel Briggs s regiment, as he has now ten companies, the legal organization of an infantry regiment." On the day the Adjutant-General received this letter, he com municated the substance of it to Mr. Maxwell, and said, " I shall write once more to-day, requesting that your company may be accepted as an independent company, to be elsewhere attached." He also said that, if Mr. Maxwell desired, under the circumstances, to continue recruiting, he might; if not, "I will issue orders to discontinue it at once." He received no answer to his letter to the Adjutant-General of the army, of Feb. 26, until March 22, nearly a month after it was written. The answer was as follows : "In reply to your communication of Feb. 26, I have the honor to state that the services of the sharpshooters, unless as a company to complete some infantry regiment, cannot be accepted. " L. THOMAS, Adjutant- General" This was communicated to Mr. Maxwell. As we had no regiment in the field that required a company to complete it, of course nothing was left to do but to disband the company, " to raise which Mr. Maxwell had spent four months of his time, and a considerable sum of money." The report concludes as follows : " The Commonwealth never agreed to pay either of the parties any thing. If the company had been accepted by the United States, Mr. Maxwell would undoubtedly have been commissioned captain, and thus have been remunerated for his time and cost. But, as the United States refused to accept it after long delays, Mr. Maxwell lias received no compensation whatever for his labor and expenses. He is a man of small means, and it is hard so great a burden should rest on him, for he acted in good faith. If the Legislature should reimburse him, I believe the case, if properly presented, would be favorably considered by the Federal authorities, and the money repaid to the Common wealth." We believe the claim of Mr. Maxwell was allowed. At the battle of Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, Ser geant Plunkett, of the Twenty-first Regiment, lost both his arms. The color-bearer had been killed. Plunkett sprang forward, SERGEANT PLUNKETT s CASE. 435 seized the colors, and carried them in advance of the regiment. Shortly after, he was severely wounded in both arms, and fell forward, grasping the colors in his hand. They are now in the State House, stained with his blood. Both arms were amputated. He was sent to hospital, and recovered, and is now living at his home in Worcester County. His case was one of marked bravery. After his discharge, and on his return home, he staid a while at the New-England Rooms with Colonel Howe. On the sixteenth day of April, the Adjutant-General received a letter from James W. Hale, 76, Wall Street, New York, in forming him that he had succeeded in raising several thousand dollars as a testimonial to Sergeant Plunkett, and requesting the Governor to make Sergeant Plunkett a captain. On the seven teenth day of April, the Adjutant- General wrote to Mr. Hale as follows : "Your favor of the 16th instant I had the honor to receive this morning. Your labors in behalf of Sergeant Plunkett are worthy to be written in letters of gold. You have done a most noble work, and earned the heartfelt thanks of all good and patriotic men. May the blessings of Heaven fall daily upon you and yours ! I referred your letter to His Excellency the Governor, who returned it to me with this indorsement : " * Respectfully returned to General Schouler, with my thanks for the favor of reading this letter. I beg, through General Schouler, to send my grateful acknowledgments to Mr. Hale, of his benevolent conduct and sympathetic recognition of the noble qualities of Sergeant Plunkett. May God bless him for his kind heart! and may brave men, in the day of the weakness of the flesh, ever find such friends and helpers ! J. A. ANDREW. " April 17, 1863. " In regard to your request to have Sergeant Plunkett made a cap tain, I beg respectfully to dissent from your view of the case. Were I he, I would rather live and be known as Sergeant Plunkett, of the Twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteers, who lost both his arms at the battle of Fredericksburg when acting as color-sergeant, and whose bravery in action had received from strangers such recognition as you have shown, than to be made a field-marshal. I merely give this as my own impression. What course His Excellency may take in regard to your suggestion, I have not yet been informed. Please accept my 436 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. warmest thanks for what you have done. May peace, contentment, and happiness ever attend you, and be ever present in your household and around your fireside ! " Yours truly, " WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General We find the following note among the Adjutant-General s letters, dated April 20, 1863 :- " I have been ordered by His Excellency the Governor to proceed this evening to New York, to see General Wool. There is a man, a deserter, at Fort Independence, who is sentenced to be shot, and the Governor is very anxious to have the sentence commuted. General Wool has power to do it. If I am successful, I save a poor fellow s life ; if unsuccessful, I will have the satisfaction of having done what I could to save it. W. S." The sentence was commuted, and the man s life saved ; his name was David Andrews. On the return of the Adjutant- General from New York, he visited the prisoner at the fort, in company with Captain Collins, U.S.A., and reported to the Governor, " We saw the condemned man in his cell, and had a brief conversa tion with him. He appears to be a harmless being, with a very weak intellect. There was nothing vicious or gross in his conversation or appearance. Both Captain Collins and myself agreed that it would be a pity to select such a person for death punishment, and that his sen tence should be commuted." Another class of cases was where men had just claims against the Government for labor performed, and articles furnished for the camps. One of them was the claim of Asa Palmer, for payment for hay, wood, and straw, furnished for "Camp Stanton," in Lynnfield, which amounted to $1,918.70. His bills were approved by the proper officers ; yet he could not get his pay, because no certificates had been received at the office of the Quartermaster-General at Washington, "to show in what quar ter he will account for the property." In regard to these bills and the cause of the delay, the Adjutant-General wrote to Major-General Meigs, Quartermaster-General, U.S.A., at Washington, DELAY IN PAYING ACCOUNTS. 43? " The Quartermasters who receipted to Mr. Palmer for the property were Lieutenant Hayes, post-quartermaster for a time, who is now somewhere in New York, but where I do not know, and First- Lieutenant Richardson, quartermaster of the Thirty-third Regiment, who is now with his regiment in the Army of the Potomac. Mr. Palmer is a poor man ; the money is owed by him to the farmers in Lynnfield and neighborhood, and he is much annoyed because he does not pay them ; but he cannot do it until the Government pays him. The money has been due about a year. He has done every thing in his power to have the bills settled ; but he cannot make officers make the returns they should make, and therefore he is denied what is his due. Captain McKim and all of us are satisfied that the bills are just, and that Mr. Palmer should have been paid long ago. I will thank you, therefore, if you will take the bills and vouchers as they are, and permit Captain McKim to pay Mr. Palmer what is so justly his due, and which he is so much in need of." The bill was paid ; not, however, without some further delay. There were a great many cases of this character, some of which have not yet been settled, for want of proper vouchers, which should have been furnished by officers. On the 4th of June, the Adjutant-General reported to the Governor, in writing, that he had received a large number of re ports from our batteries in the Army of the Gulf, which related to matters which he deemed proper to acquaint him with. The first was a letter from Captain Hamlin, of the Thirteenth Bat tery, which had left Boston on the 31st of January, but which was detained at Fortress Monroe, and, after " a very long and tedious voyage, arrived at New Orleans on the 10th of May." The ship was becalmed off the coast of Florida, and, for a time, was short of water. The captain wrote that he had received authority to recruit men from the Massachusetts nine months regiments in the department, whose terms of service were about to expire ; and he had no doubt he would soon fill his battery to the full standard. Second, a letter from Captain Peirson, of the Fifteenth Battery, who represented that he had five officers and sixty-eight men ready for duty ; sixteen men had deserted ; and seventeen were in confinement, awaiting court-martial, "some of whom will be shot." The appointment of Peirson captain of the company was one of the few errors made by 438 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the Governor. Captain Peirson was a resident of Lowell. His appointment had been asked for by politicians of high posi tion. He asked that the State would send on sixty men to fill up his company. The request could not be complied with. The third was a letter from Lieutenant Motte, of the Thirteenth Battery, complaining that some of the officers commissioned by the Governor had been notified that they would be mustered out, because an informality of no importance had not been complied with. The fourth was a letter from Lieutenant Dame, of the Fifteenth Battery, to the same effect. The Adju tant-General says, " It seems to me very wrong that gentlemen should go to the ex pense of recruiting a company, buying an outfit, be commissioned, mustered into the service, and reach their destination after toils and hardships, anxious to do something for the glory of their country, and to be met as some of these officers have been met in New Orleans." The point in the case was this: By an order (No. 110), a battery of artillery was entitled to a captain and four lieu- tenan , if the President should so authorize. In the case of the batteries here spoken of, the President had given his authority, and four lieutenants had been commissioned in each of the com panies. But, on the 14th of May, a letter was received by His Excellency from the Adjutant-General of the army, saying, that " the ruling of the Department has been not to give the permis sion (for the four lieutenants) until the battery has taken the field." To this letter the Adjutant-General of the State called the attention of the Governor, and asked, " Docs this mean, that, if we get authority from the President to muster a captain and four lieutenants to a battery, additional au thority or permission is to be had from the War Department after the battery lias left the State. The officers have been commissioned and mustered in, and they have been to the expense of buying uniforms and horses, have spent months and money in recruiting the company, and are two thousand miles from home ; and they are to be mustered out. I have heard unofficially, that the order of General Banks to muster out two lieutenants in each battery has been rescinded by the War Depart ment. I do not know that this information is reliable ; but I think THE MASSACHUSETTS BATTERIES. 439 the order should be rescinded, and that our officers should no longer be subject to its requirements." The Governor directed the Adjutant-General to write to the Adjutant-General of the army, and represent the case to him ; which he did on the same day. Referring to the letter of the 14th of May, from which we have quoted, he was directed by the Governor to put this direct question : " Whether, when a battery is full and under orders to march, the additional lieutenants may not be commissioned ; or whether it is meant they cannot be commissioned until after the company has reached some other place, and, if so, what place ? " In concluding his letter, the Adjutant-General said, " Allow me to thank you for your many kindnesses in transacting business in your office, and to more strongly urge that you will have orders given to have the full number of officers to our batteries in the Department of the Gulf mustered in, as they are in the Army of the Potomac, and in other departments." The result of the correspondence was, that orders were issued to retain the officers ; and they served, many of them, with dis tinction through the war. Before passing from this subject, we would add, that no arm of the Massachusetts volunteers did greater service to the nation, or reflected greater honor upon Massachusetts, than the sixteen light batteries which went from this Commonwealth to the war. Many of the officers held high commands ; some of them of the artillery of a corps ; and yet none of them could ever reach a higher rank than captain, and for the reason that the Secretary of War would not consent to have our batteries given either a battalion or a regimental organization. States, which did not send half as many batteries into the service, had these privileges allowed them ; and, in con sequence, they had their majors, lieutenant-colonels, and colo nels of artillery, while Massachusetts had no officers of higher rank in this arm of the service than a captain. The Governor exerted his utmost power to have this wrong righted, but in vain. The only answer which Secretary Stanton gave was, that " mistakes had been made in the beginning of the war, which he did not wish to keep up." We will not say that the Secretary 440 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. was altogether to blame ; but the wrong done could have been righted by Congress fixing a brevet rank, which would have carried command and pay with it, and not have permitted offi cers of the skill and bravery of Martin, McCartney, Nims, and others we could name, to serve in positions which properly be longed to brigadier-generals, and to perform the duties of those positions with pre-eminent merit, while only holding in reality the commissions of captains, and allowed only the pay and allowances of captains. It is true that these gentlemen were named in official bulletins in words of praise for " gallant and efficient services in the field," and, at the end of the war, they were brevetted brigadier-generals ; but something more was due the officers and men of the light batteries of Massachusetts. The preceding pages of this chapter give a faint idea of some of the many questions which engaged the attention of the State authorities during the first six months of 1863. Other matters, however, of the highest importance to the unity of the nation and to the good of the Commonwealth, were in the mean time maturing, which culminated, in the early days of July, with the battle of Gettysburg, the fall of Yicksburg, and the capture of Port Hudson, which shook the rebel Confederacy from "turret to foundation-stone ; " the glory of which achievements was for a moment eclipsed by the draft riots in New York and Boston. Of these we shall briefly speak in the succeeding chapter. CHAP TEH IX. The Military Condition Reverses and Successes of the Union Arms Ser vice and Return Home of the Nine Months Regiments List of Casualties Deserters The July Riot in Boston Prompt Action An Abstract of the Orders Alarm in other Cities The Attack in Cooper Street The Eleventh Battery The Word to fire The Riot suppressed The Draft Appointment of Provost-Marshals The Fifty -fifth Colored Regiment Letters from Secretary Stanton Injustice to the Colored Troops Letters of the Governor on the Subject Difficulties with the Draft Major Blake sent to Washington Request to allow Bounties to Drafted Men refused John M. Forbes in Washington Letters to the Governor Heavy Ord nance Colonel Lowell The Attack on Wagner Death of Colonel Shaw Instances of Bravery on the Part of Colored Troops Letters to General Dix Troops for Coast Defence Governor writes to Governor of Ohio Formation of Veteran Regiment Massachusetts Militia Letters to Colo nel Lee Colored Cavalry Letter of Secretary Stanton Confidential Letter on the Exposed Condition of the Coast Telegraph Communication with the Forts Letters to Senator Sumner Exact Condition of the De fences Letter of the Adjutant- General Reports of General William Ray mond Lee Colonel Ritchie sent to England Democratic State Convention Republican State Convention Re-election of Governor Andrew The President calls for Three Hundred Thousand more Volunteers Extra Ses sion of the Legislature called Governor s Address Bounties increased Abstract of Laws. THE preceding chapter brought the record of the State, as it relates to the military correspondence of the Governor and the departments, to July 1, 1863. Before proceeding farther, we propose to briefly sketch the military operations in the several departments from Jan. 1 to July 1, and particularly in regard to the nine months regiments, the services they per formed, and their return home at the expiration of their terms of service. General Banks was in command of the Depart ment of the Gulf; General Hooker, of the Army of the Po tomac ; and General Foster, of North Carolina. All of the nine months regiments, except the Sixth, were in the Depart ments of the Gulf and North Carolina. The Sixth Regiment 442 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. was in Virginia, near Suffolk, during most of its term of service. On July 1, General Banks, with his command, was in front of Port Hudson, on the Mississippi. General Grant was be sieging Vicksburg, which fell into his hands July 4. Port Hudson capitulated a few days subsequent ; and the Army of the Potomac was advancing, by forced marches through Vir ginia, across the Potomac into Pennsylvania, to head off Lee, who had advanced with his entire command, by a flank move ment, into that State. The armies met on the second and third days of July, at Gettysburg, when the great battle of the war was fought, and the most important victory gained by the Union arms. The defeat of the rebel army at Gettysburg, the capture of Vicks burg by General Grant, and the fall of Port Hudson, culminat ing as they did within a few days of each other, were the most important events which had happened during the war ; they gave stren fifth and courage to the Union cause, and weakened O O O and discouraged the enemy. Lee was driven back behind his fortifications in Virginia, south of the Rapidan ; the Mississippi was ours ; the Southern Confederacy was severed ; and from that time until the close of the Rebellion, in the spring of 1865, it lost strength and prestige. The battle of Chancellorsville was fought May 4, when the Army of the Potomac was under command of General Hooker, from whom successful military operations had been expected. On the first day of May, he commenced his advance movement across the Rappahannock. The loyal people of the nation hailed the advance as an event sure to result in success, the defeat of Lee s army, and the capture of Richmond. Their ex pectations were sadly disappointed. The battle of Chancellors ville was a defeat to the Union arms ; and the retreat of the army across the Rappahannock to its original quarters, the long lists of killed and wounded published in the papers, and the many rumors which reached us from the front, added to the general feeling of disappointment and sorrow which pervaded loyal hearts. In order to ascertain from an official source the true cause and the exact position of affairs, Governor Andrew LETTER TO GENERAL HOOKER. 443 telegraphed to Mr. Stanton, May 8, as follows : "May I ask if the storm and rise of the Rappahannock determined Hooker s recrossing?" To which Mr. Stanton replied, " The President and General-in-chief have just returned from the Army of the Potomac. The principal operation of General Hooker failed ; but there has been no serious disaster to the organization and efficiency of the army. It is now occupying its former position of the Eappahannock, having recrossed the river without any loss in the movement. Not more than one-third of General Hooker s force was engaged. General Stoneman s operations have been a brilliant suc cess. A part of his force advanced to within two miles of Richmond, and the enemy s communications have been cut in every direction. The Army of the Potomac will soon resume offensive operations." General Hooker remained in command of the Army of the Potomac until June, when he was superseded by General Meade. We have already briefly recited the formation and departure of our nine months troops : we now proceed to briefly sketch narratives of their services from the time they left the State until their return ; beginning with the Third Regiment, which was in the Department of North Carolina. On Dec. 11, 1862, the regiment started from Newbern with the " expedition to Goldsborough," which occupied eleven days ; and the troops marched more than one hundred and fifty miles. It participated in the battles of Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsborough. The regiment was complimented at the last-named battle by its brigade commander for its bravery in tearing up the railroad track while under fire, and its steadiness in supporting Belger s and Morrison s Batteries while repelling the brilliant charge of the rebels under General Pettigrew, and also for its coolness while recrossing the creek, which had been flooded by the rebels. Though it was under fire several hours during the day, its only loss was six men wounded. On the 30th December, the regiment was attached to Gen eral Heckman s brigade. On Jan. 14, it was attached to Colonel J. Jourdan s brigade, with which it remained during the remainder of its term of service. On the 26th, it moved to " Camp Jourdan," near Fort 444 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Totten, one of the most important points in the defences of Newbern. On March 6, the regiment went with General Prince s di vision on an expedition into Jones and Onslow Counties, occu pying five days, during which it was detailed with other troops twice for important detached service. On the 8th of April, it joined a column under General Spi- nola, and made a forced march to Blount s Creek ; had a slight engagement with the enemy. During this expedition, the troops marched thirty miles, and had a skirmish with the rebels, in one day. On the 16th of April, it joined a column under General Prince, and marched to Coir Creek, remaining six days, during which time several slight skirmishes with the enemy took place. It was this movement, combined with the operations of another column on the opposite side of the Neuse, which caused the rebels to evacuate their position in front of Washington, N.C., thereby releasing the Forty-fourth Massachusetts from its un comfortable position. On the llth of June, the regiment was ordered to Boston, and, on the 26th, was mustered out of service by Captain I. K. Lawrence. During the campaign, it was transported by steamers and railroads more than two thousand miles, and marched more than four hundred miles over the swampy roads of North Carolina, most of it during the most inclement season. After it was mustered out of service, it assumed its place as part of the militia of Massachusetts. The Fourth Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf, and arrived in New Orleans Feb. 13, 1863. It was attached to the First Brigade, Third Division, commanded by Colo nel Ingraharn, Thirty -eighth Massachusetts Volunteers, and left for Baton Rouge, La., March 7. In the expedition against Port Hudson, this regiment bore a conspicuous part. After an absence of a week, it returned to the encampment at Baton Rouge. On the 3d of April, it again broke camp, and went down the Mississippi to Algiers, and thence to Brashear City, where it was ordered to remain with the Six- THE NINE MONTHS EEGIMENTS. 445 teenth New-Hampshire Volunteers, to guard the post which was the base of supplies for the army, while General Banks was marching through Teche country to Alexandria, at that time one of the most important posts in the department. Just before the battle of Bisland, the regiment was ordered to join the brigade before the enemy, and "remain till the fight was over;" accordingly, left Brashear City April 11, on short notice, marched ten miles in the night, and next morning took its position against the enemy ; participated in the two days engagement, 12th and 13th, and at sunset was sent to the extreme front to guard the line, with orders to hold until morning, at all hazards, what had been gained during the day ; joined in the pursuit of the rebels in their retreat on the 14th, as far as Franklin, where the whole army rested for the night ; the regiment returning next morning to Brashear City. It re mained there, doing guard and fatigue duty until May 30, when it was ordered to proceed forthwith and report to Major- General Banks at Port Hudson. It there bore its share in the labors, fatigues, and hardships of the siege until the fort sur rendered. In the assault on June 14, two of the companies were detailed, with others, to carry hand-grenades in the ad vance of the attacking column. Captain Bartlett, who commanded the whole of the party, fell mortally wounded upon the very breastworks of the enemy, while he, and the officers and men under his command, through a storm of shot and shell, were earnestly and heroically, but hopelessly, endeavoring to scale them. The number of killed and wounded in the regiment that day was sixty-eight. After the surrender of Port Hudson, this regiment was one of the first to enter the fort, and remained inside, performing garrison duty until the 4th of August, when it was ordered to Boston, arriving on the 17th. A furlough of ten days was then given, after which it was ordered to report at Lakeville, Mass. ; and on the 24th of August, having served over eleven months, it was mustered out of the United States service. The entire loss of the regiment was upwards of one hundred and twenty -five. The Fifth Regiment was in the Department of North Caro- 446 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. lina. It arrived in Newbern by transports about Oct. 30, 1862. It formed a part of the brigade under the command of Colonel Horace C. Lee, of the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, in which it remained during the whole period of its term of service, very much to the satisfaction of the whole regiment. Before the regiment had been forty-eight hours in Newbern, orders were received to be prepared to start on an expedition immediately. Arriving by transports to Washington, N.C., on the 31st of October, on the 2d of November the whole force, under command of Major-General Foster, took up its line of march to Williamston. There were some slight skir mishes with the enemy on the route, but nothing of impor tance transpired during the time. On the morning of the 10th December, the regiment left its camp to join an expedition to Goldsborough, having for its object the destruction of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. The Fifth was assigned the second post of honor, and the care of the wagon train was intrusted to it. Companies H and E were posted about three miles from regimental headquarters, and, on the 14th, were attacked by a large force of rebel cavalry. The men stood their ground manfully, and, after a very spirited engagement, repulsed the enemy, and drove them in great disorder towards Kinston. On Dec. 15, the regiment rejoined the main column. On the 16th occurred the battle of Whitehall. After the battle had been raging nearly an hour, Lee s brigade was ordered to the front, and three of the Fifth Regiment were wounded. On the morning of the 17th, the whole column was again in motion ; Lee s brigade having the advance, reaching the railroad. The bridge spanning the Neuse River, and the tele graph-wires, were soon destroyed ; companies D and H pro tecting the parties destroying the railroad. After the object of the expedition had been accomplished, a return to Newbern was ordered. The retrograde had already begun, leaving Lee s brigade, to which the Fifth Regiment was attached, still on the field, when the enemy advanced from the cover of the woods to make a charge upon the brigade. THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 447 Just before the final repulse of the rebel infantry, the enemy opened fire upon the brigade, seeming to direct principally upon the Fifth Regiment. For upwards of two hours the shot and shell flew thick and fast around the regiment ; and twice were its colors pierced by fragments of shell before the enemy s guns were silenced. During the return to Newbern, the regiment acted as the rearguard, and reached its camp. Dec. 21, having marched about one hundred and eighty miles, and having ten men wounded, General Foster issued an order, directing the regi ment to inscribe on its banners the names of the battles of Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsborough. After Jan. 21, the regiment was employed upon fortifications, upon the completion of which General Foster designated the work as Fort Pierson, in compliment to the colonel of the Fifth ; and further time, until the 13th of March, was occu pied in brigade, regimental, and company drills. On the 4th of April, the regiment, with other troops, em barked on transports for Washington, N.C.,for the relief of General Foster and the garrison of that place. April 8. The regiment joined an expedition to Washington, by land, under command of General Spinola ; after a short en gagement, the troops were ordered to return. Two or three short expeditions occupied the time till May 21, when Lee s brigade, with other forces, left Newbern, for the purpose of attempting the surprise and capture of the rebel force in the fortifications at Mosely Creek, reconnoitred by the Fifth Regi ment three weeks previously. Success followed this attack upon the enemy, who were thrown into a panic and fled in great confusion ; 200 prison ers were captured, 43 horses and mules and ambulances, 17 wagons, 1 gun, 500 stands of arms, 17 rounds of ammunition, and the entire hospital furniture and supplies of the enemy. This was the last expedition in which the regiment was en gaged, and in some respects the hardest, owing to the intense heat of the weather, the miry swamps, and almost impenetrable jungles on the line of march. During its term of service, the regiment marched six hundred 448 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. miles over the wretched roads of North Carolina, and sailed over two thousand miles in crowded transports. It left North Carolina on June 22, to report at Fortress Monroe, and proceed to Boston. The regiment was mustered out of service at Wen- ham, July 2, 1863. The Sixth Regiment left the State Sept. 9, 1862, with orders to report at Washington. From thence it proceeded to Suf folk, Va., twenty-three miles from Norfolk, where there was a force of about five thousand. On the 17th, the first touch of war was experienced, and all fell in for action. Some of the Sixth were sent out as skirmishers ; others supported a battery. No attack was made ; but the " fatigue duty " they inaugurated was systematically followed by the Sixth during the next eight months ; and the result of their work upon fortifications was seen in one of the most formidable lines of defences to be found in the country. On the 24th, the regiment was brigaded, under command of Colonel R. S. Foster. Oct. 4. The first march into the enemy s country occurred when the regiment made part of an expedition to Western Branch Church ; but no hostile force was met. Nov. 17. The third expedition into the rebel neighborhood began ; a slight skirmish took place, but the artillery soon drove the enemy. Dec. 5. A new company-ground was occupied on the front ; it received the name of " Camp Misery," but it was soon so improved that it became healthy and pleasant. On the llth, a large force, including the Sixth, was sent to a ford of the Blackwater, to rout a rebel force. The regiment lost a gallant officer, Lieutenant Barr, of Company I, Law rence, who was shot through the heart. At midnight, Jan. 29, the regiment fell in, under General Corcoran, a part of a force of four thousand three hundred men, and marched towards Blackwater; the Sixth supporting our Seventh battery, who were under fire for the first time. The position of the regiment was on the edge of a swamp, and was very exposed. The engagement lasted two hours under close range, eight hundred yards. The day following, another engagement occurred, ending in a repulse of the foe. The THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 449 force returned, after a march of thirty-five miles, and three fights all in twenty-four hours. The night was pitch dark; the shot and shell ploughed incessantly ; but the men held their positions, went and came through mud knee-deep. At this time, nearly two hundred men were on detached service ; but not one of them ever deserted, or was court-martialled for dereliction of duty. April 8. The regiment was ordered to be ready to leave Suffolk, and preparations were made, when the order was coun termanded, as an immediate attack from the enemy was antici pated. April 11, a large force, under General Longstreet, laid siege to Suffolk. Colonel Follansbee was placed in command of the front ; the position was occupied by the New-York One- hundred-and-thirtieth, Massachusetts Seventh Battery, Sixth Massachusetts Infantry. An attack was immediately expected ; and from this time onward a continual skirmishing was kept up for twenty-three days, mostly between sharpshooters, gunboats, and artillery, though several times the engagements assumed the proportions of smart battles. On May 4, the enemy fell back from his position, and made a precipitous march towards Fredericks!) urg ; and our forces started in pursuit, capturing several hundred prisoners. Dur ing the twenty-three days siege, the regiment was severely taxed, and much exposed ; but the singular good fortune that lias ever attended it did not fail here : its loss was very slight. May 13. The regiment started with others towards the Blackwater, for the eighth and last time. Colonel Foster com manded the whole, and Colonel Follansbee commanded Foster s brigade. The object was to protect workmen engaged in taking up the rails of the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad. During the three fights of this expedition, the Sixth suffered quite se verely ; but the forces held their position, protecting the work men till the track from Carrsville to Suffolk was taken up. The Sixth then returned to Deserted House on the 19th, and bivouacked, on the ground for which it fought, June 30. Under command of General Corcoran, the regiment moved to Windsor, May 20, to protect workmen in taking up the rails of the Norfolk and Petersburg road. Here it remained until the 29 450 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. 23d, when General Corcoran notified Colonel Follansbee that the regiment would that day be relieved, as the term of service would soon expire. Accordingly, it left for Suffolk, arriving after ten days of most fatiguing and exhausting ser vice, which told more on the regiment s health than all the rest of its hardships combined. On the 20th of May, it bade adieu to the scenes of its toils and perils, arriving at Boston, in the steamer " S. R. Spauld- ing," after a delightful voyage, May 29, reaching Lowell the same day, where it was mustered out of service on the 3d of June. Thus ended the second campaign of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, honorably to itself, and with remarkable exemption from death by disease and battle, considering the number of its engagements, and the unhealthy location of its camp on the edge of the Dismal Swamp. All who were killed in battle, or who died of disease, were embalmed, and sent home for interment ; a remarkable fact in the history of a regiment. Not one of its members rests in Virginia soil. The Eighth Regiment was in the Department of North Caro lina. It left the State Nov. 25, 1802, and arrived at Morehead City Nov. 30, and, on the same day, from thence by rail to Newbern. It was assigned to the Second Brigade, First Di vision, under command of Colonel T. G. Stevenson, Twenty- fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, and went into camp on the "Fair Grounds. 5 On Dec. 4, Companies A and E were detached from the regiment for garrison duty at Roanoke Island, and remained absent till July 12, 1803, when they rejoined it at Maryland Heights. On Dec. 9, the regiment was detached from the Second Brigade, First Division, for garrison duty at New r bern. On Dec. 28, it was assigned to the brigade under command of Colonel T. J. C. Amory, Seventeenth Massachusetts Volunteers, and on the same day was transferred to the First Brigade, Second Division, under command of Brigadier-General Heckman, where it remained until Jan. 11, 1803, when, the brigade being THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 451 ordered to the "Department of the South," the regiment was transferred to the Second Brigade, Fifth Division, under com mand of Colonel James Jourdan. On Jan. 25, 1863, the regiment changed camp from "Fair Grounds" to Fort Totten. Companies G and H were de tached for duty at that place. Through the month of February, garrison duty was per formed at Roanoke Island, rebel salt-works destroyed, and guerillas captured near Carrituck Sound ; and on the 25th, a review of all the troops taking place at Newbern, the Eighth received the credit of being one of the best regiments in the de partment for soldierly bearing and deportment. Nothing of importance occurring during the month of March, the regiment formed a part of an expedition on April 8, under command of Brigadier-General Spinola, to reinforce General Foster, at Washington, N.C. ; met and engaged the enemy at Blount s Creek. April 16. The regiment formed part of an expedition under command of General Prince ; left Newbern for the pur pose of reconnoitring in the vicinity of the outposts of the enemy; remained six days, and took a number of prisoners. During May, the regiment was encamped ; and, on June 24, embarked on transports for Fortress Monroe, arriving on the 27th; the next day were ordered to Boston, Mass., to be mustered out of service ; which order was countermanded. On the 30th, were ordered to Baltimore, Md., to report to Major-General Schenck, as there were fears of an attack on that city by the enemy. On July 1, it was assigned to the brigade under command of Brigadier-General Briggs ; and proceeded to Sandy Hook, and took up the line of march to Maryland Heights, where, after a dismal and tedious march in pitchy darkness, up rugged heights, it finally reached the destination, took possession of Fort Dun can, and raised the Stars and Stripes where they could be seen by the enemy at break of day. It remained here until the 12th, when the brigade again marched, to reinforce the Army of the Potomac at Funkstown. Remaining with the army during its movement to the Rappahannock, on the 26th it was ordered 452 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. home. While with the Army of the Potomac, though not en gaged with the enemy, it suffered much for want of tents, clothing, shoes, &c., having failed to supply itself on leaving Newbern, as was supposed, for Massachusetts. The regiment returned to the State on the 29th of July, with clothes tattered and torn, but yet showing they had seen service, and, by their firm tread and manly bearing, that they were ready and willing to do their duty to their country, and to the glorious old flag. It was mustered out of service Aug. 7, 1863. The Forty-second Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf, and arrived at New Orleans Dec. 16, 1862. On the 19th, Colonel Burrill, with companies D, G, and F, embarked on the transport "Saxon," for Galveston, Texas, and arrived in Galveston Bay on the 24th. The Colonel immediately pro ceeded to the gunboat " Westfield," to consult with Commodore Renshaw, then in command of the blockading fleet, ofF- Galves ton ; and by his advice, added to that of the commanding officers of all the gunboats then in the harbor, to land at once, with the most positive assurances of the entire safety of the position, a landing w r as made. Jan. 1. The enemy advanced with artillery upon this small force, two or three attempts to capture the position being handsomely repulsed ; while four rebel gunboats and a rani were making for the fleet and succeeded in capturing the " Har riet Lane," after a short but fierce and determined encasement. o O A flag of truce was raised by the enemy on the " Harriet Lane" and on shore. This was responded to by the several gunboats, and finally by Colonel Burrill on the wharf. Colonel Burrill, not having any information as to the cause for the flags of truce, and being desirous of communicating with the fleet to ascertain the reason, ordered Adjutant Davis to proceed to the flag-ship, to obtain the information, also to get the gunboats to come up to the wharf, and take off his command, the enemy being too strong for him to contend with on shore. Adjutant Davis, while awaiting the answer to his commu nication, saw, from the deck of the gunboat, Colonel Burrill and his command marched off prisoners of war. Finding all hope THE NINE MONTHS EEGIMENTS. 453 of saving the men of the Forty-second thus cut off, and being informed by Commander Law that the gunboats would proceed to sea immediately, Adjutant Davis remained with the fleet, and proceeded to New Orleans to report to Major-General Banks the results of the unfortunate expedition. When Col onel Burrill offered his sword to the officer designated by General Magruder to receive the surrender, he was desired to keep it, in respect to his brave and able defence of his posi tion against such an overwhelming force ; and, on being in formed that the little band that stood before them were all the troops there, the rebels could scarcely believe it, and were surprised they had held their position so well and so long. In respect for their courage and bravery, it was ordered, that all private property of privates, as well as officers, should be respected ; a fact rarely equalled in the history of the war. The prisoners were then sent to Houston, where they arrived Jan. 20, 1863 and remained until the 22d, when all the en listed men that were able left Houston, marched across the country, and were paroled and sent down the Red River and the Mississippi to the Union lines. Repeated efforts were made, after their arrival at "Camp Fair," to effect their exchange, but with no avail ; and they were obliged to remain inactive till the expiration of their term of service. On the 13th of January, 1863, the remaining seven com panies, under Lieutenant-Colonel Stedman, by order of Major- General Jcnks, were attached to the Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel Farr of the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, of the Second Division, commanded by Brigadier-General Sher man, of the Nineteenth Corps. On the 15th of January, by orders from headquarters De fences of New Orleans, two companies were detached, and ordered to report to Major Houston, chief engineer of the Department of the Gulf. Ordered to " Camp Parapet," under command of Captain Leonard, who was ordered to lay out and build a bastioned redoubt, to form a portion of the "Defences of New Orleans." Under the immediate direction of Lieutenant Long, of the United States Engineer Corps, this work began Jan. 30, employing large numbers of contrabands, and continued 454 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. during the whole term of their detached service. Captain Leon ard was ordered to organize, from among the contrabands then at work, a regiment of engineers, to be known as the First Louisiana Engineers. The regiment consisted of twelve com panies, of one hundred men each, and was commanded by Colonel Justin Hodge, U.S.A. It was ordered to Port Hud son, where it took an important part in the subsequent siege of that place. On the 24th of January, Captain Davis and Lieutenant Duncan were detached from the regiment, and ordered to re port to the Provost-Marshal-General, Department of the Gulf, where they met with marked success, and were honorably spoken of by the general in command. Quartermaster Burrill was detached to serve as brigade-quartermaster, and attached to the staff, where he served with entire satisfaction, until Colonel Farr was relieved of the command of the brigade. On the 26th of January, five companies, then at "Camp Mansfield/ were ordered to take post at a point on thePonchar- train Railroad, known as Bayou Gentilly. Feb. 16. A company, under command of First-Lieutenant Harding, was attached to the Engineer Department of the Nineteenth Corps, as pontoniers. On the 10th of March, the company moved, via Baton Rouge, to Bayou Monticeno, where they laid a bridge one hundred feet long. On the loth, the army commenced crossing, and advanced on the Port Hudson road. On the 15th, the army recrossed ; the com pany took up the bridge, and returned to Baton Rouge. On the 6th of April, they moved to Brashear City, and laid a bridge three hundred feet long on Bayou Brcuf; on the 12th, they swung a bridge across Bayou Teche, and proceeded to remove obstructions, torpedoes, &c.,in the stream. Moving with the advance of the army, on the 26th they reached Sandy Creek, near Port Hudson, and laid a bridge two hundred and eighty feet long, under a hot fire from the guns of the fort and the rebel sharpshooters. After the occupation of Port Hudson, they proceeded to Donaldsville in an expedition under General Grover, where they laid a bridge tw r o hundred and eighty feet long across Bayou Lafourche. THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 455 On the 5th of April, Lieutenant-Colonel Stedman was placed in command of all the stations on Bayous Gentilly and St. John, Lakeport, and the bayous dependent on the same. During the months of April and May, only two companies were left at headquarters ; though their numbers were small from constant details for various detached duties, yet a regular system of drill was kept up. The post was deemed of the utmost importance by General Sherman, and Colonel Stedman was ordered to use the strictest vigilance and care in the man agement of its affairs . June 9. A detachment of one hundred men, under com mand of Captain Cook, were ordered to Brashear City, where they were attached to a battalion under command of Lieutenant- Colonel Stickney, of the Forty-seventh Massachusetts Volun teers. June 20. Twenty men of this detachment were ordered, under command of First-Sergeant Ballou, on board a gunboat, to accompany her on a short trip as sharpshooters. It having been reported that the post at Lafourche Crossing was about to be attacked, the remainder of the detachment was ordered to that place under command of First-Lieutenant Tinkham. An engagement took place the following day ; and, although the enemy was superior in numbers, was forced to retreat, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. The good management and energy of Lieutenant Tinkham in this affair are to be commended. The loss was twelve killed and forty wounded. On the 23d of June, the enemy attacked and succeeded in capturing the garrison at Brashear City, among whom was a detachment of forty-six men of this regiment, who maintained an effective resistance for nearly two hours to a rebel force of over three hundred mounted men. First-Sergeant Ballou, commanding, was severely wounded; one man killed, three wounded. June 21. The regiment moved to the city of New Orleans, where it -took post at the Custom House. From the 14th to the 29th of July, it was on picket duty on the line of the Opelousas Railroad. 456 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. J u l v 31. The regiment was ordered North, and arrived at New York Aug. 8, proceeding to Boston, and was mustered out of service at Readville, Aug. 20, 1863. The Forty-third Regiment was in the Department of North Carolina. It left the State Oct. 24, 1862, and reached New- bern about Nov. 1. On arriving, it was ordered to camp on the banks of the Trent River, Nov. 30 ; two companies were detached and ordered to Beaufort, N.C., under command of Captain Fowlc, where they remained till March 4, 1863. The regiment joined the expedition to Goldsborough, tinder Major-General Foster. It was under fire Dec. 14, at the battle of Kinston, but, fortunately, without any injury. Dec. 16. It was again under fire, at the battle of Whitehall, where it lost one killed, and three or four wounded. Dec. 17. It was detached from the main column, and sent, with a section of artillery and one company of cavalry, to Spring Bank Bridge, where the enemy was found in small force. It drove them across the bridge, and then burned it, losing one man killed, one wounded ; and was afterwards ordered to join the main column on its return from Golds- borough. In January, 18G3, detachments from the regiments were sent out on picket duty at Bacheller s Creek and Evans s Mills. On the 17th, the regiment, with other forces, marched on Trenton ; and afterwards was ordered to Rocky Run to relieve the Twenty-filth Regiment. April 7. It joined an expedition under Brigadier-General Spinola, for the relief of Little Washington. It came up with the enemy at Blount s Creek. After a short artillery duel, the regiment supporting a battery, it was ordered to retreat. April 11. It proceeded to the blockade, on Pamlico River, on a call for volunteers to man three schooners loaded with pro visions and ammunition, to run the blockade; thirty men of this regiment were selected. They succeeded in doing it ; were highly complimented for their skill and bravery by the com manding general. One man wounded. During April, the regiment was detailed for garrison and THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 457 picket duty at Little Washington, and was afterwards ordered to Newbern, where it remained until June 24, during which time heavy details were made from it to build fortifications, military roads, &c. It was ordered to Fortress Monroe, to re port to General Dix. At the colonel s request, orders were received to proceed to Baltimore, and report to General Schenck. Arriving there, it remained at "Camp Bradford" until July 7, when it was ordered to report to General Naglee, who, under standing there was some dissatisfaction in the regiment on ac count of the expiration of its term of service, issued an order, leaving it optional with the men to go to the front, or return home. Under this order, two hundred and three officers and men voted to go to the front. The others came home, to receive a cold welcome from their friends. Those who remained pro ceeded to Sandy Hook, Md., where they arrived July 9, where they remained doing provost duty until the 18th, when an order was received, highly complimenting the regiment for the excel lent manner in which it performed its duties, and directing it to proceed to Boston to be mustered out of service. It arrived at Boston July 21, and was mustered out on the 23d. The Forty-fourth Regiment was in the Department of North Carolina. It arrived at Newbern Oct. 26, 1862. Upon its arrival, it was ordered to report to Colonel T. G. Steven son, commanding brigade, and started with the brigade upon the Tarborough expedition Oct. 30. Nov. 2. It took part in a skirmish on Williamston road, losing two men killed, and seven wounded. It started on the Goldsborough expedition Dec. 11, and was present at the battle of Kinston on the 14th. It was engaged in the battle of Whitehall Bridge on the 16th, losing eight killed and four teen wounded ; and was in the reserve at battle of Golds- borough on the 17th, arriving at Newbern on the 20th. The regiment shared in the various expeditions sent out from Newbern. It took part in the siege of Washington, N.C., in April, 1863. On the 17th, three companies, under command of Major Dabney, supported by gunboat " Commodore Hull," landed at Stile s Point, and occupied the rebel battery, destroy ing portions of their work, and building the entrenchments necessary to guard against an attack from the land side. 458 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The regiment, after the 24th of April, did provost duty at Newborn, until June 6, when it left for Boston, and was mus tered out of service at Readville, June 18, 1863. It was called out to assist in suppressing draft-riot, July 14, 18(33, and dismissed July 21. The regiment was fortunate enough to serve under brigade and division generals who won, not only the respect, but the love, of all who served under them. Brigadier-Generals Stevenson and Wessells were men whose fidelity to duty, unre- mittino care for the welfare of their men, and entire self- O forgetfulness, always gave the best stimulus to the men of their command. To the corps commander, Major-General Foster, the regi ment owes its gratitude for his many proofs of confidence and acts of kindness ; for the ready knowledge, wise precaution, steady nerve, and the inspiring, cheerful pluck, which so largely contributed to the successful issue of its service at Washing- O ton, N.C., in April, 1863. Among the losses, none fell more heavily than when, in Washington, April 11, 1863, the well-beloved surgeon, Robert Ware, was followed to the grave. He was a victim to the very disease from which he had rescued so many of the helpless and dependent people who were dying about him. The Forty-fifth Regiment was in the Department of North Carolina. It arrived at Newbern Nov. 5, 1862. It was as signed to the brigade commanded by Colonel T. J. C. Amory, which was composed of the Twenty-third and Seventeenth Mas sachusetts Volunteers. The Forty-third and Fifty-first Massa chusetts Volunteers were afterwards added. The regiment o remained encamped on the Trent, south of Newbern, until the 12th of December, during which time the men were thoroughly drilled, and exercised in battalion and brigade movements. Eight companies of the regiment marched as a portion of General Foster s force upon the expedition to Goldsborough, two companies previously having been sent out on garrison duty to Fort Macon and Morehead City. Upon the 14th of December, it was engaged at the battle of Kinston, and sustained severe loss, fifteen men killed, and 459 forty-three wounded. The soldiers behaved with the greatest steadiness and gallantry, and, though exposed to a galling cross fire, advanced resolutely through a dense wood and swamp upon the enemy, who were unable to withstand the attack. On the 16th of December, it suffered again at the battle of Whitehall, with a loss of four killed, and sixteen wounded. Among the killed was the gallant Sergeant Parkman, of Boston, who bore the United States colors. The army returned to Newbern after the battle of Golds- borough, in which the Forty-fifth was not actively engaged. On the 17th of January, 1863, the brigade proceeded upon a reconnoissance towards Trenton, for five days ; after which, until April 25, it acted as provost-guard in Newbern. On the 28th of April, two companies, commanded by Cap tains Minot and Tap pan, under the orders of Major Sturgis, were sent on an expedition up the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, to endeavor to ascertain the strength of the enemy. Captain Bumstead s company was directed to proceed to the cross-road leading to the Dover road, to explore, and commu nicate with Brigadier-General Palmer, whose column was on that road. The remainder of the troops immediately started upon the expedition, the enemy being reported in some force in the neighborhood of the junction. An engagement took place, resulting in the defeat of the enemy ; and the colors of the regi ment were planted upon their works. During the remainder of the term of service, the regiment remained encamped near Fort Spinola ; and, on June 24, it proceeded to Morehead City, and embarked for Boston, and was mustered out of service at Readville July 8, 1863. The Forty-sixth Regiment was in the Department of North Carolina. It arrived at Newbern Nov. 15, and was assigned to the brigade commanded by Colonel Horace C. Lee, of the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts. Having encamped on the right bank of the Neuse River, very soon after its arrival two companies were detached from the regiment, and assigned to outpost duty at Newport Barracks, Captain Spooner taking command of the post. The regiment was occupied in perfecting itself in drill until 460 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the organization of the Goldsborough expedition in December, in which, and the engagements with the enemy that occurred in the successful movement, it took part ; after which it returned to its old duties in camp until Jan. 23, 1863. The two detached companies rejoined the regiment ; the drill continued ; and, daily, large fatigue parties were detailed for the work of fortification, until March 13 ; the enemy began what seemed a determined attempt to repossess himself of Newbern, in resistance to which the Forty-sixth was assigned an honorable position, the enemy demonstrating in great force on the Trent road. When upon the eve of an encounter, General Foster recalled the main portion of the forces to the city, the enemy having attacked an outpost on the northerly side of the ]S T euse. This regiment, with the Fifth Massachusetts, were at once withdrawn by General Palmer, commanding the division, and assigned a position within the lines of the entrenchments. On the 14th, it was sent out upon the same road to reinforce Colonel Amory, but had only to observe and follo\v a retreating enemy. After three days pursuit, the regiment returned to its quiet routine until March 26, when, with the exception of t\vo companies, it was sent to Plymouth, N.C., an important post on the Roanoke River, threatened by a force of the enemy. The whole land force was immediately applied under command of Colonel Pickett, of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, a brave and efficient officer, to the work of perfecting the fortifica tions of the post. During the eighteen days siege of Washing ton, and always within hearing of its cannonading, the force at Plymouth, anxious for the result, and confidently waiting its turn, was occupied in constructing fortifications, and preparing for defence against a daily expected attack ; but the defeated and discouraged enemy retired, and Plymouth was thoroughly fortified undisturbed. The regiment \vent into barracks on the Neuse River, May 8, and was employed in the construction of earthworks and other means of defence, at Newbern, during the remainder of its stay, with the exception of the period occupied in the expe dition and successful attack upon the enemy s outposts at Dover Swamp, eight miles from Kinston, in which it took part. THE NINE MONTHS KEGIMENTS. 461 During the absence of the regiment at Plymouth, the de tachment left at Newbern took active part in the defence of Xewbern against the second threatened attack, and was also assigned to outpost duty, at Bachelder s Creek, being attached to the command of Colonel Jones, commanding the line of out posts, and rendering a most gallant service in holding the position against an attack made by a large force of the enemy on May 23, for which they have failed to receive their full meed of praise, because of the death of the much-lamented Colonel Jones, who was killed in the defence of the post. The stanch courage of Captain Tifft is put on record, who, in a most trying position, held his ground when the whole force of Colonel Jones, demoralized by the death of their colonel, fell back and left him, with his small force, until he was dis covered by a reconnoitring party, and relieved. The nine months service, reckoning from the date of their muster into service of five of the companies of the Forty- sixth Regiment, expired on the 25th of June. It had been decided at the War Department, that the term must be reckoned from the day of muster-in of the last or tenth com pany. This giving dissatisfaction on account of lengthening the terms of several other of the nine months regiments, Gen eral Foster issued a circular, leaving it to the option of the men to go home or remain. The Forty-sixth remained. Over one hundred of the regiment re-enlisted, under command of Colonel Frankle, who was recruiting at Newbern his regiment of heavy artillery. On the 23d of June, orders were received to report to General Halleck, at Washington, for orders. General Dix being engaged in a demonstration on Richmond, the destination was to join him, with several other nine months regiments sent forward by General Foster ; but, it being ascertained that General Dix did not desire troops whose term of service had so nearly expired, General Naglee, having telegraphed to Gen eral Halleck, proposed that the regiments volunteer for service in Pennsylvania ; and the Forty-sixth was ordered to report to General Schenck. The regiments reached Baltimore July 1, and were assigned to the brigade of General Tyler, command- 462 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ino; the exterior defences of Baltimore, and were stationed at " Camp Bradford," where they were employed in patrol and guard duty, remaining till July 6. The brigade was ordered to occupy and hold Maryland Heights, and arrived there July 7 ; remaining on picket duty on the Sharpsburg road until the llth, when, with the rest of Gen eral Briggs s brigade, it was ordered to join the main Army of the Potomac. It joined the First Corps, and remained, momen tarily expecting offensive or defensive movements, until the day that the Army of the Potomac crossed the river at Berlin, when orders unexpectedly came to proceed to Massachusetts, there to be mustered out. It reached Springfield on the 21st of July, when it was mustered out of service by Captain Gardner. The Forty -seventh Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf. It arrived at New Orleans, and reported to General Banks Jan. 1, 1863 ; was then referred to General Auger, who gave orders to proceed to Carrollton, and report to General Sherman. The regiment was ordered, Jan. 11, to the United-States barracks, to relieve the Thirtieth Massachusetts ; and the colonel was put in command of the post. Feb. 4. It was ordered to the Louisiana Cotton Press, and one company detached for provost duty at Thibodeux. Lieutenant-Colonel Stickney, who had distinguished himself in two engagements at Thibodeux, and Major Cushman, were detailed for special duty. The latter had an important position upon the Sequestration Committee, where his legal ability and business qualification made him eminently useful to the Govern ment. March 12. The regiment was ordered to the Metaire Race course, the most unhealthy spot in all the South. The colonel was in command of the post ; and it soon gained a most excel lent reputation for discipline and drill, remaining there ten weeks without a guard to keep the men inside the lines. May 19. It was ordered to "Camp Parapet," to relieve General Dorr, and the colonel to take command of the United- States forces at that place, and its defences. The colonel re cruited a company of colored men to be used in the swamps, THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 4G3 which became the nucleus of the Second Regiment of Engineers, and was largely officered by members of the Forty-seventh. The lines of defence were thirty miles long. The immediate defences consisted of a parapet two and a half miles long, and a canal and military road to be guarded and scouted a distance of twelve to seventeen miles, through the swamps to the lake. This important post was held under peculiar circumstances dur ing the siege of Port Hudson. As there were six hospitals belonging to the different regi ments, the services of Doctors Blackmer and Mercer, as well as of the chaplain, Rev. E. W. Clark, cannot be too highly men tioned. All soldiers connected with the Forty-seventh, or under command of its colonel, received at their decease a Christian burial. The regiment was ordered home on the third day of August, arrived at Boston by rail via Cairo, 111. ; at Readville, Sept. 1, was mustered out of service. The regiment lost by death, during its absence, twenty-three, and left forty-seven at New Orleans unable to corne to land. It had one hundred and ten officers and men detailed on special service most of the time, who filled some of the most impor tant and useful positions in connection with the department. The Forty-eighth Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf. It arrived at New Orleans Feb. 1, 1863, and was sent to Baton Rouge as a part of the First Brigade, First Division, of Major-General Auger commanding. March 13. An important reconnoissance was made towards Port Hudson, in which this regiment participated. The object of the expedition having been successfully accomplished, the next day it formed the rearguard of the baggage-train ; the whole Nineteenth Corps having marched towards Port Hudson, for the purpose of making a diversion, while Admiral Farragut attempted to pass a portion of his fleet above the batteries. The regiment remained at Baton Rouge, employed in the usual routine of camp duties, until May 18, when it was or dered to report to Colonel Dudley, in command of the Third Brigade, in camp at Merritt s Plantation. May 21. The whole force of General Auger having been 464 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. brought together, the line of march was taken for Port Hudson. A section of Arnold s Battery was put upon the road leading directly from the Store into Port Hudson ; and the Forty-eighth was ordered to support it. It had hardly taken its position when the enemy opened upon it with shot and shell from cov ered o-uns. This was the first time the regiment was under fire ; it lost two killed, seven wounded, eleven prisoners. In the general assault, on May 27th, a call was made in Gen eral Auger s division for volunteers to a storming party of two hundred men. From the Forty-eighth, ninety-two men volun teered ; among whom were Lieutenant-Colonel O Brien, five captains, eleven lieutenants, fourteen non-commissioned officers, and sixty-three privates. In this battle, the regiment lost seven killed and forty-one wounded. Among the killed was Lieuten ant-Colonel O Brien. He fell early in the engagement, pierced by a rifle-shot, as he turned to cheer forward the storming party he was leading. He was a brave soldier, a generous com panion and friend, and a true-hearted patriot. June 5. The regiment was sent to the Plains Store for rear guard duty. On the 14th, having reported to General D wight, it formed a part of the assaulting column under command of Colonel Benedict. In that engagement it lost two killed and eleven wounded. The next day, it was ordered back to its brigade, and shared all the exposure and hardships of the siege of Port Hudson. In the engagement at Donalds ville on the 13th July, the Third Brigade, under command of Colonel Dudley, suffered considerably. The loss in the Forty-eighth was three killed, seven wounded, twenty-three taken prisoners. On Aug. 1, the regiment returned to its camp at Baton Rouge, having left it seventy-four days previous, in light march- in jj order. O Aug. 9. --The Forty-eighth started for Boston via Cairo, where it arrived Aug. 23, and was mustered out of service Sept. 3, at " Camp Lander." The Forty-ninth Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf. It left New York Jan. 24, 1863, by transport for New Orleans, where it arrived about Feb. 3. From thence it was THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 465 sent to Carrollton, and then to Baton Rouge, where it was at tached to the First Brigade, Colonel Chapin commanding, and Auger s division. March 14. The regiment participated in the feigned advance of General Banks s forces on Port Hudson, and, in the retreat, was left at Bayou Monticeno, to hold the bridge until all the baggage-trains had passed over. It shortly after returned to Baton Rouge, and for some time had no active duty, except in doing guard duty to baggage-trains, and provost-guard duty in Baton Rouge. About the middle of May, it advanced with General Auger s division towards Port Hudson ; and, on the 21st, it participated in the battle of Plains Store, and won General Auger s com mendation, and especially distinguished itself by its steadiness under fire, and by its promptness in re-forming its lines when broken by the hasty retreat of another regiment. In this affair only five of the regiment were wounded. Among them was Lieutenant Tucker, commanding the brigade, who lost his leg. May 27. It participated in the first assault upon Port Hud son, in which it lost seventy-six killed and wounded, being one- third of the regiment engaged ; three companies having been on special service. It lost, in this assault, as large a proportion as any other regiment, and established its reputation for cool and steady bravery. The brave and intrepid Colonel Bartlett was un fortunately shot through the wrist and heel early in the engage ment, while leading the regiment to the assault on horseback. He had previously lost a leg in Virginia. Lieutenant- Colonel Sumner was wounded. Lieutenants Judd and Deming were killed while gallantly cheering on their men. Eleven of the eighteen officers with the regiment were wounded. The COm- cs o mand of the regiment devolved on Major Plunkett, after the wounding of his superior officers, and continued under his com mand during the remainder of its term of service, a command which he held with reat credit to himself, and honor to the regiment. On the 14th of June, it made, with the rest of Auger s divi sion, a feigned assault upon the rebel works, and lost eighteen 30 466 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE IlEBELLION. men killed and wounded. During the entire investment of Port Hudson, the regiment was in the front supporting batteries, and engaged in other duties of the siege until the surrender, July 9, 1^6;>. Immediately thereafter, the regiment was sent to Don- aldsville, with two brigades, under command of Colonel Dudley. On the loth of July, they marched up the Bayou Lafourehe. AVhile preparing to encamp, the Union forces were attacked by a large force of rebels. The Forty-ninth was sent forward to support a battery, and, owing to the falling-back of the rest of the forces, was nearly surrounded. By making a circuit of three miles through cornfields, it succeeded in joining the rest of Colonel Dudley s command, with a loss of twenty- two killed, wounded, and missing. Except participating in several short expeditions, the regiment had no further active service until its return home. It reached Pittsfield, Mass., Aug. 21, having returned via the Mississippi River, where it was publicly received with much enthusiasm by the citizens of Berkshire County. By special permission of the Governor of the Commonwealth, the colors of the regiment are retained in the county in the keeping of the clerk of the courts. The record of the regiment is an honorable one, and worthy of the revolutionary fame of Berkshire men. The Fiftieth Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf. After various attempts to reach its destination upon unseaworthy transports, it succeeded in arriving at New Orleans in the "Jenny Lind " and " Montebello," Jan. 27, 1863, when the small-pox broke out among a portion of the troops on board not belonging to the Fiftieth ; for which reason they were ordered to the quarantine-station, twenty miles below New Orleans. A portion of the regiment suffered somewhat from the epidemic, but no deaths occurred from that cause. Having arrived at Baton Rouge on the 14th instant, the regi ment WHS assigned to the command of acting Brigadier-General Dudley, of the First Division, Third Brigade, Nineteenth Army Corps. Preparations were immediately made for increasing the efficiency of the regiment by constant drills and strict attention to all the duties of a soldier s life. THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 467 On the 14th of March, it was ordered into active service, and accompanied the entire command of Major-General Banks on the expedition of that date to the rear of Port Hudson. Here the regiment bivouacked for the first time on the ever memorable night when, by the strategical movement made by General Banks, Admiral Farragut was enabled to pass the bat teries of Port Hudson. Having returned to Baton Rouge, the Third Brigade was or dered on picket duty at Winter s Plantation, on the opposite bank of the Mississippi, where it remained till the 26th of March. On the 9th of April, four companies of the Fiftieth accom panied an expedition, about six hundred strong, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Everett, of the Second Louisiana Regi ment, to the Bayou Monticeno, for the purpose of destroying a bridge, which was accomplished in five hours. On the 12th of May, the regiment marched from Baton Rouge in company with the Third Brigade for Port Hudson, and was ordered to remain at White s Bayou while the forces were concentrating, and surrounding Port Hudson in its imme diate rear ; after w 7 hich, the Fiftieth was ordered to the front, and, on the 27th, was engaged in the assault upon Port Hudson. From this time until June 14, it was engaged in supporting batteries, when it was ordered to engage in the assault, but was held in the reserve column, and did not participate in the fight; after which, until the fortress surrendered, it was wholly en gaged in supporting batteries. The casualties were one private mortally and three slightly wounded. On the 8th of July, it marched within the fortifications, and did garrison duty until the 29th, when it took passage up the Mississippi on its way home ; arrived at Cairo, 111., Aug. 5, and proceeded by railroad to Boston, and was mustered out of service at Wenham, Aug. 24. The Fifty-first Regiment was in the Department of North Carolina. After a rough passage, it arrived at Beaufort, N.C., Nov. 30 ; proceeding by rail to Newbern, where it went into quarters in the unfinished barracks on the south side of Trent River. It was assigned to the brigade commanded by Colonel 468 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. T. J. C. Amory, and, Dec. 11, took part in the expedition to Goldsborough. j) eCi 30. Company G was detached to perform outpost duty at Brice s Ferry. This post was garrisoned by this com pany as long as the regiment remained in North Carolina. Jan. 17, 1863. Seven companies of the regiment marched with a portion of the First Brigade on an expedition to Pollocks- ville. Having accomplished their object successfully, and hav ing driven back the enemy at White Oak Creek, they returned to Newbern. On the 20th of February, the regiment suffering severely from a steadily increasing sick list, six companies were moved from the barracks to Deep Gully, as a sanitary measure ; but, the shelter tents proving quite insufficient for the comfort of the men suffering from malaria, they returned in a week to the bar racks. On the 1st of March, Colonel Sprague, with his regiment, was ordered to relieve the companies stationed at different points along the railroad between Newbern and Morehead City ; also those at Morehead City, Beaufort, and Evans Mills. March 30, Colonel Sprague, in addition to his other duties, assumed command of the post at Fort Macon. On the 4th of May, the regiment returned to Newbern greatly improved in health, and re-occupied their old quarters on the Trent, afterwards removing to " Camp Wellington," near the junction of the Trent and the Neuse. Some misapprehension having arisen concerning the time of the expiration of the term of service of the nine months men, the commissary of musters for the Eighteenth Corps issued a circular, leaving it to the option of the men to return home or remain ; and no company of the regiment signified a desire to avail themselves of the offer in the circular to 0. o The Fifty-first, on the 24th of June, was offered, with other regiments, to General Dix, in his move upon Rich mond ; and, with the exception of one hundred and eighty- three sick, the regiment embarked for Fortress Monroe, and proceeded to Cumberland, Va., on the Pamunkey. After their arrival on the 28th, and report to General Dix, he, finding the REGIMENTS. 