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Medford to the
Heights in
Dorchester.”
They were in service there only four days.
The
Medford militia, whose trainings we of latter days have witnessed, is mentioned for the first time in the “First Roster,” in 1787; but, in the earlier and more confused records, there is recognition of a Medford company in 1781.
The names of the officers are erased!
A vacuum then occurs.
After this, the commanders of the company were as follows:--
Until this time, this company had belonged to the first regiment of the first brigade of the third division; but now a new regiment, the fifth, was formed, and
Medford,
Charlestown, and
Malden composed it. The next captain of the
Medford company was
Rufus Frost, chosen May 12, 1806.
He resigned, and was discharged March 10, 1810.
He was re-elected April 3, 1810, but he “refused to qualify.”
The next captains were:--
It was disbanded under a
general order, April 24, 1840.
Whatever confusion may seem to belong to one or two of these records, could doubtless be rendered clear if it had been the custom to make prompt and accurate returns, and also to keep the rolls as methodically as they are at present.
“Minute-men” were frequently organized, and no official registry made of them.
Members of one company would join another for a single campaign of actual service, and, at their return, take their former places in the rank and file.
In 1828, when the
Medford Light Infantry had resigned
