This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
[91]
the 24th of April, and landed in the afternoon.
The next day, the regiment was ordered to Washington.
Only four companies 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 gentlemen 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 occurred 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
1868. E. P. DUtton and Co. Boston,.
Tufts University. provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.