469 term of service so nearly expired, ordered a return to Fort ress Monroe, and requisition for transportation to Massachu setts to be mustered out of service. While awaiting transporta tion, learning the critical condition of affairs in Pennsylvania, the colonel commanding authorized General Naglee to offer the service of the regiment for the emergency ; and, being accepted, it was ordered to report to General Schenck at Baltimore, who was in command of the Middle Department. Arriving in Baltimore July 1, it was ordered to occupy Belger Barracks, near the line of defences of Baltimore in process of construction, and remained there till the 6th, per forming fatkmino* duties and much hard marchin" 1 . O O o O July 5. Six companies, under command of Lieutenant- Colonel Studley, were detailed to escort two thousand three hundred rebel prisoners, taken at Gettysburg, from the railroad station to Fort McHenry. On the 4th of July, it received the honor of being detailed to search the houses of the citizens of Baltimore for arms, in conjunction with the city police, and successfully and creditably performed this delicate duty. On the 6th of July, having temporarily been assigned to the brigade of Brigadier-General Briggs, it was ordered to Maryland Heights ; and, arriving at Fort Duncan on the 8th, it remained, doing outpost duty on the Potomac and on the Sharpsburg road, till the 12th, when it was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac. The brigade was assigned to the Second Division, First Corps, and marched on the 14th with the pursuing army to Williamsport, where it was evident the enemy had effected a crossing. The enemy having disappeared, the forces recrossed the Potomac on the 15th, when the regi ment received orders to return to Massachusetts, to be mustered out of service. It arrived at Worcester on the 18th, and was mustered out on the 27th of July, having served nearly ten months. The sick left at Newbern arrived home before the regiment, and were mustered out with the rest at Worcester. The Fifty-second Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf. It arrived at New Orleans in the early part of Decem ber, 1862, and during the months of December, 1862, and Jan uary and February, 1863, was stationed at Baton Rouge, La. 470 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. March 13, 1863. The regiment made a reconnoissance in the direction of Port Hudson, marching up under the guns of the rebel fortifications, a mile and a half in advance of other regiments, in a manner satisfactory to the brigade and division commanders. Having inarched with Grover s division to Brashear City, it landed at Indian Bend, on Grand Lake, on the loth of April : the advance meeting and driving before it a small force of the enemy. Encamped on Madam Porter s plantation. On the 15th, it started in pursuit of the enemy, marching to New Iberia in two days. From the 26th of April to the 21st of May, the regiment was employed at Barre s Landing in collecting and guarding corn, cotton, sugar, and molasses, guarding negroes, and loading and unloading boats at the landing. On the l ( Jth of May, having been rejoined by the four com panies left on provost duty at New Iberia, it commenced a return march to Brashear City, forming a portion of an escort for a five-mile negro and supply train. Having marched sixty- nine miles, in passing through Franklin and Centre ville on the 25th, it was attacked in the rear by the advance of a large rebel force under General Mouton. The attack having been repelled without any loss to this regiment, the march was re sumed, and continued during the night, making a distance of forty miles during the twenty-four hours, Brashear City being reached the following day. On the 28th, the regiment was moved by rail to Algiers, and by steamer to Springfield Landing. The march above described was a most severe and exhausting one to the men, performed mainly during the heat of the day. From the 5th to the 8th of June, it marched to Clinton, twenty- seven miles, as a part of a column to disperse a large force of rebels there, which was accomplished without fighting; but was very severe, from the extreme heat and dust, and the rapidity with which it was performed. On the day of the assault upon Port Hudson, June 14, it was at first assigned a place in the assaulting column under Gen eral Weitzel ; but, during the fight, was ordered to deploy for THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 471 skirmishing, and acted as skirmishers during the day, with a loss of three killed, and seven wounded, one officer mortally. Until the 20th, it occupied a position at the front, within easy rifle-range of the rebel works ; when it was ordered to escort a long forage train to the Jackson Cross Roads, and, proceeding to the point designated, and while loading the teams, was at tacked by a greatly superior force of rebels. Two of the regiment were taken prisoners. The regiment returned again to its position at the front. The loss during the month of June was nine killed, including a captain, twelve wounded, two prisoners. The regiment arrived home Aug. 3, 1863, and was mustered out of service Aug. 14. It was the first to make the voyage of the Mississippi, after it had been opened by the capture of Vicksburg and of Port Hudson. The Fifty-third Regiment was in the Department of the Gulf. It arrived at New Orleans Jan. 30, 1863, after a stormy passage. It encamped at Carrollton, reporting to Brigadier-General Emory, and attached to the Third Brigade, Third Division ; and was employed six weeks in improving the drill and dis cipline of the regiment. On the 6th of March, the Fifty-third was ordered to Baton Rouge, and, on the 12th, was sent on a reconnoissance up the river, where it encountered, and drove in, the enemy s pickets. On the 13th, it marched with the division in the expedition to Port Hudson ; but, arriving after the object of the expedition was accomplished, it returned to Baton Rouge, where it re mained till April 1, and was ordered to Algiers with the rest of the division, and, on the 9th, took passage for Brashear City, to join in the movement through the Teche country, which began April 11. The enemy having been encountered at Pat- tersonville on the 13th, the Fifty-third was engaged in support ing a battery, and skirmishing towards the fortifications, when it was under fire of musketry and shell five hours. The flag of the Fifty-third was the first to be placed upon the ramparts of Fort Bisland. The regiment lost in this action, one officer and thirteen 472 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. privates, killed and wounded. But eight companies were en gaged, two being on detached service. On the 15th, it marched with the division in pursuit of the retreatin^ enemy, with an occasional skirmish, and reached Opelousas on the 20th, where it remained a fortnight, employed in drill and picket duty. May 24. The army having moved towards Port Hudson, the Fifty-third was detailed as guard for the engineer corps, and led the column. Encountering the enemy s skirmishers, the regiment was immediately moved forward; three companies, thrown out as skirmishers, soon became engaged with the enemy, and succeeded in driving them back, so that the engineer corps could proceed in its labors. May 27. The day of the general attack upon Port Hud son, the regiment was ordered forward, and was soon under fire of shot and shell. It moved to the front to support a battery, and to the front line of skirmishers. It lost at this time thirty killed and wounded. May 28. It joined the brigade, and remained until June 1, engaged in picket duty, and fortifying the position ; it was then ordered to occupy riflepits at the front, and sustained a loss of five men, killed and wounded. June 5. It marched as a part of the expedition to Clinton, which occupied four days, and resulted in driving the enemy from that locality. On the loth, it was ordered to join in the assault upon the fortifications at Port Hudson. This assault cost the regiment heavily. Of the three hundred officers and men (being but eight companies) who went in, seven officers and seventy-nine men were killed and wounded. On the 19th of June, the Fifty-third was ordered to the front in support of a battery, where it remained till the surrender of Port Hudson, July 9. It was then ordered on picket duty five miles from Port Hudson, when it marched with the brigade to Baton Rouge. On the 15th, it embarked for Donalds ville and remained in camp, engaged in drill and picket duty until Aug. 2, when it returned to Baton Rouge, and, on the 12th, was ordered to Massachusetts, via Cairo. It arrived at Cairo Aug. 19, and at Fitchburg, Mass., the 24th, where, after a public THE NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 473 reception, it was furloughed one week, and mustered out of service Sept. 2, by Captain I. R. Lawrence. There was but one light battery raised for the nine months service. It was recruited by Major Edward J. Jones, of Boston, in a very short time, at Readville Camp, without expense to the Commonwealth. Major Jones was commis sioned captain. It was mustered into service Aug. 25, 1862, at Readville, where it remained until Oct. 3, when it was ordered to proceed to Washington, and report for orders to the Adjutant-General of the United States. The battery was assigned to General Casey s division, and was sent to "Camp Barry," near Bladens- burg Tollgate, D.C. Nov. 19, it was ordered to Hall s Hill, Ya., where it was attached to General Abercrombie s command. On the 27th, it was ordered to report to Colonel Randall, Third Vermont Brigade, for active service in the field ; the brigade being at that time near Fort Lyons, under orders to march to Fairfax Station and Union Mills, to which it advanced the next day, occupying Wolf Run Shoals, Blackburn s Ford, and picketing the line to Centreville. Colonel Randall was soon relieved from this command by Colonel D Utassy. The brigade having no cavalry, the command was frequently detailed to act as scouts ; and, in connection with the Keystone Battery, several reconnoissances were made to Gainesville, Manassas, and in the direction of Warrington, both batteries being mounted and act ing as cavalry. Feb. 1, 1863, Colonel D Utassy was relieved by General Alexander Hays, and several regiments of infantry were added to the command, and the picket line considerably extended and strengthened, and the command assigned to garrison duty in two principal forts on Centreville Heights. The battery continued on picket and scouting duty until April 18, when the command was ordered to report to Colonel Sickles commanding the division of Pennsylvania Reserves, at Forts Ramsey and Buffalo, at Upton s Hill, Va., where it re mained in garrison until May 23, when, the term of service having expired, the battery was ordered to report to Brigadier- General Barry at Washington. It started for Boston, where it 474 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. arrived May 28, 1863, and was mustered out of service; hav ing served the entire term without the loss of a single man from any cause whatever. These nine months organizations did effective service in the various departments in which they were stationed. They car ried the flag of the nation and the colors of the Commonwealth from the city of Washington to the city of Galveston ; from Virginia to Texas : a wider area and a more extended line than was occupied by troops from any other State. After the capture of Port Hudson and Vicksburg, which opened the Mississippi River to the Union forces, the Fifty-second Regiment was the first loyal command which ascended the river from New Orleans to Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio ; thus keeping up the ad vance record of Massachusetts troops. The following table shows the number of men in each reoi- c* O mcnt and in the Eleventh Battery who died, were killed, discharged, taken prisoners, and deserted: Regiments. Died. Killed. Disch d. Pris ners. Deserted. Third, Colonel Richmond Fourth, Colonel Walker Fifth Colonel Pierson 13 120 13 2 8 45 25 43 14 3 15 2Q Sixth, Colonel Follansbee Eighth Colonel Coffin 13 9 12 20 8 49 Forty-second, Colonel Bun-ill .... Forty-third, Colonel Ilolbrook .... Forty-fourth, Colonel Lee Forty-fifth, Colonel Codman .... 32 13 24 32 4 2 8 10 45 05 81 01 14 62 89 3 4R Forty -sixth, Colonel Shurtlcff .... Forty-seventh, Colonel Marsh .... Forty-eighth Colonel Stone 33 25 50 2 10 172 103 00 10 219 1 Si Forty-ninth Colonel Bartlett 84 21 07 i 09 Fiftieth, Colonel Messer Fifty-first, Colonel Sprayue Fifty-second, Colonel Greenleaf .... Fifty-third, Colonel Kimball .... 84 42 80 146 8 18 30 ( J7 20 54 27 17 3 91 Eleventh Battery, Captain Jones . . . 819 105 1038 38 785 The large number of persons who deserted from some of the regiments may surprise many readers. It is a fact, considered without explanation, not creditable to our people. Nearly all the desertions took place before the regiments left the State, and very fe\v of the men belonged to Massachusetts. They came from other States, stimulated to enlist by the offer of large CAUSES OF DESERTION. 475 bounties, and intending to desert as soon as they received the money. The offer of large bounties by the cities and towns brought to the surface a class of men known as recruiting agents, who offered for a given sum to fill the quotas of the cities and towns who employed them. As a general rule, these persons were irresponsible and corrupt. They opened offices in Boston, advertised their business in the newspapers, employed runners as bad as themselves. To these agents many of the town authorities made applications for men. They were met with fair promises, for which they paid much money. Neither the State nor the United States at this time paid bounties for nine months men. The bounties were paid by the several municipalities in the Commonwealth. The men were obtained by these agents, sent to camp, and mustered into the service, put in uniform, and, as soon as opportunity offered, they de serted ; having received their pay beforehand from the broker or agent, with whom, in many instances, they were in collusion. Some of them were afterwards arrested, and forwarded to their regiments ; but the great majority escaped. The bounties paid by the towns varied in amount, ranging all the way from fifty dollars to five hundred; very few, however, were paid more than two hundred dollars each ; and the average amount, for the 17,143 nine months men, was a fraction over one hundred dollars a man, which, by an act of the Legislature, was, in great part, reimbursed to the towns from the State treasury, to the total amount of $2,300,921. Early in the month of July, a disgraceful and cruel riot broke out in the city of New York. It was instigated by persons who sympathized with the rebel cause, and wished it success. The pretext for the mob was opposition to the law of Congress instituting a draft of men to fill our regiments at the seat of war. The successes of our arms at Gettysburg, Port Hudson, and Yicksburg, were not to their tastes. The rebel element in that city, therefore, seized hold of the act of Congress, and inflamed the ignorant masses to a degree which found no vent except in riot and bloodshed. The vengeance of this mob, like that of all other mobs, expended its force upon the very poorest and most helpless of the community, the 476 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. colored people. Their Orphan Asylum was attacked, and the inmates fearfully abused, and the rioters, imitating the Paris riots at the outbreak of the French Revolution, hanged some of their victims to the lamp-posts. The defection in New York spread to Boston, and to other parts of the country ; but no where was life so brutally assailed, and property placed in jeopardy, as in the former city. Reliable information was received at the State House that a riot was likely to take place in Boston. The Governor took immediate means to prevent it. The chief point of attack of the rioters was to be the armory of the Eleventh Battery, in Cooper Street, in which were deposited the guns of that com pany, the only available cannon in the city. It became apparent, on the afternoon of the 14th, that an outbreak would at least be attempted ; and active preparations to meet the exigency were immediately made. The alarm spread also to the cities of Cambridge, Roxbury, Charlestown, Lowell, and New Bedford ; and applications were made by the authorities of those places to the Governor for military assistance to main tain order, which requests were granted to the full extent demanded. A brief abstract of the orders issued, having reference to the anticipated riots, will illustrate the active energy and determined resolution of the Governor to suppress all insubordination. We give them in the order in which they were issued. The afternoon of July 14, Major Charles W. Wilder, command ing the First Battalion Light Dragoons, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, was ordered to have the companies in his command assemble at their armories forthwith, and await orders. Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. Holmes, commanding the First Company of Cadets, received like orders. He was to apply to the Master of Ordnance for ammunition. Major-General Andrews, of the First Division, with his stall , was to report immediately to the State House. Briga dier-General R. A. Peirce, in command of Readville Camp, was ordered to send in the men belonging to the Second Regi ment Heavy Artillery, then being recruited at Readville, under command of Colonel Frankle, who were to report at headquar- THE DKAFT RIOT IN BOSTON. 477 ters, State House, on arriving at Boston. General Peirce was to turn over to Colonel Frankle such arms and ammunition as he could spare from camp. Colonel Codman, of the Forty -fifth Regiment, was ordered on duty at Readville. Colonel Lee, of the Forty-fourth Regi ment, was to assemble his command at their armory at Boylston Hall forthwith, and await further orders. These two regiments had recently returned from nine months service in North Caro lina, but had kept up their regimental organizations after returning home and having been mustered out. Brigadier-General Lawrence, Third Brigade, was ordered to report to the State House, and await further orders. W. C. Richardson, Mayor of Cambridge, was ordered to cause the Washington Home Guards, Captain Bradford, a military organization in Cambridge, to do guard duty at the State Arsenal in that city that night, and to remain there until the order was countermanded. They were to furnish themselves with rations at army rates. Major Stephen Cabot, in command of the garrison at Fort Warren, reported, with his command, in response to a request by the Governor. He was ordered to report to Frederick W. Lincoln, Jr., Mayor of Boston, with a request of the Gov ernor, that a part of his command be ordered for duty at the armory of the Eleventh Battery, in Cooper Street, to support the men then there ; Major Jones, who commanded the battery, having previously received verbal orders, from the Commander- in-chief, to have his men on duty at that place, and they were there. Major Wilder, of the Battalion of Dragoons, received his orders at three o clock in the afternoon ; and at five o clock, the same afternoon, he reported that his battalion was ready. He was ordered to report for duty to the Mayor of Boston. The Corps of Cadets, Colonel Holmes, reported with equal alacrity. This company was specially detailed by the Gov ernor to protect the State House. The Cadets, in addition to their infantry organization, had two six-pound howitzers, and a portion of the company was drilled in the exercise of heavy ordnance. The howitzers were brought out on this occasion, 478 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. and judiciously placed so as to command the front and rear entrances to the State House. The remainder of the company acted as infantry, doing guard duty and supporting the artillery. Colonel Frankle, with his command, readied Boston from Readville, with great promptness, that evening; reported at the State House, and was directed to report to the Mayor of Boston, and to remain on duty until relieved by orders from headquarters. Brigadier-General Peirce was ordered to take command of all the military forces, to report to and confer with the Mayor of Boston, and to aid and support the police in preserving the order of the city. Company F, Fifth Regiment, Captain Charles Currier, at Medford, and Company B, of the same, at Somcrville, Captain B. F. Parker, had tendered their services to maintain the peace, and were ordered to hold their men in readiness at their armories until relieved. Several companies, known as Drill Clubs and Home Guards, among which were the Horse Guards of Roxbury, the Re serve Guards of Cambridge, First Battalion National Guards of Boston, Massachusetts Rifle Club, Boston, and the Reserve Guard, Roxbury, tendered their services, which were accepted. Major Gordon, Eleventh United-States Infantry, in com mand of Fort Independence, came up with a company of his men, and offered the services of himself and command for any military duty. Captain Whiton s Company of Heavy Artillery, Massachusetts Volunteers, on duty at Fort Independence, also came to the city ; and upon representations made by Major Rodman, United- States Army, in command of the United-States Arsenal at Watertown, this company was forwarded at once for guard duty at that important post. Captain Collins, Lieutenant McKibben, and other United- States officers at Boston, also tendered their assistance at any place, and in any position where they could be of use. Surgeon-General William J. Dale also rendered valuable services by organizing a medical staff for the occasion, to take charge of whoever might be wounded or injured in the expected THE DRAFT RIOT IN BOSTON. 479 riot ; in which he was ably assisted by Major Hooker, assistant Surgeon-General of the Commonwealth. Surgeon- General Dale detailed two surgeons to the Cooper-street Armory, one to Faneuil Hall, and one to the office of the assistant Quartermaster-General, United -States Army. They were directed to make their requisitions directly upon the Sur geon-General. Dressings were also forwarded to the various commands. The surgeons thus detailed were Dr. Ezra Palmer, surgeon of the Cadets ; Dr. John P. Ordvvay, of the Eleventh Battery ; and Dr. J. F. Harlow, of the Second Heavy Artillery. Every precaution in the power of the Governor was taken to prevent outbreaks in the other cities of the Commonwealth ; but in neither of them was there any organized effort to break the peace. In Boston alone did the rioters assume a menacing, hostile attitude. They assembled on the evening of the 14th, in the neighborhood of the armory of the Eleventh Battery, in Cooper Street, which they attacked with stones and other mis siles. The doors were closed, and the military inside kept profound silence. The rioters knew that the military were in the armory, and ready to defend the place. By direction of the Governor, the Adjutant-General visited the armory late in the evening to learn if the officers and men were on duty. An im mense throng of riotous persons thronged the streets, and everywhere imprecations were heard denunciatory of the na tional and State Governments, of the war, and of the draft. Being in citizen s dress, and conducting himself so as not to attract attention, he quietly made his way through the crowd to the door of the armory, into which he was admitted by a sen tinel. He found every thing properly guarded. The military, under command of Major Cabot, were in position, quiet and reserved, but with firm determination expressed in every man s countenance, that the armory should not be attacked, the guns and ammunition captured, and their lives imperilled, with out a manly resistance. After a survey of the position, he quietly left the armory as he had entered, made his way through the crowd, which every moment became more turbulent and ex cited, and apparently more determined than ever to attack the 480 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. armory, slaughter all who opposed them, and capture the guns. These facts were reported to the Governor at the State House. The mob increased in numbers and vehemence. The quiet in side was in strange contrast to the noise and excitement outside. It was a fearful moment. Here were a few disciplined and determined men, in a comparatively small room with barred doors, and offering no cause of disturbance to those without, which numbered at least four or five thousand men. The sol diers inside held the key of the city. Under their charge \vere the only pieces of cannon, and ammunition to supply them, in Boston. But those guns were loaded, and the men were ready for an attack, should one be made. At last, wearied with throwing stones and other implements against the doors, which proved unavailing, a concerted movement was made by the mob to force the entrance and gain possession of the guns. Delay was no longer wise or prudent. The entrance had been nearly forced, and the word was given to FIRE. The effect was elec trical. Several of the rioters w r ere killed ; many more wounded, how many will probably never be known. The mob scattered, and the riot was virtually crushed, although other demonstra tions, comparatively feeble, were made in Dock Square and around Faneuil Hall, to break into the gun-store of Read & Son. Yet the firmness and bravery of the military stationed there, and the police of Boston, to whom great credit should be given, awed and scattered the rioters. Several arrests were made of persons supposed to be ringleaders in the mob, but no more powder and canister were used. The one volley in Cooper Street ended the riot, and no soldier or loyal man was hurt. Thus ended what appeared at one time to be a serious menace to the city. Quiet was restored. In a few days after the military were relieved from duty, and returned to their several posts. The entire cost of this military guard of honor and of peace was $14,495. The law of Congress to raise troops by draft was put in operation in this Commonwealth in the months of June and July. Major Clarke, U.S.A., one of the truest gentlemen who ever held command in Massachusetts during the war, was appointed Provost-Marshal-General of the State, with headquar- THE RESULT OF THE DRAFT. 481 ters at Boston. Assistant provost-marshals were appointed for the several congressional districts. These appointments were made at Washington. A board was also established to make an enrolment of all persons in the State between the ages of twenty and forty-five years. The persons thus enrolled were 164,178. The whole number of persons drafted that is, the persons whose names were drawn from the boxes was 32,079. Of these, 6,690 were held to serve; and of these only 743 joined the service, 2,325 procured substitutes, 22,343 were exempted, 3,044 failed to report, 3,623 paid commutation, which amounted in the gross to one million eighty-five thou sand eight hundred dollars. The whole number of drafted men, and substitutes for drafted men, who were sent to camp at Long Island, was 3,068. Of these, 2,720 were assigned and sent to regiments in the front, 224 were organized as a provost guard for duty at the camp. Of the whole number, 124 de serted. Of the drafted men or substitutes, 73 were colored, who were sent to the Fifty-fourth Kegiment. These were all who were drafted in Massachusetts up to Jan. 1, 1864; and there was in reality no adequate cause why a draft should ever have been made in Massachusetts, because the State had more than filled her quotas upon previous calls by voluntary enlist ments, and, as will be seen, filled all subsequent calls without resort to a draft, and came out of the war with a surplus of 13,083 men. The second colored regiment (Fifty-fifth) left the State July 21, embarking at Boston in transports for Morehead City, N.C., where it arrived July 25. On the 29th, it was ordered to South Carolina, and arrived at Folly Island, in that State, Aug. 3. There had been some question in regard to the des tination of this regiment. It was the wish of the Governor to have it sent to South Carolina, where the Fifty-fourth then was. On July 11, the Governor received from the Secretary of War this despatch : "Various circumstances indicate the necessity of relieving the troops at New Orleans, and substituting for them troops of African descent. This will be done as far as possible by the organization of troops already acclimated ; but it may greatly facilitate that organiza- 31 482 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. tion to have another regiment like those which you have organized as a standard of organization in that department. This mainly impresses me to the necessity of changing the destination of your Fifty-fifth Re<nment, although I have not absolutely determined upon the change. Any consideration which you may be disposed to present, will be atten tively considered." A copy of this despatch was sent to Colonel Hallowell, com- the regiment at Readville, who replied, o J- < The officers of the Fifty-fifth desire that the regiment may be sent to that point where, in the opinion of their Government, it will do the most good." As we have already stated, the regiment was not sent to New Orleans, but to South Carolina. As these were the only colored infantry regiments raised in Massachusetts, before proceeding to other matters, we propose to give a brief abstract of the voluminous correspondence of the Governor with the department at Washington, Senators in Con gress, and to private citizens, in regard to the pay of these troops and of the colored chaplains. It was the belief of the Governor, that the enlisted men and the chaplains were entitled to the same pay and allowances as the enlisted men in w r hite regiments, and chaplains in white regiments. The Govern ment, however, did not so regard the matter. They would pay the men and the chaplain but seven dollars a month. On the fourth day of July, 1863, the Governor wrote to J. W. Langston, a colored lawyer in Ohio, a long letter in an swer to certain inquiries which he had made respecting the organization and pay of colored troops, and contended that the law made no distinction between them and white troops, and urged him to go on with the enlistment of colored men. kk I trust," he said, " there will be no hesitation or delay. The Government will do right. The Secretary of War, as soon as the argument is at once stated to and perceived by him, I have no man ner of doubt, will free your minds by prompt, decisive, and correct action. But, at all events, right will take place, and justice will be done." The letter concludes as follows : THE PAY OF COLORED TROOPS. 483 "Louder than ten thousand thunders is the call which this day (July 4) utters in the ears of all men in whose veins flows the blood of Africa, and whose color has been the badge of slavery. The ac cumulated woes of many generations give direction and emphasis to the duty of to-day. The opportunity of years, now crowded into an hour, now visits you, and beckons, entreats, commands, you to come, come now, come instantly, come with a shout, and receive the baptism which is to admit you into the glorious company of the peoples, of every clime and of every hue, who, by their own blood, have vindicated their right to all the blessings and all the powers of liberty, and to whose own right arms the Lord of hosts has given the victory." The controversy on the matter of payment continued for more than a year ; the Government refusing to pay the men more than seven dollars a month, or the chaplains the pay due to their rank, which created great dissatisfaction among the men. The Legislature of Massachusetts appropriated money to make up the deficiency ; and the Governor appointed Major James Sturgis, of Boston, assistant Adjutant-General, to proceed to South Carolina to make the payment ; but the men refused to receive it. They demanded from the General Government equal pay with other United States volunteers. They were greatly in need of money, and their families were suffering at home ; yet they resolutely determined to receive no pay unless they received full pay. The matter in June, 1864, was referred by the President to Mr. Bates, the Attorney- General of the United States, who gave a learned and elaborate opinion, in which he sustained every point which the Governor had taken. The following is the concluding paragraph of Mr. Bates s opinion : " In view, therefore, of the foregoing considerations, I give it to you, unhesitatingly, as my opinion, that the same pay, bounty, and clothing are allowed by law to the persons of color referred to in your commu nication, and who were enlisted and mustered into the military ser vice of the United States between the months of December, 1862, and the 10th of June, 1864, as are, by the laws existing at the times of the enlistments of said persons, authorized and provided for, and allowed to other soldiers in the volunteer forces of the United States of like arms of the service." 484 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The opinion of Mr. Bates appears to have settled the ques tion. The colored troops and colored chaplains were placed on an equality with whites, and received the same pay. Growing out of the draft were many questions of a legal nature, which could not be brought before the courts for de cision, but were decided in a summary manner, according to military rule, by the United-States military officers, acting as provost and assistant provost marshals in the Commonwealth. In several cases of enlistments, where the writ of habeas corpus was issued, the parties were brought before the court, in which Major Charles F. Blake, Provost-Marshal-General of the Commonwealth, appeared for the Government; but, under the conscription law, new questions arose, upon which a judicial opinion could not be obtained for the reasons we have stated. In the opinion of the Governor, it was important that these questions should receive a judicial interpretation. On July 17, he sent Major Blake to Washington to confer with the Secretary of War upon these matters. He carried with him a letter from the Governor to Mr. Stanton, in which he said he deemed it of the highest importance that the principal legal questions which had arisen under the conscription law should be brought to a judicial test at the earliest day. " And I do not know any tribunal," he said, u before which they can be more promptly raised, or more intelligently argued, or by which they can be more impartially adjudicated than the Supreme Court of this Commonwealth, which is, I believe, a court as little impressible by outside influences as any tribunal in existence." The Governor further recommended, that the questions be decided immediately, and that the United States District At torney, or some other counsel, should be instructed to represent the United States in all such cases. We are not aware that any action was taken by the Secretary in the matter. On the 18th of July, the Governor telegraphed to Mr. Stan- ton to authorize him to enlist Massachusetts conscripted men as volunteers, which would enable him to pay them the State bounty of fifty dollars each, which they, as mere conscripts, could not legally receive. LETTERS FROM JOHN M. FORBES. 485 " What you want," he said, " is the men ; and if the payment of this State bounty will increase their willingness for service, as undoubtedly it will, it makes no difference to you, whether they call themselves volunteers after being drafted, and it does make some to them." Not receiving any immediate reply to this, the Governor telegraphed again to Mr. Stanton, on the 21st, calling his attention to his previous telegram, and restating and re-en forcing his former telegram. " I think," he said, " such request reasonable and just, and respect fully ask the favor of a reply." We do not know whether an answer was received or not. But, if it was, it was unfavorable, as the drafted men who went from Massachusetts never received the State bounty. John M. Forbes returned from England in the early part of July, where he had made contracts for cannon for the coast defences of the State. lie landed at New York, and, before coming to Boston, went to Washington. On the 20th of July, he wrote to the Governor, from Washington, that he had been informed by Captain Wise, of the Ordnance Bureau, Navy De partment, that he had some captured guns, which he would sell the State at very low prices. Mr. Forbes recommended their purchase. Mr. Forbes then speaks of Colonel Lowell, of our Second Cavalry, who had gone off " on a rather dangerous scout on the skirts of Lee s retreating army." He also says, " He had quite a little brush at Ashbury, charged a gap where the rebels held a stone wall ; two men were killed alongside the Colonel. Finding them too strongly posted to continue the direct attack, he flanked them, and pushed them far into the valley, taking twelve or fourteen prisoners, including two staff officers. He reconnoitred other gaps, and returned by Leesburgh, after a very hard tramp. After two days rest, he set off towards Manassas. I got the account from Major Thompson. If they carried a newspaper reporter along, he would make quite a raid of their Ashbury Gap skirmish. I .<aw three of their wounded yesterday, one with an ounce-ball apparently in the centre of his brain." On the 21st of July, Mr. Forbes again writes to the Gov ernor in regard to the purchase of the guns referred to in his preceding letter. He says, 486 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. "They were built in 61 and 62, and captured in the Bermuda and k Princess Royal ; and Major Wise thinks they are quite as likely to be as good as Blakely s present guns, which we are buying at such high rates. If you doubt about buying a pig in a poke, very likely you may have time to send on and examine them. I have no idea the War Ordnance Department will bestir themselves to build guns, and I think Massachusetts has got to take the risk of doing it. I hear Ericsson is building a gun at Bridgewater ; and Wise says, that is the place for you to build on the steel rings. I saw Mr. Stanton on my arrival, and found he has already complied with your wish to send the Fifty-fifth to Newbern." The next day, Mr. Forbes wrote to the Governor, that Cap tain AVise bad forwarded to him a full description of the guns ; also, the price, which the appraisers of them bad fixed. The price was very low, and Mr. Forbes regarded them " The six cheapest guns in the world. They seemed to have been appraised on the same principle as you would appraise an elephant, very cheap to any one who wants them ; and the Navy naturally hate to have any thing making odd sizes of their shot. Captain Wise says he has received no answer to a letter offering you any quantity of eleven-inch guns at cost. I suggest answering him with thanks, and keeping the offer open until you can ascertain whether the cost of spindle of guns, the right weight, will be as much as that of the guns." Mr. Forbes then gives, at considerable length, an interesting account of the different kinds of heavy ordnance in America and in England, and of the experiments made for their im provement ; one experiment alone having cost the English Gov ernment seven millions pounds sterling. He considered the Dahlgren and Rodman patents both good, and reliable for most purposes. " But in these times," he said, "without un dervaluing them, I would prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good." Mr. Forbes concludes his letter by saying, " Nothing from Colonel Lowell s cavalry since yesterday morning, when they started for another reconnoissance. A week ago, the crows looked wistfully at their horses, as if they had a right to them ; and, when they return from this week s service, I fancy it will only be the hides and bones left to pick. They are called better than the average ! I am glad to say, Major Crowninshield s battalion has been DEATH OF COLONEL SHAW. 487 ordered up from Fortress Monroe ; so Lowell will Lave his whole regiment together." Nothing more appears on the Governor s files respecting the purchase of the guns, mentioned by Mr. Forbes. The Gov ernor visited Washington about this time, saw Mr. Forbes and the ordnance officer, and doubtless decided not to purchase them for the State, as they never were received here. We have already stated that Colonel Shaw, of the Fifty- fourth Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteers, was killed in leading his command in the attack upon Fort Wagner. We find on the Governor s records, dated July 31, and addressed to Francis George Shaw, Esq., the father of the Colonel, this letter : " I send to you, with this, copies of letters which I have received from Colonel Littlefield and Dr. Stone, by this morning s mail. Noth ing which I can write can express as I would wish the affectionate sympathy with which I am sincerely yours," &c. The letter of Colonel Littlefield, who signs himself " Colonel Fourth South-Carolina Volunteer Cavalry Regiment," is of more than ordinary interest. We do not know who Colonel Littlefield was ; but he may have commanded a regiment of colored troops raised in South Carolina. His letter is dated " Headquarters Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, Morris Island, S.C., in the field, July 24, 1863." He had been placed, by order of General Gilmore, in command of the Fifty-fourth after the death of Colonel Shaw, the Lieutenant-Colonel being unfit for duty by reason of severe wounds. He states that the Fifty-fourth Regiment was selected to lead the storming party upon Wagner, because they had distinguished themselves on James Island one week before, and adds, " I witnessed the charge, and, though no way connected with the regiment, I feel it my duty to bear testimony to the valor and bravery of the entire command. Colonel Shaw marched his men up to the fort, where he fell with twenty or thirty of his command. The bodies of two of his men were found dead on the top of him. The bearer of the State flag marched to the parapet with the bearer of the United- States colors. One of the rebels caught the State flag, and tore it from the staff. The bearer held to the staff, and brought it off with 488 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. him, though his guard was shot by his side. The bearer of the United- States colors was severely wounded in the breast. He fell upon his knees, but with one hand upon his wound ; with the other, he held the Stars and Stripes erect, and upon his knees brought them off the field, saying, * The flag has not been on the ground. 7 He was carried to the hospital, still bearing the flag ; and, as he entered, his wounded brothers gave cheers for the flag and the bearer. I mention these as but a few of many instances of bravery during the charge. " Of the death of Colonel Shaw and his burial, we have received in formation by a flag of truce. He was buried at Fort Wagner on Sunday last. We also learned that all the prisoners taken of the Fifty- fourth Regiment are in confinement at Charleston, waiting action of their Government. So say the officers." The letter of Surgeon Lincoln R. Stone bears the same date. He says that Colonel Shaw was shot dead through the heart, and was buried in the fort. He was seen to fall from the parapet inside the fort, and the fire was very severe indeed when the enemy opened. " I need not say that he fell at the head of his regiment : all who knew him would know that." Surgeon Stone then gives a detailed account of the assault upon Fort Wagner, and a list of the casualties in the regiment. He concludes as follows : " Neither Colonel Littlefield nor I, however, can tell you of the great shock and grief we feel at our losses, both in officers and men, only so lately, with all bright anticipations of the future, leaving home and friends. It is almost impossible to realize it. There remains, however, the consciousness that they all fell nobly and bravely at the very front, at the head of the regiment, as a soldier should fall." A copy of these letters were also forwarded by the Governor to Mrs. Ogclen Ilaggerty, Lenox, Mass., with a letter con cluding with these words : " With sincere and respectful re gards, both for yourself and for Mrs. Shaw, to whom I beg especially to tender my cordial sympathy." Mrs. Ha^gerty was the mother of Mrs. Shaw, whose residence was in the city of New York. Colonel Shaw was married only a few months before his death. On the thirty-first day of July, the Governor wrote to Major- RECRUITING VETERAN REGIMENTS. 489 General Dix, commanding the Department of the East, as follows : " I propose to station one of the companies of heavy artillery, which I am raising here for coast defence, at the city of Salem ; and it may be a convenience for them to have official authority to occupy the pile of old bricks there, which is called Fort Pickering, and of which the only tenant at present is a superannuated ordnance-sergeant, who sells beer and lets fishing-rods." At this time there had been nothing clone by the Government to place old Fort Pickering in a defensible position. It is on what is called Winter Island, and commands the harbor of Salem. It had no guns, and was precisely in the position named by the Governor. He asked of General Dix authority to station the companies then being raised for coast defence, as the latter might think best. Shortly afterwards, a fortification of earthworks was erected at this place, and guns placed therein ; and one company was stationed there, and remained until the end of the war. On the llth of August, the Governor wrote to Governor Tod, of Ohio, - " I have had the honor to receive from you a copy of the warrant for the commitment of John Morgan, and the principal officers of his command, to the Ohio Penitentiary ; and I beg to express to you my congratulations on the energy and success with which the pursuit of them was conducted, and their capture effected." This letter has reference to the defeat and capture of the well- known rebel chief, who entered Ohio with his command, and made a raid upon the peaceable inhabitants of that State. On the llth of August, the Governor wrote, " The Adjutant-General will please examine and report to me whether it is not practicable to commence recruiting immediately, with a prospect of success, a regiment of veteran volunteers, having its headquarters at Worcester, and with Captains Wolcott and Harlow, lately of the Twenty-first Regiment, as lieutenant-colonel and major respectively. The within letter of the Hon. Dwight Foster (Attorney- General of the State) is herewith sent for your examination. Please return it to my files. I wish to start such a regiment earlier than Mr. Foster s opinion seems to indicate." 490 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The proposition here made was found, upon examination, to be for the time impracticable. Veteran regiments, as they were called, that is, regiments composed of men who had not been less than nine months in service, were subsequently raised, and served to the end of the war. All of them were in the Army of the Potomac, and advanced, under the lead of General Grant and General Meade, across the Eapidan, fought their way through the thickets of the Wilderness, and in every battle of that memorable closing campaign of the war, marched to the front at Petersburg, and, in the early spring of 1865, advanced with the great Army of the Potomac upon Lee s works, from which he was driven, the rebel army routed, and the war closed. About this time, the Governor was anxious to have the volunteer militia of the Commonwealth recruited to the full limit prescribed by law. He wished to have three regiments of infantry raised in Boston and vicinity. It was suggested to him, that they could be raised, if assurances were given, that, in no event, would they be sent beyond the boundaries of the State. On the 10th of September, he wrote to Colonel Henry Lee, Jr., one of his personal staff, " It would be as well to have no force as to limit its operations to the State line of Massachusetts. If Portland or Newport should be invaded, Massachusetts men would be unspeakable fools, as well as arrant cowards, not to repel that invasion equally with one over our own borders. ... If the people of Boston, men of money, of busi ness, of influence, of intelligence, and of families, have not interest enough in their own lives, fortunes, families, and honor, to raise three regiments, I hardly think any tinkering on my part could do any good. We are in imminent danger never so great before of foreign war. Are we to cavil about the exertion needed to train three thousand able- bodied citizens for our defence ? When the enemy thunders at the gates of our citadel of fancied ease and security, it will be too late." It was not, however, until after the close of the Rebellion, that the militia of the Commonwealth was recruited to five thousand men in the entire State, and properly organized. The success which attended the recruitment of two regiments of colored infantry induced the Governor, at the instance of Professor Parsons, of the Dane Law School, Cambridge, to PLAN TO ATTACK BOSTON. 491 obtain, if possible, from the Secretary of War, authority to recruit a regiment of colored cavalry. On the 10th of Sep tember, Mr. Stanton wrote to the Governor, in reply, " My own impressions are entirely in favor of the measure. The in fantry regiments raised by you have settled the question of the colored man s fitness for infantry service ; and I think that you would be able to demonstrate, in a manner equally satisfactory, their adaptation for cavalry service, which is the only point of dispute remaining unsettled. The main difficulty is that suggested by Mr. Parsons and yourself in regard to obstacles or jealousies that might arise in other States. This does not seem to me to be insurmountable. Still, the question is one in respect to v\ Inch I desire some further time for consideration and conference ; but I will speedily give a definite answer to your proposition, my present purpose being only to explain the reason for delay." Leave to raise the regiment was subsequently given ; and early in the year 1864 the regiment was raised, and designated the Fifth Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry. On the 26th of September, the Governor received a confi dential letter, from a gentleman of the highest respectability, from which we make the following extracts : " Commander Maffit, of the Confederate steamer Florida, was formerly engaged in the service of the Coast Survey, and is as familiar with our coast and harbor as any pilot. I am told that he had recently said, while in Paris, that it had been his intention to run into Boston and New York, and shell those cities, but that he was pre vented by the attempt of Reed at Portland, as he feared that occur rence had alarmed our Government, and that we were now prepared to prevent his entrance. During the present week, I have endeavored to inform myself how well we are prepared. I learn, with astonish ment, that at this late day there is nothing to prevent the * Florida and 1 Alabama, or any other vessel, from coining directly up to our city. All they have to do is to fly the American or English nag, and they come directly by the forts. There is no order at either of the forts to stop any vessel. Besides this, from my personal observation, I am con vinced that - - is entirely unfit for the place he occupies. This subject is now before you ; and, if any disaster arise, the public will naturally look to you for explanation" A copy of this letter was sent to the President of the United 492 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. States, with a long endorsement on the back of it, from which we extract the concluding paragraph : - " I am perfectly confident, that, if I was authorized to place our heavy artillery companies, used for the harbor defence of Massa chusetts, under a regimental organization, I could appoint a colonel whose activity, discretion, and capacity to command these forts, could be safely relied upon." The permission asked for was never granted. A telegraph wire was laid, connecting Fort Independence and Fort Warren, which was completed Oct. 6, on which clay the first message was sent, as follows : " Governor Andrew is happy to exchange congratulations with Col onel Jones at the intimate relations this day established with Fort Independence." Colonel Jones, United-States Army, was at this time in com mand of Fort Independence. On the same day, the Governor wrote to Senator Surnner, " If you and Wilson will only re-enforce my efforts, perhaps I might be permitted to organize our light batteries into a regiment. Though other States have done so, as yet we have riot been allowed to do it." We have already stated that permission never was given by the War Department, and our batteries remained as company organizations until the end of the war. On the 7th of October, the Governor requested the Adjutant- General " To report to me to-morrow a precise statement of the ordnance now already mounted on each of the forts in Boston Harbor : exhibit ing the number of guns, weight of metal, calibre, and description, of whose manufacture, and whether rifled or smooth-bore ; what guns have been delivered, but not yet mounted ; what addition to the arma ment of the forts Major Blunt expects will be accomplished this au tumn. Please report to me also the precise condition of each of the heavy-artillery companies raised for coast defences, giving the name of eacli commanding officer, of each person recruiting for each com pany, and the number of men each company has mustered in." On the next day, the Adjutant- General submitted the follow ing report : THE CONDITION OF HARBOR DEFENCES. 493 " Iii obedience to your Excellency s request for certain exact information of the present condition of the armament of the forts in Boston Harbor, and the strength and condition of the garrisons, I visited yesterday Forts Warren, Independence, and Winthrop, and Long Island, and had an interview with the several commandants. Colonel Dimmock states the ordnance at Fort Warren as follows : Mounted in Barbette. 30 32-pounders. 12 8-inch Columbiads, old model chambers. 1 8-inch sea-coast howitzer. 4 15-inch Columbiads. In Casemates. 16 8-inch Columbiads, old models. 14 100-pounder Parrott guns, rifled. 1 15-inch Colurnbiad, not yet mounted. Total, 78 guns. " Colonel Dimmock was unable to inform me the names of the par ties who manufactured the guns. They were probably cast at different places. The character and make of the guns are known to the service by the names which are given them above. " From Lieutenant- Colonel Jones, commanding Fort Independence, I received the following statement : Mounted in Barbette. 27 32-pounder guns. 13 24-pounder guns. 2 10-inch mortars. In Casemates. 8 10-inch Columbiads. 6 8-inch 4 15-inch Columbiads, dismounted, no carriages. 3 32-pounder guns, 21 24 14 24-pounder howitzers, mounted. 6 24 dismounted. 3 8-inch Columbiads, * miserable. Total, 107 494 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE EEBELLION. " From Fort Independence I crossed over to Fort Winthrop to see Major Blunt, but he was not there. I found him, however, last even ing, at his residence, No. 22, Chestnut Street, Charlestown. The condition of Fort Winthrop is as follows : Mounted. 18 10-inch Columbiads, latest pattern (Rodman), throw 125-lb. solid shot. 4 10-inch Columbiads, old model. 7 8-inch Columbiads, latest pattern (Rodman), carry 65-lb. shot. 7 24-pounders, old. "Major Blunt is ready at Fort Winthrop for sixty-seven 10-inch guns, and one 15-inch. He will probably be ready this fall for eighty 10-inch guns, and ten 15-inch. He is unable to say when these guns will be received. The ordnance officer only can give the information. " He will be ready for the four 15-inch guns at Fort Independence this fall. He is ready now for fifty -four 10-inch guns at Fort War ren, and will be ready for a hundred or a hundred and fifty more at this fort this fall. "The casemate armament of Forts Warren and Independence is complete. " No foreign-made guns are in any of the forts in the harbor. " Major Blunt was further pleased to inform me that the new fort at Eastern Point, Gloucester, will be ready for a garrison in the bomb proof quarters built by him, by the 15th of November. It has seven 32-pounder guns with casemate carriages. Fort Lee, at Salem, is al most finished. Four 8-inch Columbiads will be mounted there this month. Forts Pickering (Salem) and Sewell (Marblehead) will not be ready for their armament for several weeks. It is not likely that any thing heavier than 24 or 32-pounders can be got for these works. The quartermaster must provide quarters for the men. " The battery at Long Point, Provincetown, will be finished by cold weather. It will be mounted with eight 32-pounders. The bat tery will be an open one, and the quartermaster must furnish quarters for the men. " The works at Plymouth are just begun. The armament is unset tled, but probably will be five guns. " This is all the information I have been able to gather respecting the forts and armaments. Major Blunt made a special report to General Totten about two weeks ago, showing the condition of the Boston works THE COMPANIES IN THE FORTS. 495 as to armament ; a copy of which he thinks your Excellency could obtain by application to General Totten. Condition of each Company of Heavy Artillery. Co. A, 1. Captain James H. Baldwin, Fort Warren, 142 men. Co. B, 2. Captain Niebuhr, Fort Warren, 146 men. Co. C, 3. Captain Lyman B. Whiton, Fort Independence, 119 men. Co. D, 4. Captain C. F. Livermore, Fort Warren, 122 men. Co. E, 5. Captain T. J. Little, Concord, N.H., 132 men. Co. F, 6. Captain John A. P. Allen, New Bedford, 141 men. Co. G, 7. Captain George E. Worcester, Fort Warren, 137 men. Co. H, 8. Captain Loring S. Richardson, Long Island, 111 men. Co. I, 9. Captain Leonard Gordon, Long Island, 111 men. Co. K, 10. Captain Cephas C. Bumpas, Long Island, 112 men. " Company L (11), Captain Thomas Herbert, lias 147 men enlisted, 36 of whom are claimed as drafted men ; and therefore he has not been able to have his company mustered in. He lacks six men to be mustered in as a minimum company, exclusive of the men claimed as drafted. The men are at Fort Independence. " Company M (12), Captain J. M. Richardson, reported on the 6th inst. 42 enlisted men. They are at Salem. " The affore^ate of enlisted men and commissioned officers in the sr> r^ Fort Warren Battalion is 704 ; of which one company (Captain Lit tle s) is on detached service at Concord, N.H., at camp of. drafted men. I respectfully submit that this company should be ordered to the fort, as I understand General Hinks has two companies of the Invalid Corps for guard duty at his camp. Recruiting Officers. " The companies which have recruiting officers in service are the 8th, Captain L. S. Richardson; the 9th, Captain Gordon; the 10th, Captain Bumpas; the llth, Captain Herbert; and the 12th, Captain J. M. Richardson. " The 8th company has twenty recruits not mustered in, which makes its aggregate of enlisted men in camp at Long Island 131. " The 9th company has ten recruits not mustered in, which makes its aggregate of enlisted men in camp at Long Island 121. " The 10th company has fifteen recruits not mustered in, which makes its aggregate of enlisted men in camp at Long Island 127. " Total number of enlisted men on duty at Long Island, 379. " All of which is respectfully submitted." 496 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. We have quoted the whole of this report, because it shows the exact condition of our coast defences near the close of the year 1863, the third year of the war. The letters of the Governor, from this time to the end of the year, relate to a variety of subjects, but chiefly in regard to the coast defences. Colonel Ritchie, of his staff, was sent to Europe, Sept. 16, to contract with parties in England for heavy ordnance, which was the great necessity of the times. His letters from England, acquainting the Governor with the progress of his negotiations, were written with great ability, and displayed an intimate knowledge, both theoretical and prac tical, of the different manufacture of heavy arms, not surpassed by many of the regular United-States army officers. The letters, also, in reply, of Mr. John M. Forbes and of Governor An drew, show equal knowledge of this branch of the service. It would be impossible to give even an abstract, in a volume like this, of all of the interesting and useful information contained in this correspondence. As it, however, relates to a subject which occupied the attention of the Governor and of the best minds in the State, from the beginning to the end of the Rebellion, and which in importance was only second to keeping our regiments full at the front, we shall, in the next chapter, give a brief narrative of what was done in England by Colonel Ritchie. We have already kept up a running narrative of the labors performed by Governor Andrew and Mr. Forbes, and of the action taken by the Legislature and the Executive Council upon this subject. The anxiety felt here in Boston, and all along the coast of Massachusetts, for the defence and safety of our harbors, appears never to have been appreciated at Washington, or if appreciated, which is probably the fact, neither the War nor the Navy Department had means at their command to afford the protection which our exposure to attack demanded. They probably did all they could, but all they did was not sufficient for our security. Not only was it regarded as of the utmost importance to have the forts on the coast properly armed and garrisoned, but it was also deemed of the greatest necessity to have iron-clad armed vessels to defend the harbor of Boston, and to cruise in Massachusetts Bav. GENERAL WILLIAM RAYMOND LEE. 497 Colonel William Raymond Lee, who had commanded with distinguished bravery and skill the Twentieth Regiment Mas sachusetts Volunteers, and who was brevetted brigadier-general for brave and meritorious services, was forced by ill health, and much against his will, to resign his commission, Dec. 17, 1862 ; and was commissioned by Governor Andrew chief engineer, with the rank of brigadier-general, Oct. 27, 1863, on the Gov ernor s staff. General Lee was a graduate of West Point, and one of the best engineer officers in the Commonwealth. We find on the files of the Governor several reports made by this gentleman in regard to our fortifications and coast de fences, accompanied by diagrams, showing his great skill as a draughtsman, an officer of comprehensive mind, and thorough knowledge of military defences, and, we may add, of in nate modesty. Some of these reports would make forty pages of this volume ; and we venture to assert, that in the archives of no other State, nor in the War Department at Washington, can there be found papers showing greater knowledge of mili tary engineering, and a more comprehensive grasp of the subject of coast defences, either in regard to fortifications, ordnance, or the construction of iron-clads, superior, or even of equal ability, to those contained in these reports of General Lee to the Governor of this Commonwealth. But while the Governor, his personal staff, and the different departments connected with the war, were devoting their entire energies continually to providing suitable defences for the coast of Massachusetts, and recruiting men for new regiments, and to fill the depleted ranks of our veteran commands in the field, surmounting obstacles, overcoming prejudice which at times seemed almost insurmountable, borne down with cares and labor of nearly three years of incessant war, the political ele ments of the State remained active. On the 3d of September, the Democratic party held a State convention at Worcester, to which were invited not only dele gates of the Democratic party, but those from other citi zens disposed to co-operate with them. The convention was very large, and opposition to the national Administration had been strengthened and intensified. The active and energetic 32 498 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. policy of Governor Andrew, the favor with which he regarded the enlistment of colored soldiers, the force and frequency with which he urged the abolition of domestic slavery, his stern and unfaltering determination to have the war fought through until the rebels laid down their arms and sued for peace, had dis posed many, who looked forward to a compromise of our difficulties with the Confederate States as the most likely means to bring about peace and a restoration of the Union, to oppose his re-election. The arbitrary arrests of citizens, and their con finement in prisons and fortifications without explanation, and in many cases without bringing them to trial, operated powerfully upon some minds to condemn the national Administration, and to regard with distrust the men composing it. The riots in July also showed that there was a strong element of dissatis faction among a portion of the more humble class of citizens. Such was the state of public feeling when the two great parties in the Commonwealth held their conventions to make State nominations in the fall of 1863. The Democratic Con vention was held first. We give a brief abstract of its proceedings. Phineas Allen, of Pittsfield, was chosen temporary chair man. Judge J. G. Abbott, of Boston, being called upon, made a speech, arid said, k I understand this convention to be the freest and broadest invita tion to all men who agree with you and me in this dark hour, when we have arrived at the very brink of that abyss which the Defender of the Constitution prayed he might never behold, the abyss of dis union, when States have been torn asunder, and the land drenched with fraternal blood. I mean to be true to the Union, by, through, and under the Constitution, nothing more nor less. That Constitution, in my judgment, is the only chart by which we can steer in this bot tomless abyss, the only anchor that will hold us, and the only guide to our steps. . . . Mr. Lincoln has said that silence on matters per taining to our country, though not a crime, is an offence. I propose, for once, to be obedient to the commands of His Excellency the President of the United States. I will agree to be imprisoned or banished, if I do keep silence ; and, if I am, I ll speak, so help me, God." Dr. George B. Loring, of Salem, was the next speaker. DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 499 His name having been received with some dissatisfaction, he said he regretted that anybody should oppose his speaking in a Democratic convention. He was a true Democrat, and, as such, entitled to counsel with the members of his party. He was for State rights ; and, whereas the Administration had said that a part of the States were put in the condition of terri tories, he desired to meet the Administration on that issue. He desired Democrats to go into this campaign with their banners inscribed to this effect, that, when a State presents herself for re-admission to the Union, the doors should be thrown open, and she should be admitted. " You may feel wronged that your fellow-citizens are arrested, and that such outrages are perpetrated by the Administration. But they are those things which will pass away. There is one great thing : we are still free, sovereign, and independent States under the Constitution. Do they ask, Are we Peace or War Democrats ? Tell them we are constitutional Democrats. This Administration will pass away as the idle wind. Its name will live only in history as an Administration which subverted the rights of the people, until they rose in their might, and overthrew it." Richard S. Spofford, Jr., of Newburyport, was chosen per manent president. On taking the chair, Mr. Spofford made an address, of considerable length, condemnatory of the Adminis tration, and in praise of State rights. In the afternoon, a vote was taken for Governor, and a majority was given for Henry W. Paine, of Cambridge ; and he was declared the nominee. The vote stood, Paine, 750; Dr. Loring, 227 ; J. G. Abbott, 72 ; scattering, 5. Mr. Paine had never attended a Democratic convention before. He had been a prominent Whig in the palmy days of that glorious old party. In the speech which he made in the convention, just previous to taking the ballot by which he was nominated, he said, " I find the record of the Democracy has pledged that party, from its earliest existence, to the perpetuity of the Constitution, of the Union, and of the rights of the States," 500 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. and therefore he enrolled himself among its members and supporters. The resolutions, sixteen in number, were reported by Mr. Averv, of Braintrce. They were a general indictment against the national Administration, and its prominent measures in carrying on the war. The fifteenth declared, " That we most earnestly desire peace, on such terms as would be consistent with the honor of our nation, and secure a permanent union of the States." The Republican Convention met at Worcester, on the 24th of September. James H. Duncan, of Haverhill, formerly a member of Congress, was chosen temporary chairman, and Thomas I). Eliot, member of Congress from the New-Bedford district, was elected permanent president. The address of Mr. Eliot on taking the chair was an able and eloquent defence of the policy pursued by the national and State Administrations in carrying on the war. It was the duty of the nation to use every power within its grasp to put down the Rebellion, and to fight the rebel forces until they laid down their arms. He sketched the progress of the Union forces from the be<nnnin: of 1 O c3 O the war up to this time ; showing that, although we had met with reverses, yet we had steadily and successfully made pro gress, which, in the end, was sure to conquer the Confederate power. A State ticket, with John A. Andrew at its head, was nominated by acclamation for re-election, and with entire unanimity. Speeches were also made by Alfred Macy, of Nantucket ; A. II. Bullock, of Worcester; Richard H. Dana, Jr., of Cambridge; Henry Wilson, United- States Senator; and ex- Governor George S. Boutwell, who reported a series of ad mirable resolutions, which were adopted by the convention. The speeches and resolutions breathed but one sentiment, and expressed but one purpose, which was to sustain the national and State Governments, and to carry on the war with undi- minished vigor until peace was conquered, and human slavery for ever rooted out of the land. THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. 501 Both conventions passed resolutions complimenting the bra very, and expressing sympathy for the sacrifices, of our war worn heroes at the seat of war. The election took place on the second Tuesday in November, and resulted as follows : for John A. Andrew, 70,483 votes ; for Henry W. Paine, 29,207; all others, 77, majority for Governor Andrew, 41,199, the largest he had received in any election. On the 17th of October, the President called for three hun dred thousand volunteers, of which number Massachusetts was to furnish, as her contingent, 15,126 men. At this time, the bounty paid by the State, to each three years volunteer, was $50, and the bounty paid by the United States $100. Business, in all its branches, was in a highly prosperous condition. Money was plenty, wages high, and labor in great demand; so that it was difficult to fill our army, and meet the calls of the Presi dent, without the inducement of larger bounties. The desire to avoid a draft w r as strong and universal throughout the State ; and the Governor was importuned by men in all parts of the Commonwealth to call an extra session of the Legisla ture, that means might be devised by which a draft would be avoided. He accordingly did so. The Legislature met on the eleventh day of November, and the Governor delivered his address on the same day. It was entirely devoted to the subject of filling the quota of the State under the new call of the President, and the injustice done to the two colored regiments of Massachusetts by the Govern ment, in refusing to pay them the same as white troops. He said, to aid in the recruitment, the Secretary of War had offered to all persons, who had served for a period of not less than nine months, a bounty of $402 ; and to new recruits a bounty of $302, if they enlisted to go into old regiments in the field. Each volunteer could elect for himself which regiment to enter. He advised that State bounty be enlarged ; and he was pre pared to assist " in committing the Commonwealth to a policy of the payment of regular wages to the Massachusetts volunteers, in addition to all other pay, bounties, and advantages hitherto enjoyed." He also referred to the order of the Secretary of 502 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. War favoring the re-enlistment of three years volunteers then in service, having less than one year to serve of their original term, and recommended that inducements should be held out by the State to encourage the re-enlistment of these veteran sol diers. I hold it," he said, " to be not only of grand importance to secure the existence of these war-worn regiments while the war shall last, and especially the services of these tried and brave old soldiers who composed them, but it would only be an act of grateful justice to proffer them the utmost advantages. Indeed, I cannot feel that it becomes the people of Massachusetts, at this period of the war, to act as if conscious only of the presence of an impending draft, and with a view only to its prevention. Gratitude, manliness, and honor alike concur with what I regard as the statesmanlike policy of the situation to encourage those meritorious and deserving men to renew their en gagement to the military service." He concluded this portion of his address as follows : " Gentlemen, the President of the United States demands a new recruitment of the army of the Union ; and it must be had. Massa chusetts is summoned to supply her proper contingent. She cannot falter, and she will not fail. Three hundred thousand men added now to the national armies, skilfully distributed and led, marching in aid of the forces already in the field, would sweep the Rebellion from the face of the earth. Our columns, falling on the enemy, already con scious of his waning power, and barely delaying us now at Charleston, on the Rapidan, at Chattanooga, incapable by lack of population to furnish soldiers to recruit again his own wasting ranks, would crush out, by their very weight and momentum, every organized form of re sistance. Rich in material resources, prosperous even in the midst of war, strong in hope and courage, and immensely superior in numerical force, the loyal people of the United States need only to avail them selves of this tide in their affairs to restore almost at a blow the for tunes of the republic, and to vindicate the inevitable supremacy of a national power." The remaining part of the address is occupied in discussing the wrongs of our colored soldiers. The Governor took the ground that there was no law existing which made a distinction between the white and the colored volunteers ; and therefore to THE ACTS PASSED BY THE LEGISLATURE. 503 deny the colored men the same pay which the whites received was not only unjust in itself, but was without the authority of law. But, as the evil was a practical one, it should be remedied at once ; and he recommended to the Legislature that an ap propriation of money be made to supply the deficiency in the payment of our colored troops, so that it would correspond with the pay received by the whites ; which recommendation was re ceived with favor by the Legislature, and an act was passed in accordance with the recommendation. The pay of white volun teers was thirteen dollars a month in money, and three dollars a month for clothing. The colored troops had been allowed the same amount for clothing, but only seven dollars a month in money. The Legislature was in session seven days. It met on the llth of November, and was prorogued on the 18th ; during which time it passed the following acts and resolves : - An act to make up the deficiencies in the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Regiments. This act authorized the Governor to appoint paymasters to proceed to South Carolina to pay the men, and the Treasurer of the Commonwealth to borrow such sums of money, from time to time, as may be necessary to carry the act into effect. An act to promote enlistments and recruiting. This act prohibited any person from recruiting except under authority from the Governor, or the Government of the United States ; and provided that any person who should entice or solicit men to leave the Commonwealth to enter military service elsewhere, should be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months. An act to provide for the payment of bounties for vol unteers. This provided, 1st, That the Governor might offer to pay a bounty of $325 to each volunteer who should enlist for three years or the war, and should duly be mustered into the service of the United States and credited to the quota of the Commonwealth. 2d, Said bounty to be paid to volunteers already in the service who should re-enlist and be credited to the quota of Massachusetts. 3d, It also provided that volunteers thus enlisting might elect, in lieu of the bounty of $325, a bounty 504 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. of fifty dollars, and a monthly pay of twenty dollars so long as they were in service ; and, if they should be honorably discharged after six months actual service, the sum of twenty dollars a month for six months thereafter ; and, if the volunteer should die in the service, the sum of twenty dollars a month, for six months after his decease, should be paid to his lawful heirs. 4th, It also extended the provisions of the State-aid Act to the families of the volunteers. 5th, It authorized the Governor to appoint paymasters to pay bounties. 6th, Pay rolls and other necessary documents connected with the pay ment of the bounties were to be made and prepared by the Adjutant-General. The pay-rolls to be in duplicate, one to be deposited with the Auditor, and one with the Treas urer. 7th, It authorized the Treasurer, under direction of the Governor and Council, to borrow money to carry out the pro visions of the act. 8th, Persons enlisting were to be credited to the town or ward in which they lived. 9th, Persons physi cally disqualified for service, enlisting for the purpose of getting the bounty, were to be punished by imprisonment in the State Prison not exceeding ten years, or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars and imprisonment in the jail not more than two years. This act was approved Nov. 18, and took effect upon its passage. A resolve was passed requesting the Senators and Representa tives of this Commonwealth in Congress to urge upon that body the expediency of an increase of pay to the soldiers in the ser vice of the Government. Also resolves expressing the injustice of Congress in not allowing credits for men in the naval service ; also of the in justice to the non-commissioned officers and privates in the col ored regiments, in not allowing them the same pay as whites. The following gentlemen were commissioned on the Govern or s staff during the year 18 03 : Eugene Sturtevant, assistant adjutant-general, Jan. 3, with rank of first lieutenant. Anson P. Hooker, assistant surgeon-general, May 26, with rank of major. Theodore Lyman, assistant adjutant-general, Aug. 15, with rank of lieutenant-colonel. NEW STAFF APPOINTMENTS. 505 Nehemiah Brown, assistant adjutant-general, Aug. 18, with rank of major. John C. Hoadly, assistant quartermaster-general, Sept. 29, with rank of captain. William Raymond Lee, chief-engineer, Oct. 24, with rank of brigadier-general. James Sturgis, assistant adjutant-general, Nov. 24, with the rank of major. Colonel Theodore Lyman was commissioned assistant Adju tant-General of the State, that he might accept a position as a volunteer officer on the staff of Major-General Meade. He im mediately joined the Army of the Potomac, and served on the staff of General Meade until the close of the war with distin guished bravery and fidelity to duty. There are few instances on the military record of Massachusetts of truer patriotism and more ardent devotion to the cause of the Union, than that exhib ited by Colonel Lyman. He gave up the comforts of home and family, and every thing which high character, social position, and ample wealth could procure, to endure the fatigues and brave the dangers of a volunteer staff-officer, in one of the greatest and most arduous campaigns of which the world bears record. During the year 1863, 11,538 volunteers for three years ser vice were recruited and mustered in, making the aggregate of three years troops furnished for the war 63,359 ; to which add 16,837 nine months men and 3,736 three months men, and we have the total number of men furnished by Massachusetts for the military service, from April 16, 1861, to Dec. 30, 1863, of eighty-three thousand nine hundred and thirty-two (83,932). The number of men who enlisted in Massachusetts for the naval service during the year 1863 was 3,686, making the aggre gate of men furnished by Massachusetts from the commencement of the war to Dec. 30, 1863, seventeen thousand three hundred and four (17,304), for whom no credit whatever was given by the General Government, and who did not count upon the con tingent of the State. Add these to the men furnished for the military service by Massachusetts, and the total number of men 506 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. furnished by this Commonwealth for both arms of the service up to Dec. 30, 1863, would be one hundred and one thousand two hundred and thirty-six (101,236). Such was the record of the State when the Rebellion entered upon its fourth year. CHAPTER X. The Military Camps in Massachusetts Number of Troops Jan. 1, 1864 Where Serving Letter of Governor to Lewis Hay den From Miss Upham Soldier s Scrap-book Letter to Samuel Hooper Sale of Heavy Ord nance The Condition of our Defences Colonel Eitchie in England Meeting of the Legislature Organization Addresses of Mr. Field and Colonel Bullock Address of the Governor Eloquent Extract Abstract of Military Laws Members of Congress Letter to John B. Alley The Springfield Companies Secretary Stanton refuses to pay them Bounties Correspondence in Regard to it Letters from General Butler Governor to Miss Upham Complaints about Soldiers at Long Island Re-enlisted Veterans Order of War Department Returns of Veteran Regiments Their Reception Letter to General Hancock General Burnside reviews the Troops at Readville Letter to the Christian Watchman General An drews ; Surgeon-General Dale Confederate Money Letter from General Gordon Battle of Olustee Letter to Selectmen of Plymouth A Second Volume of Scrap-book Letter from Mr. Lovejoy Lieutenant-Colonel Whittemore Correspondence The Heavy Artillery Condition of Fort Warren Misunderstanding Secretary Stanton and the Governor Colonel William F. Bartlett His Promotion Earnest Letter to Mr. Sumner Troubles about Recruiting Complaints made A Convention held Letter of the Adjutant-General The Recruiting of New Regiments Forwarded to the Front The Advance of General Grant. ON the 1st of January, 1864, there were three camps of ren dezvous for enlisted men in the Commonwealth, one at Long Island, in Boston Harbor, under command of Brigadier-General Devens, to which drafted men were sent ; " Camp Meigs," at Readville, commanded by Brigadier-General R. H. Peirce, to which recruits for old regiments were sent ; " Camp Wool," at Worcester, in charge of Colonel William F. Bartlett, Fifty- seventh Regiment, was specially used for recruiting and organ izing that regiment. The number of men at each of these camps was as follows: Long Island, 1,086; "Camp Meigs," 2,270 ; "Camp Wool," 300, total, 3,656. The seventeen nine months regiments had returned home ; and Massachusetts had at this time, in the service of the 5*08 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. United States, thirty-six regiments of infantry, three regiments of cavalry, two regiments of heavy artillery, one battalion and eight unattached companies of heavy artillery, twelve bat teries of light artillery, and two companies of sharpshooters. All of these were for three years service, and were distributed as follows : The First, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thir teenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-second, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-second, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-ninth Regiments of Infantry, First Kegiment of Cavalry, the Third, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth Light Batteries, First and Sec ond Companies of Sharpshooters, were in the Army of the Potomac. The Second, Twenty-first, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-third, Thirty- fifth, and Thirty-sixth Regiments of Infantry were in the De partment of the Ohio. The Seventeenth, Twenty- third, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-seventh Regiments of Infantry, and the Second Regiment of Heavy Artillery, were in the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. The Twenty-fourth, Fortieth, Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth Regi ments of Infantry, and First Battalion of Cavalry, were in the Department of the South. The Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-eighth Regi ments of Infantry, and the Third Regiment of Cavalry, and the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fifteenth Companies of Light Artillery, were in the Department of the Gulf. The Thirty-fourth Regiment of Infantry, Second Regiment of Cavalry, First Regiment of Heavy Artillery, and the Seventh Company of Light Artillery, were in the Department of Wash ington. The First Battalion, and the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Unattached Com panies of Heavy Artillery, were in the Coast Defences of Massachusetts. Shortly after this date, the Third Battalion of the First Regi ment of Cavalry was permanently detached from that regiment, RECRUITING IN OTHER STATES. 509 and a new battalion was recruited in the State, attached to it, and made the Fourth Regiment Massachusetts Cavalry. The Fourteenth Eegiment of Infantry was changed in 1862 to heavy artillery. The Forty-first Regiment of Infantry, in the Department of the Gulf, was changed from infantry to cavalry ; and the three unattached companies of cavalry, in that Department, was consolidated with it, and the organization was afterwards known and designated as the Third Regiment Massachusetts Cavalry. Lewis Hayden, formerly a slave in Kentucky, but who had been for many years employed in the office of the Secretary of State, entered warmly into the business of recruiting colored soldiers for Massachusetts, and visited Pennsylvania and other States to advance that interest. In a letter directed to him when in Pennsylvania, the Governor said, "I do not favor recruiting for Massachusetts in that State, and I do not wish to be understood to favor it. But if, by work in Pennsyl vania, you can help those fleeing from slavery through that State to reach Massachusetts, where they will be received into all the rights and advantages of our own citizens, I shall be glad. I do not want either to speculate out of the blood or courage of colored men ; but I rejoice in having been instrumental in giving them a chance to vindi cate their manhood, and to strike a telling blow for their own race, and the freedom of all their posterity. Every race has fought for liberty, and its own progress. The colored race will create its own future, by its own brain, hearts, and hands. If Southern slavery should fall by the crushing of the Rebellion, and colored men have no hand, and play no conspicuous part, in the task, the result would leave the colored man a mere helot ; the freedmen a poor, despised, sub ordinated body of human beings, neither strangers nor citizens, but contrabands, who had lost their masters, but not found a country. All the prejudices, jealousies, and political wishes, of narrow, igno rant men and demagogues would have full force, and the black man would be the helpless victim of a policy which would give him no peace short of his own banishment. The day that made a colored man a soldier of the Union, made him a power in the laud. It admitted him to all the future of glory, and to all the advantages of honorable fame, which pertained to men who belonged to the cate gory of heroes. No one can ever deny the rights of citizenship in a country to those who have helped to create it or to save it." 510 MASSACHUSETTS IX THE REBELLION. On the 1st of January, the Governor received the following letter from Miss Philena M. Upham, of Leicester, Massa chusetts : "When I was in Queen-street Hospital, Alexandria, with my young nephew, who was wounded at the battle of Cedar Mountain, and \vlio has since died of his wounds, a suffering soldier in one of the hospitals there remarked, If I only had such a scrap-book as my sister used to make, wouldn t I enjoy it ? The wish was renewed by others. I stored their desires in a cell of my brain to be brought forth for future use. The last eleven weeks, I have assiduously devoted every moment of time I could spare from housekeeping duties in filling an old ledger of my father s with quotations to win some wounded soldier s smile. Now, sir, if you think the book will achieve the pur pose intended, I would ask you, as one of the soldiers most faithful friends, to bestow it as a free-will offering upon the hospital where, in your judgment, it may be a drop in the bucket towards stealing the minds of the wounded from their long days of anguish and nights of pain." This letter the Governor forwarded the next day to Senator Sumner, with a request that he would present the book to Miss Anna Lowell, " for the use of the patriots of the Amory-square Hospital." " I am sure," he said, " that you will be interested, as a philan thropist, in this labor of love for the soldiers, and, as a man of letters, in the very unique book which is the result of this excellent lady s industrious zeal." On the 5th of January, the Governor wrote to Samuel Hooper, member of Congress from this State, that he had been informed that the chief of the Ordnance Bureau at Wash ington had told him that it would assume the guns purchased or contracted for by Mr. Forbes and Lieutenant-Colonel Ritchie on account of Massachusetts, and would pass them through the Custom House, as if imported for account of the United States, but on condition that the guns correspond with the United- States army calibres : " Now," said the Governor, " the fact must be well known to any ordnance officer of common intelligence, that the English army cali bres and ours do not correspond. The Blakely ordnance and Lowi- HARBOK DEFENCES. 511 noor sixty -four-pounder guns cannot be strangers to the reading of our officers. But the Government of Massachusetts was aware, one year and more ago, that the United States had not, and, as it then stood, could not possibly procure by any means either resorted to or contemplated by it, more than two-sevenths of the armament for its coast and harbor defences which, in the event of a foreign war, it confessedly needed. I have the authoritative statistics in proof. Stern necessity drove us to look out for our own principal city at least. We took no step until consulting the President, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy, General Totten, General Ripley, and General Meigs ; and we moved with their approbation. The ordnance officers of the army and of the navy have each their pet guns. They oppose each other s guns, and every thing else but the Rodman gun and the Dahlgren gun, though they have had to submit to the Parrott gun. Now, uniformity of calibre is convenient, because it prevents the necessity of varieties of ammunition. But it is more convenient to repel invaders, even if you are obliged to use two kinds of shot and shell to do it with, than it is to be destroyed or captured by an armed fleet, notwithstanding the pleasure it might give the Ordnance Bureau to use but one kind of ammunition." The Governor illustrated these points at considerable length, and closed with this paragraph : " I hope you will not at all be discouraged by the ordnance officers. If they object, please go to the Secretary of War. At a time when Long Island Head and Deer Island Spit cannot have an earthwork nor a gun for the want of power by the United States to supply ordnance, it is a gross and miserable absurdity for our people at Washington to turn up their noses at guns, the production of which the English and Russian Governments have now com pletely monopolized, so that, after filling our antecedent contracts, we could get no more of them of foreign manufacture, if we would." The reader will have noticed, that, from the outbreak of the war, the Governor s attention had been excited by the defence less condition of the coast of Massachusetts ; and as early as April 24, 1861, he sent a detachment of the volunteer militia to occupy the forts in Boston Harbor, in which, since the with drawal of the garrison from Fort Independence for service in the South, the United States had left only one or two elderly ordnance -sergeants. These detachments were sufficient to 512 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. guard the forts from being seized by a surprise, and held by the enemy ; but the armament of the fort was so defective, that they could not have been defended against a serious attack. In Fort Warren there was only one old condemned gun ; Fort YVinthrop was equally manned ; and, though Fort Indepen dence appeared to be better protected, yet its few guns were so old, and of such small calibre, as to be in reality of little value. The other important points of the Massachusetts coast were either not at all or still worse prepared for defence. Earnest and unceasing efforts were made to induce the United- States Government to remedy, as speedily as possible, this dangerous condition of affairs ; but, under the immense pressure of matters at that moment requiring its immediate attention, it could not be reasonably expected to provide for this more distant peril. On the 14th of October, 1861, the Secretary of State addressed a letter to the Governors of all the States on the seaboard and on the lakes ; in which, while referring to the ener getic efforts being made by rebel emissaries to secure the recog nition of the Southern Confederacy by foreign powers and embroil the United States with England and France, he suggested the necessity of taking every precaution to provide against the dangers to which a foreign war would expose us, and urged that our ports and harbors on the sea-coast and the lakes should be put in a condition of complete defence. On behalf of the President, the Secretary invited the attention of the Governor to the subject of the improvement of the fortifica tion and defences of Massachusetts, and asked that the subject should be submitted to the consideration of the Legislature ; adding that the measures which might be taken would require only a temporary use of the means of the State, and that the expenditure should be made the subject of conference with the Government of the United States. The seizure of Mason and Slidell, which followed immediately upon this, and so nearly involved the United States in hostilities with England, gave additional force to the recommendation of the Secretary of State. The Governor, who had unceasingly pressed this sub ject upon the attention of the United-States Government, no HARBOR DEFENCES. 513 sooner received this invitation to act in the matter himself, than he proceeded to Washington to confer with General Totten, the distinguished head of the Bureau of Engineers, and General Kipley, chief of the Ordnance Bureau ; and in his address to the Legislature upon its assembling in January, 1862, he called their attention to the defenceless condition of our coast, and recommended that certain fortifications should be at once under taken by the Commonwealth, which would involve an outlay of $400,000, in addition to what might be required to provide the necessary ordnance for their armament. It had already become apparent, however, that our greatest and most pressing want was of guns for the works already completed; and on the 14th of February, 1862, the Legislature, by a resolve, authorized the Governor to contract for the manu facture of suitable ordnance for the coast defence of the State, to an amount not exceeding $500,000, after advertising for proposals, and providing that the work should be done under supervision of officers to be appointed by the United States. In March, 1862, General Totten reported, that to arm the works on the coast of Massachusetts, contemplated as necessary for its defence in case of a foreign war, there would be required some 916 guns of the calibres of eight, ten, and fifteen inches, and some 427 thirty-two-pounders and lighter guns ; while, from the information derived from the Ordnance Bureau, it was ascertained, that, during the next two years, all we could expect to receive of the larger guns would be some 140, or about two- sevenths only of the number required for the permanent works already completed or near completion, and no portion of these required for the other class of works ; and the cost of completing the armament of the Massachusetts coast was estimated at $1,220,000, after making allowance for all the guns we might expect to receive from the United States during the years 1862 and 1863. Of the thirty-two-pounders and smaller guns, the United States were supposed to possess a sufficient supply. Experience soon proved that nothing could be done under the resolve of the Legislature. The United States could spare no ordnance officer to superintend the work, and no contractors could be found to undertake it ; besides, the amount appropriated 514 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. would have only provided for about one-third of the number of guns needed. The United States were already employing, to the full extent of their capacity, all the establishments in the country prepared or willing to undertake the manufacture of large ordnance ; and were ready to give further contracts to any new parties who would take them. The special machinery and plans required for the casting and finishing of guns of large calibre are, how ever, so costly, the skill and experience necessary to their successful production so peculiar, and the risk so great, that new establishments built for this express purpose might, upon the cessation of the demand consequent upon a return of peace, be left unemployed, that the number of new parties who had come forward to engage in this manufacture was only three or four ; and of these some had become already discouraged by the diffi culties they encountered. The Ordnance Bureau, therefore, was of opinion that no expenditure which Massachusetts could make, would increase or expedite this production. The great scarcity of skilled mechanics, and the full and profitable employment given to all founderies and machine-shops in work attended with much less risk, added greatly to the difficulty. At this moment occurred the celebrated encounter between the "Merrimack" and the "Monitor," disturbing all further theories of naval attack and coast defence, and casting doubt upon the stability of the existing projects for the fortification and arma ment of our harbors, and demonstrating the absolute necessity of more powerful guns, and in much greater numbers than con templated in General Totten s recent report. Indeed, in the night after the first irresistible attack of the " Merrimack " on our fleet at Newport News, and in Hampton Roads, when it was thought that the rebel iron-clad might next day complete the destruction of the fleet, and, proceeding to sea, attack any of our most im portant seaports, the Governor received official advice from Washington to proceed at once to close the harbor of Boston by sinking temporary obstructions in the entrance to the harbor, so little could our defences be relied upon to repel an attack of this new and fearful engine. The War Department immediately afterwards requested the COLONEL RITCHIE S MISSION. 515 Governor s presence in Washington, and urged upon him to pro pose to the Legislature to concentrate the expenditure of the State in the immediate construction of iron-clads for the defence of the coast. The Legislature responded to the Governor s representations of the plan by a resolve on the 25th of March, 1862, authorizing the construction of one or more iron-clad vessels. The plans were in progress, and the parties stood ready to contract for their construction, when the Navy Department protested that it was ready to put under construction, in every part of the country, all that the utmost resources of the people could accomplish ; and that the result of a competition in the market between the State and the United-States Governments could only result in injury to both. Upon the Governor s repre sentation that there were two parties in Massachusetts capable of building such vessels, the Navy Department at once offered contracts to each of these establishments. At this juncture, it was ascertained, that Professor Tread well, so widely known for his scientific attainments, his investigations into the problem of the construction of heavy ordnance, and his invention of the gun bearing his name, with a party of gentle men associated with him, could be induced to build immediately new and extensive works for the manufacture of guns according to his patents, if a contract could be given him by the State, sufficiently large to justify the investment of the considerable capital which must be required. The enormous strength of the Treadwell gun had been suffi ciently proved ; but the invention had been made at a time when there seemed to be no necessity of any such great strength in guns, and such as were already in use appeared sufficiently good. This invention had therefore been without result, though its principle was, in part at least, adopted in the Parrott gun in this country, and much more extensively by the celebrated foreign manufacturers, Sir William Armstrong and Captain Blakely. The Governor submitted to a commission composed of Colonel Charles Amory, Master of Ordnance, Lieutenant-Colonel Har rison Kitchie, his aide-de-camp, and two distinguished civil engineers, Messrs. J. W. Brooks and James B. Francis, the question of the ascertained or probable merits of the Treadwell 516 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. gun, and its capacity to penetrate armor-plates, as also of the feasibility and advantage of an attempt to supply in part our deficiency in ordnance of its manufacture. The commission submitted an elaborate report. They were unanimously in favor of the gun, and recommended that the State should enter into a contract for one hundred 100-pounder rifled guns of that pattern, and make such an appropriation as would admit of the construc tion of a creater number, if their early success should render such O * an increase desirable. Professor Treadwell and his responsible associates were ready to engage to establish a foundery which should deliver ten of these guns within six months, and the re mainder within eighteen months. Under such a contract, the State would have made use of the erection of a new foundery capable of turning out the largest guns in great numbers. It would, if the Treadwell guns had succeeded, have provided for their rapid multiplication at a cost about two-thirds that of the Armstrong gun of the British Government, while, if this particular gun had failed, the State would have lost nothing, and the foundery and machinery might have been employed to advantage in other ways. The report was laid before a com mittee of the Legislature, who on the 24th of April, 1862, re ported a resolve, which would have enabled the Governor to enter into such a contract. The resolve passed the House with out a division, and was defeated by a single vote in the Senate, in its passage to be enacted in the last hour of the session. The prospect of being able to effect any thing was now dis couraging, while the danger became even more imminent, and the want more pressing. In December, 1862, General Totten wrote to the Governor, " It cannot be too strongly insisted on, that guns are needed ; that we want many more, and those extremely large guns ; and that the fabrication of them should be expedited, extended, and multiplied." In his message to the Legislature in January, 1863, the Gov ernor reviewed the history of his past efforts, and again pressed the matter upon their attention ; and on the 30th of March, 1863, the act was passed appropriating one million of dollars for the defence of the coast of Massachusetts. By this act it was pro- THE HEAVY ORDNANCE. 517 vided, that any portion, or the whole, of the million dollars might be expended in the purchase or manufacture of ordnance, in the building or equipping iron-clad or other steamers, or the erection of iron-clad or other fortifications, or in such other measures as the public exigencies might require. The inhabi tants of any town on the coast were further authorized, with the approval of the Governor and Council, to raise money, and ex pend it in defending their town against the public enemies of the United States. Under this act, fortifications were erected at Newburyport, Marblehead, Plymouth, Salem, New Bedford, and Gloucester. The forts in Boston Harbor were connected with each other and with the city by a magnetic telegraph ; a complete and most in genious system of harbor obstructions was devised for the harbor of Boston ; and all the workings, drawings, and bills of materials prepared which would admit of the system being applied at a moment s warning. The great want, however, was still of the largest gun ; and the result of all inquiries was, that no more could possibly be obtained in this country. At this time, Mr. John M. Forbes, being in England, was making inquiries into the possibility of our obtaining any such guns in Europe. The result of these inquiries was, that there were only three parties known in all Europe in a position to manufacture such guns. Of these it was understood that Sir William Armstrong was not at liberty to manufacture for any foreign power, while Mr. Knapp, the famous steel-founder of Essen, in Prussia, was fully employed by the Prussian and Russian Governments. There remained, therefore, only Captain Blakely. The real Blakely gun consists of a steel spindle or gun proper, over which another steel gun or jacket is shrunk on, inclosing the whole breech, and extending forward to the trun nions for longitudinal strength, and reinforced by one or more layers of steel rings shrunk on over the jacket. Captain Blakely had received large contracts for his guns from the Russian Government, but was only beginning to manufacture those of large calibre. He was dependent upon Knapp for his steel spindle, Knapp s being the only establishment in Europe 518 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. capable of forging the huge ingots required for the large guns, and even he having only lately begun to turn them out, and in very limited quantities. The so-called Blakely guns, of which the rebels had large quantities, were a very inferior, cheap article, of smaller calibres, which, in their extreme need, they were irlad to have, poor as they were. Mr. Whitworth had, as yet, built no gun on his principle, of larger calibre than five and a half inches, and the success of them had not been promising ; and he would not undertake to deliver any more <nms within six months. O Mr. Forbes, on his own responsibility, contracted with Cap tain Blakely for two 11-inch guns. On the 28th of May, 1863, the Executive Council authorized the Governor to con tract for the manufacture of ordnance in Europe to the extent of $250,000 ; and, on the 2d of June, orders were sent to Mr. Forbes, to enter into contract for guns and projectiles in Eng land to that amount. Mr. Forbes accordingly contracted for ten 11-inch and twelve 9-inch rifled Blakelys, to be delivered on or before the 15th of September, and to cost $32,050. It was also provided, that, in case the contractors should be unable to deliver the whole number of 11 -inch guns, they might deliver eight of that calibre, and three 9 -inch guns in place of the other ten 11-inch guns. As it was thought that, if those parts of the guns which could not be produced at home were sent out from England, the manufacture of Blakely guns might be established in Massachusetts, parts of two 11-inch guns and two 9-inch guns were also contracted for; and, late in September, the Putnam Machine Shops, at Fitch- burg, were induced to undertake the finishing of these guns, the State having paid for the special machinery required for this purpose; and the guns were eventually finished by them. It had, meanwhile, become apparent that the difficulties attendant upon the manufacture of these large Blakely guns were so great, even in England, that the contract would not be executed. The danger of foreign war, moreover, had never appeared so imminent. The celebrated iron-clads, built by Mr. Laird, fur the rebels, were lying in the Mersey, nearly ready for sea. It was thought that the British Government would THE HEAVY ORDNANCE. 519 refuse to interfere to prevent their sailing, and generally under stood that such an event would result in a war with England ; either from the United States determining to consider this act of the British Government a casus belli, or from the recogni tion of the Confederate Government by England and France, which would follow upon the breaking-up of our blockade of the Southern ports, which it was deemed certain that those Laird rams would accomplish. It became, therefore, impera tive that an agent from this State should proceed to England to look after its interests ; and the Governor detailed Colonel Har rison Ritchie, his senior aide-de-camp, for that duty. Colonel Ritchie sailed on the 16th of September, 1863. He was ordered to inspect the guns and projectiles being manu factured there for the State, and assume direction of the con tracts, with power to modify the contracts in every respect, excepting so as to increase the total contract prices, and to can cel the contracts for such of the guns as it might appear to him would not probably be completed within the extension of time which had already been granted. The distinguished engineer, Mr. J. C. Hoadley, went out shortly after, and joined Colonel Ritchie in England, for the purpose of studying the machinery and the process employed in the manufacture of Captain Blakely s guns, with a view to the application of this knowl edge at home. As the need of a supply of guns for immediate use was so pressing, Colonel Ritchie was, at his suggestion, further authorized to contract for not exceeding fifty 68-pound- ers, smooth-bore 95-cwt. guns, if they could be delivered within four months at reasonable prices. These last guns were originally introduced for the pivot guns of large steam frigates, but had not gone out of use on the gen eral introduction of shell guns. The English experiments had proved, that, though not equal to rifled guns at long ranges, yet at short ranges, with the full charge they could carry, their eight-inch shot produced more destructive effects on iron armor- plates than the Armstrong 100-pounder rifled gun. It was conjectured, that, from the fact of their not being in demand at the moment, a supply of these guns might be obtained, and that, with steel shot, they would be the most valuable guns we could 520 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. have for some of the positions we were anxious to arm at once. This supposition proved correct ; and, on the 6th of October, Colonel Ritchie concluded a contract with the Cavmore Iron Company for fifty of these guns, at the extremely low price of 20 per ton, which were finished within six weeks, and at once shipped for the United States. Of the twenty-two guns con tracted to be delivered by Captain Blakely by the middle of September, but four were finished Oct. 1. Difficulties had been encountered at every step in the manufacture of those five guns of large calibre. Colonel Ritchie availed himself of Cap tain Blakely s failure to comply with the contract, to so modify it, as to provide, that in place of the eighteen guns not delivered, which were to have had the cases or spindles of cast-iron, we should receive twelve guns wholly of steel ; the experience already obtained being decisive in favor of the stronger material. Instructions were afterwards sent out to Colonel Ritchie, au thorizing him to contract for a further supply of the Blakely guns to the full amount of the appropriation ; but he reported that he was convinced no larger number could be delivered within a year, and that the constant improvements being made in the manufacture of the material, and component parts, would enable the State to secure better guns quite as rapidly under contract made at a future period, if they should still be required. These views were confirmed by the delays which afterwards occurred in the completion of the guns already ordered. But three 11-inch and four 9-inch guns had been delivered, when the altered aspect of the war rendered it advisable to cancel the contract, to which Captain Blakely was very ready to agree, as the guns cost him more than he was to receive for them, while he found ready purchasers, at increased prices, among other foreign powers. When Colonel Ritchie was upon the point of returning to the United States, it was brought to his knowledge that a cer- O O tain number of Armstrong guns might be secured ; and he was able to make a contract for them on terms which left it optional with the State to accept the contract or not. The State did ratify and adopt it ; and these five guns were finished in due time, but never shipped to America. THE HEAVY ORDNANCE. 521 It would not be just to conclude this account without ac knowledging that the delays which occurred in the execution of Captain Blakely s contract were due to the difficulties which were encountered in the first efforts to produce guns of these dimensions and of such great strength ; and the difficulties did not cease when the guns were finished. There were but three lathes in England large enough to turn them, and Knapp only could bore the 18-inch ingots of such steel. When the first 11- inch guns were finished, no steamers could be found willing to transport them from Hull to London ; and it was only after much time that trucks were found capable of carrying such weight upon the railroads. The British Government would not have consented to their proof at Woolwich Arsenal, with the knowledge that they were intended for our use ; and a fiction had to be set afloat, and carefully kept alive, that they were for the Russian Government. This was so well done, that, after the account of their proof appeared in the Times, the Russian military officers in London applied to know when they were to be delivered, and were surprised to learn that they were already at sea, on their voyage to America. The first gun, on being hoisted out of the lighter at Woolwich, carried away the crane, and, falling through the bottom of the lighter, sunk the whole ; when landed, the bridge across the moat of Woolwich Arsenal had to be strengthened before they could be drawn across it to the proving ground ; and so great was the interest felt in the result, that numbers of English artillery officers and cannon-founders attended the proof. Great was their surprise at seeing a bolt weighing 533 pounds, driven by fifty pounds of English powder, penetrate thirty-one feet into the rammed earth of the abatis. The difficulties of shipment were also great. A portion of the 8-inch guns were sent one day to Portsmouth, where it was supposed they belonged to the British Government, until, to the surprise of the townspeople and officials, as well as of the passengers, one of the Bremen line of steamers came in, and took them quickly on board. Colonel Ritchie was also closely watched, and had, for the first ten days, devoted himself to putting the detectives who followed him on a wrong scent. 522 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. Fortunately, we were never called upon to use these guns, for which the carriages had been, meanwhile, designed by Gen eral William Raymond Lee, chief engineer on the Governor s staff; but the reception given by a few of them to the Spanish iron-clads off Callao is a sufficient testimony of the good service they would have rendered in time of need. The Legislature for 1864 met at the State House on the 6th of January. The Senate, which was unanimously Republican, made choice of Jonathan E. Field, of Stockbridgc, for Presi dent, and Stephen N. Gifford, clerk; each gentleman receiv ing every vote cast. Mr. Field, on assuming the duties of the chair, said, k It is our privilege and pride to represent a Commonwealth for whose course no apology has to be made. Those to whom she has committed the administration of her affairs, require no certificates of loyalty, and their patriotism has not to be defended. In the last three years, in storm and in sunshine, in the hour of national defeat and in the hour of national triumph, the course of our State has been one of persistent, unswerving devotion to the Union. Upon her fidelity those charged with the administration of the National Government have felt that they could at all times, and under all circumstances, firmly lean. In her there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. For those who have gone forth in our defence, we have no occasion to blush. The banner intrusted to Massachusetts regiments has ever O been borne with honor, whatever the hue of the hands by which it was upheld." The House was organized by the choice of Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, for Speaker, and William S. Robinson, of Maiden, for clerk. Each gentleman received every vote cast. Mr. Bullock, on taking the chair, spoke at considerable length. In the course of his address, he said, " When our predecessors met here a vear asfo, the skv was over- / o / cast. Ill-fortune at home, and not altogether good omens abroad, depressed our hearts. It was a period in which men of timid coun sels, men of sulky loyalty, men in sympathy with the public enemies, availed themselves of the general gloom, and added to the distraction and discouragement which always follow military reverses. But the opportunity of all such soon passed by, and ere midsummer they bowed before the effulgent victories of our arms. On the Lower Mississippi, THE GOVERNOR S ADDRESS. 523 the battle-ground of civilization and barbarism, near the home of the arch-traitor, in the abiding-place of the social curse which has been the cause of all our woe, the tide of reverse was turned back, the men of the East and the men of the West fought side by side, the star of Banks and the star of Grant sent forth their mingled radiance. Unfriendly cabinets and aristocracies abroad caught the foreshadowing, and improved their speech, if not their wish. The free and loyal States at home have been elastic, progressive, determined, since that day. Now we witness unwonted unity among ourselves. Now, with out much diversity, we stand together by the Government, and by those who administer it. Now, united, cheerful, responsive, we accede to the necessity, and accept the principles, of the policy of the Presi dent, as a basis of re-union of these States which shall endure through the policy of the fathers being at last re-affirmed and enforced, and a free republic stretching its broad belt from the eastern to the western sea, over all which the clank of the manacles of human bondage shall cease to be heard for ever." The Governor delivered his address on Friday, Jan. 8 ; a considerable portion of which he devoted to the military affairs of the Commonwealth. The receipts into the State treasury, during the year 1863, from all sources, were $7,229,823.18, and the expenditures during the same period were $6,728,597.70; leaving a surplus of receipts over expenditures of $501,225.48. Of the payments made, $5,116,032.19 were for State aid to the families of soldiers, and reimbursement of bounties paid by cities and towns, and bounties paid to soldiers under the act increasing bounties, passed at the extra session in November. In regard to tins act, the Governor recommended that it be extended so as to include " all men who in future enlist into the regular army under the late call of the President for troops," who might be credited to the quota of the district from which they enlisted. He also advised that the State aid be paid to families irrespective of their residence, "and to authorize relief to be given retro-actively when the situation of a family may require it." He also informed the Legisla ture that there was a reasonable hope that the United States would establish a general hospital in the Commonwealth, to which our sick and wounded soldiers might be transferred. A hospital has been established during the year at Worcester, and 524 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. was named in honor of the distinguished Surgeon-General of the Commonwealth, the United-States DALE General Hospital. The Governor said, " I was enabled, by an application to the Secretary of War, to pro cure for all Massachusetts men in the United-States Military Hospital, at Portsmouth Grove, R.I., and deemed fit to travel, the indulgence of a furlough for seven days on the occasion of our national and State Thanksgiving, to enable them to enjoy its festivities, and the delights of home. I have the pride to declare, that, of the two hundred and eighty- one men thus receiving furloughs, all but one returned, keeping their manly faith in a manly way ; while that one, delaying his return a few days, reported himself to the provost-marshal of his district, and received transportation as a straggler, not as a deserter. The condition in which they returned was such as to draw from the execu tive officer in charge of the hospital an expression highly honorable to our men." The Governor again called the attention of the Legislature to the coast defences, and invoked attention to their con dition. He also recommended the establishment of an acad emy for the instruction of young men in mathematics, civil, military, and practical engineering, and other studies, in con nection with infantry, artillery, and cavalry drill and tactics. The Governor devoted considerable space in his address to matters relating to recruiting and to the draft, and said, " Having sent into the field one man at least out of every three of her enrolled militia at some time or other since the war began, and having spent for the service already not less than fifteen millions of dollars, including municipal expenditures, but not including the national taxation, I do not think it unbecoming the people of this Commonwealth to suggest any measure of justice tending to pre serve her industry, her ability to be useful to the country, and yet to swell the ranks of the national armies." The Governor closed his address in the following eloquent and touching words : " But the heart swells with unwonted emotion when we remem ber our sons and brothers, whose constant valor has sustained on the field, during nearly three years of war, the cause of our country, of civilization and liberty. Our volunteers have represented Massachu- ELOQUENT EXTRACT. 525 setts, during the year just ended, on almost every field, and in every department of the army, where our flag has been unfurled, at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Fort Wag ner ; at Chickamauga, Knoxville, and Chattanooga ; under Hooker, Meade, Banks, Gilmore, Rosecrans, Burnside, and Grant. In every scene of danger and of duty, along the Atlantic and the Gulf; on the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Mississippi, and the Rio Grande ; under Dupont, Dahlgren, Foote, Farragut, and Porter, the sons of Massa chusetts have borne their part, and paid the debt of patriotism and valor. Ubiquitous as the stock they descend from, national in their opinions and universal in their sympathies, they have fought shoulder to shoulder with men of all sections, and of every extraction. On the ocean, on the rivers, on the land, on the heights where they thundered down from the clouds of Lookout Mountain the defiance of the skies, they have graven with their swords a record imperishable. " The muse herself demands the lapse of silent years to soften, by the influences of time, her too keen and poignant realization of the scenes of war, the pathos, the heroism, the fierce joy, the grief, of battle. But, during the ages to come, she will brood over their memory ; into the hearts of her consecrated priests will breathe the inspirations of lofty and undying beauty, sublimity, and truth, in all the glowing forms of speech, of literature, and plastic art. By the homely traditions of the fireside ; by the headstones in the church yard, consecrated to those whose forms repose far off in rude graves by the Rappahannock, or sleep beneath the sea, embalmed in the memories of succeeding generations of parents and children, the heroic dead will live on in immortal youth. By their names, their character, their service, their fate, their glory, they cannot fail. They never fail who die In a great cause : the block may soak their gore, Their heads may sodden in the sun, their limbs Be strung to city gates and castle walls ; But still their spirit walks abroad. Though years Elapse, and others share as dark a doom, They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts Which overpower all others, and conduct The world at last to FREEDOM. " The Edict of Nantes, maintaining the religious liberty of the Huguenots, gave lustre to the fame of Henry the Great, whose name will gild the pages of philosophic history after mankind may have forgotten the martial prowess and the white plume of Navarre. The 526 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. GREAT PROCLAMATION OF LIBERTY will lift the ruler who uttered it, our nation, and our age, above all vulgar destiny. "The bell which rang out the Declaration of Independence has found at last a voice articulate to proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof. It has been heard across oceans, and has modified the sentiments of cabinets and kings. The people of the Old World have heard it, and their hearts stopped to catch the last vespers of its echoes. The waiting continent has heard it, and already foresees the fulfilled prophecy, when she will sit redeemed, regenerated, and disinthralled by the irresistible genius of universal emancipation. " Several special messages were sent in by the Governor dur ing the session of the Legislature, among which (Feb. 13) was the report of an informal commission concerning the military instruction and training of the people of Massachusetts. April 13. A message, transmitting a printed copy of the annual report of the Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth, and the reports of the Quartermaster-General, Surgeon-General, and the Master of Ordnance for the year ending Dec., 31, 1863, in which he says : " I respectfully suggest to the General Court the importance of printing such a number of copies of these documents as will, to a rea sonable degree, supply the demand of the people for the particulars of the military annals of the Commonwealth, and the record of our sev eral volunteer military organizations in the Union army, during a year crowded with incidents, fruitful with valor, its rewards, and its casual ties. There can be few citizens of Massachusetts who have not a per sonal interest in this history." The Legislature remained in session until Saturday, May 14, when, having finished all the business, it was prorogued by the Governor. The entire session was devoted almost exclusively to matters of a local character. The ample provisions made by preceding legislatures for the care of our soldiers and their families, and the defences of our extended seacoast, left little more to be done in these directions. We therefore omit giving an abstract of the proceedings of the two houses. The acts and resolves which were passed at this session, which have a bearing upon LAWS PASSED BY THE LEGISLATURE. 527 the military history of the Commonwealth were as fol lows : First. An act to authorize towns to raise money as they may deem necessary by taxation, for the purpose of erecting monu ments " in memory of their soldiers who have died or may die in the service of our country in the present war." Second. An act to preserve the right of suffrage to soldiers and sailors, who, by reason of service, have not been assessed for taxes within two years, that they " may pay or tender to the treasurer of the town in which they reside the amount of a poll- tax for the current year, and thereupon shall be entitled to the right of suffrage within such town to the same extent as if their taxes had been regularly assessed and paid." Third. Soldiers enlisted in the army of the United States, who, while in the Commonwealth, may be sick with any conta gious or infectious disease, and needing hospital treatment may be admitted to Rainsford-Island Hospital upon the certificate of the Governor. Fourth. All moneys allotted by any soldier of this State shall be distributed by any officer of any city or town to the person entitled to receive such money without any deduction or any charge, commission, or claim for compensation, for any service in the distribution thereof. Fifth. There shall be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth to the Treasurer of the Discharged Soldiers Home, located on Springfield Street, in the city of Boston, to be expended by the directors of the institution in temporarily caring for and aiding disabled and destitute soldiers that have been honorably discharged from the service of the United States, a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Sixth. An act appropriating four thousand two hundred and five dollars and thirty cents ($4,205.30), the same being the proportion of Massachusetts of the estimated expenses of remov ing and re-interring the dead, and finishing the cemetery at Gettysburg ; also to Henry Edwards, Commissioner for Massa chusetts, the sum of one hundred and twenty- three dollars and forty-seven cents ($123.47) for expenses paid by him while at tending meetings of the Commissioners of said Soldiers National Cemetery. 528 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Every member of Congress, of course, had a great many duties to which he was obliged to attend. The Governor had occasion to write to many of them upon matters connected with the war. When answers were not received to letters upon im portant questions addressed by him to the departments, he would write to our Senators or to our members of the House of Repre sentatives ; but even these were not always attended to as promptly as the Governor wished. Among the questions of importance in regard to filling our quota was the acceptance of certain recruits, men of the very best character, who had enlisted for three years service in one of our heavy-artillery regiments, but, by a decision of the War Department, could not receive the bounty provided by Con gress to men thus enlisting. Many letters were written upon this subject, but without receiving satisfactory answers. The Adjutant-General asked the Governor how we could best settle the question. The Governor answered, " I have been unable to get satisfactory answers from either the War Department, or from gentlemen in Congress from our State ; write therefore to John B. Alley, your member of Congress : from him I have always had an answer whenever I have written him. If he can not accomplish the purpose, he will at least attend to the business, and return an intelligent answer." Accordingly, on the llth of January, the Adjutant-General, at the request of the Governor, wrote the following letter to Mr. Alley : - u At the request of His Excellency the Governor, I respectfully call your attention to the case which I present below. " Massachusetts has two regiments of heavy artillery in the field. The First, Colonel Tannatt, is stationed in the defences of Washin^- ^ ton. The Second, Colonel Frankle, is in the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. This is a popular arm of the service ; and. in re cruiting to fill the regiments to the full strength, a surplus of nearly two hundred recruits were obtained for the two regiments, which could not be accepted, because the regiments were filled. The men who are not accepted were disappointed, having enlisted with special reference to this arm of the service. " Desiring to satisfy the men, and advance the interest of the ser- THE SPRINGFIELD COMPANIES. 529 vice, His Excellency directed me, on the 2d inst., to telegraph to Major- General Butler, at Fortress Monroe, as follows : <k Do you want two companies of heavy artillery in addition to Colonel Frankle s regiment ? if so, I can furnish them. Please tele graph your application to the "War Department, and also telegraph your answer to me. "* WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General? " On the same day, I had the honor to receive from General Butler an answer, as follows : " FORTRESS MONROE, Jan. 12, 1864. " General SCHOULER, Boston. " Telegram received. Should like two more companies of heavy artillery very well. Get them ready. I go to Washington to-morrow, and will try and get them accepted. Will telegraph you from Wash ington. B. F. BUTLER, Major- General. " I have not received any further word from General Butler ; and, on the 6th of January, I telegraphed him at Washington as follows : " * Have you received authority to raise two companies of heavy artillery ? " To which General Butler answered the same day : " Authority received. Go ahead. " And accordingly we did go ahead. Of the men recruited, seventy- two had enlisted in Springfield, and were counted as part of its quota, and it was expected to raise a full company in that city ; Ex-Lieu tenant- Governor Trask and others having represented that it could be done. " Thus matters stood until Saturday, when His Excellency re ceived a letter, dated 6th inst., from Colonel Fry, U.S.A., Provost- Marshal-General, from which I make the following extract : " * You are hereby authorized by the Secretary of War to raise two companies for service at Fortress Monroe, Va., with the condition that the men enlisted for them shall not receive bounties. " The condition named we could not understand, and accordingly I telegraphed on the 9th (Saturday) to Colonel Fry as follows : " If Congress extends the time of paying bounties, will not the men enlisting in the two companies of heavy artillery for service at Fortress Monroe be entitled to receive them? In a word, will they not receive the same bounty as others ? "To which the following answer was received the same day: 34 530 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. " Men for the two artillery companies at Fortress Monroe will not under any circumstances get bounties, the companies being for special service. JAMES B. FRY, Provost- Mar shed- General? " You will readily perceive that the decision of Colonel Fry virtually suspends recruiting for these companies. They have never asked to serve on special duty. They were to be enlisted for three years, and to be subject to all commands of their superiors ; to march whenever and wherever ordered, whether to Fortress Monroe, Nashville, New Orleans, or Texas ; and this is what the men expect. Why, then, should Colonel Fry speak of them as for ; special duty ? But, even if they were placed on special duty, is there any thing in the law of Congress which debars soldiers on special duty from receiving the bounty which Congress allows ? These men are to serve for three years, and they are to stand in every particular as other volunteers. They ask no favors, but they expect to receive the bounty which other recruits receive, and which the law allows. " As one of these companies was to be raised in Springfield and vicinity, and as a large number of recruits have already been enlisted for it, it is the wish of His Excellency that you would show this letter to Mr. Dawes, and that he and you should see Colonel Fry or the Secretary of War, and have the decision of Colonel Fry in regard to these companies countermanded. Unless this be done the companies cannot be raised, and disappointment and bad feeling will be widely spread. " As yet we have not made the decision of Colonel Fry known, and will not until you and Mr. Dawes shall have seen Colonel Fry and the Secretary of War. Please give your earliest attention to this subject. WILLIAM SCHOULER. Adjutant- General." On this letter the Governor, in his own handwriting, made the following indorsement : " Read, approved, and the attention of Messrs. Alley and Dawes is specially called to this matter. All such affairs are immensely in jurious to recruiting, and bring the service into popular disrepute." The following letter to William Stowe, Springfield, Jan. 14, by the Adjutant-General, gives the result of this corre spondence. " I am sorry to inform you that the Secretary of War will not change his decision. His Excellency received a telegram half an hour ago from Hon. John B. Alley, in which he says the Secretary will not THE SPRINGFIELD COMPANIES. 531 allow the bounty to the recruits for the two companies of heavy artillery. I wish to know whether the men will stick, and run the risk of getting the bounty hereafter, which I have no doubt will be eventually allowed ; and, in my judgment, they are entitled to it by a law of Congress. I know the Governor will do his best, and I pre sume General Butler will, to have the bounty paid. The State bounty of $325 of course they will receive. I hope they will stick. The Governor has ordered the four persons selected by the company, to be commissioned ; and the commissions will be made out as soon as he learns that the company will hang together." The Governor requested the Adjutant-General to write again to Mr. Alley to thank him and Mr. Dawes for their efforts to induce the Secretary of War to change his decision. The letter said, " That we have been disappointed, and the men have been disap pointed, at the adherence of Mr. Stanton to his original decision, I need not affirm. We knew nothing about the arrangement which General Butler acceded to with the Secretary of War, in regard to the non-pay ment of bounties to these men, until we received the information from Colonel Fry, Provost-Marshal-General, some days after we received General Butler s despatch that l authority is given : go ahead. The Springfield company was enlisted before they knew of the decision which placed them outside of all other three years recruits, and which deprives them of the liberality which the Secretary of War and the laws of Congress gave to all recruits under the call of the President, of Oct. 17, 1863. The city of Springfield has to furnish, as her quota of the present call, 476 men. It is a large number for so small a city, especially when we take into consideration the many men for the service which that patriotic city has already furnished. The men com posing this company are represented to be of the best stock in Hampden County. They have enlisted for three years to FIGHT, they care not WHERE. They cannot understand, nor can any of us, why they should be placed outside the pale of congressional law and the general orders of the War Department. They enlisted to go forth to the front, with their lives in their hands, to yield them up, if it be so decreed, in any of the conflicts with the enemies of the Union. These brave and gallant men still adhere to their original design ; and I received a tele gram from Springfield this morning, that they would report in a body at Camp Meigs, Readville, to-morrow. u As old Dominie Sampson said, it is not the lucre they crave for. 532 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Hal the General Government offered no bounty, they would have rested satisfied : but it is the exception which is nmde in their case which rankles. It is regarded, and properly so, as a stain, and they feel it as a wound. " Again, we received last evening, from the War Department, copies of general orders, which announce that 4 a bounty of $400 will be paid to veteran volunteers who enlist, or re-enlist under existing orders, and a bounty of $300 to raw recruits who enlist in any three years organizations authorized by the War Department, either in service, or in process of completion, until the first day of March, 1864. " This, I understand, is the law of the land. Now, this Springfield company is an organization authorized to be recruited by the Secretary of War. and it is a three years organization. Why, then, I again ask, should the men not be paid what the law of Congress establishes, and the orders of the War Department promulgate ? " I wish it to be distinctly understood that I am a friend of Secretary Stanton. I have defended him on all occasions when I have heard him attacked. I have no complaint to make against any officer in the War Department. My official and personal relations with that De partment have been pleasant ; and I have never had cause for complaint, and have never made any. I therefore speak as a friend, for justice to deserving men. T think the Secretary of War has made a hasty deci- sion. founded upon an error, and that he will generously correct it. The twelve companies of the Second Regiment Massachusetts Heavy Ar tillery, into which these men expected to be placed, are at the seat of war. They are in the forts by companies from Norfolk, Va., to New- bern, N.C. The two additional companies which we ask to raise, one of which is already raised, expect to take their chances with the others. Why should they not be treated like their fellow-citizens who have ju*t left the State? " In conclusion, I would ask, is it well to raise a question of this kind at the present juncture ? It is too insignificant a matter for the War Department to make an issue upon ; while to the individual per sons, who have enlisted in good faith, it is a matter of great impor tance. Please show this letter to Mr. Dawes and to our Senators, if you think proper ; and if the subject is thought by you of sufficient importance to again see the Secretary, and present the case anew, I shall be pleased. All I can say is, that, whatever may be thought of the case in Washington, it is of importance here." General Butler was written to in regard to this matter, to know whether he had made any promise to the Secretary of THE SPRINGFIELD COMPANIES. 533 War, that the men thus enlisted should be regarded as upon special duty, and therefore not entitled to the Government bounty, as stated by Secretary Stanton. His letter is dated " Headquarters Eighteenth Army Corps, Department of Vir ginia and North Carolina, Fortress Monroe, Jan. 26, 1864," and was addressed to Hon. Henry Wilson, United-States Senate. He says, " I have the Second Regiment Massachusetts Heavy Artillery here. When they arrived with twelve full companies, the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts desired, by telegram, to know if two more companies would be accepted. I immediately answered that they would be ; and, when in Washington, I saw the Secretary of War, and asked him for permission to have them sent. I supposed, and he supposed, that they would be raised upon precisely the same terms as other recruits, and entitled to precisely the same bounties, no more, and no less. He gave me permission to have them raised, and gave an order to have them entered on the Provost-Marshal s books, and permitted me to tele graph to Adjutant- General Schouler, that they would be authorized, which I did. " By a letter received from Adjutant-General Schouler, it seems that it is now understood that these men were raised for special service, and are not entitled to the same bounties as other new recruits. The service for which they were raised is not special, but general, and no distinction should be made, or, as I believe, was intended to be made, by the Secretary of War, between them and other recruits for the reason that they were raised for special service ; and I repeat that they were to receive the same bounties as other recruits. This was my understanding, and it was his understanding, which I have no doubt he will at once recognize. I see no reason for any misunderstanding ; and I believe that if you will call upon him, and show him this note, if there is any misunderstanding it will be promptly corrected ; if not, the matter will stand upon this order." The result of it all was, that the Secretary of War receded from the position he had taken, and the bounty which the men were allowed to receive by the act of Congress was paid. The men went to the war, served faithfully, and did not return until Lee s army surrendered to General Grant, and the Re bellion was crushed. We have given considerable prominence to this subject of 534 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the Springfield companies, because, at the time when the men were recruited, the refusal of the Government to allow them the bounty to which they were clearly entitled, both by the law of Congress and the orders of the War Department, created a wide-spread dissatisfaction, and served for a time as a block upon the recruiting service in the State, and at a time, too, when men were most wanted, and it was of the highest importance to cultivate a kind regard in the hearts of volun teers, and the people generally, for the cause of the Union. It was also of special importance to the city of Springfield that the men should be accepted, and thus form a part of a large contingent which that city had to furnish under the call of the President for volunteers. It is from incidents of this kind that much of the historic interest of each State in the war is derived. We have already given the letter of Miss Philena M. Up- ham, transmitting a scrap-book which she had made, which, in our judgment, was one of the pleasant reminiscences of our great, active war. We have also given the letter of the Gover nor to Senator Sumner, requesting him to give the scrap-book to the Amory-square Hospital, to be first read by Miss Anna Lowell. We find on the Governor s files a letter of Jan. 9, to Miss Upham, in which he says, 4 1 trust that you will not attribute to me any want of appreciation of the thoughtful kindness which prompted you to prepare with such pains the manuscript volume for the use of convalescent soldiers, which you had the kindness to forward to me a few days ago. " 1 avail myself of the earliest moment of leisure from the labors of preparation for the meeting o f the Legislature, to return to you, in behalf of those whose weary hours the pages of your book will amuse and instruct, my most sincere thanks for this real labor of love. I have forwarded it, through the Hon. Charles Sumner, to Miss -mia Lowell (a sister of Colonel Charles R. Lowell, Second Massa- Cavalry). who is in charge of the Amory-square Hospital , in Washington; a lady whose intelligence will insure for your gift the warmest appreciation, and who will put it to the best uses. Gratefully acknowledging your gift, as I do every contribution t may conduce in any way to the welfare, the comfort, or the sement of our soldiers in camp or in the hospitals, I have the honor to he, &c. JoIIN A . ANDKEW . RE-ENLISTED VETERANS. 535 Complaints were made in January, that the men in camp at Long Island suffered severely from the cold, and that many of them were frost-bitten. The State paymaster, Edward P. Bond, was directed by the Governor to ascertain whether the complaints were true, and report. On the 12th of January, Mr. Bond having visited the island, and examined into the ^matter, reported that he was satisfied that there was not the slightest truth in the stories. " Since the winter commenced, the only case of frost-biting has been that of a man who was detailed as cook, and, living in a room by himself, suffered his fires to go out, and, in consequence, had his toes slightly bitten. He reported himself at the hospital, and an hour s application of cold water cured him. The guards are changed every hour, and, on very cold nights, every half-hour. The men have floored tents, stoves, and all the fuel they want. There has been but one death, except by the drowning of deserters, since the camp was established, and not one since the 1st of October." The order of the War Department allowing men in the service to re-enlist who had less than one year to serve of their original term was one of the wise measures of Mr. Stanton s adminis tration. It retained in the service a large body of veteran troops. Upwards of ten thousand of the men in the Massa chusetts regiments re-enlisted under this order, and were credited to the quota of this State. As an inducement to the re-enlist ment of veterans, the men were to receive large Government and State bounties, and were to be permitted to return home on a furlough of thirty days. Those who did not re-enlist neither received the bounties nor the furloughs. The men came home with a portion of their officers, in regimental order. The reception of these veterans was enthusiastic and heartfelt. It was a matter of deep interest to look upon the bronzed faces and martial forms of these heroes. Those who had occasion to pass through Boston, on their way to their homes, were cordially received by the State and city authorities, and received a banquet from the city in Fancuil Hall, and were addressed sometimes by the Governor, sometimes by the Adju tant-General, and always by Mr. Lincoln, the Mayor of Boston. The first to arrive reached Boston on the 17th of January ; 536 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. and, the next day, the Governor wrote the following letter to Mayor Lincoln : "I should neglect a most agreeable duty, if I should omit to acknowledge in the most cordial manner the hearty and generous reception which the city government, under your Honor s direction, extended yesterday to the returning veterans, and proposes to con tinue towards the other veteran corps, as from time to time they pass through Boston, on their furlough, after re-enlistment. The highest compliment I can pay to its fervor and liberality is to say that it is consistent with the entire history of the municipality of Boston under your Honor s administration." The regiment here spoken of was the Thirty-second, of which Colonel F. J. Parker was the original colonel. As an acknowl edgment of his past services, and in honor of the regiment, the Governor appointed him to act on the occasion as one of his staff. On the 20th of January, the Governor addressed him. this note : k I beg to express my thanks for your service as an officer of my staff for the special occasion of the reception of the Thirty-second Regiment, last Sunday, and also my regret that I did not find oppor tunity personally to express to you at Faneuil Hall my sense of your co-operation." On the 21st of January, the Governor telegraphed to Secre tary Stan ton, "Will you authorize me to arrange with General Burnside to assign to his command an expedition of Massachusetts veteran or ganizations now being raised here ? It will greatly promote their completion, and the General will come here personally to assist." The authority asked for was not given; but these regiments, as soon as completed, were forwarded to the Army of the Potomac, and afterwards went with Grant and Meade in their advance through the AVilderness. Major-General W. S. Hancock, commanding the Second Army Corps, then on recruiting service at Harrisburg, Pa., to fill up his corps, wrote to the Governor, requesting him to use every means in his power to recruit the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-eighth Regiments, and the THE REVIEW AT KEADVILLE. 537 company of sharpshooters which were in his command. On the 22(1 of January, the Governor wrote to General Hancock, informing him that no efforts on his part should be wanting to fill up the regiments as he requested. He also said, " I should gladly welcome you to this State, if you should be able to come here on the recruiting business on which you are engaged, and be glad to have you address the people here in behalf of your corps. But public interest, and the stream of recruits, can be better turned towards the Second Corps by the return here of some of the regiments which belong to it, than by any individual effort. If, at the time the Nineteenth shall return, you shall be able to come for a day to Boston, and assist in making a public appeal to fill it up, your presence would be of great assistance." General Hancock was prevented by his public duties from visiting Boston ; but every effort was made, and with a fair degree of success, to fill up the Massachusetts Regiments in the Second Corps. On the 25th of January, the Governor telegraphed to Gen eral Burnside at New York, " I have fixed Feb. 3 for reviewing the troops at Readville. You must not disappoint us. The whole Legislature have voted to attend." The review spoken of in this despatch took place on the day named. General Burnside was present, and reviewed the men. The Governor and staff, the Legislature, and an immense crowd of people, were present to witness it. The day was unpleasant, and the mud was ankle-deep ; but the review went on. The condition of the troops, and their soldierly appear ance, elicited the praise of all, and specially of the distinguished reviewing officer. O On the 26th of January, Major Ware, assistant military secretary, addressed the following letter to the editor of the Christian Watchman and Reflector, by request of the Gov ernor : "I beg leave to inclose the following article from a late number of your paper, and very respectfully to ask your attention to the facts. "On Saturday (the day before the Sunday above-mentioned), the attention of His Excellency the Governor was called to the camp at 538 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Keadville, by several communications from town authorities, and one from the Mayor of Roxbury, alleging that the troops there were suffering severely from the cold, which at that time was unusual, from want of proper clothing, and in other ways. " It did not seem to the Governor to be fit or proper that several thousand men should suffer for one single day in a Massachusetts camp within ten miles of the State House, if by any efforts of his it could be prevented. He accordingly ordered the above-named to report to him for duty early on Sunday morning, and with them lie devoted the entire day to a personal and minute examination of the complaints that had been made of the condition of the men and of the camp. Prompt measures were taken to disabuse the minds of those persons who had been misinformed, and arrangements were made for the immediate relief of whatever inconvenience was found to exist, by the supply of certain articles not allowed by the United-States army regulations. The result proved that this Sunday was a much more proper day than any day of the week following would have been for instituting inquiries affecting the comfort, and possibly the lives, of Massachusetts soldiers. " I would respectfully ask the insertion of this letter in your paper, confident that no other explanation can be needed, at least by the friends of the soldiers in Camp Meigs. " On the 30th of January, the Governor wrote to the President of the United States, " I desire permission earnestly to recommend to you that Brigadier- General George L. Andrews, commanding the Corps d Afrique in Louisiana, be promoted to the rank of major-general. The com mand is so extensive and important, and General Andrews has been so identified with the undertaking of organizing colored troops in the Department of the Gulf, that it seems to me every way most desirable and important that he should have the rank and staff that would best enable him successfully to carry on the work. He is a most accom plished and scientific soldier, who has done credit to every rank in which he has hitherto served, and would, I have no doubt, do honor to the appointment to a higher grade ; in fact, General Andrews has for a long time been performing the duties of a major-general, having a large and difficult division. I think it of great importance to the undertaking of raising colored troops, that General Andrews, who has thus far conducted it, should not be superseded by the accidental presence of an officer of superior rank." THE BURIAL OF SOLDIERS. 539 General Andrews, here spoken of, was one of the first volun teer officers in the war, having been commissioned lieutenant- colonel of the Second Massachusetts Infantry, May 24, 1361. He was afterwards commissioned colonel of that regiment, and O " served with distinction to the end of the Rebellion. He is now the United-States Marshal of Massachusetts. Charles O. Green, one of the selectmen of Shrewsbury, wrote to the Governor for authority to have the remains of a soldier who had fallen in battle brought home for interment. On the 3d of February, the Governor wrote to Mr. Green that he had no authority in the matter, and said, " My own inclination with regard to those of my friends who have fallen in this war is to have them rest on the fields where they fell. There is no other place of burial for them more congenial to their repose or to my feelings. But if the feelings of others are different, and if it would lessen the grief of a parent to have the remains of a son removed from the battle-field to the churchyard near his New-England home, I would be the last person to interpose any obstacle, not warranted in reason, to the satisfaction of her desire." In the month of February, Surgeon-General Dale was ap pointed by the Governor superintendent of the State agencies, so far as they related to the care of sick and wounded soldiers ; and the agents were directed to correspond directly with him on those subjects, and to forward to him from time to time their accounts of disbursements, expenses, &c., to be audited and adjusted at his office. This arrangement relieved the Governor of considerable labor and care, and, at the same time, added materially to the duties and responsibilities of the Surgeon-General. On the 2d of March, the Governor wrote to the Surgeon-General thus : " There are three couriers employed under my authority, to have personal care and charge of our soldiers, particularly those sick and wounded, en route between Washington and New York. This system was established by me some time ago, on consultation with our various State agents, particularly those at New York and Washington." The compensation allowed by the State to these men was one hundred dollars a month ; a sum most wisely and humanely 540 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. expended, as the couriers took care of our disabled and suffering men when on board rail-cars, and saw that they were proper y provided for at their places of destination. On the 18th of February, the Governor received a letter from Major-General Wool, containing forty-seven dollars in Southern bills, " worth perhaps fifty cents on the dollar. This money was sent to the commandant of the Fifteenth Regiment. It was sent to Private Gilchrist at Richmond, and was returned to Fortress Monroe. Not knowing what to do with it, I have taken the liberty," says General Wool, " to send it to you, to make such disposition of it as you may judge proper." The first colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment was Charles Devens, who had been appointed by the President brigadier- general of volunteers, and was, at the time this letter was written, in command of the camp for drafted men at Long Island, Boston Harbor. The Governor transmitted General Wool s letter to General Devens, who wrote an answer to it Feb. 22, in which he gives an interesting account of this money. He said that the money properly belonged to the Fifteenth Regiment; that, in the winter of 1861-62, he sent to Captain Studley, in Richmond, two hundred dollars for the benefit of the prisoners there, belonging to the Fifteenth Regi ment. Captain Studley was himself a prisoner in Richmond, lie was to expend the money for the men according to his own discretion. The money had been sent to him by some friends in Boston, after the disaster at Ball s Bluff, and was part of a larger sum ($1,000), to be expended in any way he thought proper. When the two hundred dollars arrived in Richmond, a portion of the men of the Fifteenth had been sent to Salis bury, N.C. Captain Studley sent this sum of forty-seven dollars for them to Sergeant Taft, who had died in prison before the money arrived. Although the men were told of the money, the jailer would not give it to them, and the money was sent back to the regiment. A second attempt was made to get the money to the men in Salisbury, by sending it to Private Gilchrist ; but he had been released before it reached that place. General Devens was not aware what had become of the money, although he knew that it had not been received, THE BATTLE OF OLUSTEE. 541 until he read General Wool s letter, which the Governor had sent him. He had never succeeded in getting any money to our prisoners in Salisbury. He had informed Captain Studley that the men could have more money when they wanted it, and the captain had informed the men at Salisbury. General Devens concludes his letter as follows : " This sum should therefore be sent to the commanding officer of the Fifteenth, for the benefit of the regiment ; and I am sorry that they yet have men in that infernal prison-house of Richmond who can expend it there." On the 4th of March, the Governor wrote to J. Z. Goodrich, Collector of the Port of Boston, " On the 12th of December last, I received from Mr. Caleb Howe, Jr., information that led to the arrest of officers and crew of the schooner Alliance, of Bear River, N.S., for aiding soldiers to desert from the camp on Long Island, some of whom were tried, and, through witnesses obtained by Mr. Howe s influence, were convicted of the offence. I learn that Mr. Howe is an applicant for a place in the Custom House. Please give him the benefit of any service this state ment may do him with you." On the 15th of March, the Governor wrote to Brigadier- General George H. Gordon, formerly colonel of the Second Massachusetts Regiment, who had forwarded to him a list of the casualties in the battle of Olustee, Fla. " I regret, with you, that our forces should have met with so heavy a loss for such a barren result, and would express my warmest ad miration at the brave conduct of our troops in that action : both white and black seem to have acquitted themselves nobly." This letter reminds us of one of our colored soldiers who was severely wounded in the battle, and received an honorable discharge, and who returned to Massachusetts. He reported himself to the office of the Adjutant-General, showed his dis charge paper and descriptive list. The poor fellow had been shot in the face by a musket-ball, which had passed through both of his cheeks, and had taken away a part of his tongue, so that he could with difficulty speak so as to be understood. He told us that he was left on the field, and, when our troops re- 542 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. treated, he came within the enemy s lines. He was determined, however, not to be taken prisoner, if he could avoid it ; and not withstanding the severity of his wounds, and weakness from the loss of blood, he managed to make his w r ay for three miles, part of the time on his hands and knees, until he came within our lines again. He was sent to hospital ; and, when he had re covered sufficiently to endure the fatigues of a voyage home, he was discharged, and sent to Boston. He complained that he had been charged eighteen dollars, which sum was taken from his pay, for the loss of his musket and knapsack, which he had left on the field, being unable to carry them and save him self from being made a prisoner. We thought it a hard case, and represented the facts in a letter to the proper department at Washington ; but no attention was ever given to it, and the soldier suffered the loss. It was proposed by the selectmen of Plymouth, to call one of the earthwork forts, being erected in that town for the pro tection of the harbor, Fort Andrew, in honor of the Governor. On the 16th of March, he wrote to William T. Davis, chair man of the Board of Selectmen of Plymouth, as follows : " No fort as yet bears the name which your Board of Selectmen has so generously proposed for the larger fort now in progress in Plymouth harbor, nor had any ambition of my own ever suggested to my mind the possibility of becoming in that manner associated with such a work. I am deeply sensible of the honor ; and, while I feel that it does not properly belong to me, I can only leave to you and your associates the final decision, with the single suggestion that it would seem to me more fitting the occasion to connect the name of Edward Winslow, who was the first Governor of the Plymouth Colony, with one of the fortifications of the harbor of Plymouth, than the name you propose, even if I were a hundred times more worthy than I know myself to be." The two forts here referred to were subsequently named Fort Andrew and Fort Standish. The largest and most important one was named after the Governor of the State, and the smaller one in honor of the Puritan captain of the colony, Captain Miles Standish. On the 17th of March, the Governor wrote to H. P. Sturgis, LIBERAL DONATION FROM ENGLAND. 543 of Boston, acknowledging the receipt of a note from him cover ing copies of two letters, one from Mr. Russell Sturgis, of London, and the other from Mr. N". H. Carna, also of London, and a check on a Boston Bank for $1,312. This money was given by Mr. Carna, to be expended by Governor Andrew in behalf of those to " whom the proclamation by the President of the United States, supported by the Union arms, has secured the inestimable blessing of liberty." The Governor then says, " I have spoken to Dr. Le Baron Russell, who is actively engaged as chairman of our committee on teachers, of the propriety of sending, in return, copies of some reports and documents illustrating the success attending the efforts already made to educate and improve the moral and social condition of the emancipated colored people. Dr. Russell will place a number of these documents in your hands ; and I beg of you the favor to transmit them, through Mr. Russell Sturgis, to Mr. Carna." Mr. Carna, we believe, was an English gentleman of wealth and high social position, who sympathized warmly with the cause of the Government, and the elevation and improvement of the colored race. On the 24th of March, the Governor wrote again to Miss Philena M. Upham, acknowledging the receipt of a second scrap-book, which she had made for the use and amuse ment of our sick and wounded soldiers in hospitals. The Governor informs Miss Upham, that this second volume had been "placed in the hands of our agent in Washington, Mr. Gardiner Tufts, to be put where he should judge best. I beg you to accept my grateful thanks for your thoughtful remem brance of our suffering soldiers." We find on the Governor s files a letter addressed to him by Owen Lovejoy, a member of Congress from Illinois, dated Washington, Feb. 22, from which we make the following characteristic extract : " Do you know that I am hoping, when slavery has been swept away, for a revival of religion, pure and undefiled, which will be em inently practical, and the cause that it knows not it will search out ; and, instead of expending its energies in theologies and creeds and 544 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLIOX. rubrics, it shall go around, like its Divine Author, healing the sick, cleansing lepers, giving eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, and charity to all. ... I am sick, and have used the hand of another, and feel unable to dictate any more. May God bless you and the Old Bay State ! " Mr. Lovejoy was for many years a distinguished member of Congress from Illinois, and was a brother of Rev. Mr. Lovejoy, who, more than thirty years ago, had bis printing-office attacked in Alton, 111., by a mob, and was himself slain, because of the anti-slavery sentiments of which be was an eloquent and powerful advocate. Mr. Lovejoy, the writer of the above letter, died a short time after it was written. Major Horace O. Whittemore, of the Thirtieth Regiment, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, Nov. 26, 1863 ; but, be fore it was issued, certain complaints were made to the Gov ernor in regard to him, which induced him to withhold the commission until an investigation was made by Brigadier-Gen eral Burt, Judge- Advocate-General of Massachusetts. On the llth of April, the Governor wrote to the Adjutant-General, " I have to direct that the commission be delivered to Major Whitte more (now Lieutenant-Colonel Whittemore) ; it being satisfactorily es tablished, in my judgment, that no proper objection to his promotion exists, and that those which were suggested had their origiu in mis take. I ana of opinion that Lieutenant-Colonel Whittemore is a zealous and faithful officer ; and I take this occasion to say that the condition in which he brought his veterans home on their present furlough is evidence of a high degree of intelligence and care, exercised by a com petent and efficient commander. Their appearance was in all respects creditable and satisfactory." The officer above referred to was major of the Fourth Regi ment, in the three months service, and was the first loyal officer to touch the soil of Virginia, after hostilities were com menced, having landed at Fortress Monroe on the morning of April 20, 1861. On the 19 th of April, the Governor wrote by his military secretary, Colonel Browne, to William E. Parmenter, of West Cambridge, " I send you copies of correspondence concerning an application of EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 545 Colonel Joselyn, of our Fifteenth Regiment, precisely similar to that in the case in which you are interested. You will see that it is about hopeless to induce the Secretary of War to let any rebel go from the North to the South, to arrange an exchange for himself. But General Hitchcock seems to think there would be no objection to the reverse of the arrangement, and is willing to arrange, with any of our men whom the rebels will send North, for the return of rebels, and exchange for them. I will stir up the case again, nevertheless." In April, two enlisted men were tried by court-martial for military offences, and sentenced to be shot. On the 21st of April, the Governor wrote to Major Cabot, commanding Fort Warren, where the condemned men were confined, " Are there any mitigating circumstances in the cases of either of the two soldiers under sentence of death, which would justify my asking the President or General Dix by telegraph to commute or de lay execution? I would gladly save either, or both, if consistent, and, if any doubt exists, will urge delay for investigation." We do not find the answer which Major Cabot returned to this letter. It was probably unfavorable, as the men were shot, in compliance with the sentence pronounced by the court-mar tial. On the 25th of April, the Governor telegraphed to Secretary Stanton, that he had received a despatch from General Dix, in forming him that all of the heavy artillery companies on duty in the forts would be immediately ordered to the field, and requesting that a militia regiment be called out to take their places at Fort Warren and elsewhere. The Governor says, " In order to systematize matters, I wish you would let our twelve heavy artillery companies be organized and march as a regiment. Eight companies were raised for general service. Cabot s battalion of four companies, though raised with special understanding, yet will march willingly with other eight in regimental organization, under him as colonel, for heavy artillery duty." The request was peremptorily refused by Secretary Stanton. On the 25th of April, the Governor wrote to Senator Sumner and forwarded him copies of the telegrams he had received, and those which he had sent. The twelve companies numbered about eighteen hundred men. Referring to Secretary Stanton s 35 546 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. refusal to allow the companies a regimental organization, the Governor said, "This I consider to be one. of the most bold and unjustifiable of outrages. Our men are to be scattered about, without organization, head, centre, field, or staff. I do not complain that they are called for, although raised for special duty here. They will go as good men, with good cheer. But this treatment is not to be passed by without remon strance. I trust you and the delegation in Congress will see that eighteen hundred men of Massachusetts volunteers will not be called to the field, as they are intended to be called by the Government, without a regimental organization. The next step will be to draft our people per capita, to fill the regiments of other States. If need be, claim at the hands of the President our proper rights. He is the re sponsible head : let him be held responsible." A portion of these companies were sent to the front ; but the battalion under Major Cabot, on duty in Fort Warren, was not allowed to go. The necessity of its services at the forts for the defence of Boston, and the large number of rebel prisoners which they had to guard, were duties of too great importance to be intrusted to inexperienced companies of militia. The other companies were placed on garrison duty in the defences of Washington, and were soon after given a regimental form of organization. There were at this time one hundred and seventy- two rebel prisoners at Fort Warren, among whom were Captain Reed of the " Tacony," Captain Webb of the "Atlanta," half a dozen of Morgan s guerillas, several of Longstreet s officers, and a large number of blockade-runners ; many of them desperate characters, all of whom required close watching. There were one hundred and one guns mounted in the fort, and the mag azines were well supplied with proper ammunition. Major Cabot had given great attention to the discipline of his men in heavy artillery practice. He had also made a valuable chart, showing the range of the various channels. This knowledge was of great value, and had been gained through much practice. There was a constant detail for guard duty of seventy-five men. For these and other reasons, it was deemed unadvisable to re lieve the fort of this garrison of practised artillerists, and to supply their places with companies of raw militia. SECRETARY STANTON. 547 It would appear from the correspondence on the Governor s files, that some misunderstanding and ill-feeling existed on the part of the Secretary of War and the Governor. It appears that Governor Andrew had written Francis P. Blair, Sen., a letter, requesting him to see the President in relation to Captain Ralph O. Ives, of the Massachusetts Tenth Regiment, who was a prisoner at Richmond. He had been dismissed the service by orders from the War Department, while yet a prisoner. The object of writing to Mr. Blair was to have him reinstated in his rank. Mr. Blair was personally acquainted with Captain Ives. This letter had been given to Secretary Stanton by the President, and he had taken offence at it. Mr. Stanton also complained to Mr. Hooper, member of Congress, that the Gov ernor had delayed sending forward the heavy artillery companies. On the 3d of May, the Governor addressed a letter to Mr. Hooper, in which he says, " Mr. Stanton is utterly and entirely mistaken in saying or sup posing that the forwarding of those companies has been delayed for a single hour by me. It is not in my power to delay them, even were I so disposed. They have been mustered into the service of the United States, and were in no manner under my control, as Mr. Stanton must perceive on a moment s reflection." The Governor then goes on to show that there had been no delay whatever in forwarding those companies, but that they had been forwarded with the utmost despatch. One of the reasons given by Mr. Stanton for keeping them back was, that the Governor had been disappointed in not procuring for them a regimental organization. This he pronounced equally un founded, but still insisted upon the justice of his request. " The regimental organization," he said, " is due to these companies and still more to our batteries in the field, due to their accomplished officers, and necessary for their efficiency and usefulness. It is given to every other State that asks it, even to those having many fewer companies than Massachusetts has in the field, and is denied only to its" In regard to Major Cabot s battalion at Fort Warren, he 548 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. " I would say that no one can fail to perceive that the fort would only be a source of danger to this city, instead of a protection, if left to the care of companies of raw militia without a single hour s drill in the use of the guns, or (many of them) a day s acquaintance with the duties of a soldier. It is not impossible that the public property exposed there, the forts and their raw garrisons, would be an easy prey to the prisoners now guarded there, and the city itself, for a time, at their disposal. There are accomplished rebel officers confined in the fort ; among them, an accomplished artillery officer from Long- street s army, besides a large number of the most dangerous and desperate class of prisoners." The Governor s letters on this subject were so frank, and his representations so proper, that Mr. Stanton at once agreed that he was mistaken, and that the Governor was right, and this set the matters between the Secretary and the Governor upon the same pleasant footing as before, and so they con tinued until the end of the war. The letter of the Governor to Mr. Hooper was written on the same day that General Grant commenced his memorable march across the Rapidan towards Richmond. On the 7th of May, the Governor telegraphed to Mr. Hooper, House of Representatives, Washington, " General Schouler reports that he and Major Clarke, U.S.A., as sistant Provost-Marshal for Massachusetts, have agreed on figures, showing our total deficiency, on May 1, was only 4,076 men, with some credits not yet ascertained." Up to this time, no credits whatever had been allowed by the General Government for men furnished by Massachusetts in the navy, which amounted, in round numbers, to upwards of 23,000 men, which, if credited, as they were a few weeks after wards by an act of Congress, would have shown that Massa chusetts had not only filled her contingent upon every call of the President, but would have a surplus of about 19,000 men. On the 6th of May, the Governor wrote to the Secretary of War, urging the appointment of Colonel William F. Bartlett, of the Fifty-seventh Regiment, as brigadier-general. Colonel Bartlett, while a captain in the Twentieth Regiment, had lost a INJUSTICE TO COLORED TROOPS. 549 leg in the service. He afterwards raised the Forty-ninth (nine months ) Regiment, and went with it as colonel, to the Depart ment of the Gulf. His gallantry and coolness before Port Hudson commanded the admiration of both armies. He was wounded there also. On his recovery, he was commissioned colonel of the Fifty-seventh, and, when the letter was written, was with his regiment in the Ninth Army Corps. The Gov ernor concludes his letter as follows : "You will note that this is the second time Colonel Bartlett has marched from Massachusetts at the head of a regiment, since losing his leg in battle on the Peninsula. Besides peculiar courage and self- possession in action, he is a young man of fine powers, conspicuous for general mental capacity, and of superior culture. He is a graduate of Harvard College. I have the honor now to request, and express my fervent wish, that he may receive at once that commission, as well deserved by an intrepidity and a merit so eminent." Colonel Bartlett was commissioned brigadier-general of vol unteers, June 27, 1864, and was afterwards bre vetted major- general for brave and meritorious services in the field. On the 10th of May, the Governor forwarded to Senator Surnner a letter which he had received from Colonel Hartwell, of the Fifty-fifth Regiment, showing the discontent which ex isted in that and the other colored regiment, because of the refusal of the Government to pay them the same as white troops. In forwarding the letter, the Governor writes, " For God s sake, how long is the injustice of the Government to be Continued towards these men ? Is it intended, by still deliberately with holding from them what the Attorney-General of the United States has decided to be their legal right, to goad them into mutiny, and to quench the mutiny with blood ? . . . The wives and children of many of them have been forced into public almshouses by their necessities. . . . If mutiny shall occur, and blood shall be shed, the responsibility will rest, before God, on the Government at Washington. I have not words to express my feelings of indignation and shame at the fraudu lent conduct of our Government in this matter, which, since Mr. Bates s opinion, is without a shadow of palliation. ... I entreat you to see the President personally, and beg him, for the sake of justice and of the country, to prevent the shedding of innocent blood, and to cause these men to be paid instantly. " 550 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. The first six months of 1864 were chiefly devoted by the Gov ernor and other State officers, and the city and town authorities, to raising recruits, forming new regiments, and paying bounties. The new enrolment of the State, made under the general super vision of State and United-States authorities, did not give satisfaction in many localities, and bore with great hardship especially upon our seaport and fishing towns, many of their young men being already in the naval service, for whom they re ceived no credit. The files of the Governor s and the Adjutant- General s office show that several thousand letters were received and written, bearing upon this subject. Most of the letters from the State House were written by the assistant Ad jutant-General, Major William Rogers, and were addressed to the authorities in the different towns, correcting mistakes in the returns made in the enrolment, explaining the orders received from Washington relating to the draft, and urging the necessity of furnishing volunteers to fill their quotas, and thus to avoid conscription. Many of the town officers were inexperienced, and were oftentimes defrauded by a class of men who represented themselves as recruiting agents, who had men at their command, to fill quotas for a certain sum of money. The town authorities, anxious to avoid a draft, gave a too willing ear to the represen tations of these men, and paid the town s money, before the men had been mustered in, and proper credits given to the towns. When the muster and descriptive rolls were received at the State House from the United-States mustering officers, and from the various camps of rendezvous, they did not show, in many instances, that the men had been enlisted, and were credited to the towns which had advanced the local bounty ; so that towns which were supposed to have filled their quotas were still deficient in the number of men required of them. These failures caused much dissatisfaction, and, as a matter of course, the blame was attributed to the Adjutant-General, who it was supposed made out the rolls, and gave the credits, neither of which were true. These failures to obtain credits were dis cussed in some of the newspapers in the State, and especially in a paper called the Vineyard Gazette, published in Edgar- town, Dukes County. COMPLAINTS OF TOWN OFFICERS. 551 A convention of delegates, representing the discontented towns, was held in Boston, in June ; at which there were speeches made, and resolutions passed, reflecting upon the State au thorities, and especially upon the Adjutant-General, who, in the April preceding, had addressed a letter to the Governor, call ing his attention " to the way in which men enlisted by the several town authorities to fill their quotas are credited by orders from Washington, which is creating much dissatisfaction, and is doing great injustice." In this letter the Adjutant-Gen eral pointed out the very evils which the convention complained of, and contained suggestions which, adopted by the authorities at Washington, would have prevented their continuance. Of this letter, and of the efforts made by the Governor and the Adjutant-General to have credits given correctly, the members of the June convention had never inquired into, and were totally ignorant of. If they had been acquainted with these facts, they would probably have passed resolutions of a different character. It was the intention of the Adjutant-General to have taken no notice of the proceedings of the convention, or of the discussions in the newspapers, or of a " circular signed by Kich- ard L. Pease and others," dated Edgartown, June 13. But at the request of the Governor, he wrote the following letter : ADJUTANT-GENERAL S OFFICE, Boston, June 24, 1864. To His Excellency JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor and Commander-in-chief. GOVERNOR, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date, calling my attention to a circular signed by Richard L. Pease and others, dated Edgartown, June 13. I had seen this cir cular before ; and I have read also articles in the Vineyard Gazette, upon the subject spoken of in the circular. I have not deemed it my duty to reply to these attacks, knowing as I did how utterly groundless they all were, so far as they regarded the Adjutant- General, or the clerks in his office. From what I learn, the complaint is, that certain towns have enlisted, and paid local bounties to men whose names appear upon the muster arid descriptive rolls in this office, credited to other towns ; and, in some cases, names appear upon the muster-rolls as from one town, and upon the descriptive rolls as from another. Another class is of men whose names appear cred ited to no town upon the muster-rolls, and, upon the descriptive rolls, 552 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. to the town where they properly belong. For these errors, discrepan cies, and omissions the parties blame the Adjutant-General, or the clerks in his office, with what justice let the following facts show. The rolls in this office show the names of about eighty-five thousand men. It would be strange, if, in making out these rolls, there should not have been some errors ; but I believe them to be the most correct rolls in the possession of any State ; and I know this is the opinion of Major Breck, U.S.A., who is the officer having the charge of the rolls in Washington. If they are not correct, it has not been the fault of any one in this office ; for, from the very beginning of the Re bellion until now, it has been the constant and unremitting endeavor of every one in this office to have the rolls correct. But it appears that the gentlemen who find fault suppose that the rolls are made in this office, and under my immediate supervision ; when the truth is, the rolls are made at the camps, by the officers in charge. When it is reported to me that a company or regiment is recruited to the proper standard, and the muster-rolls completed, an order is issued to the United-States mustering officer to go to camp, and muster it in. Three copies of the roll are made out : one is sent to the War Department, one is retained by the captain of the company, and one is sent to me. These rolls are properly signed by the mustering officer, who certi fies, "on honor," that they are correct. I then issue an order to the officer in command of the camp to have the " descriptive roll " made out ; and he has always been urged to see that they are made out correct. Before the company or regiment leaves the State, these rolls are deposited in this office, and are open to the inspection of any re sponsible person who wishes to examine them. At the commencement of the Rebellion, and up to a very recent day, the muster-rolls used by the United-States authorities did not show the residence of the person ; and it was on account of this defect that I had a form of blank made, which is known as a " descriptive roll ; " on this roll the residence of the person is given, and it has been from this roll that certificates for the State aid have been issued. These rolls have been regarded as so correct, that the Adjutant- General of the United States has requested copies for his office, where the mus ter-rolls of Massachusetts regiments or companies have been lost, or were never returned to his office. Your Excellency will see, by the above simple statement, that the rolls, about which complaint is made, are not made by me, or by any one in this office. They are made in the several camps, under the su pervision of officers appointed by your Excellency to command them. LETTER OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 553 They are all properly certified to by the United- States mustering and company officers ; and, in regard to the descriptive rolls, generally by the adjutant of the regiment. These rolls remain on file here, to be consulted whenever necessary. I might here close this communication, but I wish to add something more. Few complaints were ever made that the rolls were incorrect until lately, and that since the inauguration of the system of offering large State and local bounties. This system warmed into life a certain class of men known as recruiting or substitute brokers, who agree to fill the quotas of towns for a specified sum. I have not a high opinion of this class ; and I have no doubt that many of the selectmen and town agents have been grossly swindled by them. Numerous cases have come to my knowledge, where they have given certificates that they had furnished the men, and that the men had been mustered in, when the facts were not so ; and bounty money has been paid to re cruits and brokers before any assurance could be given that the recruit would be accepted, and credited to the town. I have no doubt, that, in many cases, the recruit and broker were fellow-partners in the swindle. Again, I have no doubt that gross wrong has been done by these brok ers in this way; viz., men who go into new regiments can only be mustered in when the company is filled : this sometimes takes weeks, and months. The broker s recruit goes to camp ; and, before the mus ter is made, the broker sells the man again, and he turns up at last as a recruit for a certain ward in Boston, when he originally enlisted, it may be, for the quota of Edgartown. The Vineyard Gazette says that Edgartown paid local bounties to the men who enlisted for the quota of that town, and were not credited to it, the sum of $10,375, and lays the blame upon this office. I have already shown that this office had nothing to do with making out the rolls, or with giving credits. I regret that any town should have expended this sum without gaining any reward ; but, instead of finding fault with innocent parties, I respectfully submit, that the tax payers of the town might properly ask the gentlemen, who confess that they paid the money, why they paid it before they had positive knowledge that the men were credited to the quota of their town ? Common prudence would seem to dictate this course. When Brigadier-General Devens had command of the camp at Long Island, a few months ago, he brought to my attention the fact, that some selectmen, who had received enlistment papers from this office, had signed the same in blank, and had left them with brokers in Boston, to get the men, and fill out the certificates, which certificates read as follows : 554 MASSACHUSETTS^ THE REBELLION. " I certify, on honor, that I have minutely inspected the volunteer, , previously to his enlistment, and that he was entirely sober when he enlisted ; that, to the best of my judgment and belief, he is of lawful age ; and that, in accepting him as duly qualified to perform the duties of an able-bodied soldier, I have strictly observed the regu lations which govern the recruiting service." Then follows a description of the person recruited. Only last week, a roll was presented at this office of sixty-four men in the navy, with a request that they be credited to a certain town in this vicinity, sworn to by the chairman of the selectmen, that the men " were legal citizens of said town, and liable to do military duty therein." And yet thirty-six of these men were rebel prisoners, taken at Missionary Ridge, Tenn., sent to the military prison at Rock Island, 111., where they took an oath of allegiance, and after wards sent to Massachusetts, where they were enlisted as sailors, and were put on board the receiving ship Ohio. Not a man of them had ever been in Massachusetts before. I do not state these facts to find fault with town or city authorities : I have daily evidence of their arduous, patriotic, and ofttimes ill- requited labors. And if they have trusted bad men, and paid their money upon false statements, they have done so with an honest pur pose, and with a belief that they were doing the best they could for their several constituencies. They, however, should be upon their guard, and should act upon the same principle in paying local bounties, that I do in paying State bounties ; which is, not to make out a pay roll for State bounties, until I have a roll in this office, signed by the mustering officer, showing the city and town to which the men are credited. Many of these brokers are sharp practitioners. They work for money, and not for the cause ; their motto seems to be, " to suckle ar mies, and dry-nurse the land." I wish to state, that in every instance where it has been in my power to correct rolls, and give the towns the proper credit, I have done what I could to accomplish it. I have written frequently to Washington on the subject, sometimes with suc cess, sometimes without. I have also had frequent interviews with Major Clarke for the same object ; and he has done what he could to correct errors growing out of the vicious system of recruiting through irresponsible and corrupt brokers. To show how easy it is to cheat, I will relate a circumstance that happened only the day before yesterday. Two men, belonging to Tops- field, enlisted for that town in Lieutenant Holmes s office, who is him self a citizen of Topsfield ; they were mustered in, one for Uxbridge, LETTER OF THE AD J JIT ANT-GENERAL. 555 and one for Tewksbury ; the men themselves knew nothing of the change. Lieutenant Holmes investigated the matter ; and it was dis covered that the clerk in his office, for one hundred dollars paid him, made out fraudulent enlistment papers. I reported the case to Major Clarke ; and, as the rolls had not been forwarded to Washington, the men were credited to Topsfield, where they belonged. When the call was made in July, 1863, for three hundred thousand three years men to be raised by draft, certain towns claimed that they should be credited with the surpluses they had already furnished ; Colo nel Fry, Provost-Marshal-General of the United States, agreed that they should be. Accordingly, from the sworn statements of the vari ous municipalities, made to this office in 1862, and from the descriptive rolls of men enlisted after those returns were made, a table was made out by Major Rogers, Assistant Adjutant-General, showing the exact number which each town claimed ; that table was forwarded, to Colonel Fry, but he would not consider it ; and the various sub-districts of Mas sachusetts had to raise the men allotted to them, without receiving credit for these supposed surpluses. All the facts referred to will be found in my Annual Report for 1863, pages 34-45. Because these surpluses were not allowed at Washington, should blame be attached to the Adjutant-General, or the State authorities ? In relation to the discrepancy between the enlistment papers and the muster-rolls of more recent origin, I had the honor, on the 6th of April last, to call your Excellency s attention to them in a communication of some length, which you indorsed, and sent General Peirce to Wash ington, to have the corrections which I suggested approved by the War Department. He remained there about two weeks, but the Sec retary of War was so much engaged with the advance of the army, that he could not attend to the matter ; about two weeks after his re turn, authority was given to Major Clarke to make the corrections. But it was too late : the draft had commenced, and no further delay would be granted. I would now say, in conclusion, that the credits to the State are given in Washington without consultation with me. The number which each town or sub-district is to furnish is fixed by the provost- marshal, and not by me ; the muster-rolls are sent to this office by the United-States mustering officer, who certifies to their correctness, and they are not made by me. The descriptive rolls are made in the various camps, and signed by the officer in command as correct. They are not made out in this office. Whenever I found a name wrong on the descriptive roll, I have sent 556 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. a blank to the regiment to have the error corrected. This has been done in more than two thousand cases ; and I shall continue so to do, notwithstanding the order of the War Department, that the muster- rolls shall in all cases govern credits. I know that the Adjutant- General, and those in his office, have been most unjustly treated by the articles in the Vineyard Gazette, and by the convention which met in this city this week ; yet I have declined to answer the accusations, for, although I have been an editor of a daily paper for twenty years, I have a strong repugnance to appearing in print. Besides this, I have the inward consciousness that I have done my duty faithfully and honestly. I have made this statement, because, in the opinion of your Excel lency, some notice should be taken by me of these matters. There is much more I could say. In conclusion, I would respectfully sum up what I regard the real cause of the evils complained of, and the rem edy to be applied to them. The cause has been the free use of money in trading with brokers and swindlers ; and the remedy is, not to pay a cent of bounty or premium until the recruit is mustered in, and then to pay it to the recruit, and not to the broker. I have the honor to be your Excellency s obedient servant, WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General. This letter was published, by direction of the Governor, in the Boston newspapers, and was copied generally throughout the State. It put an end to the controversy ; and the Adjutant- General had the satisfaction of receiving letters from a number of members of the convention, acknowledging their mistake, and regretting the injustice which the convention had done to that officer. In the first six months of the year, the following new regi ments were organized, and sent to the front : The Fifty-sixth, Colonel Charles E. Griswold, was organized at Rcadville, and left the State March 20. The Fifty-seventh, Colonel William F. Bartlett, was or ganized at " Camp Wool," Worcester, and was sent forward April 18. The Fifty-eighth, nine companies, was recruited at Readville, and was sent to the front, under command of Lieutenant- Colonel John C. Whiton, April 28. The Fifty-ninth was recruited at Readville, by Colonel Jacob P. Gould. It left the State April 26. DEPARTURE OF NEW REGIMENTS. 557 These regiments were ordered to the Army of the Potomac, and reported to Lieutenant-General Grant, only a few days previous to the advance of the army towards Richmond. They suffered severely in officers and men. Colonel Griswold, of the Fifty-sixth, was killed in the Wilderness. Lieutenant-Colonel Weld was taken prisoner. Colonel Gould, of the Fifty-ninth, was so severely wounded, as to cause amputation of the leg, of which he died. Lieutenant-Colonel Hodges was killed in the explosion of what was called "the mine." Colonel Bartlett, of the Fifty-seventh, was taken prisoner, also, in " the mine." In addition to the four infantry three years regiments, two new regiments of cavalry were organized and forwarded. The Fourth, Colonel Arnold A. Rand, and the Fifth (col ored) , Colonel Henry S. Russell, and a new battalion of cavalry for the First Regiment Massachusetts Cavalry, to take the place of the cavalry commanded by Major Stevens, which had been attached to the Fourth Regiment Massachusetts Cavalry. The Second Battalion of the Fourth Cavalry left Boston by transport for Hilton Head, S.C., under command of Major David B. Keith, on the 20th of March, and arrived at Hilton Head April 1. The Third Battalion of Cavalry, under command of Major Louis Cabot, sailed from Boston on the 23d of April, and arrived at Hilton Head on the 27th. These two battalions were immediately transferred to the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, with orders to report to Major-General Butler, at Fortress Monroe. The First Battalion, which had been for a long time in South Carolina, was also sent to Virginia, to report to General Butler. The First and Second Battalions of the Fifth Cavalry left Readville Camp, for Washington, on the 5th of May ; Major Horace N. Weld, having command of the First, and Major Charles Francis Adams, Jr., of the Second; left Boston, May 6. The Third Battalion, under command of Major Henry P. Bowditch, left Readville, for Washington, on the 558 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. 8th of May. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Henry S. Russell. The Eleventh Company of Light Artillery, commanded by Captain Edward J. Jones, left Readville Camp for Washington, Feb. 5. The Fourteenth Company of Light Artillery, under com mand of Captain Joseph W. B. Wright, left Readville Camp for Washington, April 4. The Sixteenth Company of Light Artillery, under command of Captain Henry D. Scott, left Readville Camp for Washing ton, April 19. These light batteries joined the Army of the Potomac. Four companies of heavy artillery were raised and forwarded to Fortress Monroe, March 7 : one commanded by Captain John Pickering, one by Captain Lyman B. Whiton, and one by Captain Joseph M. Parsons, sailed from Gallop s Island, by transports, to Washington, June 23. Another company was raised by Captain Cornelius F. Driscoll, and was sent forward to Washington, by transport, on the 22d of September. These four companies were attached to the eight companies of heavy artillery which were raised in 1863, and forwarded to the front in May, 1864, to which reference has been made, and were or ganized into a regiment, known as the Third Regiment Massa chusetts Heavy Artillery, of which Captain William S. Abert, U.S.A., was commissioned colonel. In addition to these new organizations, several thousand men were sent forward as recruits to fill old regiments. The end of the war was approaching. The last grand cam paign had begun. The right man to command the Union forces had been found. A plan had been adopted, and was being carried out. General Grant was at the head of the Union army, with the rank of lieutenant-general, and there fore outranked all others. To insure success, he required co-operation, and co-operation necessitated a system. The enemy held the interior lines, which embraced all means of communication by railroads, telegraphs, turnpikes, rivers, and county roads. While he held these, without an organized system of attack from the Union forces, he had the vantage- THE POSITION OF AFFAIRS. 559 ground. By them he could concentrate his army wherever force was required ; but, by a well-developed and well-understood movement on our part, a great portion of these advantages were lost. Thus, when General Grant assumed full command, he de vised a scheme by which there should be an advance made from all the different military points. For the first time in the war, we had a commander-in-chief. The war of the Union was no longer to be fought by twenty different commanders, each act ing upon his own responsibility, and without concert of action. The plan made by General Grant insured victory in the end. The great power of the loyal States was to be concentrated in one grand movement, which was to close in, compress, and annihilate the enemy. Never was a plan better devised ; never, when we consider the magnitude of the enterprise and its suc cessful termination, surpassed by the greatest military com mander of the world. General Grant knew the officers whom he could trust, and they had confidence in him. The petty ambitions and jealousies which had existed through the war vanished. The Army of the Potomac had advanced from the Kapidan towards Richmond on the 3d of May, and, after six weeks of daily fighting, driven Lee and the rebel army of Vir ginia within the fortifications of Richmond. Grant had crossed the James River, and, practically, laid siege to Richmond and Petersburg, aided by the Army of the James, under the command of Major-General Butler. In the mean time, Sherman, with his Army of the Tennessee and the Cumberland, had advanced towards Atlanta, and taken it, and was preparing for his grand march to the sea, through the State of Georgia to Savannah. The wisdom of General Grant s plan of the war is seen in this : that, by press ing the rebel forces under General Lee, and keeping them in daily activity, he made it impossible for the latter to spare enough of his force to prevent the advance of Sherman. Thus stood the loyal and the rebel forces on the 1st of July, 1864. CHAPTER XL General Position of Affairs at the Beginning of 1864 Credits in the Navy Law of Congress Appointment of Commissioners Circular Letter Agents to Recruit in Rebel States Letter to Mr. Everett Governor An drew in Washington Pay of Colored Troops Letter to the President Letter to Mr. Stan ton Expectation of Rebel Attack on our Coast Present of a Turtle Brigadier-General Bartlett Letter to Governor Seymour, of New York Letter to the Secretary of War Letter to the Attorney-Gen eral Letter to Andrew Ellison Colonel N. A. M. Dudley Letter of Gov ernor Yates, of Illinois Case of Otis Newhall, of Lynn Case of Mrs. Bixby, of Boston Letter to the President Plan to burn the Northern Cities Speech of Mr. Everett Destruction of the " Alabama " Honors paid to Commodore Winslow Donations for our Soldiers Letter of Mr. Stebbins Letter to the Union League Club, New York Colored Officers Letter to James A. Hamilton Battle before Nashville Case of Jack Flowers National Conventions Nominations Republican State Conven tion Proceedings Renomination of Governor Andrew Democratic State Convention Nominations Report of the Adjutant-General s Journey to the Front Staff Appointments during the Year Conclusion. THE general position of affairs up to July 1, 1864, in the State, and at the front, we have given in the last chapter. At that time, Governor Andrew was in Washington. On the 1st of July, the Secretary of War, in order to relieve veteran troops on garrison duty at various points, and send them into active service, called for militia regiments for one hundred days ser vice to take their places, and perform their duties. Massachu setts furnished five regiments of one hundred days men, under this call. They were, the Fifth Regiment of Infantry, Colonel Peirson, which left the State July 28, and was stationed at Fort Marshall, in the vicinity of Baltimore ; the Sixth Regiment of Infantry, Colonel Follansbee, which was sent forward July 20, and was detailed for duty at Fort Delaware, Md., a depot for rebel prisoners ; the Eighth Regiment of Infantry, Colonel Peach, which left the State July 26, and was stationed for duty at Baltimore and Cockeysville, Md. The Forty-second Regi- NEW REGIMENTS. 561 ment of Infantry left for Washington, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Steadman, July 24; and Colonel Burrill, who had returned home after a long captivity in Texas, joined the regiment at Alexandria, Va., and remained with it until it returned home, and was mustered out. The Sixtieth Regiment of Infantry, a new organization, left the State, under Colonel Wass, for Washington, Aug. 1, and was afterwards sent to In dianapolis, Ind., where it remained until its term of service expired. Nine unattached companies of one hundred days men were also recruited for garrison duties in the forts on our coast. The number of men thus recruited was 5,461, and they were not credited to the quota of the State. A regiment of infantry was recruited for one year s service, and was known as the Sixty-first Regiment. It left the State in detachments, to report to General Grant at City Point. Of this regiment, Charles F. Walcott was commissioned colonel, Nov. 9, 1864. The Fourth Regiment of Heavy Artillery, one year s men, was also recruited, and left the State by detach ments, between the 10th and 16th of September, for Washing ton. Lieutenant-Colonel William S. King, formerly of the Thirty-fifth Regiment of Infantry, was commissioned colonel. This regiment was detailed for duty in the defences o f Washing ton. Two unattached companies, respectively commanded by Captain Kenny and Captain Brigham, were sent forward to Washington, for the same service. Captain Brigham s com pany left the State Sept. 26 ; and Captain Kenny s company, Oct. 29. In addition to the above, 1,247 men were mustered in for ninety days service. On the 4th of July, Congress passed an act allowing credits to be given for men in the naval service who had entered dur ing the Rebellion. This was one of the most just deeds of Congress during the war, and great credit is due to Governor Andrew for it. He was at Washington when the bill passed. On the 5th of July, he sent the following telegram to the Adjutant-General, 36 562 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. " My impression is, that, under the volunteer laws, hundred day men cannot be mustered, but militia can be mustered for one hundred days. If Sheuandoah raid subsides, and duty of patriotism therefore permits reference to our own interests, I shall consider the interest of Massachusetts served by not favoring hundred days men, since they tend to diminish volunteering for longer terms. Am making excellent progress, both about naval credits, and recruiting in disloyal States, under new law. Thus far, my visit is of the utmost advantage. Prob ably finish to-morrow." In carrying into effect the law of Congress allowing navy credits, the Secretary of War decided, that the men should be credited to the State in which they enlisted, unless it should be proved that they properly belonged elsewhere. Gov ernor Andrew and ex-Governor Clifford were appointed commissioners to take charge of the navy enlistment in Mas sachusetts ; they were to decide all questions relating thereto, and, in case of disagreement, the Secretary of War was to act as umpire. No disagreement ever occurred. As the law did not pass until July 4, and a draft was to be made early in Sep tember, it was of the utmost importance that the number of navy credits to which Massachusetts was entitled should be immedi ately known and properly distributed. To obtain tbis informa tion, recourse was had to the muster-rolls on board the receiving ship " Ohio," at the Charlestown Navy Yard. Captain Green, U.S.N., in command of the ship, gave permission to the Ad jutant-General to make a transcript of these rolls, and he employed two clerks to perform the work : these were all that could be employed at one time, because of the limited room on board the ship where they were kept. It appeared, by these rolls, that the total number of men who had enlisted in Massa chusetts into the navy from April 13, 1861, to Feb. 24, 1864, the date fixed by act of Congress, was 22,360. In order that a just distribution of these credits should be made among the several cities and towns, the commissioners caused a circular to be sent to the municipal authorities of each place, requiring a sworn return of the names of all persons re siding within their municipalities, who had entered the naval service during the Rebellion, up to Feb. 24, 1864. Answers CREDITS IN THE NAVY. 563 were received, and the whole number of men thus claimed was 16,181. In arranging the names in order that the credits might be given, twenty-five clerks were employed in the daytime by the Adjutant-General, and an equal number during the night, for several weeks, as the work had to be completed on or before the fifth day of September, the day fixed for the draft. The Secretary of War decided that only three years men should be counted as a unit : some men had enlisted for one year, some for two years ; but the great majority were three years men. It took three one year s men to count one, and three two years men to count two. The total number of enlist ments, when reduced to a three years term of service, was 16,625 men. The number of enlistments claimed by the several cities and towns was allowed them, and there was a surplus left of 7,605 men, which were distributed, pro rata, to the sev eral cities and towns in the Commonwealth. None of the men were entitled to the State bounty, although their families were to receive the State aid. On the llth of April, 1864, the Legislature passed a law allowing a bounty of $100 to men who should enlist for three years in the navy after that date, and be credited to this State ; to men who enlisted for two years, $66.66 ; and to one year s men, $33.33 : and imposed upon the Adjutant-General the duty of making out the bounty-rolls. From Feb. 24 to Dec. 1, 1864, 3,808 men enlisted in the navy, and were placed to the credit of the Commonwealth ; making the total number of men who had enlisted in the navy from Massachusetts, up to that date (Dec. 1, 1864), 26,168, which completed a contingent of every town in the State upon all the calls made by the President, and left a surplus of 13,083 men. The law passed Nov. 18, 1863, by the Massachusetts Legis lature, provided that "residents of any town, or ward of a city, in this Commonwealth, enlisting in any other town or ward, shall, nevertheless, be counted on the quota of the town or ward of which the person is a resident, until the quota of that town or ward is filled." Upwards of a thousand contested 564 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. cases of credits grew out of this section of the law : most of them being in regard to minors who lived in one town, and whose parents lived in another. A circular was sent from the office of the Adjutant-General to the authorities of each city and town, directing that the evi dence in respect to these contested cases should be in writing, and sworn to before a justice of the peace, and forwarded to the Adjutant-General, who should decide which of the places should have the credit. The papers, when received, were referred to Major Rogers, Assistant Adjutant-General ; but be fore the cases could be considered, and credits given, an order was issued by the War Department, that the " muster-rolls should, in all cases, govern the credits." This seemed to pre clude further action by the State authorities ; but, on represent ing the matter to the Provost-Marshal-General of the United States, permission was given to Major Clarke, U.S.A., the military commander of Massachusetts, to arrange the credits, and he adopted the list, as reported by Major Rogers, from the written evidence which he had examined. This did not give entire satisfaction in all cases, but, nevertheless, was just. The act of Congress, allowing the naval credits, afforded a means by which to satisfy the discontented cities and towns ; as, by allowing these men to be credited, the quota of every place was filled, besides leaving a large balance to the credit of the State. The act of Congress, passed July 4, allowing naval credits, also made it lawful for the executive of any of the loyal States to send recruiting agents into any of the States in rebellion, except Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana, to recruit volun teers, who should be credited to the State procuring the enlistment. Governor Andrew had, long before the law passed, pressed upon the War Department the justice and importance of such a measure. He argued that it would relieve the loyal States from the necessity of furnishing so many men; and would take from the disloyal States a portion of their power ; it would afford to the loyal people of the rebel States an opportunity to fight for the Union which they professed to RECRUITING IN REBEL STATES. 565 love, and give them an honorable part in the great struggle in which the nation was involved ; in a word, that it would strengthen the loyal States, and weaken the disloyal. On the 14th of July, Governor Andrew caused to be issued General Order No. 27, which appointed Major Joseph M. Day, of Barnstable, Provost-Marshal of the Commonwealth, with the rank of colonel, to whose supervision w r as committed the re cruitment of men in the disloyal States. It also provided that there should be a recruiting agent for Massachusetts in the De partment of North-eastern Virginia, whose headquarters should be at Washington ; one for South-eastern Virginia, with head quarters at or near Fortress Monroe ; one for North Carolina, headquarters at Newbern ; one for South Carolina and Florida, headquarters at Hilton Head ; one for Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama, headquarters at Nashville, Tenn. These agents were to be styled assistant provost-marshals of Massachusetts ; they were to have the sole charge of recruiting men in their several departments, and were to report the names of the recruits to Colonel Day. The same order designated Colonel Charles R. Codman of Boston, Colonel D. Waldo Lincoln of Worces ter, Colonel Charles H. Dalton of Boston, Major George L. Stearns of Medford, and David H. Mason, Esq., of New ton, as commissioners of recruitment, charged with the duty of promoting and securing the interests and rights of the cities, wards, and towns, in obtaining, apportioning, and credit ing the men thus recruited. Joseph Ricketson, Esq., of New Bedford, was appointed secretary of this board. The order also provided, that any gentleman in the Commonwealth, who de posited $125 in the State treasury, could have a recruit placed to his credit, who should be called his representative recruit. It also provided that the cities and towns should receive credit for a recruit for every $125 deposited by them in the treasury of the Commonwealth. Under this arrangement, a large number of gentlemen, who were exempt by law from military service on account of age, and also a number of patriotic ladies, placed in the State treas ury the sum required, and had representative recruits furnished. The payment of the money was a mere voluntary act on their 566 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. part, and served only to show their deep and abiding interest in the cause. Among the distinguished gentlemen who made his deposit of money was Plon. Edward Everett. We find, on the files of the Governor, a letter addressed by him to Mr. Ever ett, dated July 28, as follows : " I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your check on the New Eng land Bank for one hundred and twenty-five dollars, with which to pro cure the service of a representative recruit ; and, in doing so, permit me to express the gratification with which I recognize your approval of the effort, in that manner, to add to the strength of the army. I am informed, that it is intended, by certain gentlemen of Boston, to or ganize a movement for obtaining subscriptions of this nature. Among other communications on the subject, I this morning received one of much interest from Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, who proposed to lend his aid to promote such an effort by a public subscription-paper: if such a paper shall be framed and circulated for signature, I shall venture to assume the liberty to authorize Dr. Bowditch to present it for your approval, and to ask the influence of your name in its aid." On the day when General Order No. 27 was issued (July 14), the Governor telegraphed to Major Day, Barnstable, " See order, assigning you to duty here, in to-morrow morning s newspapers. Please report personally by the first train." He also wrote, on the same day, to Colonel Charles R. Cod- man, " Cotuit Port, care of W. F. Jones, Stage Driver, West Barnstable Station : We inclose draft of an order which will appear in to-mor row morning s papers, which speaks for itself. I beg you to consider yourself conscripted to act for a while on the Board of Recruitment, and shall confidently expect to see you by arrival of the train to-mor row forenoon. I conferred with Mr. John M. Forbes, who sustained me in my independence in assuming the authority of appointing you without previous conference. I have, in the same manner, conscripted other gentlemen." To Joseph Ricketson, Esq., of New Bedford, on the same day, he telegraphed, " Please report yourself to me at State House to-morrow, by early train." RECRUITING IN REBEL STATES. 567 On the same day, he telegraphed to Hon. D. Waldo Lincoln, Mayor of Worcester, " Will you oblige me by coming to Boston to-morrow morning ? See General Order No. 27 in the morning papers." Governor Andrew was in Washington in the early part of July ; and it was doubtless, in a great measure, through his per sonal efforts that the act of July 4 was passed. On the 6th of July, he telegraphed to John M. Forbes as follows : " Secretary of War has accepted my proposition, that proper agents appointed by Massachusetts may present men for muster at various central points like Washington, Norfolk, Newbern, Hilton Head, who shall be mustered into any regiments of the State or United States, as the case may be, and credited to Massachusetts. Secretary promises friendly co-operation in executing the purpose of the statute. He will only refuse to muster in those men actually being employed by his officers in Government service. Orders will be written out to morrow conformably." We have already stated that he had arranged in Washington with Secretary Stanton, that the naval credits due Massachusetts should be made under the supervision of himself and ex-Gov ernor John H. Clifford. On his return home, the Governor addressed the following letter, dated July 11, to ex- Governor Clifford, New Bedford : - " Among the purposes of my visit last week to Washington, happily accomplished, was the adoption of a method ripened into a convenient order for the adjustment of the naval credits due to Massachusetts in compliance with a plan for ascertaining and awarding them, which I suggested to Mr. Stanton in person. The naval rendezvous for Massa chusetts are in Boston and New Bedford. I wish to have a voice in the matter myself, because we have at the State House a good deal of material prepared for use in establishing and verifying these credits ; and I thought the other commissioner ought to be found in New Bed ford. I therefore suggested your name to Mr. Stanton, which he ac cepted with the highest satisfaction. I hope you will not decline to lend a hand in this matter, and that I shall hear from you very soon in acceptance." The adjustment of the navy credits was not the only good 568 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. and just act which Governor Andrew accomplished during his visit to Washington at this time. On the 15th of July, he wrote to Morris L. Hallowell, Esq., Philadelphia, father of Colonel Hallowell, Fifty-fourth (colored) Massachusetts Volun teers, as follows : " When I was in Washington a few days since, I obtained the pas sage of an order, that paymasters should pay the colored troops the full pay of soldiers, secured to them by the recent act of Congress, from Jan. 1, 18G4. Thus six months of pay will, under the promised order, be made at one time. The question as to their pay previous to Jan. 1, 18G4, is still unsettled ; although, from a conversation I had with the Attorney- General, I think we shall have his opinion before long. I requested him to give an opinion at that time. This he de clined to do, on the ground that the request did not come from the President. The President has, however, called for his opinion, which is delayed by the fact that the assistant Attorney-General is sick, and by other pressing employment of the office. But the Attorney-General intimated that his decision in Chaplain Harrison s case, and his opinion given some time ago to the Secretary of the Treasury relating to the citizenship of colored men, would be sufficient to determine the point. I write this knowing your interest in the cause, and thinking that you would feel gratified that thus much progress had been made in obtain ing justice for the colored troops ; and through you I know that the facts will reach Colonel Hallowell, even if he has left Philadelphia." Colonel Hallowell had been stavino- at his father s home foi > o some weeks, recovering from wounds received in battle. On the 18th of July, the Governor wrote to Colonel A. G Browne, Jr., military secretary, who was then in Washington, asking him to call at the office of the Provost-Marshal-General to have immediate measures taken to have the men enlisted in rebel States mustered into the service. " From my last advices from Washington," he said, " I learn that there is a delay in the preparations, and that the camp at Washington is not ready for the reception of recruits. It is of the utmost impor tance that the machinery should be in perfect running order, as such a delay at this time may prove fatal to all our efforts." He then notices the bitter hostility of Major-General Sher man to recruiting agents coming into his army, and said, - A SCHEME TO INVADE MAINE. 569 " By appointing, as one of our agents, a gentleman who resides in the vicinity of Sherman s army, who is well known about there, I think that the matter can be arranged satisfactory, and that he will raise no further objection to the system. I do not apprehend any opposition from the commanders of any other of our armies." The enlistments made in rebel States by the Massachusetts agents were 1,257 men, who were credited to the quota of the Commonwealth. On the 18th of July, the Governor wrote to the President of the United States, - " I trust your call for volunteers will be for two hundred thousand at a time, repeating the calls until you have half a mi] lion called for. Calling by instalments gives needful time ; meantime the present cam paign does not suffer, since no new draft will help this campaign. I shall send five regiments of hundred days men, beginning with two this week." On the 22d of July, he telegraphed to Major Henry Ware, assistant military secretary, who was at Washington, " Suggest to Mr. Stanton the propriety of an order limiting the State bounty to volunteers in rebel States to some maximum sum, say, three hundred dollars ; thus preventing injurious competition. I select that amount as being national bounty likewise. Telegraph reply immediately." The suggestion here made was wise and proper, but was not acted upon by the Secretary, as he regarded it impracticable to be put in execution. The competition among the agents of the several loyal States to obtain recruits, by one overbidding the other in the payment of bounties, was a source of much re gret, and the cause, in a great measure, of the plan not suc ceeding as well as its friends expected. On the 28th of July, the Governor received a telegram from Major-General John J. Peck, commanding the Department of the East, headquarters New- York City, stating that there was danger of a hostile descent upon the coast of Maine from the British Provinces. To which the Governor answered on the same day, " If, officially or personally, I can render any service toward avert ing or suppressing any such danger, I beg you to command me. I have 570 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. directed my senior aide-de-camp, Colonel Harrison Ritchie, in concert with Major Stephen Cabot, who is the commanding officer at Fort Warren, to consult with Admiral Stringham, commanding at the Navy Yard at Charlestown, and co-operate with him in any measures he may deem expedient in this connection ; at the same time warning all the officers commanding the forts on the Massachusetts coast." The expectation of an attack upon the coast of Maine was based upon information contained in a letter to President Lin coln, dated Montreal, July 15, 1864, the writer of which was a confidential agent of the Government. It was referred by the President to Major-General Peck, and was in these words : " Eighteen or twenty rebel officers are to leave to-night for New Brunswick, via Quebec. I have learned, from a most reliable source, that a concentration of rebels and their sympathizers is to take place at St. Andrews and Grand Menan Island, N.B., preparatory to an at tack upon Belfast or Eastport or Calais, as the prospect of success may s-eem most favorable. They are to be conveyed to the place of attack by a rebel steamer and brig. The men who leave here to-night are under command of a Colonel D. Wood and Captain Nichols, late * Missouri guerillas, and men of very bad fame. The Colonel D. Wood is a very large-built man. He has had a complete outfit made here for this special occasion. Each of the men are armed with rifles and revolvers purchased here." This expedition, whatever may have been its purpose or its strength, failed ; nothing more was ever heard of it. Among the presents which the Governor received from our officers at the front was a green turtle, weighing 352 Ibs. It was sent from Florida, by Major D. B. Keith, of the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry. The Governor was absent from the State when it arrived. The box containing it was placed in the basement of the State House, where, after a consultation be tween the principal officers of the State Government as to how long it would live without eating, the creature was put under a Cochituate water-spout, and turned upon its back. It died before the Governor returned. In a letter, dated July 29, the Governor wrote to Major Keith, in which he said, " When I reached the State House, life was wholly extinct. Feel- BRIGADIER-GENEBAI, BAKTLETT 571 ing sure that you would approve of such a disposal of the remains, I delivered them to Professor Agassiz, consoled by the reflection, that, although no longer available for soup, they would nevertheless promote the advancement of science." In the battle before Petersburg, July 30, among the prison ers taken was Brigadier-General Bartlett, formerly colonel of the Forty-ninth and Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Regiments. His father, Charles L. Bartlett, Esq., of Boston, was anxious to have his son exchanged, and for that purpose visited Wash ington, taking with him a letter, dated Aug. 9, from Governor Andrew to Major-General Hitchcock, who was Commissary- General of Prisoners. In this letter, the Governor thus speaks of General Bartlett : " He is in feeble health ; lost a leg at Yorktown ; was shot in three places at Port Hudson, disabling an arm, and had just joined his brigade, after receiving a severe wound in the head at the battle of the Wilderness, when he was ordered to the assault at Petersburg. His lameness, and his yet-unhealed wound received in May, render him a person peculiarly susceptible to the rough treatment inflicted by the rebels on our prisoners ; and I think his case one fairly to be regarded as exceptional, and as worthy of a special proposition for an exchange. Mr. Bartlett will tell you of his proposition to arrange for an exchange between his son and the rebel General Trimble, who has also lost a leg. If this can be done, it will be a matter of sincere gratification." An exchange was effected ; and this gallant young officer re joined his command, and had the gratification of seeing the Rebellion brought to a successful end, and to know that his long and gallant services and sufferings had not been in vain. O O On the llth of August, the Governor wrote a long letter to Governor Horatio Seymour, of New York, asking him to consider whether it would not be of some possible public ad vantage " If we two should attempt to form a more personal acquaintance, and consider some aspects of public affairs in a frank and confidential conversation. ... I feel that it would be very becoming in us to meet, and to consider in a perfectly friendly way, and in the confidence of gentlemen, whether we might not unite to strengthen the arms of our national power, and thus help to conquer a peace by the use of 572 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. means fitted to increase the glow of the general hopefulness, warm and invigorate the patriotism of the people, and thus avoid many of the evils which naturally flow from a merely mechanical and legal enforce ment of duty, and from that sadness of heart which usually settles on a people after long experience of war." Governor Andrew proposed to meet Governor Seymour in New-York City at such time and place as he might select, and suggested Friday or Saturday of the ensuing week. Whether the interview ever took place or not, we are unable to say, as we do not find any further reference to the subject on the files of the Governor. On the 15th of August, the Governor wrote to the Secretary of War the following letter : " I had the honor, when in Washington, the first week in July, to call your attention to the cases of several officers of the Thirty-sixth U.S.C. troops, who were degraded by General Orders No. 46 from General Butler s headquarters in April last, which act of degradation has been declared by the Judge- Advocate- General of the army (Holt), on proper reference to that officer, to be utterly without warrant of law. I believe also, that the order was hasty and ill-advised, even though it had been legally competent. The particular individuals for whose rights and welfare I intervened had long been faithful and meritorious soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, who had earned in the field the recommendation of their field officers to promotion, and they had all secured the reputation of bravery and fidelity. " Y^ou remarked to me in July, that, while you were unwilling to reverse General Butler s orders, and send back these officers to their regiment, you would, on my recommendation, restore them to their rank as commissioned officers, and assign them to regiments outside of General Butler s department. " I have accordingly revised my inquiries, in order that I might not carelessly use the confidence reposed in me, and do therefore make the following recommendations ; viz., that Captains George B. Proctor and George Y^. Allen, and First-Lieutenants George L. Seagrave, Allen Parker, Edward Townsend, and Leonard Y. Gaskell, be liber ated from their present unlawful confinement and duress, that their swords be returned to them, and that they be assigned to duty or recommissioned as the dates of their original commissions re spectively. PORTRAIT OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL LINCOLN. 573 " These gentlemen, I am informed, are held as prisoners, in the as sumed capacity as privates, in assumed contempt of military authority, and duly committed, by the mere fact of declining to return to duty as privates in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts volunteers (from which regiment they were once formally and lawfully mustered out, to accept commissions), and of demanding their rights as officers, including the right to be duly heard. Such being their condition, I pray that action may be had immediately ; and I would add that I am advised that what these officers personally and really desire is a proper military in vestigation or trial, to be followed by such vindication or punishment as to law and justice may appertain." We will only add, that these gentlemen were restored to their commands, and rank of officers. On the 13th of August, the Governor wrote to Hon. Edward Bates, Attorney-General of the United States, in which he re fers to the portraits of the Attorney-Generals of the United States in his department, and adds that he noticed, when he was there the last time, that there was no portrait of Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, who was Attorney-General under Jefferson. He said, " Believing that there was a good portrait of him in the family of his son, the venerable Levi Lincoln, still living, who was for so many years the Governor of this Commonwealth, I made inquiry on the sub ject, and through D. Waldo Lincoln, Esq., now Mayor of the city of Worcester, the eldest son of ex- Governor Lincoln, I have received a photograph of it, which I inclose." Governor Andrew then inquires whether there is any fund under the control of the Attorney-General, from which to defray the expense of a copy for the Attorney-General s rooms. He concludes, " I do this from a most earnest respect for the eminent character of Attorney-General Lincoln, as well as from that just pride of locality which makes me wish that such a memorial of so distinguished a citi zen of Massachusetts should not be omitted from a collection of portraits in the department which he once honored. If no such fund is available, I will endeavor, if you desire, to cause a copy of the por trait to be made at private expense, and to be presented to your office." A copy was made by Mr. James S. Lincoln, of Providence, 574 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. R.I. ; the Attorney-General assumed the expense, there being a contingent fund available for the purpose. Andrew Ellison, Jr., Esq., of Rio de Janeiro, on the 8th of July, wrote to Governor Andrew, inclosing a draft for five hundred dollars on Wright, Maxwell, & Co., of New York ; the proceeds to be applied for the relief of soldiers in the army, according as Governor Andrew should think proper. This donation was made in the names of the four minor sons of Mr. Ellison. On the 18th of August, the Governor wrote to Mr. Ellison, acknowledging the receipt of the letter and the draft, and said, " I have directed this amount to be divided equally between Colonel Frank E. Howe, the military State agent of Massachusetts, in the city of New York, and Lieutenant-Colonel Gardiner Tufts, our agent in Washington, whose especial duty it is to provide for the wants and comforts of our sick and wounded soldiers ; gentlemen acting under my immediate supervision, and who, I know, will expend this sum in a manner that will be approved by the generous young donors. I beg leave to return to them, through you, my most cordial and sincere ac knowledgment of this token of their patriotic attachment to the land of their father." Colonel N. A. M. Dudley, commanding the Thirty-first Mas sachusetts Regiment in Louisiana, wrote to the Governor, pro posing to raise and organize a brigade of colored troops in that department. The proposition was favorably regarded by the Governor, who wrote to Secretary Stanton, requesting permis sion to be given ; the troops to be officered by intelligent colored men, Colonel Dudley himself to be the only white officer con cerned with the military command in the whole brigade. " I wish," said the Governor, " that the experiment could be tried, subject to Major-General Canby s approval of it, and that Colonel Dudley could be assigned to attempt it, with an understanding that he should have a commission as brigadier, and the command of the bri gade, if he should succeed ; but not, if he should fail in conducting such a recruitment successfully. He would rely greatly for success, upon officers of such troops, with men of their own color. ... In certain respects, I think Colonel Dudley possesses peculiar qualifications for such an attempt : he is an officer of the regular army ; he is well ac- A MEETING OF LOYAL GOVERNORS. 575 quainted with the country, and with the people with whom he would have to deal ; and he is an active, ambitious man." The Governor expresses the belief that there were colored men in that department qualified to be officers, and concludes by saying, " I earnestly hope you will give Colonel Dudley, of whose zeal and capacity I ain confident, an opportunity to develop it." Several letters passed between the Secretary of War and the Governor upon this matter ; but the experiment was never tried. Colonel Dudley we had known many years ; he was born and bred in Boston, had a natural taste for military duties, and, although not a graduate of West Point, was, for his military qualities, appointed an officer in the regular army. He is a gentleman of much capacity, for whom we have a high respect. We have referred to him in preceding chapters. At the present writing, he is in command of the military forces at Vicksburg, Miss. This was a year in which an election was to be held for Presi dent of the United States. On the 7th of September, the Governor wrote to His Excel lency Richard Yates, Governor of Illinois, as follows : " I propose to visit Washington, arriving there by next Tuesday morning, spending a day or two in New York, on the way, in order to have some conversation with the President on the present attitude of our public affairs. I wish it might be possible, that you, and Gov ernor Brough, of Ohio, and Governor Morton, of Indiana, and any other of the Western Governors, might be present. And I take the liberty of writing this note, in the hope that we may meet there. It seems to me of the first importance that the President should be res cued from the influences which threaten him; of those who for the want of political and moral courage, or for want of either faith or forecast, or of appreciation of the real quality of the public patriotism, are tempting and pushing him to an unworthy and disgraceful offer of compromise with the leaders of the Rebellion. I want the President now to take hold of his occasion, and really lead, as he might, the country, by exhibiting, in the person of the man who wields its highest powers, u genuine representative of democratic instincts and principles. The Chicago Convention has opened the way for patriots 576 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. to take higher and clearer ground than ever. It is not every man who recognizes the day of his visitation, nor is it every people or party. At the moment we have ours, we should rise to fresh courage, as we see the audacity of domestic Northern treason, bristling its accursed crest. Now is the very day to make a loftier appeal than ever to the American people, and to get a prouder response. In the spirit of the national instinct of the idea of democracy, of popular liberty, I would spurn the bare suggestion of ceasing hostilities now, and the very thought of dealing with the rebel chiefs with peace ; but I would seize the occasion for an appeal to all the people, both South and North, against the assassins of liberty, and the enemies of this our Govern ment. Thus may we carry the elections in the North, and ultimately reach the misguided and oppressed, the real democracy of the South." There is nothing on the Governor s files to show that the meeting of the Governors was ever held. On the 21st of September, the Governor received a letter from Otis Newhall, of Lynn, asking for the discharge of his son, James O. Newhall, of the Eleventh Regiment, who had been wounded in the battle of Spottsylvania, sent to the United- States General Hospital at Readville, and, on recovering from his wounds, had again gone to the front. In the mean while, the Eleventh Regiment s original term of service had expired, and the men who did not re-enlist had returned home, and been discharged. Mr. Newhall gives the following reasons for asking the discharge of his son. He had enlisted in De cember, 1861, as a recruit for the Eleventh Massachusetts, ex pecting to be mustered out with the regiment, which expectation was not realized. " From the time he was mustered into service until he was wounded at Spottsylvania, he was never absent from duty, never having spent an hour in hospital, but was, as I am informed by his captain, a good soldier throughout ; taking part in most of the battles in which that grand old regiment was engaged. He is one of my five sons that went to sustain the honor of their country in the early part of the Rebellion ; and I cannot but take pride in referring to them as having performed their duty nobly and well. Two of them remain at the front ; one was lost at the second battle of Bull Run ; one other was taken prisoner, after being wounded, in the battle of the Wilderness in May last, and REMARKABLE CASES OF PATRIOTISM. 577 is now somewhere among the rebels. The other is the one referred to. None of them, excepting the latter, have been at home during their entire period of service. And now, Governor, I write to ask from you a word of recommendation to the proper authorities for his discharge. I refer your Excellency to Adjutant-General Schouler and Hon. E. S. Davis, at the State House, to whom I am personally known." Indorsed on the back of this remarkable letter, in the Gov ernor s own handwriting, were these words : " Will the Adjutant-General please report whether, by the rule adopted by the War Office, this man comes within the category of those entitled to discharge under our order No. 28, 1862." On the 24th of September, the Adjutant-General made the following report to the Governor : " In answer to your Excellency s inquiries, I have the honor to re port, that the case of James O. Newhall does not come within the rule adopted by the War Department in regard to General Order No. 28, 1862. Only recruits who went into old regiments between the 21st of July and 31st of December, 1862, are entitled to be mustered out when the terms of service of their regiments expire. " The statements made by Mr. Newhall I know to be true. He had five sons in the army, and they have been good soldiers. I think, therefore, that he presents a strong claim for a favorable consideration of his application. Perhaps the Secretary of War would order the young man s discharge, if he knew he was one of five brothers who have served faithfully almost from the beginning of the Rebellion. Pardon me if I add a word in regard to a still more remarkable case than the one presented by Mr. Newhall. Your Excellency may re member that I had the honor two years ago to speak to you of a widow lady, Mrs. Bixby, in the middle walks of life, who had five sons in the Union army, one of whom was wounded at Antietam, and was sent to a hospital in Baltimore or Washington. She was very anxious to go and see him, and your Excellency was kind enough to draw your check for forty dollars ($40) to pay her expenses ; and she made her jour ney. The boy recovered, and joined his regiment again. About ten days ago, Mrs. Bixby came to my office, and showed me five letters from five different company commanders, and each letter informed the poor woman of the death of one of her sons. Her last remaining son was recently killed in the fight on the Weldon Railroad. Mrs. Bixby is the best specimen of a true-hearted Union woman I have yet seen. 37 578 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. She lives now at No. 15 Dover-street Place. Each of her sons, by his good conduct, had been made a sergeant." The letter of Mr. Newhall and the report of the Adjutant- General were sent by the Governor to the Secretary of War, with this indorsement on the back of one of them : " I send these copies : 1st, The letter of Mr. Otis Newhall, of Lynn, Mass., father of five sons, all of whom entered the Union army, one of whom was killed, one of whom is a prisoner held by the rebels, two of whom are at the front, asking the discharge of the fifth son, who has once been wounded. Under the circumstances, I think that an exercise of the power to discharge at discretion would do good, and be a grateful recognition of the claims of a patriotic family. 2d, A re port to me by the Adjutant- General of Massachusetts on this case, in which he mentions the case of a widow, Mrs. Bixby, who sent five sons, all of whom have recently been killed. This is a case so remark able, that I really wish a letter might be written her by the President of the United States, taking notice of a noble mother of five dead heroes so well deserved." We will only add that the son of Mr. Newhall was discharged, and that President Lincoln wrote Mrs. Bixby a letter full of sympathy and deep feeling, which we had the pleasure of pla cing in her hands. On the 10th of October, the Governor wrote to the President that the newspapers announced that Private Alfred C. Lawrence, Sixteenth Massachusetts Infantry, had been sentenced to be hanged for desertion, and that General Meade had approved the sentence. The Governor writes, " This man s family has long been in pursuit of him, and get first in telligence of him as above. They assure me that he is partially insane, having always been of that tendency, and formerly in the Worcester Insane Hospital. I pray you delay execution to permit investigation and new evidence." This young man s relatives lived in Charlestown ; and it ap pears by the following letter to them by the Governor, dated Nov. 2, that he was pardoned : " I have the pleasure to forward to you the inclosed copy of Special Order No. 373 of the War Department, announcing the pardon, by the GREAT SPEECH OF EDWARD EVERETT. 579 President, of Private Alfred C. Lawrence, and beg leave to congratu late you upon the successful issue of your application." On the 1st of November, the United-States consul at Hali fax wrote to Secretary Seward, that it was secretly asserted by secessionists at that place, that plans had been formed, and would be carried into execution, by rebels and their allies, to set fire to the principal cities in the Northern States on the day of the presidential election, which was near at hand. Upon the receipt of this information, Secretary Seward wrote to the Governor, inclosing him a copy of the letter which he had received, which the Governor communicated to the mayors of the several cities of the Commonwealth, of which the follow ing is a transcript : " In view of the information suggested in the telegram to the Secre tary of State of the United States, of which the following is a copy, I would very respectfully but urgently advise the utmost care, and the precaution of additional watchfulness and safeguard against fire ; not only on election day, but also during the approaching winter. I do not doubt the importance of such measures, nor the existence of dan gers which render them needful." We are not aware that the plan of the incendiaries, if seri ously entertained was ever carried into effect in New Eng land, although there were abortive attempts to destroy the city of New York. On the 19th of October, Edward Everett, in Faneuil Hall, made one of his most brilliant Union speeches, which was pub lished in pamphlet form : a copy of which Mr. Everett sent to Governor Andrew, who, on the 5th of November, acknowl edged its receipt in a letter from which we make the follow ing extract : " It might hardly seem becoming in me to attempt to declare how deeply I feel the weight and value of the repeated contributions of your voice and pen, during the present struggle, for the instruction and encouragement of the people. I may be allowed, perhaps, to confess how much in my own hours of care they have contributed to alleviate anxiety, and inspire hope, and increase the profound respect with which I am your obliged friend and obedient servant." One of the most brilliant naval engagements of the war was 580 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the destruction of the pirate "Alabama," by the "Kearsarge," near Cherbourg, France. The commander of the "Kearsarge" was John A. Winslow, U.S.N., a citizen of Roxbury, Mass. The " Kearsarge " returned to Boston shortly after the engage ment, and the ship, officers, and crew received a hearty wel come. The authorities of the city of Boston extended a public reception to Commander Winslow, the officers, and crew of the ship ; and Governor Andrew caused the Adjutant-General to issue a general order, from which we make the following ex tract : " The Commonwealth also desires to express its admiration of the conspicuous gallantry of this distinguished citizen of Massachusetts, and his brave companions ; and its gratitude for the result of the brilliant exploit which recalls the deeds of our naval heroes now canonized in history, and has rendered the name of the Kearsarge as precious to the memory of every American patriot as those of the * Constitution, arid the United States It is therefore ordered, that a national salute of thirteen guns be fired upon the Common in honor of Commander Winslow, his officers, and men, as they pass with their escort. Captain Lucius Cummings, commanding First Battery of Light Artillery, M.V.M., is charged with the execution of this order." The merchants of Boston also gave Commander Winslow, and the other officers of the " Kearsarge," a public dinner, to which Governor Andrew was invited, but was prevented from attending by pressing official duties. On the 14th of November, the Governor wrote to George B. Upton, of Boston, informing him of his inability to attend the dinner, saying, " I regret very much that I am unable to accept the invitation ; not alone on account of the personal pleasure I should take in unit ing in any such testimonial of regard for Captain Winslow, but also, and especially, on account of my cordial sympathy with the significance of the occasion of celebrating one of the most satisfactory triumphs of our flag." On the 19th of November, the Governor wrote to Assistant- Secretary Harrington, that there was an application somewhere on file in the Treasury Department for the appointment of GENEKOUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR SOLDIERS. 581 Michael Healey as a third lieutenant in the revenue service ; and that, if he would cause it to be hunted up, and would advise him whether it was likely to be acted on favorably, and, if so, when, he would be much obliged. The Governor said, " I do not know Healey myself, but I am well acquainted with his brother, the Rev. James A. Healey, the secretary of Bishop Fitz- patrick of this diocese ; aud if one can argue from the qualities of a clergyman to those of a sailor, and the two brothers are alike, I should say that you would have few brighter and more capable young officers in your revenue marine than Healey, if you shall appoint him." On the 22d of November, the Governor wrote to S. B. Stebbins, of Boston, acknowledging the receipt of his check for twelve hundred and fifty-six dollars, payable to the Governor s order, as the amount of collections and contributions made at the Music Hall, the Friday preceding, for the benefit of the Massachusetts soldiers relief agencies at Washington and else where. The Governor said, " I take pleasure, in behalf of those agencies, in expressing gratitude for this contribution, and my sense of the practical benefit which will result from it. I know no better medium than these agencies through which such contributions will come more directly and effi ciently to the comfort of our soldiers ; and I will take immediate measures, upon consultation with Surgeon- General Dale and the chiefs of the various agencies, for the distribution of this sum among them." In addition to the money raised at the Music Hall, it appears that a large sum was also contributed by the Republican com mittee of Boston, assisted by Mayor Lincoln, to furnish Thanksgiving dinners to Massachusetts soldiers in camp and in hospitals. We find on the files of the Governor a letter addressed to him by Mr. Stebbins, dated "Boston, Thanks giving morning, Nov. 24, 1864," giving a detailed and inter esting statement of the manner in which this fund was ex pended. Five hundred dollars were given to Colonel Frank E. Howe, to provide dinners to the sick and wounded soldiers in hospitals in and near New York, and at his agency ; to Colonel Robert R. Corson, Massachusetts State agent at Philadelphia, for the five hundred sick and wounded Massachusetts soldiers in 582 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the hospitals in that city, three hundred dollars; to William Robinson, Massachusetts agent at Baltimore, for the one hun dred and forty sick and wounded Massachusetts soldiers in hos pitals in that city, one hundred dollars ; to United-States Sur geon Vanderkift, at Annapolis, Md., for the one hundred and fifty sick and wounded Massachusetts soldiers at that place, one hundred dollars ; and to Surgeon Hagar, at Point Lookout, Md., for the same purpose, one hundred and twenty-five dol lars. Three hundred dollars worth of poultry was also sent to the camp at Readville, and the same amount to Gallop s Island. Two hundred dollars worth was sent to Fort Warren ; one hun dred dollars worth was sent to Fort Independence ; five hundred dollars worth was sent to the United-States sailors at the Navy Yard at Charlestown ; " besides Thanksgiving supplies and money for the soldiers in barracks on Beach Street, and the Discharged Soldiers Home on Springfield Street." Mr. Steb- bins concludes his letter as follows : " I send these items to your Excellency, believing they will be of value as part of the military history of this State for the present year, as well as showing the patriotic liberality of our citizens. It is proper to add, that the contributions so generously bestowed are the gifts of no political party, but of the people, who testify, by their grateful offer ings, to the services of our heroic soldiers and sailors." On the 2d of December, the Governor received a letter from Otis D. Swann, Esq., secretary of the Union League Club in New- York City, inviting him to address the club at some con venient period during the month, which the Governor was forced to decline, on account of the official duties which then pressed upon him ; besides, if it were possible for him to visit New York during the month of December, he was under obli gations, having been honored with frequent invitations, to speak at the anniversary of the New-England Society, on the 22d of December. In the course of the letter, the Governor said, " I congratulate the gentlemen whom you represent, on the auspi cious aspect witli which the year seems about to open. Should our mili tary situation continue to be as encouraging as it has recently been, I A COLORED COMMISSIONED OFFICER. 583 am sure that, with the blessing of Providence, we have a right to hope for the best results, not merely on any given field or from any special campaign, but on the broader field which includes the statesmanship both of war and of peace. Ideas are now clearly in the lead : confi dence in the convictions and stability of the people has been established in the minds of men, both at home and abroad, occupying places of great power and responsibility. Whatever at any former time might have been their doubts or hesitations, we have now but to stand to gether, to stand firmly, and, on the great question of the hour, to support the principles and methods confirmed by the President in his recent message to the Congress of the United States, and to maintain the courage of men, and the fidelity of patriots." A colored man, who had originally enlisted in the Fifty-fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and who had shown re markable capacity for military command and for bravery in the field, had been recommended to the Governor as a proper person to be commissioned as a line officer ; and the Governor was anxious to issue the commission ; and only waited the con sent of the Secretary of War to have him mustered in, which was not obtained : this man was Sergeant Swailes. Major-Gen eral John G. Foster, commanding the Department of North Car olina, had approved of the recommendation ; Lieutenant-Colonel Browne, who was in Washington, was requested by the Gov ernor on the 12th of December, to call upon Secretary Stanton, and obtain permission to have the man mustered in. In this letter, the Governor said, " It is perfectly certain, that there is no legislation necessary to se cure the just promotion of Sergeant Swailes : it is only needful that the proper commanding general should understand that he may dis charge the sergeant for promotion ; and it is equally clear, that there is no regulation apparent of the War Department in the way of such dis charge. There is nothing in the world to prevent it, but a sort of ill- defined notion, that, when the law speaks of a man, a soldier, or a person, they cannot possibly include a man of African descent. I wonder Scipio Africanus is not struck out of the list of Roman heroes, on account of his cognomen. Mr. Stanton will readily see the way to clear up all difficulties, so soon as he perceives what the point of the case is." It would appear that Secretary Stanton, upon considering the 584 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. case, agreed with the Governor ; for Sergeant Stephen A. Swailes was commissioned second lieutenant of the Fifty-fourth Kegiment, March 11, 1864, and subsequently was commis sioned first lieutenant, April 28, 1865; and was discharged with the regiment, August 20, 1865, when the regiment was mustered out of service, at the end of the war. This officer belonged in Elmira, N.Y. Among the many gentlemen living in other States, who en tertained for Governor Andrew a high respect, was James A. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, the friend and confidant of Washington, who was living at Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. On the 16th of December, Governor Andrew wrote to this gentle man, "I received your most valued letter of the 10th inst. yesterday, and read it carefully last evening, and am glad to have the opportunity, not only of hearing from you, but of renewing my grateful acknowledg ments of your zealous patriotism, and your always suggestive and instructive counsels. I heartily concur with your estimate of the importance of the promptest and most determined action, in the work of constitutional amendment, to secure the destruction of slavery. "In preparing my annual address to the Legislature of Massachusetts, I intend to urge your views in the most emphatic manner ; meanwhile I shall gladly receive and gratefully appreciate any other or further suggestions that may occur to you to present. Our Legislature will meet the first Wednesday in January." On the 17th of December, the Governor received the follow ing telegram from the Secretary of War : " The great battle between the United-States forces, under Major- General Thomas, and the rebel army, under General Hood, before Nashville, resulted yesterday in a great and decisive victory for the Union army. The rebel army has been broken and routed, a large por tion of its artillery, and a great number of prisoners captured. This triumph has been achieved with small loss to our army : General Thomas reports that his loss has been very small, probably not exceed ing three hundred, and very few killed." On the 21st of December, the Governor addressed a letter to Lewis Hayden, a colored citizen of Boston, who, as we have before stated, had been a slave in Kentucky, but who was at that time, and is now, employed in the office of the Secretary A RELIC AND A HERO. 585 of State of Massachusetts. Mr. Hayden was the Master of a colored Lodge of Free Masons in Boston. The Governor writes, " I send you with this note, for presentation to the * Prince Hall Grand Lodge, a gavel, made from a piece of the whipping-post at Hampton, Va. The gentleman who sent it to me says, This post or tree stood directly in the rear of the old court-house, and in front of the jail : while I was cutting it, about twenty colored men and wo men bore testimony to me, that it was the identical post or tree that they had been tied to, and had their backs lacerated with the whip. I also place in your hands, for the same purpose, a rude boat of straw, made in the woods by a poor refugee from slavery. Jack Flowers, who, after a protracted journey through the forest, tracked by bloodhounds, reached a stream, down which he floated past the rebel pickets, till he reached a point guarded by the Union army, where he landed, a free man. A copy of his narrative will be given you for presentation with this interesting relic." The straw boat, here spoken of, attracted much attention at the State House ; and the wonder was, how so frail a bark could float a man from slavery to freedom. The narrative of Jack Flowers was furnished the Governor by a gentleman by the name of Judd, and tells a terrible tale of the sufferings and wrongs of this poor man. It is too long to quote entire. He was a slave in South Carolina, and escaped by means of his straw boat through the rebel pickets, and landed safely at Hil ton Head. Jack says that he made several attempts to pass the rebel picket line, but failed. We now quote from his nar rative : " So, when I found it was no use to get over that way, I concluded to try another. Uncle lent rne his axe and knife, and I cut a lot of rushes, and a tough oak-tree for splints, and went to work in the woods, and made this basket : it took me two days to weave it, after the stuff was all ready ; the pitch I got by cutting into a tree, and catching the gum, which I boiled in a kettle of my sister s. The old shutter came from Dr. Fuller s house. It was three miles to the water, and I carried the basket alone on my head in the dark night, for fear of the pickets. It was so late in the night when I got all ready to start in the creek, that I did not get down to the coosa till day clear ; so I landed on a little hammock close by the mouth of the creek, and hid the boat and my- 586 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. self for another day. But before nine o clock, the next night, I put out and paddled over to Port Royal, too glad to get away. The Yan kee picket wasn t asleep, but challenged me before I got near the shore, and I told him right off, that I was a runaway nigger coming ashore for freedom. The secesh picket heard me, and after I got up the bank he hailed across, Yanks, who have you got ? Yankees say, One of your fellows. What you going to do with him ? Don t know : what you think best ? Cut him up for fish-bait. He ain t good for noth ing else. " The gentleman who furnished the Governor with this narra tive, said, " If there is a little of intelligence left in this degraded, slavery-rid den State, I am very sure that such men yes, men, God s freemen as Jack Flowers possess more than a moiety thereof." We have given the foregoing extracts from the correspond ence of Governor Andrew, believing that they would better illustrate the inarch of events, and the character of the Gov ernor, than any words of our own. Of course, there are many letters written by him, relating to the daily routine of his office, during the last six months of the year 1864, to which we have not recurred, but which speak of matters by no means void of general interest ; yet it would not be proper to quote from them in this volume. Many of them refer to living per sons, and to events of which it would not be wise to speak now. In the preceding pages, we have brought the Governor s corre spondence down to Jan. 1, 1865 ; the eventful year in which the Rebellion was conquered, and victory rested upon our standards. The year 1864 was the presidential year. A Republican National Convention was held in the city of Baltimore, at which Abraham Lincoln was nominated for re-election for Presi dent of the United States, and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, was nominated for Vice-President. The convention was com posed of the leading men of the party, men who had, from the beginning of the Rebellion, never faltered or hesitated in their de termination to suppress the Rebellion, and to make no compromise or concession with the enemy until he had laid down his arms. The resolutions or platform of the convention accorded with KEPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. 587 the principles of the men who composed it, and the party which they represented. The Democratic National Convention met in the city of Chi cago, and nominated Major-Gen eral George B. McClellan for President, and George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, for Vice-Presi dent. It is somewhat difficult to state with precision the pur poses which the election of these gentlemen were intended to accomplish. It was generally understood, however, that peace, by compromise with the rebellious States, without regard to the question of slavery, would be effected, if this ticket should prove successful. It is not our purpose, however, to enter upon inquiry of the subject here : we refer to it only as a matter in cidental to the purposes of this work. The Republican State Convention of Massachusetts met at Worcester on the 15th of September. Whiting Qriswold, of Greenfield, was chosen temporary chairman. On assuming the duties of his position, he made a short address, in the course of which he said, " I trust that this Convention will to-day utter a voice which will send cheer to the President and his Cabinet amid their toils and labors, which will strengthen and increase the Union feeling in every loyal State, which will inspire our brave commanders and soldiers in the field with new hope, which will fall like a death-knell upon the fated cities of Richmond and Charleston." Alexander H. Rice, a member of Congress from Boston, was chosen permanent president of the Convention, assisted by a large number of vice-presidents and secretaries. The opening address of Mr. Rice was of considerable length, and of more than ordinary power. We quote one paragraph : " The platform of the Union party has some illustrious persons just now at work in carrying it out, and illustrating the truth of the doc trines which it embodies. Sherman, the gallant soldier whose radiant course from Chattanooga culminated at Atlanta in immortal renown to his name, illustrates and exemplifies the principles of the Union party of the country ; they have been boomed forth from the decks of the noble and gallant Farragut in Mobile Bay : the same principles went up in the shouts of the soldiers of the army, and the sailors of the navy, as the glorious stars and stripes were unfurled over Gaines 588 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE [REBELLION. and Powell and Morgan, the captured fortifications of the enemy ; and they have come down in response from the sloping hills of the Greeu Mountain State in increased majorities for the Union cause, and, more than that, they have come rolling down in thunder tones from the Pine- tree State still roaring like the winds of her mighty forests." Soon after the organization of the convention was effected, Dvvight Foster, Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, arose, and moved that Governor Andrew be nominated for re-election by acclamation. In the course of his remarks, he said, " Four years of association with Governor Andrew have made me a willing and cordial witness to the patriotism, fidelity, zeal, and success with which he has administered the government of the State during a period of unexampled difficulty and responsibility. What he has done for Massachusetts outweighs all that Massachusetts has done for him." The motion of Mr. Foster was carried with but three dissenting voices in a convention composed of more than a thou sand delegates. The other State officers were nominated for re-election without opposition, with the exception of Mr. Foster, who declined being a candidate again for Attorney- General ; and Chester I. Reed, of Taunton, was nominated for that office. Edward Everett was unanimously nominated a presidential elector at large, and with him was associated Whiting Griswold, of Greenfield. After the nominations were made, Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, being called upon, addressed the convention in a long and eloquent speech, which spoke the sentiments of the party, was listened to with marked attention, and was applauded to the echo. A scries of resolutions was reported from the committee, by J. D. Baldwin, of Worcester, chairman. They recom mended an earnest support of the national and State nomina tions, an unfaltering and steady support of the war until the rebels should lay down their arms ; congratulated the country on the downfall of the institution of slavery in America, the success of the Union arms in the recent battles ; and ten dered DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. 589 " Our thanks and support to the gallant soldiers and sailors of the Union army and navy, who defend the existence, honor, and perpetuity of the republic ; and the nation owes to the survivors who have been disabled in its service an honorable and permanent provision, and we will hold in grateful remembrance those who have fallen in its defence." The convention was one of the largest, most earnest and enthusiastic, ever held in Massachusetts, composed as it was entirely of delegates representing one of the great parties of the Commonwealth. The Democratic State Convention met in Faneuil Hall, Boston, on the 21st of September, and was organized by the choice of Dr. A. Page, of Springfield, as temporary chair man, and Theodore H. Sweetser, of Lowell, as permanent president. On taking the chair, Mr. Sweetser made an im pressive and eloquent speech, which closed as follows : " And, while we raise here the banner of civil conflict, we will neither now or ever cease to remember our brothers braver men never lived who have upheld the honor of our flag, under Sherman at Atlanta, under Sheridan at Winchester, under Grant at Petersburg, on the land ; under Farragut, Dupont, and Dahlgren, and other com manders, on the seas. Nor will we forget our not less brave but more unfortunate brethren than if they had died with the shouts of victory on their lips, whose mournful groans come up to us from loathsome prisons, unheeded by the ear and heart of him who sits too long in the presidential chair. If we are powerless to save, we will pity them, and we will not forget their beloved ones at home." At the close of Mr. Sweetser s speech, Charles G. Greene, editor of the Boston Post, proposed three cheers for General Sheridan, and his victory in the Shenandoah valley; and ex pressed the hope that the General might drive the enemy from the valley, and keep him out ; and restore the valley to the Old Dominion, and restore the Old Dominion to the Union. The convention nominated the same gentlemen for State officers who had been the candidates of the party the year before ; and selected Robert C. Winthrop, of Boston, and Erasmus D. Beach, of Springfield, as presidential electors at large. 590 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. A series of resolutions were adopted which were reported by Colonel Charles G. Greene, of Boston. They strongly indorsed the nominations of General McClellan and Mr. Pendleton, for President and Vice-President of the United States, arid in equally strong terms opposed the Rebellion. They expressed sympathy with the sufferings and trials of our soldiers and sailors, congratulated the country upon the victories achieved by our armies, and recommended that our soldiers in rebel prisons be liberated by a proper system of exchanges. The election took place on the second Tuesday in November, and resulted as follows : for the Lincoln electoral ticket, 126,742; for the McClellan electoral ticket, 48,745, Lin coln s majority, 77,997. For Governor Andrew, 125,281; for Henry W. Paine, 49,190, Governor Andrew s majority, 76,091. A great many men who had enlisted during the year, elected to take the State bounty of fifty dollars in advance, and twenty dollars a month. The monthly bounty was to be paid by the State Treasurer every two months ; and the pay-rolls were to be made out by the Adjutant-General from certified rolls made by the regimental or company officers at the front, under whom the men were serving. Many of the officers neglected to forward the rolls as required, which prevented the Adjutant- General from making the pay-rolls ; and, as many of the men had arranged, before leaving the State, to have their families draw their monthly pay, considerable disappointment and suffer ing ensued. These officers had been frequently written to, and blank rolls forwarded for them to fill up ; nevertheless, the business was not attended to by them as promptly as it should have been. General Oliver, the State Treasurer, complained to the Governor, that persons coming to his office expecting to re ceive the bounty could not be paid, because the rolls were not made out, which caused much dissatisfaction and disappoint ment to the persons who expected to receive the money. On the 15th of October, the Adjutant-General addressed a letter to the Governor upon this subject : " I have used and shall use every proper means in my power, to have returns made regularly and promptly ; and, in this connection, I would THE ADJUTANT GOES TO THE FRONT. 591 most respectfully request your Excellency to give me a furlough for two weeks to visit our regiments and batteries at the front : I could then have the rolls made up to the first of the next month, and bring them home with me. I have not had " a leave of absence " for over two years, and I should very much like to go out and take a view of our army, and see our men ; it would also aid me in writing my next an nual report. We have filled all our quotas, and the business of the office is not so pressing as it has been. If your Excellency approves of my suggestions, and will grant me a leave of absence, I will start for the army some time next week, and bring home with me the back rolls." The leave asked for was granted. On his return from the army, the Adjutant-General made the following report to the Governor : ADJUTANT-GENERAL S OFFICE, BOSTON, Nov. 14, 1864. To his Excellency JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor and Commander-in-chief. GOVERNOR, With your Excellency s permission, I left this city on the 18th of October, to visit our Massachusetts regiments and batteries in the field. I had been on duty at the State House almost without a day s relief for two years and a half: I now have the honor to report my experience during the three weeks I was absent. I left Boston by Fall River route for New York on the evening of the 18th ult., and arrived at the Astor House, New York, the next morning, where I had the pleasure of meeting Major- General Banks, who had recently arrived from the Department of the Gulf. There also was the body of Colo nel George D. Wells, late of the Massachusetts Thirty-fourth Regi ment, who had bravely fallen in battle ; and kind friends were conveying it tenderly to its place of sepulture in the Old Bay State. During the forenoon, I called at the headquarters of Major-General Dix, to ascertain what decision had been made in regard to having the forts on the coast garrisoned with one year s troops, whose terms of ser vice were soon to expire. I had a pleasant interview with the Gen eral, and with Colonel Van Buren, his chief of staff, and was informed that authority had already been forwarded to your Excellency to recruit one year s companies as requested; and Colonel Van Buren caused a copy of the authority to be made out, which I forwarded that evening to Major Brown, assistant Adjutant-General. On Thursday morning (Oct. 20), I met Brigadier- General Peirce, Inspector-General of the Commonwealth, who informed me that our Sixth Regiment had arrived in the city on its way home, its term of service being nearly completed, and that it was at the Battery 592 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Barracks. We visited the regiment soon afterwards, and found it in good condition ; both officers and men were glad to see us. The regi ment was to leave New York at three o clock ; and I had the honor of marching with Colonel Follansbee and his command up Broadway as far as Barclay Street, where the regiment filed to the left, to go on board the steamer for Boston : the regiment, as it passed, paid me the honor of a marching salute. The old Sixth attracted much attention as it marched up Broadway. At the request of Colonel Follansbee, I telegraphed to Major Brown to arrange with Major Clarke. U.S.A., military commander, to have the regiment furloughed upon its arrival in Boston, until such time as its rolls could be completed for mustering out : this arrangement was made. The Sixth had been on guard duty for nearly three months at Fort Delaware, in which a large number of rebel prisoners were confined. On the morning of Friday, Oct. 21, I left New York for Wash ington. I stopped at Baltimore, expecting to see our Fifth and Eighth Regiments, which I knew were stationed there. I found that the regi ments were scattered by companies in different parts of the city, and in forts in the vicinity of Baltimore, and that it would take at least a day to visit them. As they were soon to leave for home, I concluded not to delay, and therefore pushed on That night for Washington, where I arrived about ten o clock, and put up at the National Hotel. During the two hours that I remained in Baltimore, I called at the headquar ters of the provost-marshal, where one of the companies of the Eighth was on duty. I learned from officers and residents of Baltimore, that our two regiments maintained a high rank as soldiers and citizens. On Saturday morning, Oct. 22, I called upon Colonel Gardiner Tufts, Massachusetts military State agent, and arranged with him about visiting our troops on duty in the fortifications around Washing ton ; and at twelve o clock, noon, we started in a carriage to visit those stationed in the forts on the Virginia side of the Potomac. We passed out through Georgetown, and, after a ride of six miles, came to what is known as the Chain Bridge, where we found the Fourteenth Company of Heavy Artillery on duty guarding the bridge : the company was under command of Lieutenant Wilson, who has acted in that capacity ever since it was formed. Captain Cook has never reported for duty, ill-health having detained him at home. Lieutenant Wilson informed me that he had been placed in charge of the bridge only a day or two before ; he had replaced with his command a company from an adjoin ing State, which had acted so badly that it had been sent to a fort. After a short stop with the officers and company, we passed over the bridge, and entered Virginia. A line of fortifications for the defence LETTER FROM THE FRONT. 593 of Washington extends on the Virginia side from " Chain Bridge " to " Long Bridge " at Washington, which are connected with breastworks and rifle-pits, the entire distance. A short way from Chain Bridge is Fort Ethan Allen, where we stopped : this fort is very large, and is garrisoned by five companies of Massachusetts unattached heavy artil lery. Here we stayed nearly an hour, and then passed on to Forts Whipple, Cass, Tillinghast, Smith, and Albany, each of which is garri soned by our unattached heavy artillery companies. We arrived at Washington about dark, having passed a most pleasant and profitable day. The country through which I had passed was high and rolling, intersected at short intervals with ravines ; the forts all have command ing positions. Two years and a half ago, I passed over a great part of this tract, with the late lamented Colonel Cass, of the Ninth Massa chusetts ; it was then thickly wooded, and it was difficult to make your way through it on horseback : now good carriage roads intersect it, and travelling in a carriage is not difficult. The woods have been felled and used for making abatis and corduroy roads, and to light up camp- fires. After arriving at my hotel, I had the honor of an introduction to Brigadier- General Custar, of General Sheridan s army. He had ar rived in Washington that afternoon from the Shenandoah Valley, hav ing in custody twelve battle-flags, which had been captured from the enemy the Wednesday preceding ; he was to present them the next day to the Secretary of War, and he was pleased to give me an invi tation to be present. From him I first learned that Colonel Lowell, of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, had been killed, gallantly lead ing his regiment in the front of battle. This news saddened my heart. Colonel Lowell was my beau ideal of an officer and a gentle man ; I had seen much of him while he was in Massachusetts raising and organizing his regiment, and had become warmly attached to him ; he was one of our best and bravest. General Custar informed me that Colonel Lowell was severely wounded in the early part of the engagement, and was advised to retire to the rear ; he thought, how ever, he could stand the fatigues of the day, and stoutly held to his command ; a few hours afterwards he fell, mortally wounded. It was pleasant to listen to the words of praise which General Custar be stowed upon his fallen comrade. Sunday, Oct. 23. I remained in my room, trying to rid my self of a severe cold which I had taken the day before in my visit to the fortifications. A number of friends called during the day, among whom was Governor Corwin, of Ohio, with whom I agreed to spend the next evening. He has recently returned from Mexico ; his 38 594 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. health is good, and his conversational powers are as wonderful as ever. Monday, Oct. 24. I hired a carriage, and at ten o clock was on my way to visit our heavy artillery companies which garrison the forts on the Maryland side of the Potomac. Our route was over the Capitol Hill, and then near the Navy Yard, where we crossed what is called the East Branch, a stream which runs up to Bladensburg. On the bridge I met Major Allen and a lieutenant of our Third Regiment Heavy Artillery, who were going to Washington, and from them I re ceived instructions how to proceed. After parting with them, and about midway over the bridge, I was surprised and shocked at seeing a cavalry soldier on horseback, dragging, with a rope about twenty feet long, two colored women, who were handcuffed ; one end of the rope was attached to the manacles, and the other to the saddle of the dra goon ; he was riding at a sharp pace, and the women had to run fast to prevent their falling on their faces ; a cavalry soldier on horseback brought up the rear. The sight appeared to excite no emotion among the crowd of teamsters and pedestrians who thronged the bridge. When I got to the end of the bridge, I inquired of the guard what the poor women had done that they should be thus treated, and was told that " they had been loafing around the camp for two or three days." On my return to Washington, I made a statement of the circumstances to Colonel Ingraham, assistant provost-marshal, and he said he would have the matter inquired into. I have heard nothing more of this beastly outrage since. Two miles from the bridge, I came to Fort Baker, which was under command of Lieutenant Dame, Sixth Company ; found there also Lieutenant Bumpus, of the Tenth Company, who is on staff duty. Next passed on to Fort Greble, where our Seventh Company had its headquarters. Part of it were also in Forts Snyder and Carroll. I next came to Fort Davis, where the Tenth Company is stationed, which also had details in Forts Davis, Dupont, Mahan, and Meigs. Captain Bumpus, who commands this company, I did not see, he hav ing gone that morning to Washington. I found Lieutenant Sanborn in command. From Fort Meigs I had to make a journey of nearly six miles to Fort Lincoln, and to again cross the " East Branch." Here is the headquarters of the Ninth Company, Captain Gordon. This company garrisons Fort Lincoln (which is within a mile of Bladensburg, and near General Hooker s old camp), Thayer and Saratoga. Captain Gordon and Lieutenant Currier had left, the day before I arrived, to attend a court in New Jersey, where one of the Ninth-company men was under trial for murder, he having shot a man LETTER FROM THE FRONT. in New Jersey while the company was on its way to Washington, It was now wearing late in the afternoon ; and, as I had ridden about twenty miles, we drove over the Bladensburg pike to Washington, and arrived there at dark. There is an extension of these works on the Maryland side reaching as far as the Chain Bridge ; but, as there are but two of our com panies in them, I did not think I could spare another day to visit them. My chief purpose in visiting these fortifications was to see our Mas sachusetts men, and to impress upon our officers the importance of making out the muster pay-rolls of the men in their several commands who had elected to take the twenty dollars a month State pay. I car ried with me blank rolls, and gave instructions how to make them out. The families of these men have called at the State House in numbers every day for the monthly pay ; but, as returns had not been made at this office, I could not make out the pay-rolls. The officers promised to attend to this matter at once, and would leave the rolls at Colonel Tufts s office at Washington, so that I could take them home with me on my return from the front. Colonel Tufts promised to attend to the two companies which I did not visit. I may say here that the prom ises made by the officers were kept in every instance ; and on my re turn to Washington, ten days after, I received the rolls from Colonel Tufts, made up to the 31st of October, which I brought home with me. I have no doubt I shall hereafter receive the rolls regularly. I found the defences of Washington almost entirely garrisoned by our men, and their good conduct and soldierly bearing were universally acknowledged. The health of the companies, as a general thing, is good, although in some of the companies a good deal of malarial fever, and fever and ague, prevails. The men, however, did not complain, but appeared cheerful and happy. Of one thing I am thoroughly satisfied, that they have good officers, who are qualified to command, and who regard with zealous care the comfort and health of the men. All I regret is, that I could not stop longer with them, for I had a hearty greeting and pressing invitations to stay longer in each of their camps. The evening I passed in my room, and quite a number of our officers and other friends called upon me. Oct. 25. I passed several hours at the War Department transact ing business with Colonel Breck and Colonel Vincent, who have lately been promoted to that rank. It is a pleasure to do business now at the War Department, every thing is so well arranged and systematized. Having completed my business, and obtained a pass from Major Po- 5 6 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. lonzie, Assistant Adjutant-General, I called upon Colonel Tufts, and arranged with him to send blank rnuster-rolls for pay to the companies garrisoning the forts in that part of the defences of Washington which I had not time to visit. I had previously arranged with those I had visited to have the rolls of the men who had elected to receive the State pay of twenty dollars a month made up to the 31st of October, and to have them left with Colonel Tufts, so that I could get them on my return from the front. At three o clock, I left Washington, on the mail steamer " Express," for City Point, General Grant s headquarters. The boat was crowded with passengers, among whom were a large number of officers, when we left Washington; but, on reaching Alexandria, we took on board three hundred more. These were soldiers from " Camp Distribution," belonging to different regiments in the Army of the Potomac. They were made up of convalescents, bounty -jumpers, deserters, and new recruits, white and black. We had three fights on board before we had been from the wharf half an hour. One fellow was also detected in stealing, and was tied up by the wrists for about four hours. The sail down the Potomac was very pleasant, until night shut off the view when near Acquia Creek. I had a very good view of Mount Vernon, and the outlines of the old Washington estate. There were but four state-rooms on the boat, and no berths ; there were a few rough bunks for soldiers. It therefore became a serious question how we were to pass the night. About nine o clock, the steward spread about a dozen narrow mattresses on the floor of the dining-room, which were soon disposed of at a dollar apiece. I was too late to get one ; but a friend onboard, who had seen camp-service, had with him a good buffalo robe, which he spread on the floor, and invited me to share it with him, which invitation I gladly accepted. Before retiring, I made a survey of the boat. I was curious to know how the remaining five or six hundred human beings were to rest. A large proportion of the soldiers were already asleep on the decks on coils of rope, on boxes and bales ; the colored soldiers and the white lying side by side. Those who had not retired were as sembled in groups, some playing cards, and others singing camp- songs. At ten o clock, I took off my boots and shared my friend s buffalo-robe, and slept soundly till early morning, when the boat stopped to deliver the mail and a few passengers at Point Lookout, a large depot for rebel prisoners, which is commanded at present by Brigadier-General Barnes, formerly colonel of the Massachusetts Eighteenth. We arrived at Fortress Monroe at eight o clock on the morning of LETTER FROM THE FRONT. 597 the 26th. Here every thing was bustle and activity. The wharf was crowded with all kinds of commissary, military and naval stores, and hundreds of contrabands were busy at work. In Hampton Roads lay the largest fleet of war-vessels and transport-ships ever concentrated in any harbor in America. It was a beautiful sight, and gave one an enlarged idea of the magnitude of this war, of the enterprise of our people, and of the resources of the nation. The boat remained at Fortress Monroe two hours, and then pro ceeded on past Newport News to the mouth of the James, and, follow ing the devious channel of that river for about seventy miles, arrived at five o clock, P.M., at City Point, which is the base of supplies for the Army of the Potomac, and the headquarters of Lieutenant-General Grant. The trip was made, including stoppages, in twenty-six hours. The fare from Washington to City Point is eight dollars and a half, meals one dollar each, and state-room a dollar and a half. The " Ex press " was a poor boat, and it has been taken off the line, and another, with good sleeping accommodations, put on in its place. A steamer leaves Washington every afternoon for City Point, stopping at Alexandria, Point Lookout, and Fortress Monroe. The scenery on the James is monotonous in the extreme. The banks are densely wooded, and there is not a village worthy of the name to be seen from the steamer. We passed the ruins of the ancient city of Jamestown in the afternoon : one or two chimneys, and the remains of brick walls, are all that is left to mark " the first settlement of Vir ginia." Thoughts of Captain Smith, Rolfe, Pocahontas, and Powha- tan naturally well up in the memory, on gazing at the ruins of this ancient town, near by which, arid on its site, is a camp of colored sol diers, which the captain of the boat informed me was commanded by Brigadier-General Wild, of Massachusetts. Their white tents made a pleasant contrast to the dark foliage of the pines, and the ruins of a city which has passed away. As the steamer glides up the stream, other names attract your attention, and excite your interest, associated, as they are, with late events of the war ; such as Foster s Landing, White-House Landing, Harrison s Landing, Light-house Point, Fort Powhatan, &c., &c. The river is well guarded with gunboats, and there is no fear of the navigation being interrupted by the enemy. At City Point, the river is crowded with vessels of all descriptions ; the wharves extend for at least half a mile; numerous supplies for the army are here stored. A colored regiment does guard duty, and colored men load and unload the vessels, railroad cars, and army wag ons. It is a busy, active place. On ascending the bank, which is seventy-five feet high, the first place to visit is the provost-marshal s 598 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. office, where the passes are examined. General Patrick is stationed here as provost-marshal-general of the Army of the Potomac. The first information I received on landing was, that an advance had been ordered, and the army had moved that morning. This was the extent of the information I could gain. This, I feared, would disconcert my plan of seeing our regiments, and perfecting our rolls ; but, as Gen eral Grant s purposes were of more importance than mine, I concluded to find some accommodation for the night, and see what the morning- would bring forth. On inquiring at the tent of the Christian Commis sion, I was directed to the hotel, a building of rough pine boards, which I had passed once or twice before, thinking it was a stable for cavalry horses. I succeeded by good luck in getting the last unspoken cot in the house : I secured it by putting my name on the book, and paying one dollar ; another dollar secured me a place at the supper-table. My room contained three cots : I occupied mine about nine o clock, and during the night the other two were taken up. In the morning, I found my fellow-lodgers were connected with the United-States Service Mag azine, and we became acquainted. At nine o clock, I walked over to General Grant s headquarters. The General and staff live in tents. I missed seeing him, as he had left at seven o clock for the front ; I had a pleasant interview, however, with his adjutant-general, who gav r e me a pass to Bermuda Hundred. In coming back to the hotel, I observed, in an open space near by, about one hundred soldiers graves ; each had a small board placed at the head. On examining them, I found one was the grave of " Ebria Shockley, Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, died June 26, 1864;" and another, the grave of " Charles Caldwell, Company C, Sixteenth Regi ment, Massachusetts Volunteers, died June 22, 1864." I made a memorandum, and sent it home, to ascertain if these deaths had ever been reported. From the exposed position of this burial-place, all traces of the graves will be obliterated in a few weeks. Oct. 27. Having obtained my pass, I concluded to visit General Butler s headquarters, and the Army of the James. The boat left City Point at eleven o clock for Bermuda Hundred, which is three miles distant, and on the opposite side of the river. While standing on the boat, I had the good fortune of meeting with Mr. Fay, of Chel sea, who has charge of the affairs of the Sanitary Commission in Gen eral Grant s army. From him I learned that our Sixty-first Regiment, Colonel Wolcott, was stationed about a mile from City Point, near the hospitals, and that it had been attached to the engineer corps. I re gretted that I had not known it before, as I would have preferred quarters with Colonel Wolcott to those at " the hotel." The regiment LETTER FROM THE FRONT. 599 is in splendid condition. Mr. Fay invited me to visit the hospitals on my return. Here I also met Dr. Graves, of the Marine Hospital at Chelsea. He had just returned from a visit to General Butler. On reaching Bermuda Hundred, I reported to Lieutenant North, assistant provost-marshal ; and, he being one of our Massachusetts boys, I received every courtesy in his power to render. He ordered an am bulance to take me to the headquarters of General Butler, which was about six miles distant, in a grove of oaks. The ride was of much in terest, as we passed several camps and hospitals ; the road lay through cornfields most of the way. At Wilson s Landing, we crossed a bend on the James, on a pontoon bridge. On reaching headquarters, I was cordially welcomed by Major Davis and Captain Sealy, of General Butler s staff: the General, with other members of his staff, had gone to the front that morning, distant about five miles. I heard firing all the day. The Tenth and Eighteenth Army Corps are in the Army of the James. I here learned that the advance of the armies was a concerted move ment, to obtain possession of the Danville Railroad. Lee s army was to be attacked by the Army of the Potomac, and the railroad taken if possible, while the Army of the James was to operate on that side, and prevent reinforcements being sent to Lee, and to take advantage of circumstances. As General Butler and staff were expected in the evening, I con cluded to remain for the present where I was. It rained during the whole of the afternoon, and part of the evening. The celebrated Dutch Gap, where General Butler is making a canal, is about a mile and a half from headquarters ; a rebel battery on the opposite side of the James, in a thick wood, keeps up a fire upon it during the day and night. I had a strong curiosity to see the Gap ; and, as there had been no firing for an hour, Captain Sealy thought it had ceased for the afternoon. Accordingly, I set off on horseback with an orderly, to see the famous canal. I got within a quarter of a mile of it, when a re port was heard, then a whistling sound, then a strike, then an explosion, then dirt and mire. The shell was in direct range, as all their shots are, but it fell short. I thought I could get a sight of the Gap before the " rebs " would load and fire again, and pushed my horse forward, and got a partial look at it, when another shell came over, and ex ploded within twenty-five yards of where I was. I therefore " retired in good order, having accomplished the purpose of my reconnoissance," to within a quarter of a mile of the Gap, and watched the shelling for half an hour or more. Not more than one shell out of five fell into the Gap, where many hundred men are working day and night. The 600 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. lines here are picketed by colored soldiers. The rebel pickets were visible on the opposite side of the river. Ou returning to headquarters, I found thirty rebel prisoners had ar rived ; they had been captured in the morning. About six o clock, Brigadier-General Devens, who had been at the front all day with General Butler, came in, and, at a later hour, Colonel Kensell, chief of staff. The General remained with the army. From Colonel Kensell, I learned that Captain Davis, formerly of our Seventh Battery, had been severely wounded by a shell. He has been for some months on Brigadier-General R. S. Foster s staff. After supper, we sat around a huge camp-fire in front of the tent, talking of old times and old friends, and of the war, until ten o clock, when I retired. A tremendous cannonading was heard in the direction of Petersburg, which lasted for two hours. Oct. 28. -Arose early. The morning was clear and pleasant. After breakfast, started with General Devens and Colonel Kensell, Colonel Dodge, and others of the staff, to the front. We rode about six miles through woods, over old cornfields, by lines of breastworks, through camps, and along the Farina and Darbytown turnpike, often men tioned in despatches, until we reached Dr. Johnson s farm, where we found General Butler, and General Terry, who commands the Tenth Army Corps. General Butler, who appears in excellent health, re ceived me very cordially. Before we arrived, it had been decided to withdraw our forces, and retire within our lines ; this was not done, though, until near noon. In the mean time, I walked over the field with General Devens, and visited some of the regiments behind the breast works. Our skirmish line was about half a mile in advance. Con siderable picket-firing was kept up on both sides ; we could distinctly 8ee the rebel pickets. Several prisoners were brought into the General s headquarters, some of whom he questioned. They had been captured by the colored troops. Three prisoners belonged to the Hampton Legion, and one to a South-Carolina battery. They were asked if they were not afraid the black soldiers would kill them, and they confessed they were. " Well," said the General, " you see they didn t. Now I want you to write to your friends that black men are not murderers, and that, if they do not treat our black prisoners well, I will retaliate on you." The South-Carolina prisoner had been a merchant, and, as he said, " a gentleman." lie asked permission to write to some friends in New York for funds, as he was entirely without means. Leave was granted. A colored man also came in. He was from Peters burg, and had bought his way through the rebel lines with a watch. LETTER FROM THE FRONT. 601 He still had in his pocket a valuable gold watch. He said they were his master s, and he had taken possession of them on leaving Peters burg. He said he thought he was " pretty smart." On going back to headquarters, the entire staff rode with the Gen eral, who was pleased to point out many interesting localities. We went back by a different and more circuitous route, visited Fort Har rison, and the immense line of works of which it forms an important part. We passed long lines of wagons and ambulances. Arrived at headquarters at two o clock, having rode about twenty miles. I had been within four miles of Richmond. Dined with the General, and spent most of the afternoon with him. He is enthusiastic in his praise of colored troops, and is trying to have in his command a corps com posed entirely of them. He said the slave negroes make the best soldiers. The evening I passed pleasantly around the camp-fire with the officers, and Mr. Merriam, the correspondent of the New-York Herald. Oct. 29. After breakfasting with the General, and hearing him examine a secesh widow, who owned a large farm in the vicinity, and who asked to be furnished rations during the winter, although she has a son in the rebel army, I bade good-by to him and his officers, and, taking my place in an ambulance, departed for Bermuda Hundred, where Colonel Dodge, provost-marshal of the Army of the James, put the steamer " Reindeer " at my disposal, to take me to City Point, where I arrived about two o clock. I immediately called at General Grant s headquarters, but he had not returned from the front. His adjutant-general, however, furnished me with a pass to any part of the Potomac Army. He also telegraphed to General Meade s headquar ters to have an ambulance at the station for my use. There are few Massachusetts regiments or batteries in the Army of the James. Major Stevens s battalion of the Fourth Regiment Massachusetts Cavalry was all I saw. I had the pleasure of meeting him, and I gave him blank rolls to fill up and forward to Boston. At three o clock, I left City Point in the cars for the front, intending to spend the night with a friend and relative, Colonel Charles S. Rus sell, Eleventh United-States Infantry, commanding the Twenty-eighth United-States Colored Regiment, in the Ninth Corps. The railroad runs the entire length of our lines, and the camps of the different corps are on each side of it. Twelve miles from City Point is General Meade s station. His headquarters are nearly a mile from there. I found the ambulance waiting for me. We drove to General Meade s quarters, and found Brigadier-General Williams, his chief-of- staff, and also Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman, a volunteer aid, 602 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. who holds a commission from your Excellency of assistant Adjutant- General of Massachusetts. General Meade was not in his quarters, and I did not see him until my return. I stayed nearly an hour with General Williams and Colonel Lyman, talking about our troops. They are both against raising new regiments, until those in the field are filled up. The men of our Massachusetts regiments and batteries stand at least as high as any in the service. I obtained here informa tion as to the whereabouts of our Massachusetts regiments so that I could find them out, which is no easy thing to do, so extended are our lines. The shades of evening began to fall when I left in an ambu lance for the Ninth Corps. We crossed the famous Weldon Railroad, near General Warren s headquarters. At seven o clock I arrived safely at Colonel Russell s camp, Twenty-eighth United-States Colored Troops, who gave me a soldier s welcome. He also is an enthusiast in favor of colored troops. After supper, he ordered his band up to his quarters, and it played for over an hour. Not a man of them can read a note, and yet they made good music. They are all enlisted men in the regiment. Oct. 30 (Sunday). After breakfast, rode with Colonel Russell to the headquarters of the division, to pay my respects to General Ferrara, who commands the colored division ; and while there our brave friend, Colonel McLaughlin, arrived. He commands a brigade. He rode back with us to see the colored soldiers, who had been placed in line that I might see them. The line extended nearly a mile. There were upwards of five thousand men, each of the six regiments being full. After promising Colonel McLaughlin to visit his camp in the afternoon, to witness dress-parade, we parted. I attended divine service in the camp. Rev. Garland White, an enlisted colored man, who had just been commissioned chaplain, led the service. He was " raised by Hon. Robert Toombs, of Georgia," and often went to Washington with him. This preacher has the respect and confidence of the men. This regiment suffered greatly at the ex plosion of the mine, or, as it is called in the army, " the crater." Just before going in, Colonel Russell requested the chaplain to address the men, which he did eloquently and with effect. He said : " Be brave, do your duty, obey your orders. If any of you fall, you fall for the liberty of your race. You will go up right away to the Lord Jesus, and you will form dress-parade in Paradise with your officers and brothers who fall with you, just as though you were in the old camp." The effect was inspiriting to the men, and they fought like tigers. In the afternoon, I attended the dress-parade of Colonel McLaugh- LETTER FROM THE FRONT. 603 lin s brigade, in which there are the remains of several of our regiments. I also, at the request of the Colonel, reviewed the brigade, after which we called upon General Wilcox, division com mander, who has several Massachusetts officers on his staff. Rode to the Colonel s headquarters. After supper, a large number of our Massachu setts officers came in and spent the evening. I gave them instructions about making out their rolls, and promised to visit their camps the next day, and bring blank rolls with me. At ten o clock, Colonel Russell and I rode to our quarters, and soon after retired. I must not omit to men tion, that Captain Clarke, of the Twenty-ninth Regiment, is brigade- adjutant, and he is regarded highly by Colonel McLaughlin. Oct. 31. This day I devoted entirely to visiting our various regi ments, and in giving instructions how to make out the rolls for the payment of the men who elected to take the twenty dollars a month State bounty ; and impressed upon the officers the importance of having the returns made regularly. Those which I saw were the Fifty-ninth, Fifty-seventh, Twenty-ninth, Thirty -fifth, Thirty -sixth, and Twenty-first which is consolidated with the Thirty-sixth, Thirty-second which has been consolidated with the Eighteenth, Twenty-second, and Ninth. I also visited Captain Jones and the Eleventh Battery, and found both officers and men in first-rate condition. This company has charge of three small forts, in the line of works near General Ferrara s headquarters. These comprise all the Massachusetts organizations I could visit to-day. I found the men generally in good health and spirits. The consolidation of old regiments with new ones causes some irritation ; but, on the whole, I found a general good feeling pre vailing. This being the day for muster for pay, I had a good chance to see the officers and men ; and I felt as proud as a field-marshal that they bore in their hands the honor and good name of Massachusetts. By appointment, dined with General Ferrara, and spent a very agreeable evening. Surgeon Prince, formerly of the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Regiment, is on the General s staff as the division sur geon. He had been with me most of the day, and dined at head quarters. Brigadier-General Curtin also accompanied me on my visit to our regiments. He has several of them in his brigade. During the day, called upon Major-General Parks, who succeeded Major-General Burnside in command of the Ninth Corps. Nothing could exceed the cordiality with which I was received by these distinguished gentlemen. They spoke warmly in praise of our Massachusetts regiments, and in quired kindly after Governor Andrew, whom they hoped soon to meet in their camps. 604 . MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. During the evening, Lieutenant-Colonel Colburn, of the Fifty-ninth, came to Colonel Russell s headquarters to see me in relation to having Sergeant Gibson commissioned. He spoke very highly of him. He wished to have him appointed major. Sergeant Gibson is now acting adjutant of the regiment. He also said there were men enough in the regiment to have a colonel commissioned and mustered in. I told him O I had nothing to do with appointments ; that, if the proper representa tions were sent to headquarters, I had no doubt they would receive a fair consideration by your Excellency. Xov. 1. At ten o clock, I started with Colonel Russell, on my way to the Second Corps ; " Jack," a colored orderly, accompanied us. I had taken a friendly leave of Lieutenant-Colonel Logan, of the regi ment, of the colored chaplain, " Elish " and " Joe," orderlies detailed at regimental headquarters. On our way, we stopped at the headquarters of the Eleventh Regulars, which had been ordered to New York. Here I met Lieutenant Bentzoni, who was for many months stationed at Fort Independence, and other regular officers whom I knew. We stopped here about an hour, and then passed on to Major-General Meade s headquarters, my intention being to pass the night with Colo nel Rivers, of the Massachusetts Eleventh. Our route lay for miles through the camps of the Second and Fifth Army Corps, Hancock s and Warren s. I had a pleasant interview with General Meade, who warmly urged upon me the importance of filling up the old regiments ; more men are wanted, our lines are so greatly extended ; necessarily so. Here I again met Brigadier-General Williams and Colonel Ly- man, and, after a short conversation, parted with them, and passed on to the " Yellow House," which is the headquarters of General Warren, commanding the Fifth Corps. That is on the old Weldon Railroad, and was a tavern and depot-station, six miles from Petersburg. The General had gone to City Point ; but a number of his staff were pres ent, and I was kindly received. Within a stone s throw of the " Yel low House " is the camp of the Thirty-second Massachusetts ; I spent a short time with it, and gave directions about the rolls. This once- splendid regiment has suffered severely during the campaign of this year. Here I parted with Colonel Russell, who rode some eight miles back to his camp. He left with me his orderly " Jack," whom I found a very sagacious and intelligent man. We passed on to find the camp of the Massachusetts Eleventh, and, after a long search, we found it about seven o clock in the evening. I stopped with Colonel Rivers in his tent that night. Nov. 2. After breakfast, called with Colonel Rivers upon Briga dier-General McAllister, whose headquarters were near by, and had a LETTER FROM THE FRONT. 605 pleasant conversation with him for half an hour ; here we were within a mile and a half of Petersburg. Shelling and picket-firing had been going on all night. Within a quarter of a mile of the quarters, a new- fort was being erected, on which the " rebs " kept up a constant fire ; still the work went on. At a distance I saw " the crater," and, further on, the church-steeples of Petersburg. The rebel lines and pickets were also in sight. After giving instructions to Colonel Rivers about the rolls, and leaving blanks on which to make them out, I took my leave, and pro ceeded with my colored orderly to the headquarters of Major-General Hancock, Second Army Corps. I had the pleasure of meeting him at his headquarters, and found him a most agreeable gentleman, and every inch a soldier. Here, also, was Major- General Miles, who went out in our Twenty-second Regiment a lieutenant, and by his bravery and capacity, has won the double stars of a major-general ; here I also met Colonel Macy, of the Twentieth, who had that morning been bre- vetted a brigadier-general, an honor most nobly earned. I remained here nearly an hour, and talked of war : here again the united senti ment was " to fill up the old regiments." From thence I proceeded, in a rain-storm, to Captain Sleeper s Tenth Massachusetts Battery, three miles distant. Two of his lieutenants, Sawyer and Granger, had been killed a few days before : the battery, however, is in good condition, and the Captain in good health. I remained with him two hours ; gave directions about the rolls, left blanks, and said good-by. Here I parted with my orderly " Jack," who, leading my horse, made his way back to the Ninth Corps. Captain Sleeper sent me in an am bulance to the railroad station, the rain falling fast. I arrived at City Point at seven o clock, and made my way to " the hotel," and secured a cot for the night. My purpose, however, was to pass the night with Lieutenant-Colonel Walcott, of the Sixty-first ; but I could find no conveyance to take me to his camp, and, the night being dark and rainy, I could not find my way without a guide ; so I made a virtue of necessity, and stayed at " the hotel." Nov. 3. Still raining. After breakfast, went to General Grant s headquarters, determined, if possible, to see him, but failed : he had been up nearly all night, and had not arisen. This was a disap pointment, as I had to leave at nine o clock for Washington. I left in the steamer " Daniel Webster," a good boat ; had a good state-room, although the boat was crowded with officers and soldiers going home to vote. I arrived at Washington the next day. During the entire trip the rain fell in torrents. Nothing of particular interest occurred dur ing the trip. I may say here, that my opportunities were many ; the 606 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. attention I received was great. My disappointments were, that I did not see Lieutenant-General Grant, and did not see the Sixty-first Regi ment and Lieutenant-Colonel Walcott, who had done me the honor to call his camp after my name. Nov. 4, Washington. I found on my return, several letters for me at the National Hotel about business matters ; and spent the day at the War Department, and transacted all the business I had to do. I found the rolls of the heavy artillery companies, as promised, at Colo nel Tufts office, and brought them home with me. On going to the cars that evening to proceed to New York, I found them filled, and about five hundred on the outside who could not get either seats or standing room, soldiers from the army, and clerks in the depart ments, who were going home to vote. They took possession ; so I had to wait until the next day. Nov. 5. Called upon the President, whom I had not seen since he was inaugurated. I had known him when in Congress, and when I lived in the West. He knew me, and I passed an agreeable half-hour with him. At five o clock, I went to the depot, half an hour before the cars started, but could get no seat. They were packed ; and I stood up for fifteen hours, from Washington to Jersey City. Nov. G. Arrived at the Astor House wearied and worn. Made a few calls upon relatives and friends, and, not having slept for thirty- six hours, retired early. Nov. 7. Rained all day. Nothing talked of but the presiden tial election. Left in the Fall River steamer for home, and arrived at Boston. Nov. 8. Election day, having been absent just three weeks. Had travelled eighteen hundred miles, and my expenses were just exactly one hundred and forty-three dollars and fifty-five cents ($143.55). Allow me to conclude this hastily written report in a few words. To the officers and men of the Armies of the Potomac and James, allow me to return my sincere and grateful thanks, for the many kind nesses I have received at their hands. I shall cherish them in my heart with unspeakable satisfaction as long as I shall live. There never were armies so well clothed, fed, and in better condi tion, than the Armies of the Potomac and the James. What is universally demanded by officers and men is, that the de pleted regiments and batteries shall be filled up. Our Massachusetts regiments and batteries, as a general remark, are in good health, and stand as high as any in the service. The purpose of my journey, to have our rolls made out right and promptly, has been accomplished, so far as time and circumstances GOVERNOR ANDREW S STAFF. 607 would allow me to visit our men. I could not visit the army of Gen eral Sheridan. A strong and universal wish I found everywhere expressed, that your Excellency should visit our regiments, and our sick who are in hospitals. With great respect, I have the honor to be Your Excellency s obedient servant, WILLIAM SCHOULER, Adjutant- General. The following gentlemen were commissioned on the staff of the Governor daring the year 1864 : George C. Trumbull, of Boston, assistant quartermaster-gen eral, with the rank of major, Jan. 4. George R. Preston, of Boston, assistant quartermaster-gen eral, with the rank of major, Jan. 6. Major Preston died in Boston, Feb. 25, 1864. William W. Clapp, Jr., of Boston, assistant quartermaster- general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, Feb. 20. Lieutenant-Colonel Harrison Ritchie, of Boston, senior aide- de-camp to the Governor, was promoted to the rank of colonel, May 14. William L. Candler, of Brookline, aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, June 10. Colonel Candler s ap pointment was to fill the vacancy on the Governor s personal staff occasioned by the resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel Hen ry Lee, Jr., who had filled the position with distinguished ability and untiring industry from April 15, 1861. Henry Ware, of Cambridge, assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of major, June 20. Major Ware s duties were chiefly those of assistant military secretary to the Governor. Frank E. Howe, of New York, assistant quartermaster-gen eral, with the rank of colonel, Aug. 16. He had been ap pointed on the staff of the Governor, Aug. 23, 1861, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His promotion was in recognition of his valuable services rendered to our sick and wounded men, during the entire period of the Rebellion. Richard A. Peirce, of New Bedford, inspector-general, with the rank of brigadier-general. Charles C. Dunbar, of New Bedford, assistant quartermaster- general, with the rank of captain, Aug. 1. 608 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. William F. Capelle, of Boston, master of ambulance, with the rank of captain, Xov. 2. Warren L. Brigham, of Westborough, assistant adjutant-gen eral, with the rank of captain, Aug. 11. Robert R. Corson, of Philadelphia, assistant quartermaster- general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, Dec. 9. Charles L. Bulkley, of Boston, assistant engineer, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, Dec. 12. Frank L. Pope, of Great Barrington, assistant engineer, with rank of major, Dec. 12. Colonel Bulkley and Major Pope were engineers engaged to lay a telegraph-wire to connect the States with the Russian do minions, and received their commissions from the Governor, as an honor due them for undertaking so great and valuable an O O enterprise. J. F. B. Marshall, of Weston, paymaster-general, with the rank of colonel, Dec. 28. Jarvis D. Braman, of Boston, assistant paymaster-general, with the rank of major, Dec. 29. H. Sidney Everett, of Boston, assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of major, Dec. 30. The year 1864 was one of the most important of the war. A presidential election had taken place which resulted in the triumphant re-election of Abraham Lincoln, and of a Con gress pledged to a vigorous prosecution of the war ; General Grant and the Army of the Potomac had fought their way through Virginia to the lines before Petersburg and Richmond ; the Mississippi had been opened from its source to its mouth ; and Sherman, with his Army of the Tennessee and the Cumber land, was making his triumphant march to the ocean. The Rebellion was in its death-throes. Thus matters stood at the close of the year. CHAPTER XII. Public Confidence Meeting of the Legislature Organization Address of Governor Andrew Acts passed by the Legislature General Sargent Death of Edward Everett Frontier Cavalry Governor and Secretary Stanton Abolition of Slavery Boston Harbor Fast Day Currency Question Proclamation of President Lincoln Case of a Deserter Let ter from Secretary Seward Foreign Enlistments The end of the Rebel lion Capitulation of General Lee Rejoicings throughout the State Governor sends a Message to the Legislature Meeting in Faneuil Hall Proposition for a National Thanksgiving Death of President Lincoln Ac tion of the Legislature Governor s Letter to Mrs. Lincoln Original Copy of General Lee s Farewell Address, sent to the Governor by General Russell Death of General Russell Monument to the First Martyrs in Lowell Address of the Governor Letter to F. P. Blair, Sen. Meeting at Faneuil Hall Letter of the Governor Reconstruction Colonel William S.Lin coln Memorial Celebration at Harvard Letter to Mr. Motley, Minister to Austria Miss Van Lew Alexander H. Stephens Governor to President Lincoln Relics of Colonel Shaw Letter to Colonel Theodore Lyman State Prisoners in Maryland Letter to James Freeman Clarke Freedman s Bureau Emigration South Letter to General Sherman Governor s Staff Governor declines Re-election Republican Convention Demo cratic Convention Reception of the Flags Forefathers Day Speech of General Couch Speech of Governor Andrew Compliment to the Adju tant-General General Grant visits Massachusetts Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis Her Services New-England Women s Auxiliary Association What it did New-England Rooms. New York Massachusetts Soldiers Fund Boston Soldiers Fund Surgeon-General s Fund Number of Men sent from Massachusetts to the War Governor Andrew s Valedictory Address Governor Bullock inaugurated Last Military Order Close of the Chapter. THE year 1865, the last of the war, opened auspiciously for the Union cause. A feeling of confidence that the war was soon to end appeared to inspire every loyal heart. Our soldiers on the march and in the trenches felt it ; the farmer, as he drove his " team afield," felt it ; the mechanic in the workshop, the law yer in his study, the minister in the pulpit, and the capitalist in his banking-house, felt it. This general confidence and buoyant hope had their origin and their growth mainly in the fact of 3J 610 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the triumphant re-election of President Lincoln, and the univer sal confidence reposed in Lieutenant-General Grant, whose wise and comprehensive policy had become known to the people. The Legislature of Massachusetts assembled at the State House on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The Senate was called to order by Mr. Wentworth, of Middlesex, and organized by the choice of Jonathan E. Field, of Berkshire, for President, who received twenty-five votes, and John S. Eldridge, of Norfolk, ten ; and by the choice of Stephen N. Gifford, clerk, who received all the votes that were cast. Mr. Field, on taking the chair, referred to national matters in the following words : " The people have decided that the Union shall at all hazards be pre served. No man was bold enough to ask for popular indorsement!, who held any other creed. By the election of Mr. Lincoln, it has been settled, that from ocean to ocean, from Aroostook to the Rio Grande, there shall be but one nation. We are not only to have but one flag, covering all with its ample folds, but all who live under it are to be free. In a short time, wherever this flag of the Union floats, there will be no involuntary servitude, except for crime. The breeze that opens its folds will cool the brow of no unpaid toil, will fan the cheek of no slave." The House of Representatives was called to order by John I. Baker, of Beverly, and organized by the choice of Alexander H. Bullock for Speaker, and William S. Robinson for clerk, each of these gentlemen receiving an unanimous vote. Mr. Bullock, in his address to the House on taking the chair, thus spoke of the state of the country : " GENTLEMEN, I congratulate you upon the progress of the na tional arms. The end is not yet ; but it is assured. The people of the United States, two months ago, upon a review of the four years of struggle, pronounced their irreversible decree that there shall be but one common government, one civil condition, from the Lakes to the Gulf. The only question remaining is a question of time, and of sacrifice ; upon this, the East, the West, and the centre, are agreed. 1< or the first time, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Missouri stand upon the same platform, and support the same theory of government. And they are united with all the others. The conclusion of the people, and the advance of their armies, furnish the promise of a restored unity, and an absolute free republic. To this august result, to this grand GOVERNOR ANDREW S ADDRESS. 611 vindication of the policy of the fathers, our State has committed her self by her soldiers and by her voters. " We in this House can add little to the solemnity of the decision. But I am sure we will not do any thing which shall place us out of sympathy with the cause and with the States which uphold it, nor any thing which shall give reason to our brave defenders to doubt our determination to encourage and succor them, nor any thing which may cast one slight shadow upon our civil or our martial fame." On Friday, Jan. 6, Governor Andrew delivered his fifth and last inaugural address, the opening paragraph of which ex presses the confidence which he felt of a speedy cessation of hostilities. He said, " By the blessing of Almighty God, the people of Massachusetts witness to-day the inauguration of a new political year, under circum stances in which the victories of the past, blended with bright and well- grounded hope for the future, assure the early return of national peace, the firm establishment of liberty, and auspicate the lasting glory of the republic." The address of the Governor was an exhaustive review of the services and sacrifices of Massachusetts in the war, of her financial condition, and of the educational and industrial prog ress which had been made during the period of his adminis tration. The war-debt amounted to nearly fourteen and a half millions of dollars, much the larger part of which was held by our own citizens. " All the scrip," said the Governor, " issued by Massachusetts, she is bound to pay ; and she will pay, both interest and principal, in gold, to all holders, with the cheerfulness which becomes her spotless honor, and the promptness of an industrious, economical, and thrifty common wealth." The Governor then refers, in this connection, to the increased deposits in our savings institutions, and says, " So that the very depositors of savings, out of this increased aggre gate of their modest earnings saved and deposited, could lend money enough to pay the whole war-debt of the Commonwealth, and have left on deposit as much as they had when the war began, and more than three millions of dollars besides." The Governor closed his address with an eloquent tribute 612 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. to the services of our officers and soldiers, from which we quote : " In the vestibule of the Capitol of the Commonwealth, you pass to this hall of your deliberations beneath a hundred battle-flags, war worn, begrimed, and bloody. They are sad but proud memorials of the transcendent crime of the Rebellion, the curse of slavery, the elas tic energy of a free Commonwealth, the glory and the grief of war. There has been no loyal army, the shout of whose victory has not drowned the dying sigh of a son of Massachusetts. There has been no victory gained which her blood has not helped to win. Since the war began, four hundred and thirty-four officers, whose commissions bore our seal, or who were promoted by the President to higher than re gimental commands, have tasted death in the defence of their country s flag. The names of nine general officers, sixteen colonels, seven teen lieutenant-colonels, twenty majors, six surgeons, nine assistant- surgeons, two chaplains, one hundred and ten captains, and two hundred and forty-five lieutenants, illustrate their roll of honor ; nor will the history be deemed complete, nor our duty done, until the fate and fame of every man, to the humblest private of them all, shall have been inscribed upon the records of this Capitol, there to remain, I trust, until the earth and sea shall give up their dead ; and thus shall the Capitol itself become for every soldier-son of ours a monument. . . . And whatever may hereafter tide, or befall me or mine, MAY THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS PRESERVE OUR COMMONWEALTH." The roll of honor was not yet completed, when Governor Andrew s address was delivered. Many of our brave and gallant officers and men were yet to "taste of death," be fore the day of our deliverance should come. The Army of the Potomac was yet in the trenches before Petersburg and Kich- mond, and Lee held the Confederate Capitol ; Sherman had not yet completed his gallant march to the sea, and Thomas still faced the enemy behind his breast-works in front of Nashville. But in April, before the apple-trees of New England had put forth their leaves and blossoms, the Confederate armies had laid down their arms at the demand of Grant and Sherman, but not before many of the sons of Massachusetts and of other loyal States had offered up their precious lives, and watered the greensward of the South with their blood. We will state here that the number of officers who were NEW GENERAL ORDER. 613 killed or died in the military service from Massachusetts was four hundred and forty-two ; and the number of enlisted men was twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-four. This is as near as can be ascertained, up to the present time. The num ber of officers and men who were wounded, and lost limbs in the service, and who are seen in the daily walks of life going quietly about their business, or modestly pacing our streets, has not been accurately ascertained ; but it is fair to state, that they outnumber in a large degree those who fell in battle, or died of starvation and of hope deferred in the prison-houses of the South. Several acts were passed by the Legislature during the ses sion, in relation to our soldiers, which were chiefly amendatory of acts passed in previous years, of which it is not necessary or important to give even an abstract. Every thing had been done which the wise foresight of a generous Commonwealth for the encouragement of enlistments, a tender regard for the in terests of our soldiers, and those depending on them for sup port, made necessary and expedient. This, however, did not prevent the Governor from doing what was in his power for the brave men who had served their country. On the 6th of January, the day after the Governor had delivered his annual address, he caused General Order No. 1 to be issued, w r hich set forth that " Disabled officers and men of our army have difficulty, upon their return to civil life, in finding employment for their support ; many being prevented by wounds or sickness from resuming their former occupations. These cases are of painful frequency, and have caused much anxious thought to devise some method of aiding to place them in positions where such labor as they are still capable of performing may, with their Government pensions, render them independent." The order then goes on to state that a registry of the names of the disabled officers and men should be kept in the office of the surgeon-general, so that any person having at his dis posal a situation which might be filled by one of these disabled men might consult it, and give the place to such a one as he might prefer. This was called the "Bureau of Military Em- 614 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ployment," which, through the active exertions of Surgeon- General Dale, was the means of doing incalculable good. On the 14th of January, the Governor wrote to the Presi dent recommending the appointment to the office of second assistant Secretary of War an office which had just been created by an act of Congress Brigadier-General Horace Binney Sargent. In doing so, he paid the following well- merited compliment to that brave and gallant officer: " He was," said the Governor, " originally a member of our bar, of the best education and culture, and became, on my accession to office, my senior aide-de-camp, helping to inaugurate the difficult work of the first year of the war ; in which capacity he attached me warmly by his attractive qualities as a gentleman, and won my ad miration by his talents, devotedness to duty, his personal fidelity, and manly character. He was subsequently lieutenant-colonel, and then colonel, of the First Massachusetts Cavalry, in which he saw much active service in the field. He was severely wounded in the Louis iana campaign, received the brevet rank of brigadier-general of volun teers, and has been honorably discharged from the service by reason of his wounds. I heartily commend General Sargent to the President for any position where the qualities of a strong and cultivated mind, a dauntless will, and a tireless capacity for work, are wanted." We take pleasure in presenting this letter to our readers, because it speaks only the plain and simple truth of a gentle man with whom we were associated on the staff of Governor Andrew, and also of that of his predecessor, Governor Banks, and whose acquaintance and friendship we greatly esteem. We believe that it was written without the knowledge of General Sargent, and that he is not now aware of its exist ence. On the 16th of January, Edward Everett, one of the most distinguished citizens of the nation, died in the city of Boston, after a short illness. The sudden death of tin s illustrious man, whose whole life had reflected honor upon his native State and his country, caused a profound sensation. His speeches during the war kept alive and invigorated the loyal spirit and purpose of the people. On the 17th of January, the Governor telegraphed to Sena tor Sumner as follows : DEATH OF MR. EVERETT. " Should it be the purpose of the President, or of either of the Cabi net ministers, to honor Boston with their presence on the occasion of Mr. Everett s funeral, to which they have been invited, please telegraph me so that this Department may be suitably notified." On the 18th of January, the Governor received the following telegram from Secretary Seward : " It is impracticable for the President and the Cabinet to leave the Capitol to attend the funeral. The President of the United States and the heads of departments tender to the Commonwealth of Massa chusetts their condolence on the lamented death of Edward Everett, who was worthy to be enrolled among the noblest of the nation s benefactors." We will only add, that the death of Mr. Everett was prop erly noticed, not only by the Executive and the Legislature, but by the various literary, scientific, and historical associations, and by the people throughout the Commonwealth. In the month of December, 1864, a battalion of cavalry was raised, intended for service on the frontier line of New York and Vermont, as a raid was expected from rebels gathered in the Canadas. The battalion was completed and mustered in on the 2d of January, 1865 ; and Colonel Burr Porter, formerly in command of the Third Massachusetts Cavalry, was appointed major. Two battalions were raised in the State of New York, to which the Massachusetts battalion was attached ; and the three battalions were known as and designated the Twenty- sixth Regiment, New- York Volunteer Cavalry. They were mustered in for one year s service. So eager were our young men to join this command, that a surplus of upwards of three hundred men were left in camp at Readville, after the battalion had been completed to the maximum. Governor Andrew was anxious to have these men accepted by the Secretary of War, and organized into companies. The Governor s military secre tary, Colonel Browne, who was in Washington, was requested by the Governor to call upon Secretary Stanton, and obtain from him permission to have the men accepted. He called upon the Secretary witb Senator Wilson ; and it appears, from his letter to the Governor, Jan. 21, that the Secretary not only refused to accept them, but received the proposition with a de- 616 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. gree of rudeness altogether unexpected and uncalled for. Colo nel Browne s letter gives a detailed account of the interview, which, though interesting, we refrain from quoting. On the 24th of January, the Governor wrote to Colonel Browne, acknowledging the receipt of his letter, and commented at considerable length upon " the extraordinary character of the language reported by you that was used by Mr. Stanton, in re spect to the surplus cavalry men at Camp Meigs. " The letter of the Governor is a model of dignified and argumentative statement. He goes over the whole ground in regard to the enlistment of these men, and shows that they were enlisted under proper authority from the War Department, and by the United-States officers stationed in Massachusetts for that duty. The letter concludes as follows : " I presume that every word he said was hasty, inadvertent, and would be regretted, if he was reminded of the conversation. While I 5 entertain no personal feeling, I think it my duty not to overlook his remarks. I have no riMit to regard such treatment of the State, and & ^ 7 those who are charged with its service, as in any sense personal. I can only regard it officially, and must maintain the dignity and rights of the Commonwealth and her people, so far as they are intrusted to my care." It is perhaps proper here to state that it was impossible, dur ing a war so great as this was, that there should not have been at times borne irritation of mind and hasty remarks made by those in high positions, upon whose shoulders rested so great a responsibility. As regards Governor Andrew and Secretary Stanton, they were both able, earnest, and positive men, who had the good of the country at heart, and whose plans some times crossed each other. But we are positive that they always entertained a high respect for each other, and the little differ ences which occasionally arose between them rather served to bring out their good and strong points than to cause permanent alienation. Both gentlemen were borne down and harassed with weighty duties, sufficient to distract calm thought and consid erate remark. We know that, notwithstanding the conflict of views which sometimes took place between them, Governor Andrew entertained for Secretary Stanton a high regard, both officially and personally, which was fully reciprocated. RECRUITING IN REBEL STATES. 617 In January of this year, the Congress of the United States had adopted the amendment to the Constitution abolishing sla very and involuntary servitude, except for crime. On the 1st of February, the Governor telegraphed to President Lincoln, " Will you telegraph so that I may know as nearly as possible the moment you will sign the resolution for amending the Constitution ? I desire to echo it immediately by a national salute on Boston Common, with a chorus of all the church-bells of Massachusetts." On the 3d of February, the Governor telegraphed to Presi dent Lincoln, " Massachusetts has to-day ratified the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, by a unanimous yea and nay vote of both branches of the Legislature ; the Democrats voting affirmatively." About the middle of February, a proposition was made, in the Senate of the United States, to repeal the law allowing the loyal States to enlist colored men for their quotas in the rebel States. Among the Senators who advocated the proposition was Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware. In the course of his speech, he arraigned the government of Massachusetts as " selfishly en deavoring to get colored troops to its own credit against the public interest ; that it was trying to recruit men in Savannah ahead of the United States ; " and this was made the ground for repealing the section allowing recruiting in rebel States. On the 18th of February, the Governor wrote to John B. Alley, Representative in Congress from the Essex district, calling his attention to Mr. Saulsbury s speech, and said, " As the matter will be sure to come up in the House, I want our delegation to know that I in fact tried hard to push on and forward the United-States War Department itself. I did not try to get my officers in ahead of Mr. Stan ton s. What I always aim at and want is, first, the recruitment of the army ; second, the employment of colored troops ; third, the procuring of men to the credit of Massachusetts. I pray you to read these papers, and protect the right as occasion may offer." The protection of Boston Harbor, as the readers of this vol ume may know, was one of the darling objects of the Governor from the beginning of the war. Through the agency of John 618 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. M. Forbes and Colonel Ritchie, Massachusetts had received from England a number of heavy guns, which the Governor wished to have placed in position, with proper earthworks, on Long Island Plead. On the 2d of March, the Governor wrote to John M. Forbes, who was then in Washington, inclosing him a copy of some memoranda made by Colonel Browne, of a con versation had with General Totten, in Boston, in September, 1863, which bore directly on the point of the construction of a work on Long Island Head to receive our guns. The Gov ernor asked Mr. Forbes to consider the propriety of getting the Engineer Bureau to design an earthwork for us to erect there at our own cost, with an estimate of the necessary outlay. The Governor said, "I wish that you could get General Dyer to take our guns, and have carriages constructed for them, and mount them. The Ordnance Bureau would need no special appropriation for such carriages, but could, out of existing appropriations, authorize Major Rodman, U.S.A. [then in com mand of the United-States Arsenal at Watertown], to build them. We do not ask them to say that they will pay for the guns, and we do not ask them to build the earthworks. We simply want to have the benefit of the defensive power of those guns in position. It seems to me that the United-States Government ought to stick to something, especially when it would incur no expense in so doing." We have no doubt that what was asked for by the Governor would have been granted, had not the Rebellion, in a few weeks after the letter was written, been suppressed. The following letter, although it has no special bearing upon the war, we cannot refrain from quoting, as it shows in a prac tical manner the catholic and liberal spirit which ever animated the mind and action of our truly great Governor. On the 7th of March, Governor Andrew wrote to Governor Smith, of Ver mont, " I have already proposed Good Friday to the Executive Council, who do not consent to it, but favor Thursday, the day previous. If, however, you and others adopt Good Friday, perhaps they may be will ing to change, in view that that day, on the whole, more convenient. It was objected to, as being a possibly improvident act, tending to cre ate the suspicion of conceding a Puritan custom to fast on Thursday, STATE FINANCES. 619 in favor of a Catholic and Episcopal practice of fasting on Friday. Personally, I think Good Friday the proper day to select, it being of no consequence to the general public that it should be Thursday in stead of Friday. I am in favor of the latter, and believe, by adopting a day sacred by religious associations in the eyes of certain denomi nations, it will be better observed ; while it is of some consequence to have the most solemn day of the Christian year thus recognized to those with whom its observation is a matter of conscience." It is proper to remark, that this letter is very imperfectly copied in the letter-press book ; but we have endeavored to fill up the omissions so as to keep unbroken the thread of the statement. The letter had reference to the appointment of the annual fast day. Good Friday was not set apart, as de sired by the Governor ; but the fast was held as usual on Thurs day. Governor Andrew was a Unitarian. On the 10th of March, General Order No. 5 was issued in accordance with a requisition of the War Department to raise one regiment of infantry for one year s service, and for thirty companies of infantry to recruit old regiments. The new regi ment was designated the Sixty-second, of which Colonel Ansel D. Wass, formerly of the Nineteenth, and still later of the Sixtieth, Regiment, was commissioned colonel ; and Lieuten ant-Colonel I. Harris Hooper, late of the Fifteenth Regiment, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. This regiment, and the unattached companies, were never organized, in consequence of the suppression of the Rebellion, which happened a few weeks after the order was issued. On the 13th of March, the Governor wrote to John M. Forbes in relation to the question of currency and a loan to the State, a bill in regard to which was then before the Com mittee on Finance of the Legislature. He said, "I proposed last year the issue from our Treasury of five per cent gold-bearing scrip, and strained the law to make short six per cent currency scrip instead, because no one will ever pay any large premium for gold-bearing scrip, even when gold was nearly three to one, arid I wanted to save to the Commonwealth the enormous premium gold would have cost us. Six per cent in currency is about half what our interest account would have been. Moreover, I thought 620 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. it poor policy for Massachusetts to become a needless competitor in the gold market, and thus help to increase the inflation." The letter concluded as follows : * When we get ready to issue our six per cent currency bonds, I think I must take hold of the thing myself. ... I want, if I can, to find out the best method of feeling and of manipulating the market ; the best agency for modus operandi of popularizing the loan, and getting it rapidly absorbed, and to endeavor to impress the treasury personally both with snap and with discretion, desiring earnestly to bring things up as tight and snug as may be before my year is out. Can you make any suggestions in this connection ? And who are the best people to talk with likely to be competent and willing to help, with good ideas or otherwise ? " In the early part of March, President Lincoln issued a proclamation in regard to deserters from the army ; promising the forgiveness of their crime, if they would return to their duty within a specified period named in the proclamation. On the 23d of March, Governor Andrew wrote to the President upon this subject, recommending to him to apply the prin ciple of amnesty to all enlisted men who had been tried by courts-martial for desertion, and who were serving their terms of imprisonment for their offences . The Governor urges the adoption of this policy at considerable length and with great power, in the course of which he calls the attention of the President to the case of an enlisted man belonging to the Third Regiment Massachusetts Heavy Artillery who had been tried by court-martial for being absent without leave, and whose sen tence was "to be dishonorably discharged from the service, to be confined at hard labor in the Clinton, N.Y., State prison for six years ; the first twenty days of each and every month to wear a 24-pound ball attached to his leg by a chain three feet in length, and to forfeit all allowances." Colonel Gardiner Tufts, our State agent at Washington, who knew the man and had examined the case, had written to the Governor that he was a good and faithful soldier, " one who has been and can be trusted to go into the city without guard." The Governor had previously called the attention of the Secretary of War to this sentence in strong and indignant language. Major Burt, FOREIGN ENLISTMENTS. 621 the Judge-Advocate of the Commonwealth, had also examined the case, and his letter to Judge Holt, at the head of the Bureau of Military Justice, in regard to it was most able and convincing. In the letter of the Governor to the President is this paragraph : "This inhuman sentence could not be imposed by a judge of the highest judicial tribunal of this Commonwealth for any crime. But I understand the court-martial that imposed this sentence was presided over by a captain in the service. Such things ought not to be. . . . You know how extremely uncertain these tribunals have proved for the purposes of justice, and I trust your knowledge and experience will be availed of to work out some broad and generous relief for the poor private soldier, who has neither the means nor the friends to present his individual case, and the special hardships he suffers ; but who is, nevertheless, entitled, from his utter dependence and lowliness, to the kindest consideration of his commander-in-chief, whenever op portunities present themselves for its proper exercise." The soldier whose case is here referred to was pardoned by the President, and the finding of the court-martial set aside. We find on the files of the Governor several letters from Secretary Seward, in regard to certain men who came to Boston from Belgium and other countries on the continent of Europe, and enlisted in Massachusetts regiments. These men were brought here in steamers by a Boston firm, partly from patriotic motives, and partly for speculative purposes. There were about a thousand altogether. The men, before coming on board the vessels, signed papers pledging themselves to enter into employment, the nature of which was not clearly stated in the papers which they signed ; but it was stated by the firm re ferred to, that the men understood that they were to enlist as soldiers. Upon their arrival in Boston, these men, with a few exceptions, did enter the volunteer service, and were mustered in by the United-States mustering officers. Their passages to this country cost them nothing ; but the parties who brought them here were remunerated for their outlay by the State paying them the bounties provided by law, which amounted to three hundred and twenty-five dollars to each man, which made the speculation a profitable one. These men were brought here in 622 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the year 1864. After they had enlisted, and were mustered into the service, some of them complained that they had been deceived, and that they had been forced into the army against their will, and had been brought to this country by false repre sentations. It is not our purpose to decide whether these com plaints were just or not : it is sufficient to say that they were made, and were brought to the attention of Secretary Seward by the gentlemen representing the governments to which these men belonged, and by him to the attention of Governor Andrew. The correspondence shows very clearly, that no blame could properly be attached to the State Government, or to the United- States officers who had mustered them into the service. It ap pears that the explanations made by Governor Andrew, and the mercantile firm who had brought the men to this country, were satisfactory, as none of the men were discharged from the ser vice ; and, after a while, the controversy ceased. We have always regarded the enlistment of these foreigners as unfortunate, as it reflected in some degree upon the patriotism of the people of Massachusetts, and afforded to the enemies of the Commonwealth an opportunity for disparaging remarks. It was the only transaction during the war, connected with the en listment of men to fill the quota of the State, which required explanation, and which was of questionable propriety. We have now reached the culminating point of the war. For four long and weary years the energies of the Common wealth, its mind, and its wealth, had been devoted to the suppression of a Rebellion whose gigantic proportions were with out parallel in the history of Christian nations. There had been no cessation of labor and effort, no holding back of means and men, for the national defence. The magnitude of the Re bellion, and the firm determination of the people of Massa chusetts to suppress it, had absorbed all other questions, and obliterated from the public mind all minor issues. On the 3d of April, Governor Andrew received the following telegram from Secretary Stanton : " The following telegram from the President announcing the evacu ation of Petersburg, and probably of Richmond, has just been re ceived by this Department : City Point, Virginia, 3d, 8.30, A.M. THE FALL OF THE REBELLION. 623 This morning General Grant reports Petersburg evacuated, and he is confident Richmond also is. He is pushing forward to cut off, if pos sible, the retreating army. A.LINCOLN. Later. It appears by the despatch of General Weitzell, just received by the Department, that our forces under his command are in Richmond, having taken it at 8.35 this morning. EDWIN M. STANTON." Immediately upon the receipt of this important and gratify ing information, the Governor telegraphed to Mr. Stanton : " I give you joy on these triumphant victories. Our people, by a common impulse, abandoned business to-day, for thanksgiving and re joicing. The colored man received last got in first, and thus is the Scripture fulfilled." The last sentence in the Governor s telegram refers to the colored division in Weitzel s corps, which was said to be the first infantry to enter Richmond. The information of the fall of Richmond, the advance of the Union army, and the retreat of Lee, was everywhere received with the wildest demonstrations of delight, but nowhere more than in the city of Boston. State Street and the Merchants Exchange were thronged with excited people. The newspaper offices were crowded, and the bulletin boards on which was written "Richmond occupied by the Union forces," were looked at and read a hundred times by the same person. After the excitement in a degree had subsided, a meeting was organized in the Merchants Exchange ; and Rev. Mr. Hepworth, who happened to be present, was called upon to offer a prayer. The crowd reverently bowed their heads, and listened to the outpourings of gratitude and thanksgiving for the signal victory that had crowned our arms. At the conclusion of the prayer all joined in singing "America." At noon, Gilmore s Band was stationed in front of the Exchange building, and played a num ber of popular airs. The crowd was immense, and swayed to and fro like the waters of the ocean ; and the cheers given were like its roar. Never have we seen a sight like that ; business, private and public griefs, all were forgotten, and absorbed in the general rejoicing. Shortly after one o clock, all the bells in the city were rung, and a salute was fired, by order of the Governor, on the Common. In the afternoon, the occupants of Faneuil Hall 624 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Market paraded through the principal streets of the city with a band of music. In the evening, the city was illuminated, and rockets and other fireworks added to the general joy and bril liancy of the occasion. In Cambridge, a meeting was held in the evening, at which addresses were made by Richard H. Dana, Jr., and J. M. S. Williams, prominent citizens of Cambridge, and by George Thompson, a member of the British Parliament. At the close of the meeting, Ex-Governor Washburn, of Massachusetts, led off in hearty cheers " for the loyal people of the Border States. 5 Cheers were also given for the ff laboring people of Great Brit ain, who have stood by us in this war, and for the army and the old flag. The Mayor recommended, that the people gener ally illuminate their houses, and display the red, white, and blue, and announced that the bells of the city would be rung. The Walcott Guards under Captain Meacham marched through the principal streets, cheering for the Union and General Grant. In Charlestown, the news- was received by the ringing of the church-bells and the display of flags, and in the evening by illuminations and fireworks. At noon, four thousand workmen at the Navy Yard assembled in front of Admiral Stringhain s residence, who made them a patriotic speech, which was heart ily applauded. "Nine rousing cheers were given for General Grant and the Potomac Army." A national salute was fired from the Navy Yard. In the evening, a meeting was held in the First Parish Church, which was opened in a few remarks by the pastor, Rev. J. B. Miles. Then there was singing and prayer, addresses by the clergymen, and by the Mayor and others. At the conclusion, a collection was taken up for the benefit of the Christian Commission, and a large sum realized. In Roxbury, the State Guards, Captain Edward Wyman, with a band, marched in the evening through the principal streets, accompanied by a large body of citizens. In Elliott Square there was a grand display of fireworks. The Norfolk House and many dwellings were illuminated ; and, at nine o clock in the evening, a salute of one hundred guns was fired, and the church-bells in the city were rung from nine till ten o clock. SUCCESS OF THE UNION ARMS. 625 The excitement and the enthusiasm extended through every city, town, and village in the State. On the 4th of April, the Governor sent a message to the Senate and House of Representatives, announcing in eloquent words the successes of our armies, and the certain downfall of the Rebellion. " Under the immediate supreme command of Lieu tenant- General Grant, in a series of consummate military movements, occupying several days of constant engagement fought with endurance and valor never surpassed, attended by hardships and peril heroically sustained, and ex tending along a line of operations without example in military history, culminating in the destruction of the enemy s line in the evacuation of Petersburg, and in the occupation, by the corps under Major-Gen eral "Weitzell, of the Capitol of the rebel usurpation. . . . This result has promptly succeeded upon the extraordinary and brilliant exploits of the army commanded by Major-General Sherman, whose march through the States of Georgia, South Carolina, and far into the State of North Carolina, while it swept, by its resistless energy, the cities of Sa vannah, Columbia, Charleston, and their surrounding territories. . . . To these have been added the recent capture of Fort Fisher, oil the Cape Clear River, and the occupation of Wilmington by a force de tailed for that purpose by Lieutenant- General Grant, and immediately led by Brigadier- General Terry in an enterprise most brilliant, both in action and result." The Governor also refers to the brilliant services and opera tions of Major-General Sheridan in the valley of the Shenan- doah. He then says, " In the midst of a great national rejoicing, we are called again to mourn the loss, to the country and their kindred, of, we know not how many, our most gallant and worthy sons. Their names, their memory, and their deeds will last while the best actions of men have a record on earth. And the precious sacrifice of heroic lives will find their great reward in the gratitude of mankind and the benediction of GOD." The address was received by the two branches with great satisfaction, and was frequently applauded. Senator Wilson came into the House of Representatives, and was loudly cheered. Very little business was done in either branch. On the same afternoon a very large and enthusiastic meeting was held in 40 626 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Faneuil Hall, which was presided over by Mr. Lincoln, the Mayor of Boston, and addresses made by Colonel Guiney, for merly of the Ninth Regiment, Senator Wilson, Robert C. Win- throp, Judge Russell, Captain McCartney of the First Battery, Fred. Douglass, the colored orator, and Rev. Dr. Kirk. A letter was read from the Governor, excusing himself from being present, which closed as follows : Thus far the people of Massachusetts have stood in the van. They have maintained themselves in that manly adherence to their doctrines, traditions, and ideas, which was becoming their attitude and their pro fession. May the blessings of patient and hopeful courage abide with them unto the end, and illuminate every passage of difficulty or of clan ger ; and to-day let us with one accord remember the wonderful good ness by which we have been led onward to these high places of deliverance and triumph." The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Manning, of the Old South Church, and closed with the singing of Old Hundred by the whole assembly. On the 9th of April, General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant, which virtually closed the war. On the llth of April, Governor Andrew telegraphed to President Lincoln, " Will you proclaim a national thanksgiving April 19 ? The anniver sary of the battle of Lexington, and of the attack on our troops in Baltimore, would be appropriate, if sufficient time remains." The suggestion was not adopted by the President. It would appear that many requests were made of the Governor to change Fast Day, of which proclamation had already been made, into Thanksgiving Day, as we find a memorandum in his files which bears neither date nor signature. He declined to make the change, for two reasons : " first, because the present being Pas sion Week, devoted by large bodies of Christians to penitential religious services, it would be inappropriate; second, because he prefers not to anticipate the decision of the President, now returned to Washington, and who may be expected to proclaim a national thanksgiving." It was well that the change was not made ; for in a few days our rejoicing was turned to mourning. THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 627 The greatest personal calamity that ever befell a nation fell on ours. Never was there so sudden change from joy to grief per vading all hearts, and faltering upon every tongue, as when Abraham Lincoln died by the hand of an assassin on Saturday, the 15th day of April. The event was officially communicated to the Legislature by Governor Andrew, in a message, on Monday, the 17th ; the opening paragraph of which was as follows : " In the midst of exultations of recent and repeated victory, in the midst of the highest hopes of the most auspicious omens, in the hour of universal joy, the nation passed at once, by an inscrutable and mysteri ous providence, into the valley of the shadow of death. Assembled while the cloud is yet thick upon our eyes, and the hearts of men are oppressed by a sense of a strange dismay, it has become my mournful duty to record, by formal and official announcement to the legislative department of the Commonwealth, this calamitous and distressing event." The Governor then proceeds to narrate, in concise and simple language, some of the leading events in the life of President Lincoln, and to give an analysis of his pure, upright, and unaf fected character. Appropriate honors were paid, by the execu tive and legislative departments of the Government, to the memory of this great and good man. The hall of the House of Representatives, Senate Chamber, and the Governor s room, and the rooms of the different departments, were fitly draped in mourning, and the flag on the dome of the Capitol rested at half-mast. The public buildings of the city, and many of the private residences, displayed the insignia of grief and sorrow. From every pulpit in the Commonwealth ser mons were preached full of lamentation. Public meetings were held at Faneuil Hall, and in many of the cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth, in which the public voice spoke forth the public sorrow. Governor Andrew was engaged to deliver an address in Lowell on the 19th of April, on the occasion of the dedica tion of a monument, erected by the city and the State, at that place to the memory of the three men belonging to Lowell, who were killed in Baltimore, on the 19th of April, 1861. 628 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The Legislature had also been invited to attend the ceremo nies. On the 15th, the Governor telegraphed to the Mayor of Lowell : " This national calamity must postpone our Lowell ceremonies, which at present I regard impossible. I pray you at once order the postponement. I suggest the 17th of June as a proper occasion." The ceremonies were postponed as requested. The Adjutant-General was directed to issue an order for the firing of minute guns on Boston Common, and at Cambridge, near the State Arsenal, on the day of the funeral, which order was successfully obeyed. The Legislature of Massachusetts passed resolutions express ing the sorrow felt by our people on the death of the President, a copy of which Governor Andrew was requested to forward to Mrs. Lincoln, which he did on the 26th of April, in a letter of which the following is a copy : " Mrs. MARY LINCOLN. " MADAM, The resolutions of the General Court of this Com monwealth, an officially engrossed copy of which I herewith trans mit, impose on me the mournful duty of forwarding such copy, as a token of the respect and regard entertained for yourself by the Legis lature of Massachusetts. " In this moment of your sorrow, when, in addition to the grief which the whole people of this country share with you. you bear, besides, a pang of separation the sharpest which death brings to any of the relations of life, no words avail me to express as I could wish the sympathy with which I have the honor to remain, madam, " Faithfully and obediently yours, JOHN A. ANDREW." This letter, with the resolutions inclosed, was sent to Hon. F. P. Blair, to be by him delivered to Mrs. Lincoln ; "for," as he says, " it seems more in earnest and more genuine for such a delivery to be made by the hand of a friend than by the course of the mails." Among the memorials of affection and regard which Governor Andrew received during the war from friends in the army and elsewhere, who appreciated and loved him, was the original copy of General Lee s farewell address to the Army of North ern Virginia, after his surrender to General Grant, which was THE SOLDIERS MONUMENT IN LOWELL. 629 sent to him by Brevet Brigadier-General Charles S. Russell, and acknowledged by the Governor in a letter addressed to General Russell on the 4th of May. "MY DEAR Sm, I owe you my sincere thanks in acknowledg ment of your gift to me of so significant a memorial of the war as Lee s order, which you have sent me. I prize it highly, and shall cause it to be framed, and hung in my library." General Russell was born in Boston, and was a captain in the Eleventh Infantry, U.S.A., and had risen from that posi tion, by his bravery and military capacity during the war, to the rank of brevet brigadier-general, and had command of a brigade in the Ninth Corps. We knew him well, and a braver and a better soldier " none in Christendom gives out." He was in fifty battles, and was wounded twice ; the last wound he received was at the explosion in the mine. He came out of the war with high honors and in good health, but died, a few months after peace had been established, in Cincin nati, of Asiatic cholera. We referred to General Russell, and the hearty welcome we received from him, in the report which we made to the Governor of our visit to the front in the autumn of 1864, published in a preceding chapter. On the 17th of June, the monument erected in the city of Lowell to commemorate the stirring events which transpired in the city of Baltimore on the memorable 19th of April, 1861, and in honor of the first martyrs in the Rebellion, who fell in that city, was inaugurated. The occasion was one of great interest. The Governor and staff, the heads of the different State departments, the Executive Council, the members of the two branches of the Legislature, were all invited to be present, and most of them were in attendance. The Governor was to deliver the address. In Lowell, the mills were all closed, and every department of business suspended. A procession was formed, made up of the different Masonic bodies, Odd Fellows, and other charitable organizations, and the different trades, and marched through the various streets, escorted by a company of cavalry and the old Sixth Regiment of infantry. The address of the Governor was delivered from the balcony 630 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. of the Merrimack House, immediately fronting the monument, and occupied about an hour in delivery. It was one of his most able efforts, in which he took a patriotic and statesman like view of the commencement, progress, and termination of the Eebellion. He referred particularly to the State of Mary land, of its opposition to the war at its commencement, and of the subsequent change from opposition to the cause of the Union to stanch and valuable support, and argued therefrom the unity of interest which the two States had in supporting the Constitution, and the bright and glorious future which the tri umph of the cause, the termination of hostile strife, and the return to peace, opened to them. It was a thoughtful and able address, to which the Governor had given much deliberation, and which he had prepared with careful attention. In relation to this address, we find a letter on the files of the Governor, written June 19, and addressed to F. P. Blair, Esq., Silver Springs, Md., which he forwarded to that gentleman with a copy of his address, believing that it would interest him, from the fact that it treated immediately and solely a topic most intimately concerning his State. " I prepared," said the Governor, " the address with care, endeavor ing to procure a unity of design throughout, to keep uppermost the precise day and its events which formed the occasion of the ceremony, extending my thoughts out in the direction of other events and auxiliary considerations only just so far as a somewhat severe self- control would permit. I thought, however, since the tragedy of the 10th of April was an apparent conflict between Maryland and Massa chusetts, it was fitting that I should show how history at last had brought them into close and cordial harmony ; and incidentally to show how much was the exertion, and how great the success, of the loyal hearts of Maryland in view of the difficulties they had to encounter. If, in performing this task, which I felt to a Massachusetts man, and to myself especially, was one of great delicacy, I should be found to have avoided all offence against good taste, and to have maintained with steadiness the scales of honest judgment. I shall be equally gratified and surprised." The Governor then regrets, that, during his visits to Wash ington, official business had so much absorbed his time as to prevent him from spending more hours with Mr. Blair at his MEETING IN FAXEUIL HALL. 631 pleasant home at Silver Springs, in the vicinity of the Federal City. He said, " I hope yet to find some night and day of uninterrupted quiet and repose of mind and limbs, when I may yield myself to friendship and philosophy under the shadow of its groves/ On the 21st of June, a meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, to consider the question of the re-organization of the Rebel States, at which Theophilus Parsons, Professor in Cambridge Law School, presided: and speeches were made by Mr. Parsons, Richard H. Dana. Jr.. Henry Ward Beecher, S. C. Pomeroy, United States Senator from Kansas, and George B. Loring, of Salem. Letters were also read from Governor Andrew, Alex ander H. Bullock of Worcester. Charles G. Loring, Alexander H. Rice and Samuel Hooper of Boston, and Benjamin F. But ler of Lowell. The letter of Governor Andrew, which contained the views he then entertained, and which he adhered to during the re mainder of his life, upon a subject of such engrossing interest and importance, cannot fail to be read with interest at this and in all succeeding time. We therefore quote from this letter as follows : - It is not my belief that in any one of the seceding States the time has yet arrived when its State government can be re-established with safety. Whether the white man only votes, or whether the colored man also votes. I regard the movement at the present moment with inexpressible concent. It has taken us four years to conquer the rebels in all of them. I would not run any risk, great or small, of allowing the same class of men to beat u.s by an appeal to fraud. They appealed to force, and were conquered- Let us hold on to the power we now have to do right, to protect the loyal, to rebuild the State, to re-establish society, to secure the liberty of the people and the safety of the Union. Let it be used with parental kindness and in the tem per of conciliation. But hold on to the power, and in the fear of God let it be used. It was bought with the blood of more than a quarter of" a million of heroes and patriots, who have given up their lives for their country. Let us see to it that by no error of ours such torrents of human blood shall flow again. I think the loyalty of the South needs time for concentration. Therefore I think no reconstruction will 632 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. be successful now ; and therefore, as a radical believer in the suffrage for all men of competent capacity, irrespective of color or national origin, I the less regret that colored men are not now permitted to vote in the South. I do not believe their voting would prevent the failure which seems most likely to result from these experiments, and we may be glad not to have them involved in the catastrophe. They will vote by and by. Their votes will be wanted, just as their arms were wanted. All people will yet see, that, poor and ignorant as they are, they are on the right side, and that they can neither be cheated nor bullied into its betrayal or desertion. Meanwhile they will be gaining in knowledge, and in admitted capacity to exercise the politi cal functions of citizenship. All the North will, by and by, agree that the theoretical superiority of the white masters, which did not prevent them from committing the most monstrous of all the blunders and crimes of history, renders them, in the eyes of practical states manship, inferior material for good citizens to their humble and un learned freedmen. " I deeply deplore the necessity of raising the general question of suffrage for colored men in the South thus early. I had hoped that the last vestige of heresy on that question might be first eradicated from New England, where it even now retains a foothold. I had hoped that the poor freedman might have the opporlunity of a brief future, unprejudiced by becoming immediately the subject of political controversy. For one, however, I still hope and believe that there need bo no strife nor angry debate. We have reached a point where temperate, philosophical, and statesmanlike treatment of grave ques tions has become easy, because it is of controlling and absolute neces sity. We are to have an era of calm, wise, and yet brave and hopeful counsels. The people cannot afford other. They must and will resume control of public affairs sometimes too much intrusted to acci dent. And then the prejudices of tradition and the caprices of poli tics will be alike disregarded. " Allow me to add, that in the end, although for the present it may seem otherwise to casual observation, I do not expect to find the de liberate judgment of the President, who is an able statesman and an honest patriot, with that of Massachusetts herself. In his reply to my own remarks, introducing to him a large delegation of gentlemen from Massachusetts, the President emphatically declared his purpose to do his utmost to make the country permanently free. The logic of events is irresistible. Thus far, freedom has been constantly gaining, and it has held whatever it gained. With patient, hopeful, and manly courage on our part, the future is secure." BREVET-GENERAL WILLIAM S. LINCOLN. 633 No one can read this calm, philosophical, and statesmanlike letter, without feeling with renewed force the great loss which Governor Andrew s death was, not only to Massachusetts, but to the nation. Whatever theories may be advanced to explain the present unfortunate condition of affairs in the South, and of the divided and distracted counsels between the President and Congress, no patriot, capable of reflection and philosophical study, can doubt that if either of the places were filled with men capable of grasping and fully comprehending great events, and of applying principles lofty and wide, like our late la mented Governor, the Union would have been practically united long ere this, and the nation far advanced in all the arts of peace, and in the wealth and prosperity which mark their progress. On the 21st of June, the Governor wrote to Secretary Stan- ton, expressing his desire in strong and pleasant language, that Colonel William S. Lincoln, of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, should receive the honor of brevet brigadier-general. " He is," said the Governor, " a man of mature age, highly respected as a citizen and a gentleman, who left a large family and many important interests at home in the dark hours of the summer of 18 G2, to help restore the fortunes of the Union cause. Colonel Lincoln was not a politician, but a patriot ; and he belongs to a family of patriots, who, whether right or wrong on any other question, are always true to their country. His zeal, fidelity, courage, constancy, and ability command my gratitude and respect." The Governor then proceeds to give a correct outline of Colonel Lincoln s military record, and concludes with this paragraph : " Allow me to add, that the gratification such a recognition of his son would impart to the venerable ex-Governor, Levi Lincoln, would lend to it a peculiar value merely as a matter of sentiment. More than three score years of age, Governor Lincoln, last November, helped to cast the electoral vote of Massachusetts, serving as an elector for the third time in his life, and probably closing with that act a long and dis tinguished public career." Colonel Lincoln received the brevet rank which he so well merited ; and Governor Andrew, through his private secretary, 634 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Major Henry Ware, had the pleasure of communicating to him, on the 12th of July, the information that he had been ap pointed . The approaching Commencement at Harvard College, in July, was to be celebrated with more than ordinary interest. The graduates of the University who had won her scholastic honors, and renown derived from brave and conspicuous services in the red field of war, were to receive an especial commemora tion. The President of the United States and his Cabinet were invited to be present. On the 24th of June, the Governor wrote to President Johnson, earnestly requesting him to be present at the Commencement exercises on Wednesday, the 19th of July, and the ceremonies in honor of the soldiers of old Harvard on Friday, the 21st of July, at Cambridge. He could assure him of a sincere welcome, and that it would afford the State authorities and the people much pleasure to do whatever was becoming for such a visit and such a visitor, to render the occasion agreeable to himself and to his friends. The letter then says, " We have a very great desire that the people of Massachusetts should have the opportunity of meeting you, and that you also should have the opportunity of seeing and speaking to a representative as sembly of her people. " The present is the time when a thousand advantages of a public nature would be served, the character and magnitude of which will most readily occur to yourself. I am sure that at no moment in the history of the Union has any concurrence of circumstances yet hap pened where more good could be done by any such means." The celebration took place on the day named ; but the Presi dent, from official engagements, was not able to be present. We find on the files of the Governor a lon; and interesting O O letter addressed by him, on the 26th of June, to Mr. Motley, the American minister to Austria, in which he discusses the present aspect of political affairs in America ; from which we make an extract : " At this moment, we are all thinking of the statesmanship of the future. The best hopes have been fulfilled by our military success. I think we have now reached the real tug of war. I have never doubted COMMEMORATION DAY AT CAMBRIDGE. 635 our bravery in the field, nor our dogged will while met by arms, nor our strength to conquer. But I have always dreaded the temptations of peace, and the opportunities given by the cessation of arms to the schemers of every side who trade in politics, sometimes bargaining away the rights of black men, and sometimes trading upon a freshly dis covered zeal in their behalf, substituting the heartlessness of the mere speculator in public concerns for the wisdom and fidelity of thoughtful patriotism. But on this field, as well as on that of war, I feel sure at the last we shall win. The work of Divine Goodness will be done. We of the North cannot be allowed, even if we would, to suffer it, or spoil it, or abuse it utterly. Indeed, my constant thought is, " If our bark sinks, It is to another sea. " For myself, having served in a public capacity of grave responsi bility, much care and toil during all the war, I shall, at the end of this my fifth year, return to private life and my profession, whence, until the autumn of 1860, I had no thought of emerging, and where I will try to serve, as of old, after my sort, the cause which I hold to be, not only of our country, but of mankind." Commemoration Day at Cambridge, in honor of the patriot- heroes of Harvard, on the 21st of July, was an event which will ever be memorable in the annals of that ancient seat of learning. The alumni of Harvard, Williams, and Amherst Colleges were represented in nearly every regiment which went from Massachusetts, and in many of the regiments from other States, and reflected as high honors upon their respective Alma Maters by their intelligence and bravery as officers and soldiers, as they have done by their learning and accomplishments. The long and gallant roll of the men of Harvard was con spicuously notable. The colleges of the State were represented in every military rank, from major-general to private ; and they had poured out their life s blood on many of the battle fields. Commemoration Day was one of the most marked in the an nals of the College, whether we regard the number of the alumni who were present, the preparations made for the celebration, the distinguished gentlemen who took part in the proceedings, or the lofty, patriotic eloquence of the speeches, the poetic beauty 630 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. and fervor of the verses contributed, the festivities, the colla tion, the flags, devices, and the entire arrangement, and the excellent manner in which they were carried out, the class- meetings in the different halls, the hand-shakings, the singing of camp-songs by those who had followed the flag, and defended it on so many bloody fields. It was truly a re-union of the men of Harvard. Many of the young men who, three or four years before, had graduated, bore on their shoulders the insignia of generals and colonels. Among these were Barlow, Force, Devens, Payne, Hayes, Loring, Bartlett, Eustis, Sargent, Ames. Walcott, Stevens, Higginson, Savage, Palfrey, Crown- inshield, and Kussell. Some appeared with but one arm, others with but one leg. Then there were scrolls commemorative of those who had fallen, among whom were Wads worth, Webster, Revere, Peabody, Willard, the D wights, Lowell, Plopkinson, How, Shurtleff, and the two brothers Abbott, and many others, whose love of country closed but with their lives. The procession was formed at eleven o clock, under the direc tion of Colonel Henry Lee, Jr., who acted as chief marshal, and it marched, to the music of Gilmore s Band, to the Unitarian Church, which was crowded to its utmost limit. Charles G. Loring presided, and the services began with the singing of Luther s Psalm, " A mighty fortress is our God ; " Rev. Dr. Walker, Ex-President of the College, read selections from the Scriptures ; prayer was made by Rev. Phillips Brooks, of Philadelphia ; after which, a hymn written by Robert Lowell was sung by the congregation, to the tune of Old Hundred. This was followed by an address by Rev. Dr. Putnam, of Rox- bury, of transcendent eloquence and beauty. After the services in the church, a procession moved to the large pavilion erected on the lawn in the rear of Harvard Hall, where an elegant and substantial dinner was provided. The scene in the pavilion, when all were seated, was one which will never pass from the memory of those who witnessed it. The large number of beautiful and accomplished ladies who were present contributed in no small degree to the beauty and inter est of the scene. When all were seated, grace was said by Rev. Dr. Allen, of Northborough. LOYAL SOUTHERN LADIES. 637 Charles G. Loring, the President of the day, commenced the intellectual feast in a speech of considerable length, and of great power and beauty, which was warmly applauded, and gave the key-note to the speeches which followed. As the proceedings have been published in the newspapers of the day, we shall not attempt to quote from any of the speeches which were made, or the original poems which were read ; but shall content ourselves with a mere statement of the names of the gentlemen whose eloquence and genius contributed so largely to the edification and delight of those who listened. Speeches were made by General Barlow, General Devens, Gov ernor Andrew, President Hill, Major-General Meade, U.S.A., .Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rear- Admiral Davis, U.S.N., Major- General Force of Ohio, Rev. Dr. Thompson of New York, Colo nel Thomas W. Higginson, and Rev. J. K. Hosmer, who was color-bearer of the Fifty-second Massachusetts Regiment. An original song, written by Rev. Charles T. Brooks, entitled "The Soldier s Oath," was sung by a selected choir; also an original ode by J. S. D wight. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe con tributed a poem, which was read by Mr. Samuel A. Elliot. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell each fur nished a poem, which was read by the author. The celebration closed with the singing of " Auld Lang Syne." Considered as a whole, it was one of the most remarkable gathering of educated and distinguished citizens ever assembled on the continent of America. Among the good people of Richmond, Va., who were kind and charitable to our prisoners, and loyal to the Government, was the family of the Van Lews. When Colonel Lee, Major Revere, and others who had been taken prisoners at the battle of Ball s Bluff, were confined in the Richmond prison, the Miss Van Lews had contributed whatever was in their power to relieve them from the horrors of prison life to which they were subjected. In September, 1865, one of the ladies visited Boston . Her chief object was to have an interview with Alex ander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate Govern ment, who was then a prisoner at Fort Warren. Miss Van Lew was received with great regard by the Governor, Colonel 638 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Lee, and many of the most distinguished citizens of Boston who were acquainted with her loyalty, and esteemed her for the regard with which she had treated our soldiers while in prison at Richmond. We find on the Governor s files a letter directed to Secretary Stanton, dated Sept. 12, in which this lady s name is mentioned. " I gladly send you Miss Van Lew s letter. She placed it in my hands for my opinion on the subject, and also on the propriety of her expressing to you her own opinion. It is difficult not to sympathize with the views of one so truly devoted to our cause as she is, and one who has suffered so much. Still, while I am confident of her loyal good faith, I am not sufficiently apprised of the grounds upon which the United-States Government is now acting, to be able to form a clear and intelligent judgment." The answer of Mr. Stanton to this letter was conveyed to Miss Van Lew, who was staying at the residence of Colonel William Raymond Lee, by the Governor, in a letter dated Sept. 18, in which Mr. Stanton is quoted as having written, " The case of Mr. Stephens has been brought to the notice of the President by several persons who take an interest in him, and it is now under the President s consideration. I will submit to him the repre sentations of Miss Van Lew, and beg you to communicate this to her." This appears to have been the end of the correspondence. We are aware, however, that permission was given by the Pres ident to Miss Van Lew to visit this distinguished state prisoner at Fort Warren, and that he was shortly afterwards released from confinement, and permitted to return to Georgia. We will add, in this connection, that the writer had known Mr. Stephens when he was a member of Congress ; and, while a pris oner in Fort Warren, we visited him several times while in the casemates of that fortification. Mr. Stephens was never heartily a rebel. He was opposed to the secession of the Southern States ; his State having voted to withdraw from the Union, he deemed it his duty to go with her. We discussed with him there all the points of the secession theory ; and the im pression left upon our mind was, that, if a proper opportunity ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS, OF GEORGIA. 639 should arrive by which he could with honor advocate and work for the re-establishment of the Union, he would take advantage of it. A number of gentlemen distinguished in political life, and who had been always true to the Union cause, believed it would be wise and also expedient to have Mr. Stephens re leased from confinement, and return to Georgia, to exercise his personal influence to bring about a kind and loyal feeling to the Government in the South. It is just, however, to say, that this confidence reposed in Mr. Stephens had its origin in a belief of the truthfulness and manly honor of the gentle man, and not in any words which he had expressed, or act which he had committed, showing that he was unfaithful to his own section of country, or that, in going with his State into the Rebellion, he had consciously committed a crime. On the 4th of October, the Governor transmitted to Francis George Shaw, father of the late Colonel Shaw, of the Fifty- fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, a copy of the fol lowing letter, which he had received from Brigadier-General W. F. Bennett : - " I have the honor to inform you that I have iu my possession a vol canic repeating rifle and a gold watch, which is supposed to be the property of the late Colonel Shaw, Fifty-fourth Regiment, Massachu setts Volunteers. They were taken from a man who has been boast ing that he took them from the Colonel s dead body. The man is now in jail, in charge of the military authorities. Will you notify the fam ily of the late Colonel, and ask information on the subject ? " It would appear from the following letter, dated Oct. 18, ad dressed to Mr. Shaw, that the articles named were the property of his son : " Your letter to His Excellency was received this morning, and I send you herewith a copy of General Bennett s letter, from which you will learn his name and address." We have already said a word in regard to the services, in the war, of Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman, who had been commissioned assistant adjutant-general by Governor Andrew, that he might serve as a volunteer officer on the staff of General Meade. We find on the Governor s files a copy of 640 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. a letter dated April 19, Headquarters Army of the Potomac, addressed to Colonel Lyman by his commanding general : u In parting with you after an association of over twenty months, during which time you have served on my staff, I feel it due to you to V I/ / express my high sense of the assistance I have received from you, and to bear testimony to the zeal, energy, and gallantry you have displayed in the discharge of your duties. Be assured I shall ever preserve the liveliest remembrance of our intercourse ; and, wherever our separate fu tures may take us, I shall ever have a deep interest in your welfare and happiness, which, by the blessing of God, I trust may be long con tinued." On the 10th of November, the Governor addressed a letter to Colonel Lyman on the occasion of his resigning his commis sion as assistant adjutant-general, from which we make the fol lowing extract : " The meritorious and successful manner in which you performed your duties as a volunteer staff-officer attached to the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac during your leave of absence from Massachusetts, having frequently been brought to my attention, as well by the emphatic and personal mention thereof by Major-Gen eral Meade, U.S.A., as by correspondence, I desire to express to you my warm, cordial, thanks, as commander-in-chief of the militia of this Commonwealth, for the valuable services you have rendered your country on the field, while at the same time reflecting honor by your intelligence, gallantry, and soldierly qualities, through your whole ca reer of honorable actual service, upon the militia of Massachusetts, and the staff of its commander-in-chief." Soon after Maryland had adopted the amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery in that State, Governor Andrew actively engaged, by correspondence and otherwise, to have all persons who were imprisoned in that State for the crime of aid ing the escape of slaves pardoned. We find upon his files a number of letters upon this subject addressed toW. G. Snethen, of Baltimore, and others. From one of these letters, dated Oct. 6, we make the following extract : " Another point to which I wish to call your attention is the fact that there are at present a number of men, say ten or twelve, confined in the Maryland Penitentiary, for violation of the old slave law of that LETTER TO REV. JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 641 State. Now that slavery is abolished, and Maryland free, it seems little less than cruelty to keep these men in bonds. Will you ascer tain how many there actually are serving under the above head, what are their names, and if any one there has remembered them, and taken any step towards securing their release ? Is there any thing that any one here can do for them ? By giving your attention to this matter^ and advising me of the result, you will much oblige your friend." To which, on the 25th of November, Mr. Snethen re plied, " All persons confined in the Maryland Penitentiary for offences against the late slave code have been released, except seven of the sixteen whom the abolition of slavery found incarcerated. These seven are charged with other crimes, but the Governor (Bradford) is doing all he can to get them out. We do not see how outside influence can hasten this deliverance." On the 26th of November (Sunday evening), the Governor wrote the following letter to his dear friend and pastor, Rev. James Freeman Clarke : " I desire to echo your suggestion made to-day after sermon, and I hope for an efficient movement at the Wednesday evening meeting in behalf of the freedmen. " Although the Government of the United States ought to serve out rations, and to protect the poor people from the suffering from hunger impending this winter, there will still be large room left for private charity. Labor disorganized, fields wasted, crops unmade, planters im poverished and demoralized, the freedmen uncertain, half protected, they and their old masters mutually doubtful of each other, the poor white hostile in great measure, and all the victims more of their igno rance and of antecedent circumstances than of present bad inten tions, this is the picture a large part of the South now exhibits. We in the North are in comfort and prosperity. We must intervene for the immediate preservation of the colored people of the South, powerless for the moment to save themselves, and, by wise and pru dent generosity, help to float them over, until a new crop can be made. Acting in connection with the Freedmen s Bureau, and with sensible and practical agents, a million of dollars raised by the North before Christmas, while in reality and comparatively a small sum, would do unspeakable good. " I presume I shall not be able to attend the meeting ; but I beg the privilege of helping its purpose, though absent. And therefore I write 41 642 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. to express the hope, that our congregation will promptly move in the most efficient way, and to ask your acceptance of a subscription of one hundred dollars from " Yours faithfully and cordially, " JOHN A. ANDREW." This letter shows the inward feeling which Governor Andrew had toward the Southern States. There was nothing in his na ture unkind or ungenerous ; no one understood better than he did the position of affairs, both North and South. Pre-eminent in his devotion to his country while the war lasted, he was the advocate of carrying it on by vigorous measures to the end. When the South laid down its arms, and acknowledged its de feat, he was equally pre-eminent in generosity and good-will. He believed, as many others did, that the true way to bring about a genuine and true re-union was by kindness and gener osity. Instead of sending standing armies to the South to usurp the sway of civil government, he was for sending money and men to aid the defeated to make glad the waste places, and to build up a new Zion. Had his ideas prevailed, much of the difficulty and subsequent distraction in regard to the re-estab lishment of government would have been avoided. We find in the last volume of his letters one addressed to Mr. Con way, who had charge of the commissary department of the Freedmen s Bureau in Louisiana. The first page of the let ter in the copying-book is so indistinct that it cannot be read ; but, from the subsequent pages, we judge that it had reference to the condition of affairs in the South, and from those we quote : " The waste of war has left the land-owners poor in all save their lands. Floating capital has disappeared in the South. Their mules, machinery, fences, buildings, tools, have been absorbed by the enemy, or destroyed, or worn out to an extent hardly to be appreciated. And just now, when they need credit more than ever to replace them, they are without bankers, factors, or lenders. Without money or credit, the planter can neither buy mules, corn, bacon, small stores, cloth for the support of the freedmen, nor can he pay them their needful wages, while making the crop. To aid in meeting these present wants, and help restore industry, and to help emancipation prove an early and LETTER TO MAJOR-GENERAL SHERMAN. 643 visible success, I accepted the presidency of an institution called the Company and Agency, having its headquarters in New York, and a branch at Boston, and agents in the South ; and if large or smaller capitalists in Europe shall desire to invest either in cotton lands or in loans thoroughly secured, or in a company for the purchase of lands in large lots, or to be cut up into small freeholds and resold to the freed- men, poor whites, emigrants, &c., our company could act for them, I think, with efficiency and success. " I would recommend that you should consult commercial bodies and mercantile men and manufacturers and men of affairs here befo 3 leaving home, with a view to verifying these suggestions, and also c procuring such expressions of opinion as they may choose to give, fo* use and comparison abroad. " I hope that every exertion will be made now and without delay to introduce reasonable amounts of capital, and also numbers of capa ble, ambitious, and right-minded men into the South. These, more than all things else, will tend to restore society and business, and to confirm peace for us all, and practical freedom and happiness to the colored race. "Your long experience and official connection with the freedmen and the industry of the South during the continuance of the late war fits you to impart such information, and render such service, as will conduce to a speedy accomplishment of these results." On the 28th of December, the Governor wrote to Major-Gen eral W. T. Sherman, who had led an army of the United States from the interior of America to the shores of the At lantic, " It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your let ter of the 23d inst., and to learn the good opinion which you entertain of Massachusetts and of Massachusetts troops. She has certainly sent no more gallant regiments into the field than her Second and Thirty- third, which have had the good fortune to serve under your com mand. " My former letter was addressed to you, not with the intention of finding fault with any opinion which you might entertain concerning us, but to correct any impression that you might have got from erro neous statements that have appeared in various quarters, and under cir cumstances likely to mislead those not officially enabled to know the exact truth. I beg leave especially to ask your attention to my last annual address and its appendix, by which you will perceive this fact ; 644 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. viz., that all the men added to our quota by the enlistment of foreigners and colored people, were absolutely in excess of the quota assigned the State. The whole number of colored recruits, whom you describe as k captured negroes, was 4,731 ; the whole number of * imported for eigners was 907, a total of 5,638 ; while, as stated on page 83 of my address, our surplus over all calls is 7,813. The number of colored recruits enlisted in rebel States was 1,214; the whole number of for eigners, 907, a total of 2,121. " Asking your indulgence for troubling you with my effort to main- 1 in the good fame of our State, and hoping that you may carry out our plan of visiting this part of the country next summer, " I remain very respectfully your friend and servant, " JOHN A. ANDREW. "P.S. Strictly speaking, the 1,214 enlisted in the rebel States are all who come under your head of captured negroes, as the rest of the 4,731 were enlisted here as free colored men, from whom we raised two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry." This letter to General Sherman requires a simple explana tion. General Sherman was a United-States army officer, and entertained the prejudice which prevailed to a great ex tent among that class of gentlemen against the enlistment of colored troops ; and, when agents from Massachusetts were sent within his lines to enlist this class of soldiers, they were not well received by him, and in the heat of the moment he made remarks not only disparaging to the agents them selves, but to the State which they represented. Like a true and gallant soldier, as every one knows General Sherman to be, he wrote to Governor Andrew, expressing his regret for the words spoken in haste, and took the occasion to speak of the two regiments of Massachusetts volunteers in his com mand, in commendatory words which their services made so proper. On the 30th of December, the Governor wrote, " The Secretary of the Commonwealth will place on the nomina tion book, to be justices of the peace and of the quorum thereof in this Commonwealth, the names of " Brevet-Brigadier-General Horace B. Sargent, late aide-de-camp. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lee, Jr., late aide-de-camp. Colonel Harrison Ritchie, senior aide-de camp. GOVERNOR ANDREW DECLINES A RE-NOMINATION. 645 Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Wetherell, aide-de-camp. Lieutenant-Colonel John Quincy Adams, aide-de-camp. Lieutenant-Colonel William L. Candler, aide-de-camp. Lieutenant-Colonel Albert G. Browne, Jr., late private secretary. Major Henry Ware, private secretary. Major-General William Schouler, Adjutant- General. Brigadier- General John H. Reed, Quartermaster- General. Brigadier- General William J. Dale, Surgeon- General. Brigadier- General Richard A. Peirce, Inspector- General. Brigadier-General William Raymond Lee, Chief Engineer. Brigadier- General William L. Burt, Judge- Advocate- General. Brigadier- General Elijah D. Brigham, Commissary- General. Colonel Joseph M. Day, Provost-Marshal-General. Colonel J. F. B. Marshall, Pay master- General. Colonel William S. King, Constable of Commonwealth. Colonel Charles Amory, late Master of Ordnance. Lieutenant-Colonel Gardiner Tufts, Assistant Provost-Marshal- General, State agent at Washington, of Lynn, Essex County. Major William Rogers, assistant Adjutant- General. Major George C. Trumbull, late Acting Master of Ordnance." These nominations were confirmed. The war being over, Governor Andrew determined not again to be a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. On the 13th of September, he addressed the following letter to William Claftin, chairman of the Republican State Committee : " My purpose was made public at the beginning of the present year to retire from office at its close. But it seems more respectful and considerate to give formal expression to that wish by communi cating it to yourself in your capacity of chairman of the State Cen tral Committee, and authorizing you to represent me therein before the convention. I pray you to assure the convention of my cordial and grateful sense of the generous kindness which, during these years of anxious service, I have experienced from the people, and my hearty appreciation of the honor of their confidence and support in a period of difficulty, and under circumstances of peril and care without example. If, during the remnant of my official term, I shall be so for tunate as not to incur their just disapprobation, I shall resume the duties of a private citizen, carrying the memory of an official career long enough for ambition, and crowned by the happiness of having served the State with singleness of heart." 646 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE KEBELLION. The Republican Convention met in Worcester on the 15th of September, and organized by the choice of Mr. Gillett, of Westfield, for temporary chairman, who, on taking the chair, made a brief and eloquent address. The meeting was perma nently organized by the choice of Charles Sumner for presi dent, and a number of vice-presidents and secretaries, among whom were several of the representative men of the party. Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, was unanimously nominated for Governor, and William Claflin, of Newton, for Lieutenant-Governor. Henry S. Briggs, of Pittsfield, was nominated for Auditor ; Jacob H. Loud, of Plymouth, for Treasurer ; Chester I. Reed, of Taunton, for Attorney-General ; and Oliver Warner, of Northampton, for Secretary of State. In the afternoon, speeches were made by Hon. Charles Sum ner, Benjamin F. Butler, Mr. Bullock, the nominee for Gov ernor, and Mr. Claflin, the nominee for Lieutenant-Governor, and a series of patriotic resolutions were reported by William S. Robinson, of Maiden, chairman of the Committee on Resolutions. The Democratic Convention met in Worcester, on the 29th of September. John K. Tarbox was chosen temporary chairman, and Edward Avery, of Braintree, permanent presi dent. Both of these gentlemen made short and well-ex- O pressed addresses upon political affairs from a Democratic stand-point. Darius N. Couch, of Taunton, who had distinguished him self as an able and efficient officer in the war, was nominated for Governor, and Thomas F. Plunkett, of Pittsfield, for Lieutenant-Governor ; S. O. Lamb, of Greenfield, for Secretary of State; Thomas C. Amory, Jr., of Boston, for Treasurer; Arthur F. Devereux, of Salem, for Auditor; and Horatio G. Parker, of Cambridge, for Attorney-General. The election took place on Tuesday, the 7th of November, and resulted in a complete triumph of the Republican party ; electing their State ticket by a large plurality, and an over whelming majority of members in both branches of the Legis lature. Our regiments and batteries had all come home ; their battle- RECEPTION OF THE FLAGS. 647 flags had been returned, some of them to the State authorities, and were tastefully displayed on the columns of the Doric Hall in the State House. Some of them were held by the United-States mustering officer, who had received orders to forward them to Washington ; which order was subsequently revoked, and authority given to have them placed in the hands of the Governor to be preserved in the archives of the Com monwealth. It was then determined by Governor Andrew to have these colors received with all the honors which the cause they symbolized, and the battle-fields over which they had waved, made proper ; and he selected the twenty-second day of December, the anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, as the day on which the ceremony should take place. Major-General Couch was selected to command, and Brevet-Major-General Hinks was appointed chief of his staff. The day was a common New-England wintry day ; the ground was covered with snow to the depth of about six inches. Early in the morning of the 22d, the veteran officers and men of our gallant commands assembled in Boston, and formed in military order. All were represented : and when placed in column of march with their old uniforms, each command carrying its tattered flags, some of which had waved over fifty battle-fields, in the valleys of Virginia, and on the mountains of Tennessee ; had followed the fortunes of Butler and Banks in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas ; and had been unfurled where Burnside and Sherman had led in the Caro- linas and in Georgia, a sight was presented which awakened the most patriotic and sublime thoughts in the heart of every loyal person. As the procession moved through the different streets, busi ness was suspended, the sidewalks were crowded with spectators, banners were displayed from almost every house, and everywhere cheers went up of welcome and of gratitude ; a salute was fired by a detachment of light artillery, bands of music played in spiring airs. The whole scene was one which will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The procession reached the State House about one o clock in 648 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. the afternoon. The color-bearers of each command were sta tioned upon the steps leading to the Capitol ; and when all were in position, holding aloft the war-worn banners, they presented a spectacle at once imposing and picturesque. The arrange ments were completed. Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop, D.D., made a most impressive and fervent prayer, at the conclusion of which General Couch stepped forward, and addressed Governor Andrew as follows : " MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY, We have come here to-day as the representatives of the army of volunteers furnished by Massa chusetts for the suppression of the Rebellion, bringing these colors in order to return them to the State who intrusted them to our keeping. You must, however, pardon us if we give them up with profound regret ; for these tattered shreds forcibly remind us of long and fa tiguing marches, cold bivouacs, and many hard-fought battles. The rents in their folds, the battle-stains on their escutcheons, the blood of our comrades that has sanctified the soil of a hundred fields, attest the sacrifices that have been made, the courage and constancy shown, that the nation might live. It is, sir, a peculiar satisfaction and pleasure to us, that you, who have been an honor to the State and nation, from your marked patriotism and fidelity throughout the war, and have been identified with every organization before you, are now here to receive back, as the State custodian of her precious relics, these emblems of the devotion of her sons. May it please your Excellency, the colors of the Massachusetts volunteers are returned to the State." The Governor replied in the following brief but beautiful and eloquent address : " GENERAL, This pageant, so full of pathos and of glory, forms the concluding scene in the long series of visible actions and events in which Massachusetts has borne a part for the overthrow of the Rebel lion and the vindication of the Union. " These banners returned to the Government of the Commonwealth through welcome hands. Borne one by one out of this Capitol during more than four years of civil war, as the symbols of the nation and the Commonwealth under which the battalions of Massachusetts de parted to the fields, they come back again, borne hither by surviving representatives of the same heroic regiments and companies to which they were intrusted. " At the hands, General, of yourself, the ranking officer of the vol- RECEPTION OF THE FLAGS. 649 unteers of the Commonwealth (one of the earliest who accepted a regimental command under the appointment of the Governor of Massa chusetts), and of this grand column of scarred and heroic veterans who guard them home, they are returned with honors becoming relics so venerable, soldiers so brave, and citizens so beloved. " Proud memories of many fields ; sweet memories alike of valor and friendship ; sad memories of fraternal strife ; tender memories of our fallen brothers and sons, whose dying eyes looked last upon their flaming folds ; grand memories of heroic virtues, sublime by grief; exultant memories of the great and final victories of our country, our Union, and the righteous cause ; thankful memories of a deliverance wrought out for human nature itself, unexampled by any former achieve ment of arms ; immortal memories with immortal honors blended, twine around these splintered staves, weave themselves along the warp and woof of these familiar flags, war-worn, begrimed, and baptized with blood. " Let the brave heart, the trusty heart, the deep, unfathomable heart, in words of more than mortal eloquence uttered, though unex pressed, speak the emotions of grateful veneration for which these lips of mine are alike too feeble and unworthy. "General, I accept these relics in behalf of the people and the Commonwealth. They will be preserved and cherished, amid all the vicissitudes of the future, as mementos of brave men and noble actions." The pageant then dissolved, and the colors were placed in the Doric Hall of the Capitol, where they will remain to testify to future generations of the courage and endurance manifested by the soldiers of Massachusetts during four of the most eventful years of its history. After the services, the Governor was pleased to present to the Adjutant-General the original manuscript of the address ; on which, in his own handwriting, was the following indorse ment : " 2 ^ o clock, P.M., Dec. 22, 1865. This is the original manuscript used by me in reply to Major- General Couch, by whose hand the flag of the Nineteenth Regiment was delivered to me, he acting as the commander for the day of the volunteer column. I present it as an autograph to Adjutant-General Schouler, by whose happy thought 1 Forefathers Day was named for the reception of the battle-flags, 650 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. and whose industry and care helped largely to give a brilliant success to the ceremonies of the day, with faithful regards of "JOHN A. ANDREW." This great and interesting occasion was most admirably illus trated in a short poem, addressed to Governor Andrew, by a gentleman who signed himself " one of the First Massachusetts Cavalry." The author was Brigadier-General Horace Binney Sargent, who, at the commencement of Governor Andrew s administration, was chief of his personal staff, and who subse quently went to the war as lieutenant-colonel of the First Regi ment Massachusetts Cavalry, was afterwards promoted colonel, and who was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers for brave and meritorious services in the field. In the latter part of July, Massachusetts was honored with a visit from General Grant and his staff. The Adjutant-General was detailed by Governor Andrew to meet General Grant at Albany, and present to him a written invitation to visit Boston, and to receive the honors and hospitality of the Commonwealth which his great services so well merited. On the 29th of July, the Adjutant-General met General Grant at Greenbush, opposite Albany, and presented to him the Governor s communication. The invitation expressed in it was accepted ; and General Grant and staff proceeded immediately, by a special train, which was elaborately decorated, to Boston. The party reached Boston about seven o clock in the evening. The crowd around the depot of the Worcester Railroad was im mense, and the sidewalks of the streets through which the pro cession passed from there to the Revere House were crowded with interested and enthusiastic citizens. The escort duty was performed by the First Company of Cadets, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Holmes. The passage from Albany to Boston was an almost unbroken ovation of the people. Wherever the train stopped, immense crowds were there to welcome and cheer the commanding Gen eral. The next day being Sunday, General Grant and Governor Andrew, with their respective staffs, attended divine service at the Old South Church. Prayer was made by the venerable Dr. GENERAL GRANT S VISIT TO MASSACHUSETTS. 651 Jenks, and a sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Manning. On Monday, General Grant received the attention of the City Gov ernment of Boston, and held a levee at Faneuil Hall, where many of the citizens were introduced to him, and shook him by the hand. On Tuesday morning, Aug. 1, the General and his party left Boston on a special train for Portland, on the Boston and Maine Railroad. A car had been fitted up in the same elegant style as the car which brought him from Albany over the Western road. The same enthusiasm greeted the General at the different sta tions where the train stopped, that had distinguished his journey from Albany to Boston. By order of Governor Andrew, the Adjutant-General was directed to accompany the distinguished party to Portland. In his report for 1865, the Adjutant-General says, " In the evening, I took rny leave of the General and Mrs. Grant, and of his staff officers, and the next morning left for Boston. The occasion was one that I shall never forget." Our narrative now approaches its close. But, before conclud ing it, we deem it proper to speak briefly of the services ren dered to our soldiers and to the Union cause by two ladies of Boston, who, during the entire war, devoted almost their whole time to works of charity and love, for the comfort of our sol diers, and the alleviation of their sufferings ; one of whom was Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, and the other Miss Abby W. May. Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis was the daughter of a Boston mer chant, William H. Boardman, Esq., who was largely engaged in the North-west Coast, China, and India trade. She was early married to the eldest son of the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, who bore his father s name. Upon the death of her husband, she passed seven years in Europe, for the purpose of educating her three sons, and returned to America, making Boston her permanent home. Connected by blood and marriage with some of the oldest and most distinguished families in the country, blessed with personal attractions, mental gifts, and a magnetism that drew about her the 652 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. good as well as great, Mrs. Otis has held a place in society un rivalled in her own city or State. While many of her sex would have used the advantages of her position for selfish advancement and social distinction merely, she, with a large-heartedness and wide-spread benevolence, has made her power felt in public as well as private acts of charity, her outgoing sympathies ever on the alert for the oppressed and unfortunate, of her own sex especially. Where fortune frowned, she has held out her hand, smiled and encouraged. Public-spirited to a proverb, she has ever been ready to give aid to any enterprise for the benefit of the needy, setting aside her own convenience and the calls of social position, while she devoted time and labor to its accomplishment. " The Blind Asylum Fair," " The Sailor s Snug Harbor," " The Washington Equestrian Statue," are among the public works that bear wit ness to her labors. To the perseverance of Mrs. Otis we are indebted for the crowning contribution for the purchase of Washington s tomb. The last gift to the treasury was from the proceeds of the Mount Vernon Ball, at the Boston Theatre, March 4, 1859, that origi nated in her exertions. The sum realized was about ten thou sand dollars. It was also chiefly to the untiring efforts of Mrs. Otis, which commenced about 1850, that the birthday of Washington was made by law a holiday in Massachusetts, on which occasion it has been her custom, with a gracious hospitality, to open her house for a public reception of her friends, the accomplished hostess inspiring those who thronged about her with the patri otism for which she has been distinguished. At the commencement of the late civil war, Mrs. Otis, con sistently with the previous acts of her life, laid aside all selfish and social interests, and resolved to devote her time, labor, and influence to the interests of her country. The City Govern ment of Boston was offered, by the liberality of William Evans, a hotel called the Evans House, as a place of deposit for goods arid money for American soldiers, sailors, and their fami lies. Mrs. Otis was invited by the city authorities to take charge of the enterprise, and carry out her own plans for its MRS. HAERISON GRAY OTIS. 653 management ; her practical and administrative ability, together with her high position, eminently fitting her for it. The plan of placing a woman in communication with the sol diery outside of hospitals being entirely original, and a novelty, it was regarded, by many persons, wholly impracticable, and prophesied a failure, as well as insecure from insubor dination and rudeness ; but, in Mrs. Otis s first report to the committee,, she states that nothing could surpass the exceeding respect, deference, and boundless gratitude, with which she had been treated. A Bank of Faith was at once established ; not one cent or shred was begged for the great cause, the enormous demands being supplied entirely by voluntary contributions of goods and money. Mrs. Otis gave her personal superintendence to every thing, assisted by three persons only, not absenting herself a single day, summer or winter, excepting on Sundays, and days of religious festival. An important part of this novel plan was, that the donations of wearing apparel, books, &c., should be personally made. The Committee on Military Donations passed the following resolution, Dec. 22, 1862 : - " That this institution, under the management of this most excellent and patriotic lady, has been of incalculable benefit to the soldiers of our army. By her untiring perseverance and benevolence, our volun teers have been supplied, not only with substantial, well-made clothing necessary for a campaign, but with many of those smaller articles, cal culated to render their camp-life more comfortable, and which only could have been provided by womanly kindness and forethought. " Without entering into details, some idea of her labors and the gen erous donations which have been received and distributed by Mrs. Otis may be derived from the fact, that five thousand four hundred dollars have been received in cash, and two hundred and fifty thousand six hundred and seventeen articles have been distributed ; many donors presenting well-filled boxes and barrels ready for hospital use, with the assurance that they were properly packed for transportation, the package, with its contents, having been considered but a single article in the enumeration." Mrs. Otis s report to the Donation Committee of the City 654 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. Government of Boston for the year 1865 states that she has completed the fourth year of her interesting work, commenced in 1861 at the Evans House, remaining there two years, and two years at 126 Tremont Street, opposite Park-street Church. That she is fully confirmed in her belief that the institution had been a great and unfailing consolation to the recipients. That the Bank of Faith, under Divine Providence, had amply prospered, the same contributors who so nobly commenced with their voluntary donations having generously adhered to it. That the supplies of the house had not been confined to Mas sachusetts alone, no soldier with fitting testimonials ever leav ing empty-handed. That numberless letters had been received from camp and hospital, giving grateful assurance of the safe arrival of pack ages, &c. She returns thanks to the ladies at the McLean Asylum, Somerville, under the care of Dr. Tyler, for the large number of garments for the soldiers made by them ; also to the Massa chusetts Bible Society, for the generous supply of testaments. That, during the twelve months the report covers, three thou sand dollars in money, and fifty thousand substantial articles, had been distributed; comprising cotton and woollen shirts, drawers, socks, mittens, soldiers bags, pocket-handkerchiefs, new and half-worn cotton and woollen shirts, all sorts of half-worn garments for soldiers families, towels, comforters, blankets, coverlids, pillows of all sizes, night-gowns, bed-gowns, dressing-gowns, slippers, provision-bags, sleeping-caps, and every variety of hospital garments and stores, including tea, cof fee, chocolate, cocoa, sago, tapioca, corn-starch, liquors, wines, dried and preserved fruits, sugar, molasses, vegetables of all sorts, all kinds of lint and bandages. Testaments, Bibles, prayer-books, and tracts have been abundantly supplied, and newspapers of all sorts. When we are told that nearly a million of dollars in money and goods passed through this institution during the four years of the war, we can realize the amount of labor and responsibility that was voluntarily assumed, and successfully carried out to the end. NEW-ENGLAND SANITARY CONTRIBUTIONS. 655 The New-England Women s Auxiliary Association, of which many good and noble ladies were active and distinguished orna ments, was the name given to the North-eastern branch of the United- States Sanitary Commission. It was organized in De cember, 1861, with headquarters in Boston, and continued its work until July 12, 1865. At that time, finding $6,462.14 in its treasury after its debts were paid, it resolved itself into a small committee to expend the residue of the money for the benefit of disabled soldiers, or women and children left by the war without their natural protectors. Its first officers were, John Ware, M.D., president; S. G. Howe, M.D., vice-president: Rev. Rufus Ellis, secretary; and George Higginson, Esq., treasurer. It had an executive committee of seven ladies, the chairman of which was the acting head of the work ; an industrial committee of six ladies, whose duty consisted in purchasing material, and getting it converted into garments. The cutting was done by volunteers, and the sewing by poor women, fairly paid for their work by persons of wealth, ready to do the twofold good of employing the poor, and furnishing garments for the soldiers. No money was ever taken from the general fund to pay these seamstresses. There was also a finance committee of seven gen tlemen and five ladies, whose functions are sufficiently indicated by the name. In addition to these officers working in Boston, there was a large number, varying from fifty in the beginning of the work to one hundred and twenty-six at the end, of associate managers, ladies living in various cities and towns of New England, who undertook the work of a rousing interest, each in her own locality ; and of giving requisite information in regard to the needs, and the best method of meeting them. Thus organized, the association began its work ; bearing in mind that its duty was to act as medium of communication between the officers of the Sanitary Commission and the peo ple of New England ; the former being free to make requisitions for any supplies needed for the soldiers, which requisitions the association was promptly to make known, trusting to the people to supply the need. It never trusted in vain ; for, though the demand, enormous almost beyond power of compu tation or expression, was seldom fully met, yet the response to 656 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. every call was prompt and generous, and made with proofs of hearty good-will, that could never be misunderstood. The name of the association would indicate, that it covered the six New-England States, and so, in a certain way, it did ; but it was plain that to bring supplies northward from Ehode Island and Connecticut would be unwise ; and, consequently, those two States forwarded their goods to New York, except on a few occasions, when shipment by sea to some remote South ern ports was more cheaply effected from Boston than from New York. The statistics which are contained in this sketch refer, therefore, almost entirely to the work of Maine, New Hamp shire, Vermont, and Massachusetts ; they being so blended in all the reports of the association, that it would be impossible to separate the share of Massachusetts from the whole. In the year 1864, a statement was printed, giving the names of towns from which contributions had been received during that year, and summing up as follows : In Maine, 155 towns ; New Hampshire, 65 ; Vermont, 206 ; Massachusetts, 301 ; towns in other States, 8. Probably this represented fairly the propor tions of other years, though it does not indicate at all the rela tive values of the contributions. A small and poor town might perhaps send but one box of supplies in the year, while others, more favored, would keep a constant succession of gifts pouring into the general stock. But, again, this last statement does not indicate the proportionate sacrifice, or rather effort (for the word sacrifice was seldom used by the women who worked for the soldiers), involved in the various contributions. Perhaps the "one box from the small town" was as large an offering proportionately as the full stream from the larger town ; and probably it represented more hours of midnight work after the hard toil of the day was accomplished, and more absolute pri vation, that the best blanket might go to the soldiers, or that the money that was actually needed to keep wife and children from positive want should be spared to buy comforts for those who were so for away. These vital statistics rest in imperishable records, but are not in our power to compute. But we may bear sincere tribute to this woman s work, a work in which all joined heartily and simply, recognizing no distinction of rich or NEW-ENGLAND SANITARY CONTRIBUTIONS. 657 poor, high or low, but in which the real sacrifices came upon those least favored ; and, to their honor be it said, by them was the greater part of the work done. But it is not as a question of proportions that the work deserves to be considered ; rather it should be looked at from the point of view of its harmony and its universality. Those who had money to give, gave that ; those who had only time, gave that most precious of all things. The little girl set her first stitches on the comfort-bag for the soldier ; the little boy picked blackberries for his mother to con vert into jam or wine, or spent his pocket-money in some article of use. " An associate manager in Maine," says a report of the Association, " writes, Some of the towns in this neighborhood do not even rejoice in a name : their only distinction is a number. We have had a contribu tion of one dollar from little children, in two of these nameless settle ments : the postmaster of the nearest town sent the money, with the names of the children. The sums given ranged from three to five cents each. " A lady who had lived to see her ninetieth winter prepared with her own hands a cask of pickles to send to " the boys " in the army. The school-boy on holidays went to the store-house, and helped to pack the boxes, which many an express agent and railway company conveyed to their destination, free of charge. Telegraph companies offered their wires without cost ; editors of newspapers opened their columns freely. A Boston gentleman gave the use of his building at 22 Summer Street, for nearly two years and a half to the association, for office and store rooms ; and, when he could no longer extend such liberality, two corporations of gentlemen gave free use of rooms at 18 West Street, and in the Savings Bank in Temple Place, until the close of the work. And so on, the association seems most fully to have proved the power of the words, "Ask, and ye shall receive," and, more than that, to have received freely and constantly when it did not even ask ; and all this was done from the highest sentiment of patriotism, and for love of those who were doing their utmost to save the country, and keep it worthy of our love and our sacrifices. If this record of the work could preserve a memory of the spirit with which it was carried 42 658 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EEBELLION. on, it would indeed be a page in her history, of which Massa chusetts would for ever be proud. As it is, she need never blush at the mere statistics of values and quantities, remember ing, as she must, what untold treasures of patriotism and hu manity they but partially indicate. The whole number of garments and articles of bedding sent to the soldiers by this association, throughout the three years and seven months of its existence, was 1,010,869. Of these, the all-important and most costly articles form a large part, as follows : flannel shirts, 75,314 ; flannel drawers (pair), 52,585; cotton flannel drawers (pair), 15,725; stockings (pair), 125,536; blankets, 9,663; comforters, 14,540. Of stimulants and food a great variety was sent, which it is not necessary here to mention in detail. The one item of " wines and spirits," 22,275 bottles, may serve to indicate that the quantity was great. More than 500 barrels of crackers were sent; and tea, coffee, chocolate, jellies, preserves, pickles, con densed milk, beef-stock, dried and canned fruit, vegetables, farina, lemons, oranges, cologne water, bay water, medicines, and articles of use in hospitals, with a large amount of reading matter, writing materials, and games. The association received in money $314,874.07. Of this amount, $145,950.85 was obtained by a great and successful fair in Music Hall. The principal part of the remainder was in outright gifts from individuals and societies. About $133,000 was expended in materials for clothing, $22,000 in purchase of blankets, $52,000 for hospital stores, $1,600 in refitting the floating hospital " Daniel Webster " for her return to White House, after she had brought a ship-load of disabled soldiers to Boston. Ready-made clothing, to a small extent, was purchased, and shoes, slippers, surgical instruments and appliances ; but it is not needful here to enumerate these. The annual reports of the association give full details of its expenditures. We may mention, however, with pride and satisfaction, that no salary was paid during the work, with the exception of $600 appropriated to send an agent to another State, to do work which otherwise would not have been done, and which NEW-ENGLAND SANITARY CONTRIBUTIONS. 659 brought immediate returns in thousands of most needed garments. One porter was the only person permanently hired. Occasionally, in times of great pressure, extra help was needed and had ; but this was an insignificant item of ex pense. The work was done by volunteers, almost entirely ladies, who, entering into it at that early period when its magnitude was not at all foreseen, yet accepted the great in crease of labor, month by month, to the end. Some of them, who opened the office in 1861, and helped to unpack the fir.^t boxes contributed, stood by until the end, sent off the last con signment of supplies, and closed the doors on the completed work. They were not only originators and supervisors, but packers, purchasing agents, book-keepers, and clerks in every variety of detail ; and they carried on the office work and the system of book-keeping in a manner to elicit the most favora ble comment from gentlemen whose business knowledge made them competent critics. It was pleasant indeed to enter the spacious office at 22 Summer Street, on some of the dark days when defeat and disaster seemed to reign abroad, and to find there a score of resolute women, unpacking, assorting, stamping, repacking, in voicing, and forwarding those goods that were to assuage ter rible suffering, perchance to bring back the life that seemed almost to have gone. And all this was done so quietly, so systematically, with so little thought of self in the doing, that the spectator knew that those women, young, gay and thought less as many of them might otherwise have been , had caught the spirit of their time, had recognized the terrible issues involved, and had accepted gladly a share, however small, in the great work, as the best opportunity that had ever come to them. Nor let the women outside of Boston be forgotten. Hun dreds of them, in societies or acting individually, enlisted in the work on the first day of its existence, and continued in it until the end. By constant correspondence with the Boston head quarters, they kept themselves informed of the probable re quirements, and so were able to anticipate the need in the timely preparation of supplies. So thorough and cordial was the understanding between the branch societies and the acting 660 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. committee in Boston, that a word flashed over the telegraph wires one day brought sure response the next, in boxes, bar rels, and bundles of the needed article, or money wherewith to purchase it. Such is an outline of our women s work for the soldiers during the war, under the organization of the New-England Women s Auxiliary Association. It is proper, also, that the services of the New-England Soldiers Kelief Association, the headquarters of which were in New-York City, and whose active and energetic leader was Colonel Frank E. Howe, should receive a passing notice at our hands. This association was organized April 9, 1862, by sons of New England resident in the city of New York, with the purpose of making arrangements to provide for proper atten tion to the sick and wounded soldiers as they should from time to time pass through New York on their return from the seat of war to their homes. The first meeting was held at the Fifth-avenue Hotel, March 31, 1862. Mr. William M. Evarts was chosen chairman, and subsequently president of the association, and Mr. William Bond and Dr. Maurice Perkins were chosen secretaries, and S. E. Low, Esq., treasurer. A committee of three from each New-England State was appointed to provide the necessary means to carry out this work ; to communicate with the Presi dent, the Secretary of War, and other members of the national Government, for the purpose of interchanging views in relation to the relief of sick and wounded soldiers arriving in the city, and co-operating together, that greater efficiency might be obtained in effecting the purposes of the association, and to select a suitable location for its uses. The proprietors of the Astor House tendered to this asso ciation the gratuitous use of a room or rooms in their hotel for its meetings at any time they might desire to make such use of them. The State of New York threw open the Park Barracks on Broadway as a temporary receiving hospital, and the southern portion of it was at once fitted up for that purpose. The THE NEW-ENGLAND ROOMS IN NEW YOEK. 661 Association of Physicians and Surgeons of New York and Brooklyn were appointed to take medical charge of the pa tients, called the " New-York Surgical Aid Association." A building, No. 194 Broadway, was rented for the permanent uses of the association, and Colonel Frank E. Howe appointed superintendent. Five committees were selected from the members of the association to form visiting committees for the purpose of re ceiving, disposing of, and attending to the wounded or disabled soldiers as they should from time to time arrive in the city ; such committees to co-operate with the State agents and medi cal attendants, and each to serve one week. A "Women s Auxiliary Committee" was formed to co operate with this association, and was divided into five weekly committees, to hold themselves in readiness to attend at the association building during their respective weeks, upon due notice being given. An invoice of hospital bedding was received from the Assist ant Medical Purveyor s office, New York, and the donation of sundry articles from several generous friends. His Excellency Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, placed at their disposal an ambulance, to be used for the comfortable transportation of the sick and wounded. His Excellency Governor Buckingham, of Connecticut, con tributed personally one hundred dollars to the association, expressing his warm appreciation for the thoughtful and con siderate kindness in making provision for the soldiers of his own State. The Governors of all the New-England States were unani mously elected honorary members of the association. A splendid set of books was presented by the well-known firm of stationers, Messrs. Francis & Leutrel. A handsome and excellent carpet was also presented by Alexander T. Stewart, Esq. The association received continual calls from physicians, heartily offering their services ; and also from the two years students in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, who were willing to spend day and night in rendering professional aid. 662 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. The president of the Adams Express Company offered the o-ratuitous use of any number, from one to twenty wagons, for the purpose of conveying wounded soldiers that might arrive in the city ; and would, with pleasure, furnish horses and drivers also for this benevolent purpose, at any hour of the day or night. The treasurer reported the receipt of $4,272 from personal contributions. The first efforts of the New-England Soldiers Relief Asso ciation were directed to meeting and supplying, if possible, the imperative need of a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers in the great metropolis. For a time the Government of the United States gladly availed itself of its facilities for this service. The work rapidly increased until the association was formed, and its efforts were extended to soldiers from every State. Thus it was enabled to give shelter, comfort, and cheer to thousands of men. From the ninth day of April, 1862, to the first day of Sep tember, 1865, it received, registered, lodged, fed, aided, and clothed sick, wounded, and disabled soldiers, coming from almost every State, to the number of 86,673. It also received, welcomed, and entertained New-England regiments passing through the city on the way to the field, caring and providing for their wants, to the aggregate num ber of 278,496 men. And also it was its privilege to wel come the returning veterans of our glorious armies, 34,383 men, bearing upon their standards the names of those memo rable battle-fields upon which they had won such immortal renown. This does not include the regiments which passed through the city from the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island ; the care, reception, and entertainment of which devolved upon their energetic and able military agent, Colonel John H. Almy, whose entire time was industriously devoted to their interests, and whose services were of infinite value to the asso ciation. The hospital record show that there were received and recorded, from personal visitations at the bedsides of our THE NEW-ENGLAND ROOMS IN NEW YORK. 663 suffering soldiers in hospitals in and near the city, the names, company, regiment, residence, hospital, date of admission, wound, disease, and final disposition of every soldier who was admitted within their wards, numbering 91,609 soldiers. The number of soldiers received and entertained upon their return from the war, was 34,383. The total number of sick, wounded, enfeebled, discharged, fur- loughed, and passing soldiers, aided and provided for, was 490,661. Marvelle W. Cooper, Esq., the energetic treasurer of the association, whose hearty and sympathetic action was so strongly enlisted for its welfare, reports the amount of its expenditures in the forty-two months, $60,518.29 ; being an average per month of $1,440.91. Colonel Howe also acknowledges the attention of the United- States Sanitary Commission throughout the war to the interests of the association, and their final action in assuming its debts, amounting to $7,307.04. He also adds, that to mention all to whom the association was specially indebted for their active assistance in accomplish ing such results, and to measure out to each his adequate por tion of thanks, would be altogether impossible; but he places upon record, in the most earnest manner, an acknowledgment of constant obligation to the Young Men s Night-watchers Association, R. B. Lockwood, Esq., President, who main tained during four entire years their most commendable organi zation, having never permitted a night to pass without two of their number watching as faithful nurses at the bedsides of our brave defenders. To Mrs. E. A. Russell, the matron, are tendered the fullest and warmest thanks in behalf of the many thousand sufferers whom she has relieved ; also to Dr. Everett Herrick, whose unremitting care and marked skill were exhibited in his attend ance at the hospital. To S. E. Low, the former treasurer, whose protracted ab sence from the city made his resignation necessary, but by whose ability, prudence, and systematic care the financial con cerns were so successfully managed, the association is much 664 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. indebted; and to the Eev. Alexander R. Thompson, D.D., Chaplain, whose self-imposed and efficient labors at the altar of the institution, and whose devoted ministrations by the bedside of the sick, wounded, and dying men, have won the love of all ; and, finally, to the ladies committee, whose untiring labors were only an illustration of that self-sacrificing devotion to the cause which has so marked and characterized the women of our country throughout the war. Colonel Howe does not close his admirable report without calling to mind the opportune aid and counsel at all times of Major-General John A. Dix, late commanding officer of this Department. Also the kindly co-operation of Brigadier- General R. S. Satterlee, Medical Purveyor of the Depart ment, and Colonel W. I. Sloan, Medical Director, in all matters appertaining to the interests of the sick and wounded soldiers. He does not state, however, that he performed his arduous duties during the entire war without compensation from this Commonwealth. And, finally, he is indebted to the long-continued kindness of Mr. Charles A. Stetson and his most estimable family ; the near proximity of the rooms to the Astor House impelling frequent applications, day and night, for the luxuries and delicacies of the market, which were always afforded with an unsparing hand and hearty will, with the refusal to receive any thing but thanks. At the final meeting of the New-England Soldiers Relief Association, held Feb. 12, 1866, Hon. William M. Evarts, President, presiding, the following resolution passed unani mously : "Resolved, That the grateful acknowledgments and high apprecia tion of this association are due, and are hereby tendered, to Colonel Frank E. Howe, for his patriotic and humane devotion to the interests of the soldiers who, disabled and suffering, were the recipients of his thoughtful kindness and care." Also, on motion of Hon. R. E. Andrews, " Resolved, That the thanks of this association are due and hereby tendered to Hon. William M. Evarts, President, for the able and effi- MASSACHUSETTS AND BOSTON SOLDIERS FUND. C65 cient manner in which he has discharged his duties, and for the benefits which the association has received from his name." At the commencement of the war, a committee of one hun dred gentlemen, comprising the Governor, all the living ex- Governors, the Mayors of cities, and all the living ex-Mayors of the State, together with many other distinguished gentlemen in private life, formed themselves into a society to raise and dis burse money for the benefit of the soldiers families. The fund thus raised was called the Massachusetts Soldiers Fund. We have been unable to learn the precise amount which was raised ; but it was between sixty-five thousand and seventy thousand dollars. The fund thus collected was invested so as to produce interest. It was expended under the supervision of an execu tive committee, of which William Gray, of Boston, was chair man, and who himself contributed ten thousand dollars at one time. Of this fund, there remains about thirteen thousand dol lars unexpended. Another organization of gentlemen was formed in Boston, at a later period, to raise money for the benefit of soldiers families living in Boston. The fund thus raised amounted to about seventy-five thousand dollars. It was called the Boston Sol diers Fund. The association organized by the election of Ed ward S. Tobey, of Boston, as president. Two trustees were chosen from each of the wards of the city. There was also an executive committee, of which George W. Messenger, an alder man of Boston, was chairman. The money which was raised was put at interest, and there remains an unexpended balance of about thirty thousand dollars. The remains of these funds are still used for the benefit of sol diers and their families, and will be until they are exhausted. In April, 1862, the Surgeon-General of Massachusetts was the medium through whom donations were received from citizens, and disbursed as his judgment dictated, for the benefit of disabled soldiers, and the families of those who had fallen in battle. The amount received by him during the year 1862 was $504, of which Governor Andrew contributed $250 ; Miss A. Morton, of Andover, $202 ; and the Joy-street Baptist Church, $45. Dur- 666 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. ing the year 1863, $260 were added to this fund, the whole of which was contributed by Governor Andrew. In 1864, the amount contributed was $722, half of which was contributed by Governor Andrew. In 1865, the fund received an addition of $11,312.70, of which $200 was contributed by Governor An drew ; $374.50 by Colonel Francis L. Lee, the amount being the remainder of the regimental fund of the Forty-fourth (nine months ) Regiment; and $10,465 was contributed by Colonel J. M. Day, Provost-Marshal-General of Massachusetts, from surplus funds deposited in the State treasury by parties to pro cure representative recruits in the army. The money was donated for this charitable purpose by the persons to whom the money belonged. $1,000 of this fund was forwarded to Colo nel Gardiner Tufts, Massachusetts State agent at Wash ington, and the same amount to Colonel Frank E. Howe, Massachusetts State agent at New York, to be used for the benefit of sick and wounded soldiers at New York and Wash ington, These contributions of money were wisely expended by the gentlemen having them in charge. Our official connection with the Surgeon-General of the State made us acquainted, in a degree, with the scrupulous fidelity and generous regard with which that gentleman discharged his duties as disbursing agent of the fund placed at his disposal. It would be impossible to give in this volume a full and accurate statement of the different benevolent enterprises which were originated, and put in practical operation, during the war, for the assistance of our soldiers and their families. These existed in every city and town throughout the Common wealth, from the beginning to the close of the Rebellion, and did incalculable good. We doubt whether there is a com munity, of the same number of inhabitants, on earth, that can parallel the benevolent, humane, and patriotic record of Massa chusetts. The following statement shows the actual number of men fur nished by Massachusetts for the service of the United States during the war, of all arms, and including both the army and the navy : THE MEN FUKNISHED BY MASSACHUSETTS. 667 Organizations, Terms, &c. Number. Aggregate. Three Months Service, 1861. Four (4) regiments infantry One (1) battalion riflemen 54,187 26,091 9,790 6/202 3,736 96,270 4,728 Three Years Men in the Army. Forty (40) regiments infantry Five (5) regiments cavalry Three (3) regiments heavy artillery One (1) battalion heavy artillery Sixteen (16) batteries light artillery Two (2) companies sharpshooters Recruits including drafted men for the above organizations Men for the regular army, veteran reserve corps, and other organizations Re-enlistments in the State organizations One Year s Men in the Army. Two (2) regiments infantry Two (2) unattached companies infantry One (1) regiment heavy artillery Eight (8) unattached companies heavy artillery Seven (7) companies cavalry Nine Months Men. Seventeen (17) regiments infantry .... One Hundred Days Men. Five (5) regiments infantry ) Nine (9 ) unattached companies infantry J 5,461 Ninety Days Men. Thirteen (13) unattached companies infantry .... 1 209 Men in the Navy. Number for one year g 074 Number for two years 3 204 Number for three years 13*929 Term not given 955 Number enlisted from Dec. 1, 1864, up to and including August, 1865. White volunteers 2,741 Colored volunteers 1,308 Regulars 432 Seamen 154 Marines 12 Veteran reserve corps 266 4,913 Total 159,165 G68 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. In the above we have not included the five companies which joined the New- York Mozart Regiment in 1861, nor the re cruits who entered the Ninety-ninth New- York Regiment, under Colonel Wardrop, formerly commanding the Massachusetts Third Regiment in the three months service in 1861, which, if added, would make the aggregate within a fraction of 160,000 men. On the 5th of January, 1866, Governor Andrew delivered his valedictory address to the Legislature, in which he reviewed the action of Massachusetts in the war during his five years of administration. He fixes the amount expended for the war by the State, and paid out of her own treasury, at twenty-seven millions seven hundred and five thousand one hundred and nine dollars. This was exclusive of the expenditures of the cities and towns. She had paid promptly, and in gold, all interest on her bonds, and had kept faith with every public creditor. The Governor then discussed at considerable length the pos ture of affairs in the rebel States, and the best mode of bring ing those States again into harmony with the Union. The views which he expressed on these important topics were liberal and generous ; and if they had been adopted by the country, and carried out in the spirit which he manifested, reconstruction would have been easy. He closes this able and statesman-like address as follows : " In sympathy with the heart and hope of the nation, Massachusetts will abide by her faith. Undisturbed by the impatient, undismayed by delay, with malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, she will persevere. Impartial, democratic, constitutional liberty is invincible ; the rights of human nature are sacred, maintained by confessors and heroes and martyrs, reposing on the sure foundation of the commandments of God. Through plots and counterplots ; Through gain and loss ; through glory and disgrace ; Along the plains where passionate discord rears Eternal Babel, still the holy stream Of human happiness glides on ! There is One above Sways the harmonious mystery of the world. " Gentlemen, for all the favors, unmerited and unmeasured, which I have enjoyed from the people of Massachusetts ; from the THE LAST OFFICIAL ACT OF GOVERNOR ANDREW. 669 counsellors, magistrates, officers with whom I have been surrounded in the government ; and from the members of five successive Legisla tures, there is no return in my power to render, but the sincere ac knowledgments of a grateful heart." On Saturday, Jan. 6, His Excellency Alexander H. Bul lock was sworn into office, and delivered his inaugural ad dress ; and John A. Andrew passed out from the portals of the Capitol a private citizen. On page 405 of the 63d volume of the Governor s correspond ence during the war, each volume containing 500 pages, is the following "Executive Military Order," dated Jan. 6, 1866, which was the last official act of his life. EXECUTIVE MILITARY ORDER. The Governor and Commander-in-chief, at the moment of retiring from office, as his last official act, tenders this expression of grateful and cordial respect to Major-General William Schouler, Adjutant- General of the Commonwealth, who has served the country, the Com monwealth, and his chief, with constancy, devotion, ability, and success, throughout his administration. Lieutenant- Colonel Nehemiah Brown, assistant Adjutant- General, will publish this order, and enter it on the records of the office. JOHN A. ANDREW. The honor of having been associated in an important and confidential position with John A. Andrew during the five eventful years of his administration, is an honor of which any man may well be proud. That he should cause to be placed upon the imperishable records of the Commonwealth, as his last official act, the order above quoted, is ample compensation for active and important service in the five long years of sanguinary conflict which marked the advent and the close of this great and good man s official life. With the end of Governor Andrew s administration closed the drama of the great war. How well he served his country, and upheld the dignity and honor of Massachusetts, these pages may in some degree serve to illustrate. But we feel and know how much greater and nobler he was than our inanimate words can disclose. At a period when the State required its wisest and best man 670 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION. at the head of the Government, John A. Andrew was selected. We believe this choice to have been a special providence of God. He had walked amid his fellow-men with quiet and heartfelt re spect, with a conscience untarnished, and a heart uncorrupted by love of gain, or vulgar contact with personal strife and mean ambition. He possessed transcendent genius as a leader and executive officer, when those qualities could best be exercised. He has passed away ; and, with him, the greatest, the wisest, and noblest of Massachusetts Governors. But his great deeds, comprehensive statesmanship, and good heart, will live in his tory, and the affections of our people, to the end of time. We had hoped, that, before this page should be written, the restoration of that Union, for the integrity of which so many of the sons of Massachusetts had exposed and sacrificed their lives in far-off States and on distant seas, would have been effected. Our hopes have not been realized ; but it has been from no fault of those brave and noble men. They did their duty, and the nation owes them a debt of gratitude which can never be re paid. The dead who are buried in Virginia, the Carolinas, or the States of the Mississippi, at Andersonville, Salisbury, at home, or wherever they may rest ; the sick, maimed, and wounded who live among us ; and those who escaped unharmed from a hundred battle-fields, their families, their names, their services, their sacrifices, their patriotism, will ever be held in grateful remembrance by a generous and enlightened people. And that " my father fought or fell in the great civil war to maintain the integrity of our Union, and the honor of our na tion," will for ever be an inheritance more precious than land or riches, and a title of true republican nobility. Cambridge : J ress of John Wilson and Son. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. 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